MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TeeDub]

Overall Winner of SCIAC Tourney:
CMS over Redlands

If indeed Redlands makes it to the final of the SCIAC tourney, I'll put my money on them.  It is very hard to beat a decent team 3 times in one year.  I'm a Redlands guy, so I hope you're right when you predict them to be in the final.  Unfortunately, it is a long road (and I mean that literally since the Dogs are on the road to finish off conference play).  Hopefully the Whittier loss puts the Dogs in the right focus to finish strong...

I agree with the Cal Lu statement as the dark horse...they could win out and be peaking at just the right time...

[pineconefan]

If it's not for Oxybob and Stagg44 giving us some incite on the games,

fhsutiger - if you did that on purpose, you are a genius 

[stag44]

Overall Winner of SCIAC Tourney:
CMS over Redlands

If indeed Redlands makes it to the final of the SCIAC tourney, I'll put my money on them.  It is very hard to beat a decent team 3 times in one year.  I'm a Redlands guy, so I hope you're right when you predict them to be in the final.  Unfortunately, it is a long road (and I mean that literally since the Dogs are on the road to finish off conference play).  Hopefully the Whittier loss puts the Dogs in the right focus to finish strong...

I agree with the Cal Lu statement as the dark horse...they could win out and be peaking at just the right time...

Coming into Wednesday, the SCIAC landscape has changed drastically since the start of the 2nd half of conference. In typical Stag fashion, Scali has his guys playing at their highest level and improving as conference comes to a close. They currently have a 2-game lead over Redlands, 3 over Oxy and 4 over CLU and PP. They have a very unique opportunity these last 3 regular season games. They deal major blows to each teams seasons with wins. If they beat Whittier on wednesday, the Poets will be mathematically eliminated from the SCIAC playoff picture. That would set the stage for a GREAT game - Feb 20, the Stags would be playing to win the SCIAC outright vs PP at home, and to possibly knock them out of 4th place and the playoff picture.
In the final game of the season though, they have a REALLY special opportunity - finally securing a win at the new CLU facility. In the last 3 games there, the Stags have lost 2 heart breakers as well as getting LIT up last year by Knudsen in the second half as the Kingsmen rallied around injured Andy Meier to secure a win.

First things first though, I think the Stags will go into Whittier and take care of business. In a similar type situation last year, the Stags went to Whittier and clinched at least a tie for the SCIAC title by controlling the first 33 minutes of the game and then holding on as David Hayashi, Gibson and Crow staged a FURIOUS rally after Rock got a T to put them down 17. I expect Whittier to come out firing and try to speed up the Stags. In a high scoring affair I'll give the edge to Blees and Co 78-64.

In the other marquee game of the night - CLU plays host to UR in another do or die game for the Kingsmen. I talked with Meier after the CMS game to close out the first half, and he knew that they would have to run the table in the 2nd half of conference to make the SCIAC tourney, and upto this point they have. The trip from Redlands to CLU is always difficult and long, but Redlands has been impressive this year on the road. Ducey's way of keeping 5 fresh bodies out there at all times tends to wear down teams and provide cohesiveness for them. CLU on the other hand has Knudsen and Grimm playing 35+ minutes as well as 6 players playing well over 90% of available minutes. Playing infront of a loud gym I think CLU will get the win convincingly as Meier and Van Klaveren will have monster games 72-61

Pomona will get back to its winning ways beating CalTech, and Oxy should take care of ULV at home to set up a big game vs Redlands on Saturday.

So, after tomorrow's games I think the standings will look like this:

CMS 11-1
UR   8-4
OXY 8-4
CLU 7-5
PP   7-5
WC 4-8
ULV 3-9
CIT 0-12

Exciting time for the Stags -

If they win out and get to the SCIAC finals and then are upset, we could see 2 SCIAC teams get a bid. Looking at the SOS and Regional rankings, the Stags could possibly get an at-large bid, but HAVE to make to the Finals

[fhsutiger]

Hypothetically thinking of course here:

What do you think the odds of two teams from the SCIAC making the tournament if CMS makes the finals of SCIAC tourney and loses (god forbid & at home). Can anyone see that happening, and who do you think it would be?

