They first look at head to head-- if they the teams split that during the year, then they go against records against top team and league and go down the list I believe.


So Simpson would have tie breaker over BV cause beat them twice, BV would have it over Central and Loras if BV wins Sat.

Here is how I see it going down as of Sunday, this will obviously change by Wednesday but I have predicted everything and been wrong all year so why not fire some people up and tell you what I think again!

1. Luther
2. Coe
3. Dubuque
4. Buena Vista
5. Central ties Loras for last spot, but due to head to head- they finish 5th
6. Loras

Simpsons loss to BV , and Loras's 2-0 week gets them in, in the final spot!

3 vs 6- Loras travels cross town to play Dubuque
4 vs 5- Central travels back to BV for 2nd time in 3 days

Good thing I am not a betting man, I would have lost money on the juice going 2-2 yesterday in my picks. Cornell and Wartburg didn't disappoint and took care of business at home. BV scored 44 points in a tough shooting night and Luther wrapped up its first conference title since Reagan was president. A great turn around for coach Franzen and his staff, congrats to them.

Interesting final week-
Coe @ Luther- Luther needs a win to win the league outright- If Coe can win at Luther I see a shared conference title which would be a shame to Luther. Don't know who holds tie breaker for number one seed- Would depend how Coe and Dubuque would do later in week. Coe beats Luther then beats Dubuque, I think they would have number one seed due to how they win loss record against Dubuque 3rd place team?

BV@ Simpson- BV has a chance to finish as high as 3rd with some help, Simpson is trying to win two games to make the final 6- This is big game for both teams and will be interesting what teams show up and play. A lot on the line.

Loras @ Cornell- A must win week for Loras and it has the most favorable schedule with Cornell and Wartburg- What a great week this will be in IIAC basketball.
   
Wartburg @ Dubuque- Dubuque controls its own destiny and can wrap up the 3 seed with a win over Wartburg, and possibly a 2 seed with a win over Wartburg and a Coe Loss at Luther, and Dubuque win over Coe? Alot of scenarios for every team. Every team needs to take Al Davis's advice; Just win baby, just win and everything will work out.

Central @ BV- Central is in a unique situation with not playing Wednesday, they currently sit in 4th and could finish anywhere from 6th or 7th if everything is played against them and they lose Sat. By Wednesday night we should have a good idea of what needs to happen to get in, I am hoping something crazy happens. Its been a year of parity from spots 3-7 and someone is going to be left out. Here is to the upset of the week that costs someone their season.

Upset Saturday Awaits us--
Luther @ Dubuque- Kick a dog when he's down, Dubuque enjoys playing at home and finds a way to give Luther another loss, making the top of the league a tight one heading into final week of season! Taylor Blum and the post players are too much offense for the Norse to handle and Dubuque controls tempo from start to finish. 74 to 66.
Buena Vista @ Coe- With the Luther loss, Coe could make the league race very interesting with a win at home against BV. However, BV gets revenge against Coe and continues their hopes for a first round home game. A possibility that last week had them hoping to make the conference tourney. BV 72 to 67.
Simpson @ Wartburg-Simpson is in a must win situation to keep them in that 6th spot in the conference. Wartburg meanwhile is all but eliminated but Simpson folds under pressure and Sathoff is too much for the Storm to handle. In a big upset, Knights win 68 to 63.
Central @ Cornell- It wouldn't be upset weekend without Central losing on the road to Cornell. I don't know how it will happen, but Central forgets the game is at 4:00 and not 8:00, Cornell plays for nothing, except to see Klompen disappointed face when he looks at stats.

Here's to upset weekend!

Glad the Duhawks finally made one of my picks come true. Happy for Klompen and the dutch going to Coe and getting payback. Sparty holds on and the Knights start a push to move up, oh wait they played Cornell, a team that is worse then them. Love the conference race we now have. There is going to be a real battle for the conference 5th and 6th seed and 2-6 could go all different ways. I guess thats why conference basketball is so exciting. Wartburg may not to mathematically eliminated from the 6th seed, but pretty close. It will be interesting if Cornell and Wartburg can sneak up on anyone and ruin someone season. Big games for Wednesday include: Central vs Dubuque, Buena Vista vs Loras--Will be interesting to see if the Duhawks can tighten up the conference race a little more and Central or Dubuque can continue to climb up in the win column. Other games should be easy wins for favorite, oh wait this is college basketball- nothing is easy or a guarantee.

