MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Willy Wonka]

Interesting story on the D3Hoops front page that involves some MIAC schools:

http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/diamonds-and-ice/2009/11/18/a-new-conference-for-cornell-coe-and-luther

Thoughts?

Wow. That's certainly interesting news, though I doubt anything will actually come from it. The travel costs are simply too prohibitive. But it still makes me wonder if this might be, as my buddy so eloquently said last weekend, the straw that murdered the camel's back for UST.

I mean, what would the MIAC do if it lost three (Carleton, Mac, St. Olaf) members? It would be a disaster. Everyone would be scrambling to take care of itself, and the Tommies are best equipped to make a jump elsewhere.

As for the all-decade team...I'd take Fork over Conboy all day, and possibly over The Goose. I really don't see a scenario where Conboy would be on the squad, in any case. He was basically the Zach Randolph of the MIAC — he'd always get his points and rebounds, but he rarely won or did anything else to contribute on the floor. Fork was basically his antithesis.

Nites - These ain't your daddy's Gusties anymore. If Ray Ray is half as good as people are hyping him to be and not just another Josh Hanson, there could be some battles. I'm interested to see both teams play.

[Nites]

[
Nites - These ain't your daddy's Gusties anymore. If Ray Ray is half as good as people are hyping him to be and not just another Josh Hanson, there could be some battles. I'm interested to see both teams play.

Perhaps, the Piper enthusiasts ought to check with Sumander and VOJ to see if the ole' Johnnie Bandwagon is available for lease since it's been in storage since Brink and Leiser left Collegeville.

[BETHEL34]

Until the schedule opens up, and we have  more to discuss than how much Hamline has improved , here's some food for thought...

After conferring with several league historians and former players, an arbitrary

MIAC All Decade Team 2000-2009

First Team

Troy Bigalke – St. Johns
Mark Buri- St. Thomas
Doug Espenson – Gustavus
Isaac Rosefelt – St. Thomas
Ben Van Thorre – Macalester

Second Team

Andy Gilbert – Bethel
Zach Johnson – Carleton
Tim Madson – Bethel
Erik Jackson – Macalester
Bryan Schnettler – St. Thomas

Third Team

Luke Linz – Concordia
Joe Scott- St. Thomas
Sean Sweeney – St. Thomas
Chris TeBrake- Gustavus
Tom Conboy- Macalester

I Will be out of town this weekend for the open tip off tourney at Bethel so won't have feedback on that, but I am excited to see who steps up for them this year.  I think the two obvious ones are Vavra and Robertson, but who is going to step up as that third or even fourth threat?  I really do like Eric Hugo but he has had issues with both his feet which kept him from playing last year.  I am curious to see how his feet hold up through the long beating a season can be.  If they do hold up he could be a player for the next few years here in the MIAC.  He is a great kid with a great work ethic and has a great shot.  He also is a player that can create for himself and he has a great pull up jumper.  Then there is Taylor Hall the transfer from Bemidji.  Don't know anything about him except that he got some decent playing time as a freshmen and averaged 10 points or so on a D2 team.  That is pretty solid for a freshmen and he should transition nicely to the MIAC.  I guess I don't have any real expectations for Bethel this year.  I guess not much would surprise me.  They could be 10-10 and barely make the playoffs or they could really gel and make a push for 1st place. 

All in all it should be little closer at the top this year compared to last year I would think.  Obviously St Thomas is the team to beat, but between Car, Bet, GAC, and even St Olaf and Ham, I think it is going to be a tight race this year.  Even the Cardinals could finally have that good season we have all been anticipating them having over the last few years.  Maybe I am crazy because I just named over half the MIAC that could possibly battle for that top spot, but I really think it is going to be a year like that.  I think 16-4 will probably win the MIAC this year.

I'll throw out that question.  What do you think the winning record will be for the MIAC Champion this year? 

I say 16-4....

[BETHEL34]

Until the schedule opens up, and we have  more to discuss than how much Hamline has improved , here's some food for thought...

After conferring with several league historians and former players, an arbitrary

MIAC All Decade Team 2000-2009

First Team

Troy Bigalke – St. Johns
Mark Buri- St. Thomas
Doug Espenson – Gustavus
Isaac Rosefelt – St. Thomas
Ben Van Thorre – Macalester

Second Team

Andy Gilbert – Bethel
Zach Johnson – Carleton
Tim Madson – Bethel
Erik Jackson – Macalester
Bryan Schnettler – St. Thomas

Third Team

Luke Linz – Concordia
Joe Scott- St. Thomas
Sean Sweeney – St. Thomas
Chris TeBrake- Gustavus
Tom Conboy- Macalester

I just realized I didn't comment about the all decade team like I was meaning to...

