MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gray Fox]

I just don't think that anyone in the SCIAC is trying to screw over CU.  They all do what is best for themselves.  They don't have to give Chapman priority, but it would make sense that they would do their best to play them.   Sometimes things just don't work out in life.

[dahlby]

Gray Fox,
Could not have put it better myself. Now if only some of the SCIAC posters would do their homework before knocking anyone's schedule, the world would be a better place. By the way, CU should work harder to improve their SOS, if they are at all interested in making the playoffs someday.

Enjoy your southern style turkey on this day that  for which we all have a lot to be thankful!

Cheers,
Dahlby

[Gray Fox]

Enjoy your southern style turkey on this day that  for which we all have a lot to be thankful!

Cheers,
Dahlby

The only thing southern about my turkey will be that is eaten in Texas.  It would taste much better if it were in southern California.

Have a good turkey day yourself.  We all have a lot for which to be Thankful.

[fhsutiger]

Chapman this and Chapman that...why are we even talking about Chapman on this board. This is the SCIAC conference and the last I heard, they were still trying and begging to join us our league. This is my take on the matter. Yes, they beat a couple of our teams last year and yes they had an easy schedule, but the fact is they didn't make the tournament. So until they do, lets stop talking about it. Sometimes you have to prove that you are worth the talk, and let's face it, there schedule was just to EASY!  So let's talk about the teams that actually matter in this conference. HOW about some of the upcoming games this weekend that involve our SCIAC teams. First lets start with my Stags...After a tough loss up in Oregon on Saturday night, Scali and the boys will be ready to regroup and play a little harder on the defensive end tonight. I can't even remember the last time the Stags gave up 94 points in a game. I look forward to watching a great defensive effort against UCSC. From what I have heard from the coaching staff, this is a much better Santa Cruz team than last year. I look for Chris Blees to have a great game tonight. Chris should be able to take there big guys off the dribble for some easy points. Game time is set for 5pm at Pomona-Pitzer with the PP taking on St. Olaf at 7pm.

DUCEY GYM- CMS
Saturday Night
@ 5pm- PP vs. UCSC
@ 7pm- St. Olaf vs. CMS

[OxyFan21]

OxyBob,

Haven't posted in a long time.  Have you seen McCoy play?  Seems like he is doing well.

[tigersports]

I did the Oxy-APU game and though things got away from the Tigers, they showed some promise.  McCoy is the real deal and will be All-SCIAC in short order.  Leider the point guard struggled against an athletically superior team, so the jury is still out on whether he will be able handle SCIAC defenses.  Hanley is a keeper as a wing.  Anderson is the wild card.  If he plays consistently at the level he has shown in stretches, Oxy will give  Cal Lu a run this year.  The Tigers are definitely in the conversation this year.

[TeeDub]

The Chapman debate may have just received some fuel with the new Top 25 rankings...

[oldchap]

The Chapman debate may have just received some fuel with the new Top 25 rankings...

Chapman is finally getting some attention and the respect that it so much deserves. It's about time!! Sometimes I wonder if all of this isn't about making noise. With Justin Riley's new blog and so much talk on these forums, some people are finally taking a serious look at their record, the team, coaching staff, etc. and realizing that they're for real. Let's hope now that this newfound fame isn't going to go to the players heads. It's so easy at that age to become cocky and think you're invincible....

[DIIIghetto]

CMS & PP absolutely killed the entire conference this weekend, losing to St. Olaf (9th place team right in their conference?) and UC Santa Cruz.  Those two losses really hurt us on the national scene and all but assure us that our conference rep to the tournament will be making a trip in the first round (hopefully just down the road to Chapman).  We either were wrong to put them out as our best teams or maybe our conference is really just that bad this year.  Either way, we just took two huge steps back in our quest for national recognition.

Well, maybe we should have Chapman in our conference to help us in our quest.  Chapman is handling their business this year and look solid.   

[OxyBob]

The Chapman debate may have just received some fuel with the new Top 25 rankings...

You mean the poll with 4 CCIW teams in it and Whittier with 3 ORVs?

OxyBob

[stag44]

The CMS and P-P losses do hurt alot.

Knowing both Scali and Kats, though, they are always the two teams that improve through the course of the season and make adjusments better than any in the conference.

