MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[John Gleich]

ALERT: Regional rankings released
West
1. UW-Stevens Point 17-2 16-2
2. St. Thomas 19-0 18-0
3. UW-Platteville 18-2 13-2
4. Puget Sound 17-2 14-0
5. UW-Whitewater 17-3 16-3
6. Buena Vista 18-2 15-2
7. Whitworth 15-4 13-4
8. Bethel 15-4 13-4

With Bethel ranked 8th in the west in the first regional rankings, what are the chances of two teams from the MIAC getting into the DIII playoff's?

I'm a Highland Park grad, so mind my stupidness. Who puts out the regional rankings? Obviously not D3Hoops.com? How is the No. 1 team in the country second in its region? SOS?

Each region has an NCAA regional committee made up of coaches in the region.  They put out the regional ranking for their respective region. 

UW-Stevens Point  0.6129      0.5571  In-region winning percentage: 16-2 = 88.89%
Record vs. regionally ranked opponents: 4-1
Record vs. common opponents: 2-0

St. Thomas             0.5050      0.5289  In-region winning percentage: 19-0 = 100%
Record vs. regionally ranked opponents: 1-0
Record vs. common opponents: 2-0

The first number is the opponents winning percentage and the second number is opponents opponents winning percentage.  These are two of the criteria for choosing Pool C teams:


The following primary criteria (not in priority order) will be reviewed:
• Win-loss percentage against regional opponents.
• Strength-of-schedule (only contests versus regional competition).
- Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OWP).
- Opponents' Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OOWP).
• In-region head-to-head competition.
• In-region results versus common regional opponents.
• In-region results versus regionally ranked teams.


If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision by the committee, the following secondary criteria (for ranking and selections) will be evaluated:
• Out-of region head-to-head competition.
• Overall Division III won-loss percentage.
• Results versus common non-Division III opponents.
• Results versus all Division III ranked teams.
• Overall win-loss percentage.
• Results versus all common opponents.
• Overall Division III strength of schedule
• Should a committee find that evaluation of a team's win-loss percentage during the last 25 percent of the season is applicable (i.e., end of season performance), it may adopt such criteria with approval from the championships committee.


So, in conclusion... record vs. ranked teams and OWP/OOWP.  Those three criterion (4 if you discern from these numbers that the SOS is higher, but we have not been told how the SOS is calculated)  are ones where UWSP has an edge on St. Thomas.  St. Thomas only has an edge in regional winning percentage.

[ChairmanYao]

In what has to be one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Pipers take down Bethel 87-79. There was not much defense played in this one. The Royals were up 47-39 at half, but Hamline used a 18-4 run to start the second to never look back. Hipp played huge again limiting Moberg and Robertson while getting his on the offensive end. Not sure how many threes Hamline made but it was a bunch. Have won 4 out of 5.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The 'obvious' way for the MIAC to have two tourney teams is for someone to upset the Tommies in the conference tourney.

Bethel's loss tonite pretty much ices it - MIAC gets two teams ONLY if someone upsets the Tommies in the conference tourney.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

In what has to be one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Pipers take down Bethel 87-79. There was not much defense played in this one. The Royals were up 47-39 at half, but Hamline used a 18-4 run to start the second to never look back. Hipp played huge again limiting Moberg and Robertson while getting his on the offensive end. Not sure how many threes Hamline made but it was a bunch. Have won 4 out of 5.

VERY entertaining game. Hambone won it behind the 3 point line-- they were 11 for 17 for the game and 5 for 7 in 2nd half while B U was 6 for 19-- 1 for 10 in second half. Hipp was a force in the paint-- 6 blocks including a stuff on a Moberg attempt early that seemed to leave Big Mike befuddled and sent him on his way to a 3 point, 5 reb performance. Van Ordstrand impressed me, as did Clute who was 8 for 8 from the charity line and had an overall nice night.

Madson was in a total zone, dropping in 29.

Regarding regional rankings etc-- with 2+ weeks and the various league playoffs remaining, any prediction on seedings are pretty much pure speculation. I think if both UWSP and UST win out, they wont meet till the final 4 if they get that far. NCAA would like the revenue of games at Point and St Paul  and both are good hosting sites.

[Willy Wonka]

Wow! Bethel doesn't play defense? Who knew? 

Sets up a big game Saturday between the top two teams in the conference, pitting a superstar against a balanced attack. Should be fun.

Easy links to all the recaps is also available at one spot.

[AO]

DD,
I have always been a big fan of Royce White's game and feel he will do well at the next level. He has all the tools to be a solid 3 man and is physically strong enough to swing down to be an occasional  "small" 4 man. I really like his mid-range game, which is non-existent for many D1 recruits that like to either dunk or shoot 3's. He is also showing to be a very unselfish player, so I think he will will thrive under Tubby's system.

