MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gregory Sager]

HuHoops, The unoffical rankings through Sunday were:

REG   #   WP      OWP     OOWP    SOS     RPI50   RPI     NAT   Pool        REG     OVR   CONF     Team
W   001   0.857   0.603   0.550   0.585   0.721   0.653   005   A   C      18-3    19-3   WIAC     UW-SP
W   002   0.895   0.533   0.538   0.535   0.715   0.625   007   A   C      17-2    20-2   MIAC     St. Thomas
W   003   0.818   0.621   0.549   0.597   0.708   0.652   010   C   003    18-4    18-4   WIAC     UW-W
W   004   0.895   0.510   0.534   0.518   0.706   0.612   011   A   C      17-2    19-2   NWC      Whitworth
W   005   0.941   0.420   0.516   0.452   0.697   0.574   013   B   001    16-1    20-2   IND      Chapman
W   006   0.895   0.475   0.515   0.489   0.692   0.590   015   A   C      17-2    19-4   IIAC     Central
W   007   0.813   0.483   0.498   0.488   0.650   0.569   042   A   C      13-3    17-4   SCIAC    Claremont-MS
W   008   0.714   0.546   0.526   0.539   0.627   0.583   061   C   025    15-6    15-6   MIAC     Augsburg
W   009   0.667   0.572   0.560   0.568   0.617   0.593   069   C   031    14-7    15-8   WIAC     UW-LaX
W   010   0.684   0.489   0.511   0.497   0.590   0.544   092   C   051    13-6    14-8   IIAC     Cornell
W   011   0.588   0.613   0.551   0.592   0.590   0.591   094   C   053    10-7    13-9   WIAC     UW-Stout
W   012   0.652   0.524   0.528   0.525   0.589   0.557   095   C   054    15-8    15-8   MIAC     Hamline                                          

Under the scenario you described they would end up with an in region WP% of .708, which would be borderline for a Pool C bid.  Also, Sensei says the 7 in region losses is at the tipping point. The Dawgs would need to have all of the conference tournaments go according to seeds. My guess is they are still on the outside looking in on selection Sunday.

Thanks Sum. In that case, I'm pulling for them big time against GAC. It would be a shame if a league as competitive as the MIAC (has been this year) didn't get more than one team in the dance.

If I were an Augie fan, I'd be watching whitworth, central and claremont-ms.  They could get to the table very early and the committee would be looking at a team with 3 losses to St. Thomas and a very strong strength of schedule (boosted by the additional loss to the tommies).  In the end, 8 losses might just be too many to overcome.

CMS isn't going to get to the table early. The Stags have, uh, staggered down the stretch, losing at home on Saturday to crosstown rival Pomona-Pitzer and then dropping a game last night at California Lutheran. The Stags are currently .750 (15-5) in regional play. If CMS becomes a Pool C contender -- meaning a loss either in the SCIAC semifinal or the final -- it'll be either .727 or .739 in regional play going into the selection process, with a drastically lower SOS than the Auggies. In other words, the Auggies could conceivably go into Selection Sunday ranked higher than CMS if both lose in their respective conference tourneys, depending upon how the West Region committee sifts through the five primary criteria and weights them when creating that final regional ranking.

Whitworth, if it loses in the NWC tourney, will be among the first few teams in the nation to get off the table and have its Pool C dance card punched. Central is another story, because the Dutch have a weak SOS -- yet the Dutch's regional record would be so much better than Augsburg's that there's no way the Auggies would move ahead of the Dutch in the final West Region ranking. And, alas for Augsburg, the two teams are 3-3 against common opponents (the Auggies split with Concordia-Moorhead, whom Central beat in non-conference play, while Central split with Loras, whom the Auggies beat in non-con play), so the Auggies gain no advantage over Central in that criterion.

If you're an Auggies fan, you're rooting for all three teams AO mentioned -- Whitworth, Central, and CMS -- to win their respective tourneys, but you're fiercely rooting for Central to win the IIAC tourney. The last thing in the world that Augsburg needs is to have an at-large Central team with so-so Pool C credentials clogging up the West Region rankings ahead of the Auggies.

