MBB: American Rivers Conference

[Alfredeneumann]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

It is  an issue with broadcast clock, not the clock in the arena. If you re-watch and see the clock on scoreboard or above the back board, it stops but tv clock goes until it catches up.

[doolittledog]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

It is  an issue with broadcast clock, not the clock in the arena. If you re-watch and see the clock on scoreboard or above the back board, it stops but tv clock goes until it catches up.

Thanks.  A few seconds later the pbp guy mentioned there was not 52 seconds left, but 5.2 and then it got fixed so that made me think there was probably two different clocks going on there.  Or that's what I was hoping was the case. 

Figuring out 3rd through 6th on Saturday could get interesting.

[dunkin3117]

One thing to consider is that this second set also takes into account results against regionally ranked opponents, which was not included last week. It's results vs. last week's regionally ranked teams, if that helps.

They passed Whitworth (who lost once, but to the region's No. 1) and Augsburg, who lost twice.

If that's the case.  Loras went 1-1 over RRO last week and still finds themselves behind Augsburg who went 0-2.  The final rankings are the only ones that matter, but it seems odd to me that they aren't flip flopped.

[Alfredeneumann]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

It is  an issue with broadcast clock, not the clock in the arena. If you re-watch and see the clock on scoreboard or above the back board, it stops but tv clock goes until it catches up.

Thanks.  A few seconds later the pbp guy mentioned there was not 52 seconds left, but 5.2 and then it got fixed so that made me think there was probably two different clocks going on there.  Or that's what I was hoping was the case. 

Figuring out 3rd through 6th on Saturday could get interesting.

I just talked to college's broadcast engineer and made him aware, he will investigate and try to fix the issue.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

One thing to consider is that this second set also takes into account results against regionally ranked opponents, which was not included last week. It's results vs. last week's regionally ranked teams, if that helps.

They passed Whitworth (who lost once, but to the region's No. 1) and Augsburg, who lost twice.

If that's the case.  Loras went 1-1 over RRO last week and still finds themselves behind Augsburg who went 0-2.  The final rankings are the only ones that matter, but it seems odd to me that they aren't flip flopped.

Head to head.  Augsburg beat Loras this year.  That's why it's flipped.  You're right, the other numbers don't justify it, but head to head is a primary criteria.

[dunkin3117]

Going to be a wild Saturday.  NWU locked up the regular season title last night with their win over Central and with Loras's win over Simpson, they have secured the 2 seed.  BV would appear to be a lock at the 3 assuming they take care of Luther.  Then it gets CRAZY.  Simpson and Wartburg are tied at 8-7, UD and Central at 7-8.  Only 3 are going to make the tournament.  If they happen to all finish with an 8-8 record, UD is the odd man out having gone 2-4 vs. the other 3.  Central (5-1) would be the 4 seed, Simpson (3-3, 1-1 vs NWU) the 5, Wartburg (3-3, 0-2 vs NWU) the 6.  That's the easy part to figure out.  Today's lesson plan is for the kids to figure who gets what seed based on all the tie breakers.  Should be a fun little project.  Stay tuned.

[Hoosiersfan2323]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

Fun night of IIAC hoops, especially the Wartburg/Coe & Loras/Simpson games. Had both up on split screen at my house and couldn't figure out which to watch down the stretch.

As the regular season wraps up, I want to comment on a post from a few weeks back (you'll have to excuse me for not having the board all figured out yet, not sure how to quote two posts in one). The post was about Loras' Josh Ruggles and his standing as an All-American candidate. I didn't comment at the time because quite frankly, I hadn't really thought about the kid in that light before that post - maybe because of the way he burst onto the scene just this year after missing most of last season with a heart issue. But the more I've watched him, the more I've realized that he really is having an All-American-caliber season. And whenever the lights are brightest, he's performing.

I won't revisit every number shared by duckfan in the original post, but his efficiency is ridiculous and those numbers at least are worth revisiting. 22.2 PPG while shooting 50% FG, 46.7% 3PT, 90.5% FT is the kind of thing that no other player in the country is doing. He's the go-to guy for Loras & the most efficient scorer in the country. But if we're being honest, Ruggles probably isn't going to be an all-American this year - Loras hasn't won enough, he's not a senior, and the IIAC isn't the biggest stage.