This weekend of games has me excited. I think something out of the ordinary is going to happen. One of top teams in the league is losing and then the two teams in the cellar play each other. Someone has to get their 2nd win of the year.  I think all match ups are evenly matched and could make for a good day of basketball?  Atleast I hope so--

Central @Coe--  I find it hard to believe that Central can go into Coe and steal a win,  but if Turner can get hot, control the tempo and offense and Coe doesn't shoot well from the arch it can happen! I just think too much has to go right for the Dutch for them to win. I will take Coe by 8. 79 to 71.

Luther @ Loras- I am going to continue to pick against the Norse because its a long season and I think they lose before the season is over and they are ripe to lose. They got a good win against BV and now go to Loras. You guys can call me crazy but I will get one of these right. Might as well start tonight. Loras 69 to 67.

Simpson @ Dubuque- Both teams are coming off great wins and Simpson has to make the return back to Dubuque and go for the sweep. As well as Simpson has been playing, I think the Dubuque win at Cornell gives them a little pop in the step and they find a way to beat the Storm. The Storm have no answer for Blum and Sparty wins 78 to 69.

Wartburg @ Cornell- In the cellar game of the night, someone has to win right? I will take the visiting team. Cornell is coming off a tough loss in overtime in a game they should have won, I think that affects their play and could see them losing by 10 plus. Too bad Wartburg doesn't have the pop to deliver such a blow. I will take Wartburg by 4. Post play beats good guard play. Wartburg 75 to 70.

Klompen I think last years team was senior driven and had great leadership. That makes a big difference in finishing games, playing forty minutes and being consistent. Central has been a surprise and would rather be there then be a disappointment like Loras and Wartburg thus far! Shall be a fun 2nd half, hopefully with some interesting games. Best thing about it is only one team is going to get in and will be interesting if Luther can win the league and conference championship. I have 2nd guessed them all year and will continue to do it-- Central proved me wrong last year, we will see if Norse can do the same this year! Can we get some Norse posters on here?

A great night of picks for Klompen. Also Klompen did you pay the officials at Wartburg? Central shoots 33% and Wartburg 37%, but Central shoots 34 free throws and makes 26 compared to 15-21 for the home team! Happy to see Winkler play well for the Dutch! Keep them going Klompen! Big time come back for Dubuque and a huge road win. BV struggled once again with Luther but made a big time come back to make it somewhat of a game. Loras can't find a way to win at home, and loses heart breaker at home. Got to love IIAC basketball! Only one road team wins! Should be interesting finish as one game separates teams 3-6 in the conference.

5 words of less- my comment to finding something that worked for Loras was in regards to their offense. They are averaging 8 more points a game since x-mas....now they only need to work on there defense. Which they will show tonight against the Storm.

That's why everyone has their opinion and I also have mine. I know little about the teams but can look at stats and know the history of the league and the coaches in the league. I know VanHaaften and Gorton have had their success in the league especially recently and will always take them in big games when their back is against the wall. I hope Klompen is right and we have some parity in the league. No only with the parity but the consistency of teams being good for an extended period of time. For example Cornell, they win the league a couple of years ago and back towards the bottom of the league now. If the IIAC could ever get to the power of the WIAC, D3 basketball in Iowa would be great with 2-3 teams making the national tournament. I hope I am still around for those days, my time is limited!

Central (5-4) @ Wartburg (1-8)- Demarco Turner fresh off his IIAC performer leads the way early, continuing to hit 3's and getting his teammates involved but  Klompen quits watching and the Knights take Turner out of the game and Wartburg finds a way to steal one down the stretch as Central has no answer for Sathoff. Danielson hits a big 3 late to give Wartburg its 2nd win of the year in a 74 to 72  doozy in Waverly.

Buena Vista (5-4) @ Luther (8-1)- Buena Vista needs this game to move up in the standings, and put some pressure on the Norse as the 2nd half schedule has just begun. Luther has proved they are for real, but can BV play any worse then they did at home? Couple things must go right for BV, they must answer the early run by Luther and then make Luther pay for their mistakes defensively. I will take BV in the upset 68 to 64.