In my 4 years there, CMS and P-P always had alarmingly poor preseasons, but come conference time, we were both in the hunt for titles, whereas CLU and OXY would always have marquee wins early on, but tend to taper off as SCIAC wore on (see OXY 05-06).

Regardless, the Stag D has been absolutely poor. To give up 90+ points in Oregon, and then have a guard go for 30 is not good. I'm not worried though, Scali always gets the guys to play D for him. If players don't they wont play come SCIAC time.

How does Whittier get any votes? They 4 of their top guys, but seems they've brought in some transfers and the younger guys have developed.

Another BIG weekend for some SCIAC teams:

P-P  plays @ the WONDERFUL Lopata Classic. WashU hosts probably the best D3 weekend tournament around, from the hospitality to the quality of games and overall experience. P-P has a REALLY big opportunity on a National stage show their ability. They open with Whitworth and then will either play WashU or a very talented NAIA-I McKendree. A split this weekend would be a success for them.

CLU, Redlands, and Chapman @ the Lee Fulmer Tournament - Playing in this tournament last year was FUN! of course we were able to upset #15 Whitworth and with the tournament, but playing at Currier Gym is a GREAT atmosphere.  A possible semi-final matchup could be an early season rematch between CLU and Chapman. The winner of that side of the bracket should win the tournament. Chapman will have thier hands full with a talented UCSC team in the first round. Looks like an extremely competitive field with the winner having to probably get 3 quality wins.

My Stags have a quiet week, with just one game vs La Sierra. Hopefully we'll see an inspired defensive performance from them and see them hold La Sierra to under 50 pts.

For those curious: there will be FREE live video of the Lopata Classic if you navigate through the WashU website.

Would love to have some SCIAC teams sign up for this service so I can watch some games from cold NYC.

[OxyFan21]

Since I work at Wash U, I will be making the walk across campus to the games this weekend. 

PP and CMS seem to be the SCIAC teams that make the trip here most of the time...should be nice to see how PP stacks up.

[OxyBob]

In my 4 years there, CMS and P-P always had alarmingly poor preseasons, but come conference time, we were both in the hunt for titles, whereas CLU and OXY would always have marquee wins early on, but tend to taper off as SCIAC wore on (see OXY 05-06).

CMS had a great SCIAC season in 2005-2006, but I forget, how did the Stags do in the playoffs? I remember that Oxy lost a close second-round game to a tough Puget Sound team.

OxyBob

[stag44]

OxyBob,

Lets not get started on the NCAA debacle in the 05-06 year. Everyone knows CMS should have hosted that game, and you know for a fact that if it was in the "Temple of Doom" the outcome would have probably been different.

I remember listening to that UPS-OXY game and thinking the SCIAC was going to get it. If I remember correctly, OXY was only down 3 or so and then a thunderous put-back dunk by McVey sent UPS on their way to the win and Elite 8.

Regardless, lets all hope that the NWC-SCIAC matchup this year can be played down in California!

[Gregory Sager]

In my 4 years there, CMS and P-P always had alarmingly poor preseasons

Non-conference, not preseason. The season started November 15. These games count.

CLU, Redlands, and Chapman @ the Lee Fulmer Tournament - Playing in this tournament last year was FUN! of course we were able to upset #15 Whitworth and with the tournament, but playing at Currier Gym is a GREAT atmosphere.  A possible semi-final matchup could be an early season rematch between CLU and Chapman. The winner of that side of the bracket should win the tournament. Chapman will have thier hands full with a talented UCSC team in the first round. Looks like an extremely competitive field with the winner having to probably get 3 quality wins.

I've always liked the Fulmer's eight-team format and I've wondered why more SCIAC teams don't adopt it for their own tournaments. Money, perhaps? The Fulmer opens up the possibility for a snowbird to get in an extra game in sunny SoCal without having to spend an extra day there (most snowbirds spend at least three days on their Cali trip), making it more attractive than a mere four-team tourney format -- especially to NWC teams that are always looking for more in-region games -- and it gives the Bulldogs a chance to get in another in-region game themselves. Of course, this year's crop of prospective D3 snowbirds must've been thin, since Redlands has to add non-D3s West Coast Baptist and Menlo to the field (Menlo's a dual NCAA-3/NAIA-2 member, but it declares for the NAIA-2 tourney every year and thus doesn't count as a D3 opponent), but the idea of having eight teams play three games in three days is still a good one for a West Coast D3 program.