MBB: American Rivers Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Well, I'm rooting for Loras because Ruggles is the man. LOL

[doolittledog]

I'll cheer for Loras once they are in the NCAA tourney...but not a moment sooner 

[duckfan41]

Well, I'm rooting for Loras because Ruggles is the man. LOL

I, too, will be rooting for Loras. Love their team and how they play! Having Josh Ruggles on their roster certainly doesn't hurt either!

[dunkin3117]

Tonights slate of games.

Loras at Central...Loras by 5
Coe at NWU...NWU by 21
Wartburg at BV...BV by 12
Simpson at Luther...Simpson by 15

[Greek Tragedy]

BV, Loras and NWU all hold serve. The next three game days have the top three, all 9-3, playing each other. The 1st regional rankings come out next week so it will be interesting where any of these teams fall. Loras probably has the best SOS, but NWU has the best record (and probably the worst SOS of the 3). Loras doesn't play this weekend, so they are safe from defeat. But NWU plays at BVU.

[dunkin3117]

This next week is going to be CRAZY.  As it always seem, the last couple weeks have so many tournament implications.  May be a safe bet that BV, Loras, NWU, and Simpson will end up with the top 4 seeds.  With Coe and Dubuque nipping at the heels of Wartburg and Central, I'm not certain who will be the odd ones out.  Coe has been playing extremely well as of late, knocking off BV and Loras, while Wartburg has lost 4 straight. 

[Hoosiersfan2323]

Been a busy week on the homefront, just catching up on a whole lot of IIAC action from yesterday:

Wartburg: 85, Simpson: 77
Central: 85, Dubuque: 78
NWU: 85, BV: 74
Coe: 86, Luther: 78

Not much surprising here from my perspective, Wartburg snapped a brutal 4-game losing and NWU picked up a huge road win over BV but that's about it. Huge week of IIAC play ahead, with Loras playing both Nebraska Wesleyan (at NWU) & Buena Vista (at Loras). NWU plays at Wartburg, too. Real teams separated from the pretenders by this time next week.

[dunkin3117]

Heading into the last 2 weeks.  Here's how things stand...NWU, Loras, and BV have all clinched a spot in the IIAC Tournament.

10-3 NWU (vs. Loras, @Wartburg, vs. Central, BYE)
9-3   Loras (@NWU, vs. BV, vs. Simpson, @UD)
9-4   BV (vs.UD, @Loras, BYE, @Luther)
7-6   Simpson (vs.Central, BYE, @Loras, vs.Coe)
6-6   Wartburg (@Luther, vs.NWU, vs.Coe, @Central)
6-6   Central (@Simpson, vs.Luther, @NWU, vs.Wartburg)
5-8   Coe (BYE, vs.UD, @Wartburg, @Simpson)
4-8   Dubuque (@BV, @Coe, vs.Luther, vs.Loras)
0-12 Luther (vs.Wartburg, @Central, @UD, vs.BV)

Predictions on how things shake out...NWU beats Loras, but losses to Wartburg. Loras goes 3-1 and gets tiebreaker over NWU (Loras 2-0 vs. BV, NWU 1-1).  Wartburg gets tiebreaker over Central with W over Loras.

12-4    Loras
12-4    NWU
11-5    BV
9-7     Simpson
8-8     Wartburg
8-8     Central
7-9     Coe
5-11   Dubuque
0-16   Luther

[Hoosiersfan2323]

Ultimately irrelevant but interesting nonetheless, new Massey rankings came out last night and IIAC steams aren't looking half bad:

#6 Nebraska Wesleyan (48th SOS, projected to finish 2-1)
#21 Loras (34th SOS, projected to finish 2-2)
#23 Buena Vista (36th SOS, projected to finish 2-1)
#33 Wartburg (7th SOS, projected to finish 3-1)
#57 Simpson (14th SOS, projected to finish 2-1)
#71 Dubuque (41st SOS, projected to finish 2-2)
#85 Central (27th SOS, projected to finish 2-2)
#127 Coe (35th SOS, projected to finish 1-2)
#270 Luther (59th SOS, projected to finish 0-4)

All of this is good for the IIAC coming in as the 4th best conference in D3 hoops behind WIAC, CCIW, & Ohio Conference in that order. Would love for this to mean two IIAC teams in the tournament, but who knows?

[Smitty Oom]

Ultimately irrelevant but interesting nonetheless, new Massey rankings came out last night and IIAC steams aren't looking half bad:

#6 Nebraska Wesleyan (48th SOS, projected to finish 2-1)
#21 Loras (34th SOS, projected to finish 2-2)
#23 Buena Vista (36th SOS, projected to finish 2-1)
#33 Wartburg (7th SOS, projected to finish 3-1)
#57 Simpson (14th SOS, projected to finish 2-1)
#71 Dubuque (41st SOS, projected to finish 2-2)
#85 Central (27th SOS, projected to finish 2-2)
#127 Coe (35th SOS, projected to finish 1-2)
#270 Luther (59th SOS, projected to finish 0-4)

All of this is good for the IIAC coming in as the 4th best conference in D3 hoops behind WIAC, CCIW, & Ohio Conference in that order. Would love for this to mean two IIAC teams in the tournament, but who knows?

It looks like a long shot unfortunately.

[Hoosiersfan2323]

It's Wednesday, which means IIAC hoops. Here's what we have to look forward to tonight:

Loras at Nebraska Wesleyan (Massey Prediction: NWU-98, Loras-90)
Wartburg at Luther (Massey Prediction: Wartburg-78, Luther-63)
Central at Simpson (Massey Prediction: Simpson-87, Central-80)
Dubuque at Buena Vista (Massey Prediction: BV-83, UD-76)

Conference championship implications in Nebraska as two teams who really don't like each other go head-to-head. We'll know a lot more about the conference tournament outlook tomorrow morning.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Men's first regional rankings this season: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2018/02/men-regional-rankings-first

[doolittledog]

Nebraska Wesleyan has a good night.

NWU takes care of Loras 108-92
Dubuque wins @ BVU 92-84

[Hoosiersfan2323]

Nebraska Wesleyan has a good night.

NWU takes care of Loras 108-92
Dubuque wins @ BVU 92-84

NWU shoots 69% against a pitiful Loras defense, which is somehow even higher than the percentage Josh Ruggles shot (14-21) for Loras on his way to 42 points.

[Alfredeneumann]

Wartburg beats Luther 77-59.

33-32 Wart @ 1/2 and started second half on 24-6 run to put it away. Kickbush and Sabus 20pt each. Gehling 12 points.


Not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about LC getting conference win #1 against the Knights. Coach Franzen seems to get one against WC when you least expect it.