Cornell (1-8)   @ Dubuque (5-3)- Cornell gave BV a run at their place, but winning in Spartan land is tough to do with Taylor Blum leading the way. Cornell runs into a shooting display and the losses continue for the Rams. Lott shows why he is an all conference player as he keeps his team in it early. Sparty wins 80 to 67.

Simpson(5-4) @ Loras (3-6)- Simpson has impressed me and will continue to impress me, but not Wednesday night. Winning at Loras has been tough in the past but the Duhawks have found something that has worked recently and I think they show why they were picked to win the league in the 2nd go around in conference action. I will take the Duhawks by 9. 76 to 67.

What's fueling Coe's success?

I haven't seen them play this year, but if you look at their stats they have 3 guys shooting over 40% from the arch with over 30 makes. They shoot as a team 37% from the arch and 45% from the field. So in games they have lost I am guessing they haven't shot it well from the arch?

In Loras loss, they were 6-26 from arch for 23%
In Ashford loss they were 7-26 from arch for 26%
In Luther loss, they were 10-22 but forgot to guard Luther as they scored 62 points in 2nd half and shot 80%.

In all there conference games, they have either shot better then their opponent from the field and in the 2 they did not( those two games there was a slim margin in fg%), they made up for it by making 4-6 more 3's then that team.

So my conclusion: They are shooting it well from the arch at 37% as a team, there fg % is better then their opponents in all but 2  conference games, but its there defense that is winning them games. They only shoot 45% as a team, but 37% from the arch with good defense wins you games this year in the league. Not to mention, the improved play of Mataloni and leadership by Tatman. I also think Juckem likes this team and fits into his system very nice and he is doing a great job coaching them.

Then again, what do I know? Thats just based off of stats.

Home teams go 2-2 on Saturday night--  Central and BV get big home wins and Luther and Coe get big road wins. Wartburg and Loras continue their struggle as they maintain their spot in the middle of the league. Cornell and Wartburg continue their spiral at 1-8 in the league. BV was the only disappointment in the night, only winning by 3 at home against Cornell. Luther gets a big road win against hot Storm team, getting to the free throw line proved to be the difference in the game. Luther is showing why they will win the league by winning on the road. Rest of league is up for grabs! Disappointing nights include Loras losing at Central, however give it up to Demarco Turner- who will be player of week in IIAC, chance for D3 Hoops team of week?  Got a chance with the game he had against BV and Loras!

"I'm not so sure Central fans are as impressed with Coach VH, not because he came from this area, but because he caught the inbounds pass Central through while on a run and he should not have been on the court!     If he wanted time out, he should have called for it from the sidelines, not be catching and inbound pass. "

Hadn't heard that, but being a ref I am guessing he was asking for a Time out after a made basket by his team? One official I bet was watching the inbounder and the other one was running down the court, I had this happen to me in a recent game where the coach was in the corner right in front of me on the court trying to get a TO, after the ball was inbounded. With the time of game and score, I was locked in and didn't hear him, but granted him the TO....We heard it the rest of the game from the fans, just glad the game wasn't close at the time.

Did you see this in person Klompen?

Ok now that I am caught up! Here are my picks for tomorrow and thoughts going forward...

Coe @ Wartburg... The Knights have dug themselves a hole, sitting at 1-7 is there any motivation left? I think so, Knights are young enough they continue to play hard and win a big one against Coe to log jam the conference race even more. 74 to 70 Knights. Danielson gets hot and Sathoff continues where he left off when he scored 34 and 14 against Simpson.

Loras @ Central- Call me crazy and hate me more Klompen, but I think Loras finds a way to get rolling and it starts/continues when they visit Pella. Both teams find themselves at 4-5 following the game, fighting to stay out of the bottom half.

Cornell @ BV- Cornell has been playing bad lately but Lott plays well and keeps Cornell in the game, but BV's big men prove to be too much and win a close one in shoot out 85 to 80.

Game of the night: Luther @ Simpson! Simpson has been playing well, Luther just lost one and are off their high horse. In a defensive battle, Luther loses two in a row and Simpson at 6-3 following the win moves into 2nd place.  The conference race heats up as we approach 2nd half.

Love to hear thoughts and opinions!