I also would take fork over Conboy any day.  I think all in all you did a good job with the all decade team, but I would make one other change besides Fork.  I would take Tim Brown every day of the week before Tebrake.  That is not even an argument in my mind...Tim Brown was a stud. 

[TearDrop]

Until the schedule opens up, and we have  more to discuss than how much Hamline has improved , here's some food for thought...

After conferring with several league historians and former players, an arbitrary

MIAC All Decade Team 2000-2009

First Team

Troy Bigalke – St. Johns
Mark Buri- St. Thomas
Doug Espenson – Gustavus
Isaac Rosefelt – St. Thomas
Ben Van Thorre – Macalester

Second Team

Andy Gilbert – Bethel
Zach Johnson – Carleton
Tim Madson – Bethel
Erik Jackson – Macalester
Bryan Schnettler – St. Thomas

Third Team

Luke Linz – Concordia
Joe Scott- St. Thomas
Sean Sweeney – St. Thomas
Chris TeBrake- Gustavus
Tom Conboy- Macalester

I am not saying that these guys deserve to be on any of these teams but feel like someone has to mention them and I do not think there are anymore SMU guys really left posting, so.... What about the big Sweaty Big Terrence Smith and Brensley Haywood. Two guys that like WW and Mr. Holland were stuck in bad teams but were still very talented!!


Also, no takers for pick'em this year???

[ChairmanYao]

For the record, it is the new Piper posters who are claiming this big jump. Lost Prophet, Insider, and myself have said there is definitely potential but who knows. I remember three years back the season after the Pipers upset St. Johns in the playoffs everyone was talking about Hamline making a big jump then--didn't happen. This is a team I could see beating St. Thomas one night and Mac giving them a run the next. For me this team is a huge question mark right now. I think the jury is most definitely still out on Ray.

[Willy Wonka]

Until the schedule opens up, and we have  more to discuss than how much Hamline has improved , here's some food for thought...

After conferring with several league historians and former players, an arbitrary

MIAC All Decade Team 2000-2009

First Team

Troy Bigalke – St. Johns
Mark Buri- St. Thomas
Doug Espenson – Gustavus
Isaac Rosefelt – St. Thomas
Ben Van Thorre – Macalester

Second Team

Andy Gilbert – Bethel
Zach Johnson – Carleton
Tim Madson – Bethel
Erik Jackson – Macalester
Bryan Schnettler – St. Thomas

Third Team

Luke Linz – Concordia
Joe Scott- St. Thomas
Sean Sweeney – St. Thomas
Chris TeBrake- Gustavus
Tom Conboy- Macalester

I am not saying that these guys deserve to be on any of these teams but feel like someone has to mention them and I do not think there are anymore SMU guys really left posting, so.... What about the big Sweaty Big Terrence Smith and Brensley Haywood. Two guys that like WW and Mr. Holland were stuck in bad teams but were still very talented!!

Without doublechecking, I don't think either of those SMU guys were even all-conference selections in their "prime." They would be down in the 50-60 range, if even that high.

Brownie is the best MIAC shooter in the last decade, but he was a pretty one-dimensional player. He boarded only slightly better than Neal Anderson — despite being a long 6-5 — and his defense is at least comparable to Conboy, who I just downgraded because of that. I'd take a healthy TeBrake (he wasn't his senior year) over any MIAC guard but Buri and Splash in the last decade. He was the best PG on the floor throughout GAC's run to the national title game...which most of you didn't get to see.

For what it's worth, these selections are all HEAVILY slanted toward the latter half of the decade. Guys like 35-year-old Keating, CHenke, the original Bobby J, Mike Ludwig and Mike Nester all deserve consideration, if not outright spots on the squad. Outside of the top five — which should be almost unanaimous — I think almost everything is up for debate.

[Drake Palmer]

Nites returns from the dead or better known as off season hiatus.  Good to see you back.
***
Good comments regarding the All-Decade team.  As you can probably imagine, making the cuts regarding an All-Decade team was tough to do.  I had to make some tough choices and deliberately tried to limit it to 15 players, rather than a watered down list of say the top 25 players from the last decade.  Unfortunately in doing so, I left a very talented player off the list.  Personally, Dan Forkrud was one of my favorite players to watch as was Keith Eckhoff from Concordia. 