What he should be, though, is IIAC Offensive Player of the Year. I bring this up because over the past two games, I've watched him score 42 on Nebraska Wesleyan & 29 on Simpson, and since the Duhawks fell short of a conference title, I'm preparing for the IIAC coaches to give the award to an NWU player instead. Don't get me wrong - I have all the respect in the world for guys like Cooper Cook & Schimonitz, but if either of those two gets the honor while averaging 6-7PPG less and shooting significantly worse from the field, the award might as well be renamed "Best Offensive Player on the Best Team", because neither of those two is the most dominant offensive player in the IIAC and I think anyone who has followed the league this year would agree.

A small caveat: if the award doesn't go to Ruggles, it belongs to TJ Lake. His efficiency is also nowhere near Ruggles, but if I'm going to be consistent in my argument that winning conference shouldn't be the only factor that matters when awarding MVP honors, then Lake deserves consideration as well. He and Ruggles are two of the most dominant offensive players in the country, and I hope the conference treats them as such.

Time to hop off my soap box - looking forward to another group of great IIAC games on Saturday & what should be a really fun tournament next week.

[doolittledog]

Hey AEN, as long as it's not actually happening at the game it's not a big deal.  I was just kind of freaking out at the time thinking Coe might have been screwed out of a few seconds late in a tight game.  If it's not effecting them on the court I can deal with it.  Wartburg offers a clear screen and decent announcers...which is appreciated. 

Speaking as a Dubuque fan...I hope we don't end up with a 4 way tie at 8-8 

As for talking about the conference MVP, I like that we have progressed as a group that we feel like we can talk about this.  About 10 years ago on the football side of the board there were a number of posters that thought the MVP automatically went to the best player on the best team and discussing it further was a waste of time and made them angry. 

[Alfredeneumann]

Hey AEN, as long as it's not actually happening at the game it's not a big deal.  I was just kind of freaking out at the time thinking Coe might have been screwed out of a few seconds late in a tight game.  If it's not effecting them on the court I can deal with it.  Wartburg offers a clear screen and decent announcers...which is appreciated. 

Speaking as a Dubuque fan...I hope we don't end up with a 4 way tie at 8-8 

As for talking about the conference MVP, I like that we have progressed as a group that we feel like we can talk about this.  About 10 years ago on the football side of the board there were a number of posters that thought the MVP automatically went to the best player on the best team and discussing it further was a waste of time and made them angry.

This AM we determined difference starts to occur once the game clock goes under 1:00 and the longer the the game goes without a whistle the larger the difference.

[rlgyank]

This is how I have it sorted out. Wesleyan will be the #1 seed, Loras the #2 seed, Buena Vista the #3 seed. Simpson and Wartburg have clinched a spot, just depends on what seed they are. The last spot comes down to Central or Dubuque.

The first column below will be the combination of who wins the 4 different games. After that will be what seed each team will be.

Loras, BVU, Coe, Wartburg                   (4) Wartburg (5) Simpson (6) Central

Loras, BVU, Coe, Central                       (4) Simpson (5) Wartburg (6) Central

Loras, BVU, Simpson, Wartburg             (4) Simpson, (5) Wartburg (6) Central

Loras, BVU, Simpson, Central                 (4) Simpson (5) Wartburg (6) Central

Loras, Luther, Coe, Wartburg                  (4) Wartburg (5) Simpson (6) Central

Loras, Luther, Coe, Central                     (4) Simpson (5) Wartburg (6) Central

Loras, Luther, Simpson, Wartburg            (4) Simpson (5) Wartburg (6) Central

Loras, Luther, Simpson, Central               (4) Simpson (5) Wartburg (6) Central

Dubuque, BVU, Coe, Wartburg                 (4) Wartburg (5) Simpson (6) Dubuque

Dubuque, BVU, Coe, Central                     (4) Central (5) Simpson (6) Wartburg

Dubuque, BVU, Simpson, Wartburg           (4) Simpson (5) Wartburg (6) Dubuque

Dubuque, BVU, Simpson, Central               (4) Simpson (5) Central (6) Wartburg

Dubuque, Luther, Coe, Wartburg                (4) Wartburg (5) Simpson (6) Dubuque

Dubuque, Luther, Coe, Central                    (4) Central (5) Simpson (6) Wartburg

Dubuque, Luther, Simpson, Wartburg           (4) Simpson, (5) Wartburg (6) Dubuque

Dubuque, Luther, Simpson, Central              (4) Simpson, (5) Central (6) Wartburg

Hopefully I typed all of that in correctly.

