MBB: American Rivers Conference

[the_apprentice]

BV wins in OT, 88-81, I'll be interested to hear everyone's take on this game.  Lots of BV steals late in regulation to come back.  Dupic and Franklin sounded unstoppable late.  Best of luck on Saturday Beavers!

[The Show]

but no way BV drops a tourney game at home.

Nope, but they had me worried for most of the game!

Just got back from the road trip up north.  Well worth the drive and price of admission!

BV down 13 with 4:26 to go, almost was ready to go get the car started.  BV cuts it to 6 with 2:15 to go, starts to get interesting.  Coe hits a 3 with 1:45 left to go up 9 and I thought that was the nail in the coffin.  Then Coe's guards fell apart with the heavy fullcourt pressure from Dupic, Franklin & Co.  BV got 3 layups in about 30 seconds and got it tied up with 2.5 in the game. (Coe's last second heave for a 3 looked scary on the release, but luckily it was too strong off the back to go in.)

In OT, BV did what they've done all year...WIN.

[Rock Chalk DuHawk]

The Duhawks won pretty handely tonight....I hope BV has an answer for Kyle White unlike last weekend, if not we will see Loras in the Tourney. 

Side Note: Loras women also won......can the Loras bball program get a sweep?  Who was the last school to do that?

Should be a great championship game.

If Loras loses do they have any chance in getting an at large bid?  They were pretty impressive in IIAC play but their non conference losses has to hurt them.

[Gregory Sager]

If Loras loses do they have any chance in getting an at large bid?  They were pretty impressive in IIAC play but their non conference losses has to hurt them.

Loras is currently ranked seventh in the West Region -- not good, but automatic bids will move them up to either second or third among Pool C candidates in the region if the Duhawks do indeed need that Pool C bid to get into the tourney. They will definitely end up behind the St. John's/St. Thomas loser, no matter what. But there's some doubt as to how the Duhawks will measure up against Whitworth, UW-Oshkosh, or (if they should lose the WIAC title game to UW-Stevens Point) UW-LaCrosse in the final, secret regional ranking assembled on Sunday prior to the selection of the Pool C teams. That secret regional ranking will determine how soon Loras would come to the table for discussion as the West's best Pool C candidate once the SJU/UST loser has already been admitted into the field of 59 teams.

Loras currently holds a QOWI of 10, which is the 30th-best in the nation as of the end of action on Thursday night. That's pretty good, but, unfortunately, it would drop to 9.876 with a loss to Buena Vista in the IIAC title game. That would be good for 36th on the current national QOWI list. Loras's regional winning percentage is currently a fine .818 (the Duhawks are 18-4 in regional play), but it would drop to .783 if the Beavers take them down in the Loras gym in the IIAC title tilt.

UW-Oshkosh lost in the WIAC semis to UW-LaCrosse on Thursday night, so the Titans will enter Selection Sunday with a QOWI of 9.833 and a relatively unimpressive RW% of .750 (blame it on that tough WIAC schedule). That puts the Titans behind Loras in both criteria in the Pool C sweepstakes. Furthermore, UWL has gone 2-3 against the common opponents of the two teams (UW-LaCrosse and UW-Platteville), while the Duhawks have gone 1-1 against those common opponents. Again ... advantage, Loras. Finally, while we don't know for sure whom the ranked teams will be in the West and Midwest regions on Sunday, we can make a very strong guess based upon this week's results. And it looks as though UWO will be 2-5 in regional games against ranked teams (win over Grinnell, split with UWSP, loss to Elmhurst, three losses to UWL). Loras, by contrast, will be 1-1 (win over UWL, loss to Aurora).

In other words, it looks as though Loras would be in line ahead of the Titans.

As for UWL, the head-to-head win over the Eagles in the season opener is huge for the Duhawks, since that's one of the five primary Pool C criteria right there. A loss in the WIAC final drops the Eagles down to a relatively poor .708 RW% (17-7), so Loras has that advantage as well. UWL's QOWI drops to 9.792 in the event of a loss to UWSP, so Loras wins that category as well. UWL would have the advantage over Loras in two of the five criteria, however: In-region record vs. ranked teams (at least 4-4, with a win over St. Thomas and three wins over UW-Oshkosh, against a loss to Loras and three losses to UWSP; it goes up to 5-4 if Ripon wins the MWC tourney and gets ranked in the Midwest, since the Eagles beat Ripon in November), and in-region record vs. common opponents (the only opponent the Eagles and Duhawks have in common is UW-Platteville, who beat Loras and was in turn swept by UWL). But, all in all, it looks as though the Duhawks will get ranked ahead of both WIAC teams if it comes down to Loras needing a Pool C bid.

