Bumblin' B's

[joe smith]

 I'm back B'ers!!  I thought Bethany might get an automatic bid this year so they would qualify for an AQ or pool C but I guess they have to wait another year or two.  Anyway, this team is loaded again.  They return all but 2 players that went 24-4 and lost in the first round to John Carroll.  Their schedule still is suspect but it did get a little more challanging.  They also return their top 2 scorers in the Drahos twins who both averaged around 19 and 10 all year.  They did lose 2 3-point threats in Jimmy Deep and Brandon Duncan who both combined for over 100 threes last year.  The buzz around this team is that they got two transfers that are legit along with their other solid guard core from last year.  look for this team to dominate thier conference again, which looks a bit weaker then past years.  Definitely one of the top 4 teams in pool B.   

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Good to hear you're back.  We need some good reports from the Top B's.

[njlincolnlion]

Let The Games Begin!!!!!!   Go Lincoln University Lions   

[joe smith]

  Bethany travels to Case Western  tonight to play Adrian College.  One of the 4 teams that beat them last year.  The winner will face either Penn-State Altoona or Case.  With that said looks like the best game of the weekend at Case will be the 6 o'clocker tonight.  The other ones should be blow outs!!!

[joe smith]

  Good start for Bethany tonight crushing Adrian College 83-54.  They were led by Matt Drahos who had 25 and his brother Mike who had 17. 

[njlincolnlion]

Lincoln wins the Elizabethtown College tournament by defeating Richard Stockton in the finals.  The Lions rallied from a 19 point deficit with 9 minutes 2 seconds left in the game to win by 5 points. 

               Go Lions[/color]

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Chapman and Nebraska Wesleyan both won a couple of games out west.  I doubt there are too mnay independent contenders beyond those squads, and of course, Lincoln (big time win over King's, good luck with Albright).

Benedictine and Aurora both had big weekends as well.  aurora beat McMurry and Wheaton.

Maryville started well also.

Bethany went down to Case Western.

[joe smith]

  Yea tough loss for Bethany at Case.  Case will win 10 games this year if their lucky which will hurt the Bison if they're on the bubble. 

[Ralph Turner]

Joe, my first guess at the 4 B's are Aurora, Maryville, Benedictine and Lincoln.

I think the Bison are already on the bubble.  (Pool A cannot come too soon for the Pres AC.  )

Also, the NEAC, with its 9 full members, moves to Pool A next year, and takes a bid with it.

If the NIIC-Lake Michigan merger maintains the Pool A bid of the LMC, then 4 more Pool B members from the NIIC (about half of a bid) move with them to Pool A.

We might have only 2 Pool B bids by 2007-2008!

[Gregory Sager]

Aurora stumbled tonight, losing at home to former NIIC rival Dominican, 68-64. Dominican is much-improved, but this is the sort of game that a powerhouse program should win. Then again, in Bumblin' B Land, "powerhouse" is always a relative term.

Ralph, I wouldn't discount Nebraska Wesleyan from the Pool B equation. The Prairie Wolves play seven West Region games; they've won two of them already, and the other five are very winnable. They face:

* the ever-hapless UCSC Banana Slugs;
* St. Scholastica (whom the Prairie Wolves beat by 15 in St. Scholastica's gym up in Duluth on Friday night);
* Whitworth (which appears to be a bit down this season) in the first round of the Cal Lutheran tourney;
* either Luther or host Cal Lutheran (Luther's a bottom-half-of-the-IIAC program, and Cal Lutheran's a middling SCIAC program -- neither team would scare me if I shared a conference with such NAIA-2 national powers as preseason #1 Northwestern (IA), #5 and defending national runner-up Concordia (NE), and #18 Sioux Falls); and
* traditional archrival Colorado College (which also appears to be down this season; the Tigers were drilled by two NWC teams by a combined total of 57 points this past weekend).

I'll be surprised if Nebraska Wesleyan doesn't end the season with a 7-0 West Region record, 6-1 at the worst. In spite of a dearth of regional competition, the Prairie Wolves might end up being the gold standard of Pool B on Selection Monday.

I'll hold off on saying anything about Chapman until the Panthers play a D3 team. They face Cal Lutheran and Redlands this week.

[Coach C]

Lincoln sure seems to be a stong contender, bud GOD what schedule!  The road trips are reminiscent of the SCAD schedules of the late 90s and early 00s.

C

[Warren Thompson]

RMC and Lincoln will meet twice this season (Wansley v. Myrick should be interesting).

[Coach C]

Well, it's my experience that you generally want to play Lincoln in the second semester if possible.  if you know what I mean.

C

[Ralph Turner]

Gregory, are you aware of any requirements for a mininum number of D3 games against in-region D3 teams that NebWes or a UDallas or a UCSCBanana Slugs must play?

I also wonder if NebWes will try to forego any GPAC post-season tourney and try for a D3 Independents post-season tourney.

http://www.d3independents.org/

[Coach C]

How in the world will that tournament work?  Everone gets to play who wants to and can afford to fly to a central location?  Seeding?  Sites?

Whew - what a mess!

C