[carletonsid]

I have a lot of money saying there is more than one poster here trying to figure out who Alcindor is!!!   Are you showing your age or the depth of your basketball knowledge?

Hah, prolly a little of both. It was a sweet move.

Check out the Video Recap of the game put together by the real Carleton SID. The Sky Hook is at the 1:20 mark, I believe.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I have a lot of money saying there is more than one poster here trying to figure out who Alcindor is!!!   Are you showing your age or the depth of your basketball knowledge?

Hah, prolly a little of both. It was a sweet move.

Check out the Video Recap of the game put together by the real Carleton SID. The Sky Hook is at the 1:20 mark, I believe.

And, after all, Alcindor 'patented' the move - Jabbar just copied it!

[Drake Palmer]

I have a lot of money saying there is more than one poster here trying to figure out who Alcindor is!!!   Are you showing your age or the depth of your basketball knowledge?

Hah, prolly a little of both. It was a sweet move.

Check out the Video Recap of the game put together by the real Carleton SID. The Sky Hook is at the 1:20 mark, I believe.

Csid - I gotta ask you the question:

Did you forward AO's tribute to the original Northfield chapter of the Jonkey Kong Fan club, or did AO copy it from one of them? Or, did you tell one of them about the graphic & one of them downloaded it from the board?  

Of course I watched the video clip you posted & at the end, I noticed that one of the students was holding a large oversized poster of AO's (?) Jonker poster.  

If the UST coaches were scouting last night's game you know they're going to try & force Kong further out from the basket.  Jonker was doing a nice job of dipping his shoulder into Ray a couple of times.  Could be a couple of offensive fouls called on Jonker or blocking/flop calls on Teddy Archer. Could be a classic matchup.  
 
In any event it was a beautiful night for 'ol 55 & the rest of the Carleton supporters.

Good season Pipes! You probably surpassed everyone's expectations except your own.  Good luck to all, work hard, get that sheepskin etc.

Good season as well to the Jays. Hopefully, last night's loss will give them a little extra incentive for next season. They certainly have the talent to make a nice run.

[Nites]

If I were an Augie fan, I'd be watching whitworth, central and claremont-ms.  They could get to the table very early and the committee would be looking at a team with 3 losses to St. Thomas and a very strong strength of schedule (boosted by the additional loss to the tommies).  In the end, 8 losses might just be too many to overcome.

You mean boosted by an additional loss to Carleton, in which case St. Thomas gets the Pool C bid and Auggie goes home.    What do you think of that scenario?   

[AO]

I have a lot of money saying there is more than one poster here trying to figure out who Alcindor is!!!   Are you showing your age or the depth of your basketball knowledge?

Hah, prolly a little of both. It was a sweet move.

Check out the Video Recap of the game put together by the real Carleton SID. The Sky Hook is at the 1:20 mark, I believe.

Csid - I gotta ask you the question:

Did you forward AO's tribute to the original Northfield chapter of the Jonkey Kong Fan club, or did AO copy it from one of them? Or, did you tell one of them about the graphic & one of them downloaded it from the board?  

Of course I watched the video clip you posted & at the end, I noticed that one of the students was holding a large oversized poster of AO's (?) Jonker poster.  

It was my creation, though I can't give myself too much credit for spending 15 minutes with google images and microsoft paint.  Here is my preview of the final four:

Andy "the Grzesiak-Grimm Reaper" faces off against Uncle Sam Paulson in St. Peter
vs.

and Jonker Kong battles Teddy "Bear" Archer
vs.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Gotta love this clasic line from the St. Ben's basketball website:

"This is the Blazers fifth consecutive MIAC regular season championship, either won or shared."

noshyt, Sherlock?

[Drake Palmer]

Gotta love this clasic line from the St. Ben's basketball website:

"This is the Blazers fifth consecutive MIAC regular season championship, either won or shared."

noshyt, Sherlock?