AO
I hate to break the news to you, but Hopkins would put a hurt on more than MAC and St. Mary's. UST is the only MIAC team that I could see even competing with this talent. Even though they are younger, we are talking about talent,size,speed and quickness that  is on another level. The Gophers are the only college team in MN that I would "expect" to win against this talented Hopkins squad. Believe me, I'm from Minnetonka and hate to talk up a rival like this, but they are THAT good.

Tommiehoops4life was the one wanting to see Mac or St. Mary's against Hopkins.  I definitely don't want to go watch Macalester again this season.   but since I've responded anyways, I might as well point out that I've seen the high school all stars(pulley aau) play against college talent in the league down at the salvation army in st. paul, and the physicality of a team of 20-22 year olds definitely does make up for the lack of stars given to someone in high school by a website.   When Hopkins has a Dwight Howard/LeBron type, I'll give them the edge over the majority of the MIAC. 

all that said, high school ball in Minnesota is solid this year, Bring back the Sweet Sixteen, make those staples-motley cardinals cry some more!  I want to see Hopkins beat up on those punks from Transitions!  Where's Ozzie Lockhart and the gang?  Chisolm is my dark horse to win it all.

[hoopmaster]

A couple of interesting sightings in the box of the Carelton v. St. Mary's game.  The first being Jeremy Sutherland was in the box playing 4 mins.  They are a different team with  him in the line up.  My guess is they wanted to see how his shoulder would hold up in some game time action.  They will  probably try to have him ready for the playoffs.  I am not banking on him playing much this Saturday.  I'll have to give coach Kalland a call to see what the prognosis is.
The other is St. Mary's has gotten a nice pick-up with Pat Freeman from Champlin Park.  He must have transfered recently because I believe he was at Crookston.  He is as nice player that will give the Cardinals another threat and a little bit of size height at a skinny 6'7".

[Gregory Sager]

I think if both UWSP and UST win out, they wont meet till the final 4 if they get that far. NCAA would like the revenue of games at Point and St Paul  and both are good hosting sites.

Won't happen, Maniac. Not in a million years. If they keep on winning, UWSP and St. Thomas will be in the same sectional, if they both make it that far. You can make book on that.

The NCAA has proven, time and time again, that financial considerations are at the top of the list when the selection committee puts together the bracket. St. Paul, MN and Stevens Point, WI are both on the western fringe of the geographic spread of D3 (the handful of West Coast teams excepted). There's no way that one of the two would be relocated far enough eastwards to be placed in another sectional, and there aren't enough potential playoff teams within a 500-mile radius of the two to make two entire sectionals out of four total viable within Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The only way that UWSP and UST wouldn't wind up in the same quadrant of the bracket would be if UWSP slipped so far as to warrant getting sent somewhere far enough east in the opening weekend to wind up in a different section (one that's based in the Great Lakes Region), and the only teams that could feasibly host them within 500 miles under those circumstances are Hope and Calvin. Or the Pointers could be sent to St. Louis to play Wash U on the opening weekend, with Wash U being part of a bigger South-based section.

However, these two unlikely scenarios could only kick in if UWSP fell so far down in the West Region rankings as to make the issue of their being the opposing West Region powerhouse to UST moot. Bottom line, if both the Pointers and the Tommies keep winning, they will have a chance to face each other on the second-to-last weekend of the year, not the last weekend of the year. Look for either a round of 16 UST vs. UWSP contest, or a round of 8 meeting between the two, in the westernmost sectional.

[VOJ]

Voj - so did you read what Pops had to say about the entertainment value of the SJU-STO Game?  I also agree about the webcast option that both St. Olaf & Carleton have.  Nice features.  I was able to watch the Carleton–Olaf game the other night on the Carleton webcast from the comforts of my home.  I think the Knights had their regular radio guy doing the webcast rather than the usual student broadcasters.  Talk about a “homer” radio announcer – but it was entertaining to listen to him. 

And by the way, last night I ran into a Tommie fan who happens to lurk on the board a bit & they said something to the effect  of- "Some teams view a matchup with the 7th place team as a "huge" game while other teams wonder "will we make it to Salem?" Sounds like a once-proud program is now excited about holding onto the final playoff spot." I had to chuckle a time or two after that snarky comment. I’m not sure yet, but as of now I’m considering making the drive over to dairyland to watch #3 ranked Stevens Point play UW-Stout, or watch the Bethel Hamline game.

First of all...the guy doing the Knights game was doing it for their audience...I realize this may not be kosher for some but its a reality...