[rlgyank]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

Fun night of IIAC hoops, especially the Wartburg/Coe & Loras/Simpson games. Had both up on split screen at my house and couldn't figure out which to watch down the stretch.

As the regular season wraps up, I want to comment on a post from a few weeks back (you'll have to excuse me for not having the board all figured out yet, not sure how to quote two posts in one). The post was about Loras' Josh Ruggles and his standing as an All-American candidate. I didn't comment at the time because quite frankly, I hadn't really thought about the kid in that light before that post - maybe because of the way he burst onto the scene just this year after missing most of last season with a heart issue. But the more I've watched him, the more I've realized that he really is having an All-American-caliber season. And whenever the lights are brightest, he's performing.

I won't revisit every number shared by duckfan in the original post, but his efficiency is ridiculous and those numbers at least are worth revisiting. 22.2 PPG while shooting 50% FG, 46.7% 3PT, 90.5% FT is the kind of thing that no other player in the country is doing. He's the go-to guy for Loras & the most efficient scorer in the country. But if we're being honest, Ruggles probably isn't going to be an all-American this year - Loras hasn't won enough, he's not a senior, and the IIAC isn't the biggest stage.

What he should be, though, is IIAC Offensive Player of the Year. I bring this up because over the past two games, I've watched him score 42 on Nebraska Wesleyan & 29 on Simpson, and since the Duhawks fell short of a conference title, I'm preparing for the IIAC coaches to give the award to an NWU player instead. Don't get me wrong - I have all the respect in the world for guys like Cooper Cook & Schimonitz, but if either of those two gets the honor while averaging 6-7PPG less and shooting significantly worse from the field, the award might as well be renamed "Best Offensive Player on the Best Team", because neither of those two is the most dominant offensive player in the IIAC and I think anyone who has followed the league this year would agree.

A small caveat: if the award doesn't go to Ruggles, it belongs to TJ Lake. His efficiency is also nowhere near Ruggles, but if I'm going to be consistent in my argument that winning conference shouldn't be the only factor that matters when awarding MVP honors, then Lake deserves consideration as well. He and Ruggles are two of the most dominant offensive players in the country, and I hope the conference treats them as such.

Time to hop off my soap box - looking forward to another group of great IIAC games on Saturday & what should be a really fun tournament next week.

There is no IIAC offensive player of the year award. There is a most valuable player award and a defensive player of the year award. I looked back about 4 or 5 years, and the MVP award has gone to a player on the first place team. I am most familiar with last year, and Cooper Cook did not have the best offensive stats. It looked like Colby Taylor from Central had the best offensive stats, but in my opinion it would be tough to give a player on the 5th place team the Most Valuable player award.

Josh Ruggles is a very good offensive player, no doubt. I watched him light up Wesleyan for 42 points. If he won the MVP award, I would have no problem with that, as Loras did come in 2nd place. But if someone on Wesleyan wins it, that would not surprise me either. The coaches vote on these awards, and I think they realize that to be an MVP, your team has to have done pretty well.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

Fun night of IIAC hoops, especially the Wartburg/Coe & Loras/Simpson games. Had both up on split screen at my house and couldn't figure out which to watch down the stretch.

As the regular season wraps up, I want to comment on a post from a few weeks back (you'll have to excuse me for not having the board all figured out yet, not sure how to quote two posts in one). The post was about Loras' Josh Ruggles and his standing as an All-American candidate. I didn't comment at the time because quite frankly, I hadn't really thought about the kid in that light before that post - maybe because of the way he burst onto the scene just this year after missing most of last season with a heart issue. But the more I've watched him, the more I've realized that he really is having an All-American-caliber season. And whenever the lights are brightest, he's performing.

I won't revisit every number shared by duckfan in the original post, but his efficiency is ridiculous and those numbers at least are worth revisiting. 22.2 PPG while shooting 50% FG, 46.7% 3PT, 90.5% FT is the kind of thing that no other player in the country is doing. He's the go-to guy for Loras & the most efficient scorer in the country. But if we're being honest, Ruggles probably isn't going to be an all-American this year - Loras hasn't won enough, he's not a senior, and the IIAC isn't the biggest stage.

