Who do you all have for your All-Conference teams? I'll give my crack at it, but it'll be interesting to see how you all viewed the conference this year. Granted, I didn't see every team play this year, but I will try to do my best to keep it within the G, G,G/F, F, F format. Feel free to make some substitutions, this is simply who I feel performed on a consistent level throughout the year.

Player of the Year: D.J. DeValk [SNC] (Will probably go to Sabin, but I feel like the best player on the best team deserves this award. I still can't believe Schwoerer was only a co-player of the year last year)
Coach of the Year: Paul Combs [Carroll]

First Team
G - D.J. DeValk [SNC]
G - Ty Sabin [Ripon]
G/F - Steve McAfee Jr. [Beloit]
F - Jim Shick [Lake Forest]
F - Bryan Nagy [Carroll]

Second Team
G - Kyle Keranen [Carroll]
G - Jamie Nikitis [Lawrence]
G - Corey Davis [Cornell]
F - Grant Anderson [Cornell]
F - Terrence Garner [SNC]

Honorable Mention
G - Ben Bobinski [SNC]
G - Will Jones [Monmouth]
G - Rudy Bentley, Jr. [Beloit]

I kept going back on forth on a lot of these and above is what I finally settled on. McAfee got the nod over Nikitis on first team due to finishing above them in the standings. I was tempted to put Keranen on first team but couldn't justify giving him a spot over DeValk or Sabin, so down to second team he went! Feel free to analyze! Best of luck in the conference tournament, Green Knights! 

It looks like Monmouth is off to a very good start on what should be an exciting season for them. Ripon had to go to OT against Larry at home in that high school-esque gym which was a little surprising to me. SNC goes on the road tomorrow to face Point who is coming off a loss to Hope at the Quandt. Hopefully the Green Knights can catch the Pointers looking ahead to Thanksgiving and an eventual match-up with preseason #1 Augustana. I'm taking the Green Knights tomorrow in a slug-fest 62-59. The Young Guns show that they can play, and beat, the best in the nation. Anyone else think the Green Knights can stick with em? I feel as if I may be in the minority on here!

Go Green Knights!

SNC played very well for their first game of the season. Reinthaler played a great inside-out game and should prove to be a poor-man's Schwoerer this season. DeValk is so smooth with the ball and can get up the court in a hurry. Bobinski didn't play his greatest game, which proves that the Green Knights are much more well rounded than I was thinking. Garner was a fiend defensively and has started to flash his offensive game that not many knew he had. Marshall, and really the entire team, cleaned up the boards well posting a +11 rebound differential against a bigger Oshkosh team. Definitely an encouraging result, now its time to prepare for the defending National Champions on their home floor. It will be fun to see how this group goes on their first road trip and reacts after a win.

Go Green Knights

I feel that the Green Knights out-played the Titans this evening, even with the projected leading scorer (Bobinski) being held to 7 points. Coach Grzesk had them in mid-season form defensively. DeValk definitely played more confident than last year and the group as a whole played their roles really well. As seems to be the trend with a lot of games around the area, the reffing around the low post area seems to be very touchy. SNC had only 10 turnovers tonight and it feels like 8 of them were off of offensive fouls. Reinthaler will be another great stretch 4 for Coach Grzesk after losing Schwoerer to graduation.

One place I did not expect the Green Knights to succeed was on the boards. They were able to get a +11 rebound differential while being a relatively small team. The guards came back to rebound well when Marshall or Reinthaler had their guy boxed out.

SNC always seems to catch Oshkosh before they get their feet under them. I don't think this game is necessarily indicative of how Oshkosh's season will go, but it was a great win for SNC tonight. Now they get rewarded with getting to play the defending National Champions on the road. Schuldes has turned into a nice home-court advantage over the years, but a road game next Tuesday will tell me a lot more about how good this team really is.

I know this might be a bit early, but I'm extremely excited for the season to start and wanted to see how you all think this season will play out. I don't know really anything about incoming freshman for any team, so these are mainly based on returners.

1. St. Norbert
Even with the loss of Schwoerer, Elliott, and Hofacker, I still see the Green Knights staying on top of the conference. Bobinski and Garner will be a sneaky good offense/defense pairing. DeValk will make leaps headed into his second year. Also, look for big man Tim Marshall to anchor down low and provide some stability. Lacking some game experience, but they still have the athleticism and skill to stick with and beat anyone in the conference. Coach Grzesk will get them playing defense, which wins them yet another conference title.

2. Monmouth
Tons of returners here for a team that was probably the most complete behind SNC last year. Mathison will be a double-double machine, and if he developed his left, he could be borderline unstoppable in the MWC. Look for him to make a run at PoY. They have a ton of depth and I really like what Coach Skrivseth is doing in getting these young men to play with some fire. 