I followed the MIAC sporadically in the late 90s & early 2000s which partially accounts for the tilt toward the 2nd half of this decade.  For what it's worth, I did preview my list with a couple of other sources that have followed the league for a lot longer than I & they really didn't have a quibble with my top 15. They didn't necessarily agree with the order of players, but they were ok with the top 15.  It would be interesting to see what the coaches would come up with.
***
TD – Nice reminders from SMU's recent past, but err, I don't think so.   

Regarding Pickem, personally I'd be interested but due to slow response from the other posters, you might want to limit it to conference games only.   This might help you drum up some interest over the next week or so before we move into the conference play on December 2nd.  You'll also probably want to post several reminders. And by the way, where's SDGustie or Westie?

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Interesting story on the D3Hoops front page that involves some MIAC schools:
http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/diamonds-and-ice/2009/11/18/a-new-conference-for-cornell-coe-and-luther
Thoughts?

Wow. That's certainly interesting news, though I doubt anything will actually come from it. The travel costs are simply too prohibitive. But it still makes me wonder if this might be, as my buddy so eloquently said last weekend, the straw that murdered the camel's back for UST.
I mean, what would the MIAC do if it lost three (Carleton, Mac, St. Olaf) members? It would be a disaster. Everyone would be scrambling to take care of itself, and the Tommies are best equipped to make a jump elsewhere.

While I agree this ACM scenario is unlikely to amount to much (it would be a rather unwieldy conference with possibly 14 members with rather high travel costs for all), I wouldn't call it a "disaster" if those three schools left the MIAC. While all 3 were charter members of the league, the MIAC flourished quite nicely for 30+ years without a stop in Northfield.

In some ways, it can be argued that a little contraction might be a good thing, as the remaining MIAC teams would have more flexibility in non-conference scheduling. I know that was an issue raised when St. Scholastica was turned down for membership a decade or so ago.

If it were to come about, the MIAC would be very different, to be sure, but I wouldn't see it resulting in much of a scramble, other than to fill non-conference spots in the first couple of years. Then again, several UMAC schools are known to be at least somewhat interested in joining the MIAC. If any current members were to leave, I'm sure the MIAC would reopen the door to additions.

[Gacman]

Buena Vista beat Wayne State (NSIC) already this year, to open the season. The lost their other game to Grandview University, who I know nothing about (NAIA Division II). As long as we are going out on limbs, I am going to say that Buena Vista will be GAC by 10 in Storm Lake and come to Hutton the next weekend and lose to a Hamline team with a healthy Ray Brown. I'll even one up you, and say that they will beat GAC both times this year

I'm not sure what you're on, but this scenario is about as likely as the timberwolves making the playoffs this year. With the BV game, yes GAC could very well lose but BV lost a lot more than GAC did as well as the fact gac has won down there two times in a row.

As for hamline. these two teams have split 3 out of the last 4 years with the one exception being the season two years ago with wittwer as a senior so will gac lose a game to hamline this year probably, but they won't lose two....not even close.

[miacsuperfan]

Interesting story on the D3Hoops front page that involves some MIAC schools:
http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/diamonds-and-ice/2009/11/18/a-new-conference-for-cornell-coe-and-luther
Thoughts?

Wow. That's certainly interesting news, though I doubt anything will actually come from it. The travel costs are simply too prohibitive. But it still makes me wonder if this might be, as my buddy so eloquently said last weekend, the straw that murdered the camel's back for UST.
I mean, what would the MIAC do if it lost three (Carleton, Mac, St. Olaf) members? It would be a disaster. Everyone would be scrambling to take care of itself, and the Tommies are best equipped to make a jump elsewhere.

While I agree this ACM scenario is unlikely to amount to much (it would be a rather unwieldy conference with possibly 14 members with rather high travel costs for all), I wouldn’t call it a “disaster” if those three schools left the MIAC. While all 3 were charter members of the league, the MIAC flourished quite nicely for 30+ years without a stop in Northfield.

In some ways, it can be argued that a little contraction might be a good thing, as the remaining MIAC teams would have more flexibility in non-conference scheduling. I know that was an issue raised when St. Scholastica was turned down for membership a decade or so ago.