Second question:
Does anyone see Chapman hosting, or does everyone believe the committee will send them to a SCIAC school first. I'm sure Chapman would love to host, but the one team I know they won't want to see first round is CMS. The Stags are playing much better that they did in December, and we all know what happened the last time they played. Plus we have played much better competition!

What does everyone think about these scenarios?

[dahlby]

fhsutiger:

Are you hypothetically thinking  that Chapman would not want to see CMS in the first round, or do you have some inside information that the rest of us do not have, or maybe  just assuming?

The NCAA opens the tourney hosting up for bid(s) and awards accordingly. Hopefully, if CMS is selected for tourney play, or wins the SCIAC Tourney, they would bid to host.

[fhsutiger]

To be real honest I KNOW that Chapman does not want to play CMS at home the first round of the SCIAC. No team has played better in the SCIAC on a consistent basis than the STAGS against QUALITY opponents. We haven't played La Sierra, West Coast Baptist and whatever teams they play. We play quality opponents who give us a better competition and allow us to compete at a higher level. The only thing Chapman has done since Christmas is practice, and being an ex-college player myself, I would rather play against tougher competition later in the year than practice against UCSC and allow my bench players to get some reps.

Don't get me wrong I believe Chapman is a good team, but when you play against lesser competition it will come back to bite you in the end. Chapman is hoping they either Host, or two SCIAC teams get into the tourney and they get to play someone other than the Stags. That's just my opinion!

fhsutiger:

The NCAA opens the tourney hosting up for bid(s) and awards accordingly. Hopefully, if CMS is selected for tourney play, or wins the SCIAC Tourney, they would bid to host.

Hopefully you are right and the Stags take care of business like they have done all year. Hopefully, the pollsters will see the body of work and allow the Stags to host a tourney game. THEN ship us out the Northwest!

[stag44]

I fully believe that if CMS were to get to the SCIAC title and lose, they would be a bubble at-large team. It all depends on how the other teams ranked above fare in their conference tourneys. So, if all the current conference leaders are winning and receiving the pool A bids, then I think that the Stags have a chance to sneak into the Pool C. This would be something similar to 07-08 when PP won the SCIAC auto bid, but Oxy got an at-large due to a pretty strong non-conference record and a 11-3 SCIAC regular season. That year, remember CLU was also one of the "last teams out" in the Pool C, which would have given us an INCREDIBLE 3 teams. But, lets say that CMS loses in the SCIAC finals:

This would actually create a VERY interesting scenario. If they were to get a Pool C bid, then we would have 3 Southern California teams in the Tourney. This, paired with WW winning the NWC auto-bid in their tourney would provide the committee with an interesting predicament. Do they fly down WW who would be riding a 24 game win streak and a consensus top-10 team to SoCal and make them play on the Road? I'm sure that Hayford and the NWC would not be happy with this, but it seems to be the most cost effective way if this scenario plays out. It would probably be WW vs the SCIAC tourney winner, and Chapman vs CMS in the other game. I would say that Ducey should host, which would create an atmosphere there that would be unmatched.

But this is all just hypotheticals - I honestly think the only team that will beat CMS would be PP, simply becasue of the emotions involved in the game. If you take out the first CMS PP game, the Stags are undefeated and a step above the rest of the conference. But, when you bring in the emotions and passion involved in the rivalry, it levels all the playing fields and either team can win any given night.

Regardless of all this, there are big games on slate for tonight which will be key in deciding the SCIAC playoff seeding and entrants!

Hypothetically thinking of course here:

What do you think the odds of two teams from the SCIAC making the tournament if CMS makes the finals of SCIAC tourney and loses (god forbid & at home). Can anyone see that happening, and who do you think it would be?

Second question:
Does anyone see Chapman hosting, or does everyone believe the committee will send them to a SCIAC school first. I'm sure Chapman would love to host, but the one team I know they won't want to see first round is CMS. The Stags are playing much better that they did in December, and we all know what happened the last time they played. Plus we have played much better competition!

What does everyone think about these scenarios?

[dahlby]

fhsutiger:
I am not questioning any of your hypotheticals, I am just asking if you know something that we don't know about Chapman not wanting to play CMS, and you have added that they would not to play at CMS either. Do you know this for a fact, or is that how you would feel personally if you were playing , coaching  or cheering for Chapman?