Secondly,the Js vs Oles game was big for the J's in case of a tie...tell your Tommie friend that they need to get out of their own gym before they start thinking about Salem...when I read that comment...Jim Mora Sr shouting playoffs....Playoffs!! came to mind...

Walk before you can run Tommie fan...As I said about a week ago on this board, it would be nice to see a Tommie run in the playoffs and to represent the league, but let's learn from recent history or be doomed to repeat it.

[basketballlover]

A couple of interesting sightings in the box of the Carelton v. St. Mary's game.  The first being Jeremy Sutherland was in the box playing 4 mins.  They are a different team with  him in the line up.  My guess is they wanted to see how his shoulder would hold up in some game time action.  They will  probably try to have him ready for the playoffs.  I am not banking on him playing much this Saturday.  I'll have to give coach Kalland a call to see what the prognosis is.
The other is St. Mary's has gotten a nice pick-up with Pat Freeman from Champlin Park.  He must have transfered recently because I believe he was at Crookston.  He is as nice player that will give the Cardinals another threat and a little bit of size height at a skinny 6'7".

Sutherland did not play one second tonight. He is out for the season. I looked through the box score and I think they just added him in for some strange reason.

[Gregory Sager]

A couple of interesting sightings in the box of the Carelton v. St. Mary's game.  The first being Jeremy Sutherland was in the box playing 4 mins.  They are a different team with  him in the line up.  My guess is they wanted to see how his shoulder would hold up in some game time action.  They will  probably try to have him ready for the playoffs.  I am not banking on him playing much this Saturday.  I'll have to give coach Kalland a call to see what the prognosis is.
The other is St. Mary's has gotten a nice pick-up with Pat Freeman from Champlin Park.  He must have transfered recently because I believe he was at Crookston.  He is as nice player that will give the Cardinals another threat and a little bit of size height at a skinny 6'7".

Sutherland did not play one second tonight. He is out for the season. I looked through the box score and I think they just added him in for some strange reason.

It's possible that he was added by accident, or as a space-filler, by the Stat Crew operator at a moment when he was unable to edit himself because the game was in action. But either the operator or the SID is supposed to edit such mistakes after the game before the box is posted on the school website.

[Ralph Turner]

Gregory is right.  You need enough teams to fill 2 sub-brackets of 8 to get them to the Sectionals.  There are 16 hosts for the first weekend, actually 12 4-pods and 4 three-pods.

The NCAA might send the winner of the "Texas" sub-bracket to MN or WI.

They could send the west coast winner (long-shot Chapman sneaking in as a Pool B at SCIAC winner goes to UPS) there.

If you found two more 4-pods, then you could a sectional bracket.  Hmmm,  WIAC Pool C, WIAC Pool C, NATHC, St Thomas, UWSP, MWC Pool A, CCIW Pool C, IIAC Pool A!

That leaves Wash U to have another bracket of 16....

[Willy Wonka]

A couple of interesting sightings in the box of the Carelton v. St. Mary's game.  The first being Jeremy Sutherland was in the box playing 4 mins.  They are a different team with  him in the line up.  My guess is they wanted to see how his shoulder would hold up in some game time action.  They will  probably try to have him ready for the playoffs.  I am not banking on him playing much this Saturday.  I'll have to give coach Kalland a call to see what the prognosis is.
The other is St. Mary's has gotten a nice pick-up with Pat Freeman from Champlin Park.  He must have transfered recently because I believe he was at Crookston.  He is as nice player that will give the Cardinals another threat and a little bit of size height at a skinny 6'7".

Sutherland did not play one second tonight. He is out for the season. I looked through the box score and I think they just added him in for some strange reason.

It's possible that he was added by accident, or as a space-filler, by the Stat Crew operator at a moment when he was unable to edit himself because the game was in action. But either the operator or the SID is supposed to edit such mistakes after the game before the box is posted on the school website.

For what it's worth, I emailed the Carleton SID two days ago and have yet to hear back. The Carleton web site also has a blog that hasn't been updated since 2006. It might be fair to say that office isn't exactly on the ball right now...

[Willy Wonka]

Double up!

Got some stories up from my title run, commemorating the 100 years of Gusties hoops and maybe providing the Tommies with some info if they can get out of the first round this year.

If nothing else, take note of how sad I look in that picture

[Nites]

Alm is playing great.  However, he appears to be foul prone and the Auggies are very, very vulnerable when he gets in foul trouble.  Any team playing Auggie should attack Alm early in the game to see if they can get him into early foul trouble.

Nice win by the Cobbers last night on the road where they've taken a couple of brutal beatings.

Augsburg was up 54-47 with 2:09 to play when Alm fouled out.  They were outscored 22-10 the rest of the way and lost in OT 69-64.