If it were to come about, the MIAC would be very different, to be sure, but I wouldn’t see it resulting in much of a scramble, other than to fill non-conference spots in the first couple of years. Then again, several UMAC schools are known to be at least somewhat interested in joining the MIAC. If any current members were to leave, I’m sure the MIAC would reopen the door to additions.

interesting comments, mm.  goodness knows a few of the miac schools could use a bit of bolstering in their non-conference opponents.  my only concern would be that in some cases, the lost teams would result in additional inferior opponents being added to the schedules of a couple of miac teams.

Until the schedule opens up, and we have  more to discuss than how much Hamline has improved , here's some food for thought...

After conferring with several league historians and former players, an arbitrary

MIAC All Decade Team 2000-2009

First Team

Troy Bigalke – St. Johns
Mark Buri- St. Thomas
Doug Espenson – Gustavus
Isaac Rosefelt – St. Thomas
Ben Van Thorre – Macalester

Second Team

Andy Gilbert – Bethel
Zach Johnson – Carleton
Tim Madson – Bethel
Erik Jackson – Macalester
Bryan Schnettler – St. Thomas

Third Team

Luke Linz – Concordia
Joe Scott- St. Thomas
Sean Sweeney – St. Thomas
Chris TeBrake- Gustavus
Tom Conboy- Macalester

as for the all-decade team, nicely done dp.  you are always on the top of the make-the-board-interesting list.   i would agree with a poster or two that the addition of forkrud and eckhoff would be good.   brown,to a lesser extent (he only played two years in the league if memory serves) and henke--the lunch bucket, blue color player of all time--would have been acceptable alternatives as well, imo.  i've never been a big conboy fan, but otherwise the list looks pretty dynamite.   

[BETHEL34]

Bethel is up 89-16 with 9 minutes left...the second half has been running time.  Yes, I will write that again...running time!

Crown would have given a better game...Westy...why?   You are better off having another practice than this.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Bethel is up 89-16 with 9 minutes left...the second half has been running time.  Yes, I will write that again...running time!

Crown would have given a better game...Westy...why?   You are better off having another practice than this.

Halftime score--66 to 9. Nebraska Christian used five players the entire game (I wasnt there, does anyone know if they had more than 5 guys?) I hope fans were given a refund of their admission. Sounds like Nebraska could be the ulitmate cupcake.

Made the trip to Crown-- nice facility, AND a tourney featuring four teams, no cupcakes or creampuffs. Augsburg looked crisp vs. a young, struggling Loras team. Loras will be fine as the season goes on, Gorton's a good coach. I wonder how the Auggies will fare against taller teams but they looked solid tonight. Got a look at UWRF-- Tuesday could be a very interesting match-up

[HarryDH]

Nebraska had a sixth guy on the bench who added an extra warm up top for his second half on the bench.  They had 8 guys listed in the program roster, but only 6 were there.  Scheduling this team was an embarrassment made worse by the fact that Bethel was still pressing until the score was 64-7.  As a Bethel fan I found this to be totally unacceptable.  It was clear that Nebraska Christian would not challenge you after about the first 30 seconds of watching this game, and even more clear when you went up by 30+ early.  Call off the dogs and just play solid basketball.

[VOJ]

Until the schedule opens up, and we have  more to discuss than how much Hamline has improved , here's some food for thought...

After conferring with several league historians and former players, an arbitrary

MIAC All Decade Team 2000-2009

First Team

Troy Bigalke – St. Johns
Mark Buri- St. Thomas
Doug Espenson – Gustavus
Isaac Rosefelt – St. Thomas
Ben Van Thorre – Macalester

Second Team

Andy Gilbert – Bethel
Zach Johnson – Carleton
Tim Madson – Bethel
Erik Jackson – Macalester
Bryan Schnettler – St. Thomas

Third Team

Luke Linz – Concordia
Joe Scott- St. Thomas
Sean Sweeney – St. Thomas
Chris TeBrake- Gustavus
Tom Conboy- Macalester

Ok...Drake nice list and great way to spark controversy but I need to take you to task for not having Brady Brink on the list...he has to fit somewhere...Are you trying to get on WW good side by putting Tebrake on the 3rd team?  Major oversight with Brink not on the teams..,Eric Jackson was a nice guard but Scott is much better than he was and Sweeney was really a key for UST during their runs.  As a coach pointed out to me one year while he was playing, UST was undefeated with him in the lineup and dropped two with him out...