Have you considered that just maybe Chapman would be just happy to get in to the tourney? I don't know the answer. Maybe you have some facts I don't.

[DIIIghetto]

There will be no at-large bids from the SCIAC this year.  It won't even be close.  Our collective body of work against quality D3 teams was terrible this year.  Our best W was PP's beating Whitworth.  Outside of that, CMS W over Chapman was good but for SCIAC fans it was expected.  Oxy beat a couple of snobirds Emerson & Ripon who have decent records but aren't Top 25 material. 

Stags will have to win that 1 tourney game to get the ticket and we would all LOVE to see them against Chapman in the 1st round.  Like I said before, that will give Scali his best chance at winning a post-season game.  I don't think the Stags can keep it within 10 at Whitworth and unfortunately their coaches probably do not think that they can either.  Then again, if Kats can do it...

[stag44]

There will be no at-large bids from the SCIAC this year.  It won't even be close.  Our collective body of work against quality D3 teams was terrible this year.  Our best W was PP's beating Whitworth.  Outside of that, CMS W over Chapman was good but for SCIAC fans it was expected.  Oxy beat a couple of snobirds Emerson & Ripon who have decent records but aren't Top 25 material. 

Stags will have to win that 1 tourney game to get the ticket and we would all LOVE to see them against Chapman in the 1st round.  Like I said before, that will give Scali his best chance at winning a post-season game.  I don't think the Stags can keep it within 10 at Whitworth and unfortunately their coaches probably do not think that they can either.  Then again, if Kats can do it...

If you look at the regional rankings though, the Stags are currently ranked, and even if they lose that SCIAC final game they will be 22-5, with an 18-4 record in region. I think that they could be a bubble team for an at-large bid.

I do think that if the Stags were to get a neutral game vs Whitworth, they would play them very tough. Last year, on a neutral court the defeated WW, but Spokane is a tough place to play and the Pirates have been near unbeatable up there. But, almost everyone who plays for them this year remembers the gym and the atmosphere and I think will be more prepared if they do play in Spokane. To be quite honest, I think alot of us were shell-shocked and just happy to be in the NCAAs, and we went cold for about 3 minutes to start the second half, which gave them enough to put us away.

Kats got WW on a neutral court early in the season while the Pirates were adjusting to life without Nakamura, Selleret and Jurich. Beal was still figuring out how to run the team as well. I'm sure both teams were also looking ahead to a possible matchup with then #1 Wash U. Regardless, Kats always has great game plans to keep them in games where they may seem outmatched.

Chapman has to be happy that they've finally broken through and gotten into the NCAAs. But, I'm very curious to how they will respond to playing competiton at their level or higher. They have not been challenged since their Hawaii trip almost 2 months ago. While they have time to prepare and really hone in on a game plan for a SCIAC team, i'll be curious to see how the respond to the higher competition level.

[stag44]

Stags win @ Whittier 67-54 after going up 43-16 at half

CLU wins at home vs Redlands 84-72, holding onto a 16 pt halftime lead

Those two results clinch an outright SCIAC regular season title for the Stags! Congrats!!

more details to follow tomorrow

[OxyBob]

Eyewitness report from Thousand Oaks:

Cal Lutheran 84, Redlands 72

Cal Lutheran continued to surge in the standings with a 84-72 win over Redlands. A 10-2 run in the last 4:30 of the first half gave CLU a 42-26 halftime lead. In the second half, the Bulldogs cut the lead to 5 at 12:10, but that's as close as UR would get. CLU is on a roll. After a disappointing 2-5 start to the conference season, the Kingsmen have won 5 straight.

For CLU, Kyle Knudsen had 26 points, Andy Meier scored 19, Greg Grimm had 18, and Aaron Fisher played a great game with 18 points and 12 rebounds. For Redlands, Jordan Sanvictores had 13, but no one else scored double figures for UR.

Over in Eagle Rock, Jack Hanley scored 29, and Deshun McCoy had 18 points and 16 rebounds as Oxy defeated La Verne 79-62. Billy Nicolini and Jake Veitch each scored 13 for the Leopards.

