MBB: American Rivers Conference

[Kohawk Krazy]

I know the conference tourney adds some excitement and a team that maybe got out slow out of the blocks can use the tourney to get that spot in the NCAA tourney.  But for me it takes away from the season.  A team works their butt off the whole season and could go 15-1 and then 1 bad night out against a team they might have already beat twice during the season and now they stay home from the NCAA tourney.  Doesn't seem right to me...but I know I am in the minority with these thoughts. 

Your same logic applies to the Kohawks in Pat Juckem's first year.  Won the IIAC Regular season title, then lost at home to BV in the Tourney Championship, costing them at spot in the NCAA's.  I guess if the team goes 15-1 during the regular season, but fails to get an at-large bid, they weren't that great on a regional scale, just in the conference.

[duhawkdanran]

Good point Kohawk. I think teams in the Iowa conference should play tougher non-conference schedules because they can not rely on their conference record to get in. Some of the top ranked teams in D3 are right across the river in Wisconsin and Illinois. IIAC teams should take the time to play these teams to beef their standings regionally.

[Kohawk Krazy]

I know Coe played Wash U and Augustana this year, both ranked in the Top Ten at the time.  I believe someone else played Augie as well.  I think someone played a Wisconsin school, but don't remember which.

[birds of prey]

Wartburg has played Wheaton, Augie, and Aurora. Loras has played UW-LaCrosse, Wheaton, and North Park. Dubuque played UW-Platteville. Simpson and Cornell have also played Augie. Simpson played Elmhurst and Carleton as well, and Luther and BV both played Gustavus Adolphus of the MIAC.

So IIAC teams have been playing tougher competition this year, they just haven't been able to get as many wins out of it. There might be an argument as to why the IIAC hasn't scheduled more games against the WIAC, MIAC, or CCIW, but then again those are really good conferences. The better teams of those conferences might not be so willing to play teams from the IIAC when they could play tougher competition elsewhere.

[sportsknight]

Same thing happened to Wartburg in '05.  Knights went 23-5 that year, 15-1 in the league, but lost to BV twice in the last week of the season and got held out of the tournament.  Went 6-3 in the non-con that year, with the three losses coming to Augustana, Grinnell, and Calvin and one of the wins over St. Thomas.

I talked to one of the conference coaches the week after the conference tournament finished up, and while the rules of decency probably forbid me from typing exactly what he said, it was something to the effect of "your guys got screwed."

The situation is a lot like what the IIAC was dealing with in football up until about 7-8 years ago.  No matter how deserving the #2 team was, this was a one-bid conference 95% of the time.  But after Wartburg and Coe both made it in 2002 and each played damn well, that opened the door to the IIAC being more of an at-large contender.

[Full Court Sorcerer]

If I understand everything correctly.  I do believe that the Kohawks are the only team to lock in their tournament bid at the three spot. (Except for the teams not making it.)  This means 1,2,4,5, and 6 seeds will all be decided this weekend.  Any predictions on how this plays out?  I think the conference road will go through BV, but anything can happen.

[Gregory Sager]

Same thing happened to Wartburg in '05.  Knights went 23-5 that year, 15-1 in the league, but lost to BV twice in the last week of the season and got held out of the tournament.  Went 6-3 in the non-con that year, with the three losses coming to Augustana, Grinnell, and Calvin and one of the wins over St. Thomas.

Of course the loss to Calvin didn't hurt Wartburg, since that was not a regional game.

[Rock Chalk DuHawk]

Top 3
Loras
BV
Coe

Loras goes on the road and beats BV.  Gorton will be named coach of the year.  Back to back conference champs for the Duhawks.  The rest is history. 

The only team that ever advances out of the conference tourny is the #1 seed, with the exception of BV over Coe a few years ago.

I dont see anyone else making it out besides Loras or BV......good luck to all!

[Kohawk Krazy]

BV beats Loras this week, BV #1, Loras #2, Coe #3...

[sportsknight]

Same thing happened to Wartburg in '05.  Knights went 23-5 that year, 15-1 in the league, but lost to BV twice in the last week of the season and got held out of the tournament.  Went 6-3 in the non-con that year, with the three losses coming to Augustana, Grinnell, and Calvin and one of the wins over St. Thomas.

Of course the loss to Calvin didn't hurt Wartburg, since that was not a regional game.

Exactly.  Plus, playing a national power to a 6 or 7 point loss (if I remember right) is a nice little side note to a pretty strong regional schedule. 

[doolittledog]

Looking around the IIAC website this morning I looked up the history of the conference champs...here's what I came up with.

Wartburg - 21 titles
Central - 15 titles
Upper Iowa - 9 titles
Buena Vista - 8 titles
Luther - 7 titles
Dubuque - 7 titles
Loras - 6 titles
St. Ambrose - 6 titles
Simpson - 5 titles
Parsons - 5 titles
William Penn - 4 titles
UNI - 2 titles
Coe - 1 title
Iowa Wesleyan - 1 title

I am not sure if the conference counts regular season or tourney titles since the conference tourney came into play.

[doolittledog]

Here are how the conference titles have broken down by decade...

1920's
Parsons - 2
UNI - 2
Buena Vista - 1
St. Ambrose - 1

1930's
Central - 4
St. Ambrose - 4
Iowa Wesleyan - 1
Luther - 1

1940's
Dubuque - 4
Loras - 3
Simpson - 2
Luther - 2

1950's
Wartburg - 3
Loras - 2
Upper Iowa - 2
St. Ambrose - 1
Luther - 1
Parsons - 1
Central - 1

1960's
Wartburg - 4
Upper Iowa - 4
Parsons - 2
Buena Vista - 1
Luther - 1

1970's
Wartburg - 6
Central - 4
William Penn - 2
Buena Vista - 1

1980's
Wartburg - 3
Central - 2
William Penn - 2
Luther - 2
Dubuque - 2

1990's
Central - 4
Simpson - 3
Upper Iowa - 3
Wartburg - 2
Dubuque - 1
Buena Vista - 1

2000's
Buena Vista - 4
Wartburg - 3
Coe - 1
Loras - 1

[Full Court Sorcerer]

I am not sure if the conference counts regular season or tourney titles since the conference tourney came into play.

Coe didn't win the conference tourney this decade, so it must be the regualar season.

[The Show]

Yeah, I believe BV won the conference tourny for Coe's year and 2 of Wartburg's.

[Alfredeneumann]

Wartburg 10 Luther 10 4 minutes in.