3. Ripon
Sabin will be another tough guard this year. Ketz returning will be able to provide some of what Loughrin brought, but I don't think he is quite as skilled on offense. If their big guys developed over the off-season, they could make a run at SNC, but I just don't see it. Let Sabin get his 30ppg, the role players will get about 20ppg, and that's about it. With the way they play defense, they won't be winning many games only scoring 50-60ppg. Planning on outscoring an opponent only works if they can't stop you, which Monmouth and SNC are both able to do.

4. Carroll
Nagy and Keranen return for their final year in the MWC before they head to the ultra-competitive CCIW. Look for them to work on a physical style of play with a pounding inside game with Nagy and Fritz. They play a very methodical style which will get them into a lot of close games, and I think the extra year of experience will give these guys an edge in a lot of them. Wouldn't be surprised if they got as high as #2 in the conference.

5. Grinnell
This looks like it will be one of the more mediocre Grinnell teams in recent years. Yeager and Taylor did a lot of heavy lifting last year, and it looks like Marx and Parker will be getting the nod this year. They undoubtedly will have some role players come in and hit shots (3's). The system will win you some games you shouldn't win, but it also loses you games you shouldn't lose. Grinnell just misses out on the 4 seed.

6. Lake Forest
Schick and Nikitas could both be potential all-conference players. This team will go as far as those two can carry them. Schick is a match-up nightmare for any other 4 or 5 in the conference with his inside-out ability.

7. Lawrence
Nikitas and Sonnleitner will the the go to 1-2 punch for the Vikings. They will be able to pull off a few upsets, but I can't see them sustaining a high level of play for the entire season.

8. Illinois College
Probably a little low here for the Blue Boys, but they will be a young team again this year. Look for them to make some noise towards the end of the season, building into next year.

9. Beloit
McAfee will be able to put up some huge numbers for the Bucs, but I don't see much else behind him. I see Bentley on the roster, but after his recent stints at Carroll and Whitewater, not sure if he'll be there or not. If he is, he provides leadership and experience for this team.

10. Cornell
11. Knox
Not sure on the order for these two. They both seem to have some turnover with players. The order really depends on if any freshman can step up and contribute right away.

MWC Tournament (Schuldes Sports Center)
1. St. Norbert vs. 4. Carroll
2. Monmouth vs. 3. Ripon

Final: St. Norbert over Monmouth (73-60) to earn their 4th straight post-season berth.


Let me know what you all think. I think there is a lot of room for movement in spots 2-7 really. Should be a fun year and I already can't wait! I'll do some All-Conference predictions early next week if others get involved with discussion ranking the teams and develop some interest.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on August 25, 2015, 09:00:21 AM
I'm sure this was already discussed but I'm not always over here. When Carroll leaves next year, is the conference going to play a full round robin? Is anyone being added or anyone else leaving?

I'm fairly certain that I heard that teams will indeed be going back to the double round robin format, but with a few twists. They are going to go back to having 2 back-to-back weekends where a team, say SNC, would play two of their furthest opponents, in this example, at Illinois College and at Knox. Then during the second Friday/Saturday weekend, IC would travel to play SNC and Ripon, for example. Now this isn't exactly the matchups that would take place, but it gives you an idea.

I've also heard that the MWC was going to abandon their current 23 game limit and allow teams to play the maximum amount of games allowable under the NCAA (26?). This is partially due MCW teams (SNC as of late) having such weak regional rankings come tournament time.

Overall, I thought the SNC guys gave it everything they had in the tank vs. a very good Elmhurst team. It felt like they had momentum in regulation, OT, and 2OT but they just couldn't close out the game. Props to Wuest and the rest of the Elmhurst squad on a fantastic game, although it probably gave them some tired legs for their game the next day against a scrappy Northwestern team.

About the game, only playing 7 guys definitely hurt the Knights over the course of the 55 minutes. Thought the starters could have gotten some quick breathers here and there to get some rest for the final push. It will forever be questioned if Grzesk should have fouled down 3 with about 9 seconds on the clock. He makes a point that the program is built on defense and Wuest made a heck of a shot, but there will always be debate about what to do in those types of situation.

One last thing, I thought it was pretty classless of Crittenden to go in for a layup with less than 30 while being up 10 and the Knights had obviously thrown in the towel. I know the crowd booed him pretty good, but still, have some class after a terrific game played by two very evenly matched teams. Congrats to both Elmhurst and St. Norbert on terrific seasons!

Have to say it was pretty cool for Kyle Loughrin to get a standing ovation when he came out. Pretty classy I must say, he played one heck of a game!