What he should be, though, is IIAC Offensive Player of the Year. I bring this up because over the past two games, I've watched him score 42 on Nebraska Wesleyan & 29 on Simpson, and since the Duhawks fell short of a conference title, I'm preparing for the IIAC coaches to give the award to an NWU player instead. Don't get me wrong - I have all the respect in the world for guys like Cooper Cook & Schimonitz, but if either of those two gets the honor while averaging 6-7PPG less and shooting significantly worse from the field, the award might as well be renamed "Best Offensive Player on the Best Team", because neither of those two is the most dominant offensive player in the IIAC and I think anyone who has followed the league this year would agree.

A small caveat: if the award doesn't go to Ruggles, it belongs to TJ Lake. His efficiency is also nowhere near Ruggles, but if I'm going to be consistent in my argument that winning conference shouldn't be the only factor that matters when awarding MVP honors, then Lake deserves consideration as well. He and Ruggles are two of the most dominant offensive players in the country, and I hope the conference treats them as such.

Time to hop off my soap box - looking forward to another group of great IIAC games on Saturday & what should be a really fun tournament next week.

There is no IIAC offensive player of the year award. There is a most valuable player award and a defensive player of the year award. I looked back about 4 or 5 years, and the MVP award has gone to a player on the first place team. I am most familiar with last year, and Cooper Cook did not have the best offensive stats. It looked like Colby Taylor from Central had the best offensive stats, but in my opinion it would be tough to give a player on the 5th place team the Most Valuable player award.

Josh Ruggles is a very good offensive player, no doubt. I watched him light up Wesleyan for 42 points. If he won the MVP award, I would have no problem with that, as Loras did come in 2nd place. But if someone on Wesleyan wins it, that would not surprise me either. The coaches vote on these awards, and I think they realize that to be an MVP, your team has to have done pretty well.

Tell that to Ernie Banks.

Your point is valid (more often than not, MVP goes to the best player on the best team), but IMO is BS.  A player that keeps a 5th place team from being dead last is probably more valuable than a player that boosts a second place team to first.

[duckfan41]

Final scores...

NWU 104-80 over Central
Loras 87-86 over Simpson
Wartburg 72-69 over Coe in OT
Dubuque 84-71 over Luther

Did anyone else see the end of the Wartburg game?  The clock kept running for about 10 seconds after play stopped.  Took it all the way down to 7.3 seconds left.  Hard to believe no one on the floor saw that.  Or is the game clock and what we see on the screen 2 different things possibly?

I'll let someone else post the standings and what possibilities exist for the Saturday games.

Fun night of IIAC hoops, especially the Wartburg/Coe & Loras/Simpson games. Had both up on split screen at my house and couldn't figure out which to watch down the stretch.

As the regular season wraps up, I want to comment on a post from a few weeks back (you'll have to excuse me for not having the board all figured out yet, not sure how to quote two posts in one). The post was about Loras' Josh Ruggles and his standing as an All-American candidate. I didn't comment at the time because quite frankly, I hadn't really thought about the kid in that light before that post - maybe because of the way he burst onto the scene just this year after missing most of last season with a heart issue. But the more I've watched him, the more I've realized that he really is having an All-American-caliber season. And whenever the lights are brightest, he's performing.

I won't revisit every number shared by duckfan in the original post, but his efficiency is ridiculous and those numbers at least are worth revisiting. 22.2 PPG while shooting 50% FG, 46.7% 3PT, 90.5% FT is the kind of thing that no other player in the country is doing. He's the go-to guy for Loras & the most efficient scorer in the country. But if we're being honest, Ruggles probably isn't going to be an all-American this year - Loras hasn't won enough, he's not a senior, and the IIAC isn't the biggest stage.

What he should be, though, is IIAC Offensive Player of the Year. I bring this up because over the past two games, I've watched him score 42 on Nebraska Wesleyan & 29 on Simpson, and since the Duhawks fell short of a conference title, I'm preparing for the IIAC coaches to give the award to an NWU player instead. Don't get me wrong - I have all the respect in the world for guys like Cooper Cook & Schimonitz, but if either of those two gets the honor while averaging 6-7PPG less and shooting significantly worse from the field, the award might as well be renamed "Best Offensive Player on the Best Team", because neither of those two is the most dominant offensive player in the IIAC and I think anyone who has followed the league this year would agree.

