MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[tommiegun]

When will the brackets be released? I thought usually we knew by now??

[John Gleich]

When will the brackets be released? I thought usually we knew by now??

11:30

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/basketball-men/d3

[AO]

prayers have been answered, sent to Point rather than the Shoe.

[tommiegun]

Not a favorable regional for the Tomcats.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I disagree Gun...its not a cakewalk but it shouldnt be either. I like how it challenges the Toms, but it is very winnable. UST should get home games the first three rounds, as long as they dont get upended.  Also,  a potential championship game matchup could see UST v. Wooster- our favorite runnerup!

We avoided the Bracket of Death....jeez, is that a tough bunch!

The March to Atlanta is underway!

[Drake Palmer]

Congrats to Augsburg on a great season and run. If they can recruit another shooter to replace Tyler Schmidt, and pick up several wing/post players to add to their short bench, the Dawgs should be very dangerous next year. They'll return 3.5 starters to the mix including Dan Kornbaum, Parker Hines, Brett Rasmussen, and Andy Seidlitz who filled in more than capably for the injured Noah Veach the past several games.

Props to the Tommies, for another terrific regular season!  After watching the Carleton game & the first half of the Augsburg game, I never had the sense the game was going to turn into the runaway that it did in the second half. This was a credit to the UST defense which always comes ready to play, and the suddenly torrid shooting of Will DeBerg and crew.  People talk about the UST press, & yes it's tough, but it's that constant physical and mental pressure even in their half-court defense that really wears down opposing teams.

Raucous Augsburg crowd was mostly well-behaved with the exception of the unfortunate Hannon grabbing incident.  Yes, a technical foul should have been called on the Auggie students, but from my vantage point it looked a lot worse than what it actually was.  Unfortunately, the students lost their composure when a rival player literally fell into their laps. Fortunately, the situation didn't escalate, Tommy Hannon wasn't injured, and according to Mose, Hannon was able to laugh it off after the game.

I see that the NCAA draw has been released, but unless I missed it, does anyone know when the actual game times are going to be announced?

[Pat Coleman]

All games are 7 p.m. local time.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

congrats to Tommy Hannon...ending UST's drought at Player of the Week, and doing so with a bang!
http://www.miac-online.org/news/2013/2/25/MBB_0225133835.aspx

[bball1122]

Kornbaum had 20 and 10 today for Augsburg but the Tommies depth took over in the second half for a 92-65 win over the Auggies to claim the MIAC title. St. Thomas went on a 9-0 run to end the first half and lead 41-35. That's a 51-30 second half by my math. Auggies played well and hit a lot of shots in the first half before wearing down.

One unfortunate note from the contest: Augsburg fans standing behind the UST basket in the second half appeared to either push or throw punches at Tommy Hannon as the game was getting out of reach. Security quickly escorted said fans out and I didn't see it, but the webcast announcers apparently had a clear view of it. Hannon was beside himself that the refs didn't call a technical foul on Augsburg for it.

Hannon led UST with 22 points and surpassed 1,000 for his career. Nice accomplishment for a guy who missed most of last year with a knee injury. DeBerg had 20 points shooting 6-8 from 3-point range.

Kornbaum will be a great player, but he needs help if Augsburg wants to be a conference contender.

With the top ranking in the West Region, Tommies will have a top seed and a home game next week. With a closer game, Augsburg might have been able to get an at-large but now they have no shot.

You do realize they finished third in the league and just played in the conference title game, right?  Is that not the definition of a contender?

The Tommies are clearly the class of the league (and maybe the country) right now, but I would not be excited about a game with Northwestern.  They shoot the 3 and rebound really well - if they could withstand a couple Tommie runs, it could be a tighter game than most expect.     

Here's my question - is it good for the league to have one team be so dominant?  Or would it have been better had someone beaten the Tommies in the conference tournament to get another team into the Big Dance.

Are you saying UST should have let someone beat them? Having a dominant team in the league SHOULD inspire other programs to upgrade & improve and become contenders. That's what happened in football as Bethel, UST, Cord, Augs and Ole all got tired of SJU kicking sand in their faces. That's what Griess is doing at Augsburg and he is doing one hell of a great job!

Barring transfers and hotshot freshies next year, Id rate Auggie as a strong threat, very capable of ending UST's hold on the conference titles. I expect the Oles and the Joanies to contend as well, and never count out GAC or Carleton. And never underestimate Bethel.

Today was a display of what this Tommie team is capabel of doing. 28 assists?? that's selfless ball! Tengwall continued showing he is able to be an offensive player as well as a defensive stud. Hannon was solid, almost dominant, in the paint, and when DeBerg gets hot like he did again today, there isnt anything at the D-III level to stop him. UST's suffocating defense totally discombobulated the Auggies in the 2nd half and the depth wore them down. Anytime UST needed the ball back it seeme that Nance would score a timely steal.

I've seen a lot of MIAC powerhouse teams, and I'd put this year's UST squad at or near the top of list of best-ever that the conference has ever seen. A trip to Atlanta would seal that ranking.

It was awesome to see Hannon notch his 1000th point....it couldnt happen to a greater and nicer guy....a truly amazing story.

The incident with the Auggie fans had Hannon chucklng after the game. The missed 10-second violation non-call still had the UST coaches baffled....but no one ever said Bushalt (the lead ref) could count that high. Dear Santa- PLEASE bring the MIAC some competent referees!!!