Should be a great game tomorrow. SNC only went 7 deep with the rotation so it'll be interesting to see where their legs are at against Grinnell. Schwoerer was insane tonight scoring 13 in a row at one point in the first half. Really showed why he deserved player of the year!

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 27, 2015, 12:08:49 AM
Keep in mind... St. Thomas probably can't host. Changes that equation a bit on who will host.

Its too bad that with those nearly brand-new facilities that they can't find a way to host a men's and women's regional if both teams are successful enough to get to that point. Quite the accomplishment to have both teams in the top 6 in the nation, the athletes should be rewarded with playing at their home gym.

I figured that the WIAC would need some help to get 2 hosts that are so geographically close. With UWSP losing tonight it appears that if UWW beats UWO, they will get the hosting bid and UWSP is most definitely a lock for a Pool C bid.

Quote from: gbpuckfan on February 26, 2015, 05:32:06 PM
GRINNELL, Iowa – Ripon College's Ty Sabin and St. Norbert College's Andrew Schwoerer have been named Co-Midwest Conference Players of the Year, while Green Knight head coach Gary Grzesk has been named the league's Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season.

Really can't argue with the Co-Player of the Year honors for either Saban or Schwoerer. I do think that adding Co- is just the easy way out of making a tough decision, but the real player of the year will be determined on the court tomorrow night I suppose when they face off. Hard to argue against Grzesk as well posting another undefeated conference slate, but I thought Coach Skrivseth down at Monmouth would/could have stolen some votes, going from 2nd to last in the league all the way up to 2nd. Quite the turnaround for a relatively young core of players.

All of the other awards went about as I would have predicted them, maybe DePouw from Lawrence or Nikitas or Madson from Lake Forest could have been added to the Honorable Mention team. I like how they kept to the 5 player/team though, with a pretty traditional 3 guard/2 forward lineup.

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on February 25, 2015, 10:51:26 PM
GKAlum, I think you can rest easy about making the tourney.  If they don't make the AQ (and I think they will), they should be reasonably safe for a C.

I don't think you can ever "rest easy" while playing in, arguably, one of the worst conferences in the nation. Over the past 4 years especially (Since the Travis Clark Lake Forest days), the conference has been in a slight decline in talent level, and it definitely shows this year. I don't have the exact statistics, but the non-conference record for the conference can't be too strong. With the MWC bordered by the CCIW and WIAC, I think it is harder for them to maintain the talent level when: 1.) The conference is very spread out and requires a lot of travel, and 2.) They have those 2 perennial powerhouse conferences to compete with for recruiting. 

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 25, 2015, 09:18:39 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on February 25, 2015, 07:31:16 PM

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 25, 2015, 07:28:06 PM
Even if Point/Whitewater loses tomorrow and St. Norbert wins out, I don't see the Green Knights jumping either. Their SOSs and vRRO are too significant and would trump St. Norbert's winning %, low SOS and 0-1 result vRRO.

If St. Norbert wins out, then you don't have to worry about Point/Whitewater because they would earn the AQ.

I'm pretty sure GKA was hoping for hosting.  If St. Norbert is not the AQ, it means they also lost a game and would definitely not jump anyone.

There was nothing that implied that. Anyway, the hope for St. Norbert hosting may lie in the women. The St. Thomas women and the Washington U women both could host. That would prwvent their respective men from hosting opening weekend.

I was asking in terms of hosting, sorry it was not portrayed that way. I know the Knights have a pretty unique situation where if they lose against Ripon on Friday they may not make the Big Dance, but if they win the tournament and get a little help, they could potentially host (given they put in a bid, facility capabilities, geography). With the way this season has been going, it would not surprise me to see some upsets in some of the region's conference tournaments.

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 25, 2015, 01:59:30 PM
Final public men's basketball regional rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2015/02/25/final-public-ncaa-regional-rankings-released/

So as a St. Norbert fan, I'm rooting for an upset of either UWW or UWSP this Thursday to hopefully drop them below the Knights? I can't see an Augie loss in their conference tournament dropping them below #2 honestly, and Wash U. hosts Chicago on senior day, which is a tough game for a home team to lose. I know we won't get to see the final regional rankings, but it'll be interesting to see what the committee does with St. Norbert, whose only loss on the season (hopefully) came without their starting PG to a team ranked #4 in their region (John Carroll).

Another question: Who do you all think is the Player of the Year in the conference? I know Sabin and Taylor have been putting up monster numbers, but Schwoerer has been the go to guy for St. Norbert. You could put Elliott in the category too based on how well he distributes and creates opportunities for his teammates. I think it is a 4 man race, and baring 50pt games in the conference tournament (which could very well happen), I think it is one of the Green Knights that will get the nod, most likely Schwoerer.