MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Congrats to the Tommies.  Good luck in the Final Four.  You guys could make history by being the first school west of the Mississippi River to win it all.  I'm cheering for you.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congrats to the Tommies.  Good luck in the Final Four.  You guys could make history by being the first school west of the Mississippi River to win it all.  I'm cheering for you.

Not so, Tom, for TWO reasons:

1.  The Tommies are east of the Mississippi, and

2.  WashU (2008 and 2009 champs) ARE west of the Mississippi.

[AO]

Congrats to the Tommies.  Good luck in the Final Four.  You guys could make history by being the first school west of the Mississippi River to win it all.  I'm cheering for you.

Not so, Tom, for TWO reasons:

1.  The Tommies are east of the Mississippi, and

2.  WashU (2008 and 2009 champs) ARE west of the Mississippi.

1. The Tommies are farther west than Wash U.

2. Some nights it seems like Nicolai is casting the 3 balls from the other side of the river.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congrats to the Tommies.  Good luck in the Final Four.  You guys could make history by being the first school west of the Mississippi River to win it all.  I'm cheering for you.

Not so, Tom, for TWO reasons:

1.  The Tommies are east of the Mississippi, and

2.  WashU (2008 and 2009 champs) ARE west of the Mississippi.

1. The Tommies are farther west than Wash U.

2. Some nights it seems like Nicolai is casting the 3 balls from the other side of the river.

While it is true that the Tommies (if they can pull it off) would be the westernmost champions, that is not what OS asserted.

[Drake Palmer]

Congrats to the Tommies.  Good luck in the Final Four.  You guys could make history by being the first school west of the Mississippi River to win it all.  I'm cheering for you.

Not so, Tom, for TWO reasons:

1.  The Tommies are east of the Mississippi, and

2.  WashU (2008 and 2009 champs) ARE west of the Mississippi.

1. The Tommies are farther west than Wash U.

2. Some nights it seems like Nicolai is casting the 3 balls from the other side of the river.

While it is true that the Tommies (if they can pull it off) would be the westernmost champions, that is not what OS asserted.

Well, St Louis was known as the Gateway to the West, and St. Paul is west of St. Paul.  

My geography friends might disagree, but technically OS is right.  UST is east & also west of the Mississippi river.  

On the western end of the city, the Mississippi is to the west of St. Paul but the river flows south around the southern end of the city, then turns back north for several miles before it straightens out & heads back south.  At it's highest northeastern point as it flows through St. Paul, UST is southwest of the river.  

See below.  if you zoom in on the map you'll see.    

St. Paul map

[miacsuperfan]

been away for awhile, but i have to admit. . . . . these tommies far surpassed any expecations that i had of them midway through the year!!  i liked 'em, but just didn't feel they had the chemistry, the toughness and the talent to do what they are now doing.  hats off to them, and in particular to "mr. clutch," tyler nicolai.         has anybody hit more 'uge shots in big games than this guy for the past two or three years?      
and the way things have been going, i see no reason that ust can't find two more wins in the tank.  go cats!   

[tommiegun]

Go Tommies... and to the geography, St. Thomas's Minneapolis and Owatonna campuses are west of the Mississippi River and its campus in Rome is on the West side of the Tiber but far east of the Mississippi.  Thus, I believe it could be the first Italian school to win the Championship!

[John Gleich]

Enjoy Salem Tommies... they put on a good thing there.


In the quiet before the Final Four storm...

MIACers who watched both games on Saturday... who would you rank higher, UWSP or Augustana and why?

[Gacman]

If this has already been reported I apologize, but I've heard through the rumor mill that Palmer is transferring from SMU to BU.

[Gregory Sager]

Enough with the geography talk, already. How about discussing the real precedent that is at stake here, which is that St. Thomas has a shot at becoming the first MIAC team to ever win the D3 title. I would think that in this room that'd be about a zillion times more important than whether UST's campus is located east of or west of the Father of Waters.

The MIAC is not considered to be a power conference in D3 circles, and one of the reasons why is that it so seldom gets to the Final Four. This will be only the fourth time in the 37 years that the tourney has been held that a team from this league has reached the D3 season's final weekend. The Tommies can go a long way towards striking a blow on behalf of the entire league with a good showing in Salem.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

If this has already been reported I apologize, but I've heard through the rumor mill that Palmer is transferring from SMU to BU.