Of course I'm not saying that.  The Tommies are enjoying their perch on top (as they should) and obviously have no interest in helping out the rest of the league.  I'm saying, for the MIAC, would it have been better for St. Thomas to lose and Augs get in?

I'll agree that Augs and the Johnnies will be contenders next year.  St. Olaf is too inconsistent for me to predict success (Koz has only made the playoffs 5 times in 19 years), and Bethel without their post-grad star will be interesting to watch.  Carleton is going to need some pretty good recruits to make the playoffs next year.

I"ll predict it here first - Northwestern beats Point in the first round of the tournament.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Love the prediction bball1122....if you are right, you will become AO's best bud for life! I'd be happy seeing it happen....any time a WIAC school loses, its nice

I agree, it would have been nice to get 2 or even 3 teams in (if the ODAC can get 4, we can dream of 3). Augs had a good resume going but a few tough losses in conferenc eplay cost them a spot. Second place in MIAC and a solid non-conference record should be good enough to get in...3rd place not so easily. But with 5 or more conference loses, its not gonna happen. I'd really like seeing 2 or 3 MIAC teams in the NCAAs every year. I think AG has Augsburg on the right track towards that

[AO]

I agree, it would have been nice to get 2 or even 3 teams in (if the ODAC can get 4, we can dream of 3). Augs had a good resume going but a few tough losses in conferenc eplay cost them a spot. Second place in MIAC and a solid non-conference record should be good enough to get in...3rd place not so easily. But with 5 or more conference loses, its not gonna happen. I'd really like seeing 2 or 3 MIAC teams in the NCAAs every year. I think AG has Augsburg on the right track towards that

5 losses in conference play isn't too many if you have fewer conference games as weird as that sounds.  The real problem with Augsburg's chances was the strength of schedule.   If the MIAC had only 16 conference games (obviously it would help to play St. Thomas twice and Macalester once), and Augsburg filled those 4 games with over .500 teams from the MWC, NathCon, and IIAC they'd probably be in.  Under a better rating system like Massey, Augsburg is ranked 35th, well in the Pool C range of picks.

[tommiegun]

If Northwestern beats Point I will swallow a live goldfish.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

how about making it a minnow Tommiegun? (unless the goldfish is larger)

a second coaching position is open in the MIAC:

http://miac-online.org/news/2013/2/26/MBB_0226135743.aspx

Just when it was starting to look like the Birds were building something, another overhaul.

It will be interesting to see what the national searches at SMU and Hamline turn up as far as coaches go

[Drake Palmer]

how about making it a minnow Tommiegun? (unless the goldfish is larger)

a second coaching position is open in the MIAC:

http://miac-online.org/news/2013/2/26/MBB_0226135743.aspx

Just when it was starting to look like the Birds were building something, another overhaul.

It will be interesting to see what the national searches at SMU and Hamline turn up as far as coaches go

If NW beats Stevens Point, I want someone to film Tommiegun swallowing the goldfish and post it on the board.  Nothing against Stevens Point, but please basketball gods, make this happen! 

What I found especially interesting about Coach Landrum's retirement was this quote - "We are excited about possible opportunities to remain in basketball or athletics in the future."   Doesn't quite sound like a retirement to me, unless he specifically means no more head basketball coaching duties.  I'm sure there are some ambitious, bright, young, assistant coaches in the MIAC who might be willing to take the SMU job.  Perhaps even in Winona.  Ahem. 

I also think Hamline would have to invite current UST assistant coach & former Hamline great, Jim Hayes to apply for the head coaching position. He's got the pedigree & credibility that program will need to remove the tarnish from Hamline's reputation, and restore the trust in the program.

When are the All Conference awards announced?
 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

how about making it a minnow Tommiegun? (unless the goldfish is larger)

a second coaching position is open in the MIAC:

http://miac-online.org/news/2013/2/26/MBB_0226135743.aspx

Just when it was starting to look like the Birds were building something, another overhaul.

It will be interesting to see what the national searches at SMU and Hamline turn up as far as coaches go

If NW beats Stevens Point, I want someone to film Tommiegun swallowing the goldfish and post it on the board.  Nothing against Stevens Point, but please basketball gods, make this happen! 

What I found especially interesting about Coach Landrum's retirement was this quote - "We are excited about possible opportunities to remain in basketball or athletics in the future."   Doesn't quite sound like a retirement to me, unless he specifically means no more head basketball coaching duties.  I'm sure there are some ambitious, bright, young, assistant coaches in the MIAC who might be willing to take the SMU job.  Perhaps even in Winona.  Ahem. 

I also think Hamline would have to invite current UST assistant coach & former Hamline great, Jim Hayes to apply for the head coaching position. He's got the pedigree & credibility that program will need to remove the tarnish from Hamline's reputation, and restore the trust in the program.

When are the All Conference awards announced?

My understanding is the MIAC office will announce the awards Wednesday afternoon.

Personally, I'd say POY award SHOULD go to Theisen, with Hall and Kornbaum coming in behind him......but I'm  wondering if maybe the coaches vote will result in a Tommie winner and if so which one? Based on all around play, I could see them giving the nod to John Nance. 

Remember, the coaches dont actually vote for a POY; when they submit their ballot for All-Conference, they list them in order and uses those listings like votes for d3hoops "top 25", and the POY goes to the top point-getter in this balloting.

The rumor I've heard is that PapaHoops has been conspicuously absent from the board and the MIAC gyms this season is because he is applying for either the SMU or U of MN job, should the Gophers wise up and realize Tubby is incompetent.