Oxy and Redlands are now tied for 2nd place at 8-4. The Tigers and the Bulldogs meet this Saturday at Oxy. Cal Lutheran and Pomona remain tied for 4th at 7-5.

Saturday's schedule, all games 7:30 p.m.:

Pomona (11-12, 7-5) @ Claremont (19-4, 11-1)
Redlands (12-11, 8-4) @ Oxy (16-7, 8-4)
Cal Lutheran (13-10, 7-5) @ Whittier (10-12, 4-8)
Caltech (0-23, 0-12) @ La Verne (7-16, 3-9)

I fully believe that if CMS were to get to the SCIAC title and lose, they would be a bubble at-large team.

First, some reality: The SCIAC will get one bid this year -- the tournament champ AQ. That 's it. For you Claremont honks, either the Stags win the SCIAC tournament or they're done. Put all of your other fanciful scenarios out of your mind.

For fun, I'll play your charming "what if" game with you. The only way Claremont could get into the NCAA tournament as a Pool C team is if Chapman doesn't get in as a Pool B team. In that case CMS would be paired in a first round knockout game against the SCIAC tournament champ, with the winner shipped out to (probably) Whitworth. The D-III NCAA tournament bracket is purposely designed to eliminate the SCIAC teams as quickly as possible, which is why there is the "SCIAC Exception" to the selection criteria: "Teams from the same conference do not have to play one another in the first round as long as geographic proximity is maintained." When are you guys going to get that?

If Chapman gets a bid with its joke schedule, then the NCAA selection committee will pair the SCIAC AQ against Chapman, and the winner of that game will be shipped somewhere like Whitworth to be eliminated. At least that's what the NCAA wants.

Last year, on a neutral court the defeated WW, but Spokane is a tough place to play and the Pirates have been near unbeatable up there. But, almost everyone who plays for them this year remembers the gym and the atmosphere and I think will be more prepared if they do play in Spokane. To be quite honest, I think alot of us were shell-shocked and just happy to be in the NCAAs, and we went cold for about 3 minutes to start the second half, which gave them enough to put us away.

3 minutes? C'mon, it was more like the entire second half.

OxyBob

[stag44]

Last year, on a neutral court the defeated WW, but Spokane is a tough place to play and the Pirates have been near unbeatable up there. But, almost everyone who plays for them this year remembers the gym and the atmosphere and I think will be more prepared if they do play in Spokane. To be quite honest, I think alot of us were shell-shocked and just happy to be in the NCAAs, and we went cold for about 3 minutes to start the second half, which gave them enough to put us away.

3 minutes? C'mon, it was more like the entire second half.

OxyBob

From the 16:31 to the 11:28 mark of that game WW went on a run from up 1 to up 15. Other than that, we played them even; so sorry it was 5 minutes not 3 minutes.

Also, I'm not saying that CMS will be a lock Pool-C team, but I also believe that if there aren't many upsets in other conference tourneys, then that leaves more Pool-C bids available. Looking at all the rankings around, the Stags would be on the bubble. I'd say it would be a hopeful chance, but I think its somewhat similar to Oxy in 07-08. Granted they had wins in the non-conference over a ranked Plattsburgh St and highly regarded Illinois Weslyan, but this year CMS should have a better conference record, and is currently ranked in the region. Again, they'll be a bubble team at best if they lose in the tourney, but I still think they will be in consideration.

[OxyBob]

From the 16:31 to the 11:28 mark of that game WW went on a run from up 1 to up 15. Other than that, we played them even; so sorry it was 5 minutes not 3 minutes.

You must have learned how to measure time and keep score differently than I did. Whitworth led 42-40 at the half. The Pirates outscored you 16-4 and led 58-44 at 12:00. Then the lead went to 69-52 at 8:00. You got the lead down to 13 at 2:40, and lost by 18. Sorry, but you didn't play them even.

As for your mythical Pool C aspirations, CMS better figure out how to beat Pomona this Saturday, because the Stags got worked last time, and the Sagehens are fighting for their conference tournament lives.

OxyBob

[D O.C.]

Put all of your other fanciful scenarios out of your mind.

How very inciteful of you.