A small caveat: if the award doesn't go to Ruggles, it belongs to TJ Lake. His efficiency is also nowhere near Ruggles, but if I'm going to be consistent in my argument that winning conference shouldn't be the only factor that matters when awarding MVP honors, then Lake deserves consideration as well. He and Ruggles are two of the most dominant offensive players in the country, and I hope the conference treats them as such.

Time to hop off my soap box - looking forward to another group of great IIAC games on Saturday & what should be a really fun tournament next week.

There is no IIAC offensive player of the year award. There is a most valuable player award and a defensive player of the year award. I looked back about 4 or 5 years, and the MVP award has gone to a player on the first place team. I am most familiar with last year, and Cooper Cook did not have the best offensive stats. It looked like Colby Taylor from Central had the best offensive stats, but in my opinion it would be tough to give a player on the 5th place team the Most Valuable player award.

Josh Ruggles is a very good offensive player, no doubt. I watched him light up Wesleyan for 42 points. If he won the MVP award, I would have no problem with that, as Loras did come in 2nd place. But if someone on Wesleyan wins it, that would not surprise me either. The coaches vote on these awards, and I think they realize that to be an MVP, your team has to have done pretty well.

Tell that to Ernie Banks.

Your point is valid (more often than not, MVP goes to the best player on the best team), but IMO is BS.  A player that keeps a 5th place team from being dead last is probably more valuable than a player that boosts a second place team to first.

I also would like to mention how in most every game this season, Ruggles has been the best and most efficient player on the floor. Sure he's had down games, but who doesn't? His numbers are absurd and if you watch Loras play, you can tell other players play above their talent level with Ruggles on the court. His confidence is contagious with his team.

[Hoosiersfan2323]

The final day of IIAC regular season play has arrived! Tons of conference tournament implications on the line, here's what we've got:

Loras at Dubuque: (Massey Prediction: Loras-88, UD-87)
Wartburg at Central: (Massey Prediction: Wartburg-81, Central-76)
Coe at Simpson: (Massey Prediction: Simpson-81, Coe-72)
Buena Vista at Luther: (Massey Prediction: BV-83, Luther-68)

[Hoosiersfan2323]

The regular season has come to a close, and the IIAC tournament has shaped up as such:

1. Nebraska Wesleyan (22-3 overall, 13-3 IIAC)
2. Loras (19-6 overall, 12-4 IIAC)
3. Buena Vista (17-8 overall, 10-6 IIAC)
4. Simpson (13-11 overall, 9-7 IIAC)
5. Wartburg (16-9 overall, 9-7 IIAC)
6. Central (10-15 overall, 7-9 IIAC)

For the sake of sparking debate and continuing the conference MVP conversation that briefly occurred over the past few days, I wanted to review each of the candidates (as I see them) a little deeper (listed in alphabetical order, stats conference-only):

Sam Amsbaugh (Simpson SR): 18.7 PPG (4th IIAC), 7.4 RPG (3rd IIAC), 3.9 APG (6th IIAC), 0.8 BPG (8th IIAC), 0.8 SPG (18th IIAC), 49.5%FG (9th IIAC), 78.8% FT (13th IIAC).

The case for: Amsbaugh is a senior (which always carries weight in this kind of vote), and he's one of the most well-rounded players in the IIAC statistically for an IIAC tournament team.

The case against: Simpson is the fourth best team in the IIAC, and Amsbaugh may not even be the best candidate for MVP on his own team.

Cooper Cook (Nebraska Wesleyan JR): 14.8 PPG (14th IIAC), 5.1 RPG (10th IIAC), 1.8 APG (28th IIAC), 1.6 BPG (3rd IIAC), 1.3 SPG (8th IIAC), 49.4% FG (10th IIAC), 36.8% 3PT (unranked), 83.3% FT (does not meet min qualifier)

The case for: Cook is the league's incumbent MVP on the 2017-2018 champ.

The case against: As good as Cook's numbers are, if you compare them to some of the other candidates on this list, it's abundantly clear that he did not have anywhere close to the best season of the group.