MOST interesting. I dont know how he'll fit in at BU, but it could be death knell for SMU

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Enjoy Salem Tommies... they put on a good thing there.


In the quiet before the Final Four storm...

MIACers who watched both games on Saturday... who would you rank higher, UWSP or Augustana and why?

my 2 cents worth-- both are very solid teams, but UWSP would win a head-to-head matchup, I think. They seemed quicker, more adept, better defensively. But it woould be an excellent match. If they played a best of 7, it would need 7 games.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Enough with the geography talk, already. How about discussing the real precedent that is at stake here, which is that St. Thomas has a shot at becoming the first MIAC team to ever win the D3 title. I would think that in this room that'd be about a zillion times more important than whether UST's campus is located east of or west of the Father of Waters.

The MIAC is not considered to be a power conference in D3 circles, and one of the reasons why is that it so seldom gets to the Final Four. This will be only the fourth time in the 37 years that the tourney has been held that a team from this league has reached the D3 season's final weekend. The Tommies can go a long way towards striking a blow on behalf of the entire league with a good showing in Salem.

so we go from Geography class to History class?    when's recess?     
yes, it will be a huge feather in the league's hat when UST brings home the title....I for one am very psyched about that.  Did GAC's near-miss elevate us in the circle's eyes?

and for history's sake, the MIAC has several prominent National titles that predate the NCAA...surely they count for something?

[AO]

Enough with the geography talk, already. How about discussing the real precedent that is at stake here, which is that St. Thomas has a shot at becoming the first MIAC team to ever win the D3 title. I would think that in this room that'd be about a zillion times more important than whether UST's campus is located east of or west of the Father of Waters.

The MIAC is not considered to be a power conference in D3 circles, and one of the reasons why is that it so seldom gets to the Final Four. This will be only the fourth time in the 37 years that the tourney has been held that a team from this league has reached the D3 season's final weekend. The Tommies can go a long way towards striking a blow on behalf of the entire league with a good showing in Salem.

so we go from Geography class to History class?    when's recess?     
yes, it will be a huge feather in the league's hat when UST brings home the title....I for one am very psyched about that.  Did GAC's near-miss elevate us in the circle's eyes?

and for history's sake, the MIAC has several prominent National titles that predate the NCAA...surely they count for something?

Tauer must have been reading the geography discussion here as this bit from most recent strib article details:

Tauer prayed that Nicolai would follow his instructions to go to the hoop. "If he shot a three-pointer,'' Tauer said, "I was going to make both of us swim home in the Mississippi River.'

I'd say it's pretty hard to judge power conferences in D3 based upon final four trips when to get to the final four in the midwest you have to beat the best of the CCIW, WIAC and UMAC.

[Gregory Sager]

Enough with the geography talk, already. How about discussing the real precedent that is at stake here, which is that St. Thomas has a shot at becoming the first MIAC team to ever win the D3 title. I would think that in this room that'd be about a zillion times more important than whether UST's campus is located east of or west of the Father of Waters.

The MIAC is not considered to be a power conference in D3 circles, and one of the reasons why is that it so seldom gets to the Final Four. This will be only the fourth time in the 37 years that the tourney has been held that a team from this league has reached the D3 season's final weekend. The Tommies can go a long way towards striking a blow on behalf of the entire league with a good showing in Salem.

so we go from Geography class to History class?    when's recess?     
yes, it will be a huge feather in the league's hat when UST brings home the title....I for one am very psyched about that.  Did GAC's near-miss elevate us in the circle's eyes?

No. There was no follow-up. That GAC appearance was a long time ago. Right now the MIAC is working on a one-Final-Four-per-decade pace, the Eighties excepted. Getting the appearance for the Teens out of the way relatively early lends one to hope that the league can accelerate the pace.

I'd say it's pretty hard to judge power conferences in D3 based upon final four trips when to get to the final four in the midwest you have to beat the best of the CCIW, WIAC and UMAC.

Thanks for the chuckle, AO!