Whitworth is another matter. The NWC regular-season champs are playing Lewis & Clark at home in the NWC tourney final. A Whitworth loss would send the Pirates to the pack of Pool C aspirants with a 9.739 QOWI, an .826 RW%, and either a 1-2 or a 2-2 record against regionally-ranked teams (depending upon how Wheaton finishes). In other words, one category's better than Loras for Whitworth, one's worse, and the other is either worse or even. However, Whitworth is currently one spot ahead of Loras in the regional rankings, so that needs to be considered as well.

All in all, I think that Loras is a bubble team for a Pool C berth should the Duhawks take it on the chin in the IIAC final. Their chance would appear to be a decent one, but they're not even close to being guaranteed anything; too many variables (i.e., highly-rated teams losing their conference tournaments) are in play for the Duhawks to have any guarantees.

I'll say this, though: I'm throwing objectivity out the window and rooting strongly for the Duhawks to win the IIAC tournament and get the league's Pool A bid, thereby eliminating any question of whether or not they qualify for Pool C. I have three reasons why: 1) Loras is the only school in the entire IIAC that has never made it to the D3 tournament, and I enjoy seeing new teams get into the big dance; 2) it makes North Park's season look better, since the Vikings thumped Loras pretty soundly back in December; and 3) NPU's head coach Paul Brenegan is a Loras alumnus.

Go Duhawks!

[Gregory Sager]

Since I brought up the fact that Loras is a D3 tourney virgin, here's how all of the other IIAC teams have fared in the big dance with regard to both appearances and record, including former members William Penn and Upper Iowa:

team	app	1st app	last app	W-L
Coe	2	1975	1976	2-2
Wartburg	6	1975	2001	5-7
Cornell	2	1976	1994	0-3
Simpson	4	1976	1996	1-4
Central	8	1977	1995	5-9
William Penn	3	1979	1983	2-4
Dubuque	4	1981	1990	4-4
Luther	2	1982	1984	1-3
Upper Iowa	2	1996	1999	0-2
Buena Vista	7	1997	2006	3-7

(Some schools have more losses than appearances because the D3 tourney included regional third-place games for the first decade and a half of its existence.)

[The Show]

BV lost to Coe by 14 last year on the road before going back there in the conference tournament championship game and winning.  So I'm not too discouraged by the recent 12 point defeat at Loras.

Loras is the only school in the entire IIAC that has never made it to the D3 tournament

BV's conference tournament record speaks for itself and they've been in this situation multiple times.  In fact, just last year with nearly an identical roster.  7-0 in OT games this year, shows that they know how to win in close games and under pressure situations.  Loras may be a bit nervous early and hopefully the Beavers can exploit that.

[Walston Hoover]

Side Note: Loras women also won......can the Loras bball program get a sweep?  Who was the last school to do that?

BV in '04
Wartburg in '01
The basketball teams were both hosting the championship games on Saturday night. Women had already won, wrestling team walked into the gym with the trophy they won, and about midway through the men's game the indoor track teams (men and women) walked into the gym and announced they had won conf titles that day as well. The men went on to win that night and we won 5 titles in the same day. Quite the day in Knights athletic history. I remember the day well, the night no so much.

[The Show]

I hope everyone who is making the trip to Dubuque this evening arrives safely.  I'll be depending on the audio streaming via the web.

Let's bring home another conference tourny championship, Beavers!

[Gregory Sager]

Loras 39, BV 31

halftime

[Rock Chalk DuHawk]

Loras up 11 with 52 seconds left.....its going to get wild in the fieldhouse!!!!!

[The Show]

I don't see Loras collapsing in the last 2 minutes and being up double digits.  My webcast just lost connection, guessing due to the ice storm, so congrats to Loras on the victory.  Hopefully they can get a decent draw for the first round of the tourny.  Hate to see BV's streak end, but hopefully they pick it back up next season.

[Rock Chalk DuHawk]

Congrats to the Duhawks as they will be heading to the big dance.....first time in school history....Will they host another game in the fieldhouse where they are undefeated?

What a great day for Loras Mens Basketball and all the hard work the coaches and players have put in this season.

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to Loras upon losing its D3 tourney virginity!

Rock, I don't think the Duhawks are going to be seeded all that highly -- they were only seventh in the West Region last week -- so they're almost certainly going to be on the road for as long as they're alive in the tourney.

[coebball70]

I enjoyed the opportunity to see Loras College basketball history last evening and the event was a little surreal.  In the middle of a wild weather evening, Dubuque was blasted by a major blizzard, several hundred fans showed up to watch Loras crack the NCAA III tourney list for the first time.   And to top it off, this was the last game to be played on their 1912 field house court that should probably be enshrined on the National Historical Register.  Loras dominated from the start with a 14-4 run, and BV fought back with many runs of their own.  But, in the end, the night was made for the Duhawks...a team victory for sure.
I'm glad I traveled the 175 miles to witness some history!
Go Duhawks...and that's from a proud Kohawk!

[doolittledog]

Congrats to Loras for making their first NCAA tourney and also for sending the old fieldhouse out in style, a very fitting tribute to that old place.  It will be missed.