Ryan DiCanio (Loras JR): 16.6 PPG (8th IIAC), 6.6 RPG (5th IIAC), 4.8 APG (2nd IIAC), 0.3 BPG (23rd IIAC), 1.0 SPG (11th IIAC), 1.7 A/TO (8th IIAC), 42.5% FG (15th IIAC), 33.6% 3PT (unranked), 82.0% FT (8th IIAC)

The case for: DiCanio is a returning first team all-IIAC player who scored his 1,000th point and grabbed his 500th rebound this season, continuing one of the best IIAC careers in the last few years for a Loras team that missed winning conference by a game

The case against: DiCanio is not a very efficient scorer, and as well-rounded as his game is, opposing coaches would be the first to tell you that he is not the player they scheme against on Loras' roster

TJ Lake (Dubuque SR): 22.8 PPG (2nd IIAC), 3.1 RPG (44th IIAC), 1.9 APG (21st IIAC), 0.9 SPG (15th IIAC), 40.9 % FG (16th IIAC), 36.2% 3PT (5th IIAC), 3.2 3PG (2nd IIAC), 84.8% FT (5th IIAC)

The case for: Lake is arguably the league's best senior.

The case against: Though they won a few big games and always had to be taken seriously by opponents, UD was not good this season and didn't even earn a conference tournament berth.

Connor Riordan (Simpson SO): 21.4 PPG (3rd IIAC), 4.7 RPG (17th IIAC), 3.4 APG (9th IIAC), 3.4 A/TO (2nd IIAC), 0.2 BPG (39th IIAC), 1.1 SPG (9th IIAC), 54.4% FG (3rd IIAC), 34.7% 3PT (unranked), 87.5% FT (3rd IIAC)

The case for: Looking at the stats, Riordan is one of the most well-rounded players in the IIAC and he is certainly deserving of being in this conversation.

The case against: Simpson is only the 4th seed in the IIAC tournament, and it's hard to believe that a sophomore who is comparable to other players on this list but on the 4 seed will win MVP.

Josh Ruggles (Loras JR): 23.3 PPG (1st IIAC), 4.8 RPG (15th IIAC), 3.6 APG (8th IIAC), 3.6 A/TO (1st IIAC), 49.8 % FG (8th IIAC), 49.1% 3PT (1st IIAC), 3.6 3PG (1st IIAC), 92.9% FT (1st IIAC)

The case for: Ruggles is the conference's top scorer and has put up his scoring numbers with the greatest shooting efficiency of any player in the conference. In fact, based on NCAA qualifying standards, Ruggles is actually the nation's most efficient shooter (based on sum of FG%, 3PT%, FT%), and he's pretty clearly the IIAC's best shot at an All-American candidate this season.

The case against: Loras didn't win the IIAC, they missed it by a game. If they had beaten NWU in a game in which Ruggles scored 42, this wouldn't even be a debate.

Nate Schimonitz (Nebraska Wesleyan SO): 16.1 PPG (11th IIAC), 3.9 RPG (25th IIAC), 4.8 APG (1st IIAC), 2.5 A/TO (4th IIAC), 0.2 BPG (34th IIAC), 1.4 SPG (5th IIAC), 50.3% FG (7th IIAC), 34.4% 3PT (unranked), 77.1% FT (15th IIAC)

The case for: Numbers-wise, he's the best candidate from the IIAC champion team.

The case against: Aside from the fact that Schimonitz's numbers are not the best in the league (though they are strong), Schimonitz missed 1/8th of IIAC games with an injury.

Continuing my argument from earlier this week, it's pretty clear that Ruggles is the strongest candidate for IIAC MVP, and if you factor in the comeback he's made from last year's heart issues at all, it's a no-brainer. If he is not given the award, my guess is that it will go to Schimonitz, though if the coaches go with Cook despite the fact that he's averaging 9PPG less than Ruggles on significantly lower efficiency, I think that would be a shame. Additionally, given that All-American voting factors in conference MVPs (at least NABC), putting up someone not named Josh Ruggles will virtually guarantee that the IIAC will not have an All-American this season.

If I had any say in post-season awards, my vote would look like this:

Coach of the Year: Dale Wellman, NWU
Most Valuable Player: Josh Ruggles, Loras
Defensive Player of the Year: Deion Wells-Ross, NWU

First Team All-Conference (excludes MVP):
Sam Amsbaugh, Simpson
Cooper Cook, NWU
Ryan DiCanio, Loras
TJ Lake, Dubuque
Conor Riordan, Simpson
Nate Schimonitz, NWU
Kyle Smith, Central
Thomas Wisecup, BV

Would love to hear what you guys are thinking. Looking forward to an exciting week of conference tournament play!