Periodically I go to the womens' site to get a chuckle or two. The latest dustup between Blazerguy, Willy,  Gacbacker & Pat Coleman was great! Talk about an uptight, irrational, paranoid poster...

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Gotta love this clasic line from the St. Ben's basketball website:

"This is the Blazers fifth consecutive MIAC regular season championship, either won or shared."

noshyt, Sherlock?

Periodically I go to the womens' site to get a chuckle or two. The latest dustup between Blazerguy, Willy,  Gacbacker & Pat Coleman was great! Talk about an uptight, irrational, paranoid poster...

Who?

[MiacLostProphet]

Props to the fan who printed out a large picture of Jonkey Kong in the stands of the video recap.  I too was infromed of Browns knee injury earlier today.  Maybe a Goose fell on him.....Yao, ask your old roomie about that one.

All in all a return to the playoffs is the most successful season in the past 4 or 5 years for the Pipes.  It was a fun season. Now to find out if Ray will or will not get another season.  Ray watch begins.....

[Willy Wonka]

Is it too early to be at GAC? I guess I'll find out in 30 minutes...

[Nites]

Gotta love this clasic line from the St. Ben's basketball website:

"This is the Blazers fifth consecutive MIAC regular season championship, either won or shared."

noshyt, Sherlock?

+k   

Speaking of classic lines, I love this one about Tiger from Dan Jenkin's column in Golf Digest:

"As for Tiger's brand, boy did it take a hit.  For all of the Tiger idolaters out there, it must have been like finding out that ice cream sundaes give you gonorrhea."

.... and this one, speaking of Tiger: "I once made an effort to get to know the old silicone collector."

[Drake Palmer]

Is it too early to be at GAC? I guess I'll find out in 30 minutes...

So, are they expecting a big crowd in St. Peter tonight?

I'm going out the limb   & predicting a 9 point win. Just not sure which team will have the most points.   I'm leaning toward the Dawgs but it might be tough to overcome the Gustie home court advantage.  For sheer consistency, Augsburg & UST have been at or near optimal performance all season long, while Gustavus & Carleton have experienced more of a rollercoaster season.

However in the case of the Knights, it looks like they eliminated most of the peaks & valleys in the first half of the season, & have been riding on the strength of the Jonkey Kong Express.

Old skool for you Willy. The Express is rolling into St.Paul tonight. The Tommie faithful better have some conductors, guards & sentries in place to protect the senior citizens, young children & the hoops.    
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATlOAkAB8ww

[Gacman]

DP I think there will be a very big crowd there tonight. It might not be enough to fill up all of Gus Young Court, but the lower sections should be filled for sure. I know there will be the body painting group in the front row again.

I was thinking about crowds from GAC and other schools and others feel free to way in on this but doesn't GAC have the craziest student section of all the teams in the miac. Of course I have a bias thinking about this which is why I want others to comment, but for playoff games or other big regular season games the gustie student section gets packed and crazy.

In my four years playing I never experienced an atmosphere like the one down in St. Peter. When playing UST which always produced big crowds, when it was at UST the student section has been big but not all that crazy.

I have played in playoff games at SJU, UST, and CAR and none of those atmospheres compared to some of GAC's regular season games except the championship game two years ago at UST, but there we had more GAC students at that game then UST students. Maybe the loudest atmosphere I have ever witnessed, but I digress.

Maybe things have changed and since I don't get to see all of the other teams play I can't say for sure this is the case. I feel like Con, Mac, SMU, STO, Ham, and Aug could be thrown out right away.

Thoughts.......?

[TommieHoops4Life]

Gustavus is consistently THE TOUGHEST place to play in the MIAC playoffs. The atmosphere has always been awesome and can be intimidating if you're not ready to play. Although, being the playoffs, you don't have any option except to be ready.

Schoenecker has been rocking a couple times the last few years, but GAC is consistent in terms of fans who stay engaged in the game and what's going on. The last time I was at UST was the title game against SJU, and that was one of the best atmosphere's I've ever seen.

I hope the atmosphere is good over at the Gangelhoff Center tonight as I'll be taking in the Carleton/UST match up.