MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bball1122]

Updated bracket after the weekend.

Johnnies clinch the regular season MIAC Championship.

Augsburg can clinch the #2 seed with a win tonight at Macalester.

Gustavus can clinch a top 4 seed tonight with a win at Hamline.

St. Olaf can clinch a top 5 seed tonight with a win against Bethel.

Love these brackets - awesome work!   I do think Hamline is currently in 7th, as they beat Mac the first time they played. 

Awards season is right around the corner.   Here are my picks:

Player of the Year:  Joe Palmer, AUG

I don't think this one is particularly close.  Palmer leads the league in scoring and rebounding, is in the top ten in steals, shoots nearly 40% from three, and has been destroying rims all season.   

Others considered:   Jeremy Beckler, CAR, Dom Bledsoe, STO, Kaleb Feahn, GAC

Coach of the Year:   Aaron Griess, AUG

You could go many different directions with this one and I wouldn't be upset.  I picked Griess because I think he's done a great job with this group, but you could go with Pat McKenzie for his continued success at SJU, Mark Hanson as a career-ending honor, or Abe Woldeslassie for guiding Mac to the their best season in awhile.  I'd love to hear others thoughts.

Freshman of the Year:  Kooper Vaughn, SJU

Feels like this is a three horse race between Vaughn, Luke Harris (CAR), and Rowan Nelson (CORD).   Vaughn is exactly what the Johnnies needed this year - a stone-cold sniper from deep.  He's made the most 3's in the league while shooting them at a 44% clip, while also shooting nearly 90% from the free throw line.  Harris has been an outstanding addition, running the show for a very good Carleton team.  And Nelson has been the go-to guy for Concordia down the stretch, scoring nearly 17 PPG in conference.   

Excited for the final week of the regular season and for the expanded playoff this year!

[SagatagSam]

Love these brackets - awesome work!   I do think Hamline is currently in 7th, as they beat Mac the first time they played. 

Awards season is right around the corner.   Here are my picks:

Player of the Year:  Joe Palmer, AUG

I don't think this one is particularly close.  Palmer leads the league in scoring and rebounding, is in the top ten in steals, shoots nearly 40% from three, and has been destroying rims all season.   

Others considered:   Jeremy Beckler, CAR, Dom Bledsoe, STO, Kaleb Feahn, GAC

Coach of the Year:   Aaron Griess, AUG

You could go many different directions with this one and I wouldn't be upset.  I picked Griess because I think he's done a great job with this group, but you could go with Pat McKenzie for his continued success at SJU, Mark Hanson as a career-ending honor, or Abe Woldeslassie for guiding Mac to the their best season in awhile.  I'd love to hear others thoughts.

Freshman of the Year:  Kooper Vaughn, SJU

Feels like this is a three horse race between Vaughn, Luke Harris (CAR), and Rowan Nelson (CORD).   Vaughn is exactly what the Johnnies needed this year - a stone-cold sniper from deep.  He's made the most 3's in the league while shooting them at a 44% clip, while also shooting nearly 90% from the free throw line.  Harris has been an outstanding addition, running the show for a very good Carleton team.  And Nelson has been the go-to guy for Concordia down the stretch, scoring nearly 17 PPG in conference.   

Excited for the final week of the regular season and for the expanded playoff this year!

You're right on Hamline. I haven't figured out how to incorporate tiebreakers into my Excel Spreadsheet formulas. That'll take a minute.

7.3.2 TIE BREAKER. Tie breaking procedure (for top six teams and for placing top six):
1. Results head-to-head amongst all teams tied.
2. Combined results against teams above those tied.
3. Results against teams above those tied in rank order. (In the case of a multiple tie the teams that remain after this breaker
will return to breaker #1 and so forth). (revised 5/00, 4/92)
4. Record against teams below tied teams in descending order. (revised 5/09, 5/01)
5. Random draw. (revised 5/09, 5/01)

[SagatagSam]

Some surprises last night in the penultimate night of MIAC regular season play:

Macalester topples Augsburg, 65-63, in a game where the Fighting Scots led by double digits at several points throughout the game and never trailed in the second half. Augsburg was plagued by a number of turnovers. Macalester hit just enough free throws late, and Joe Palmer missed the last shot of the game as time expired.

Bethel closed out a strong first half up ten at the break and did enough to hold that lead for the 81-71 win over St. Olaf.

Carleton took care of business against Saint Mary's in a 76-66 win, as did Gustavus at Hamline in their 84-69 win.

St. Scholastica eeked out a win, 69-67, against Concordia in a battle for the cellar in the conference.

[SagatagSam]

Here's what's on the line on Wednesday in the final night of MIAC regular season play:

Saint John's is playing for pride and tuning up for the MIAC tournament, but Gustavus must win in order to have a shot at the #3 seed. The Golden Gusties need a win AND a Carleton loss to clinch the #3 seed.

Augsburg needs to right the ship in order to avoid going into the conference tournament on a three game skid. A win clinches the #2 seed for the Auggies. A loss and a Carelton win would make the Knights the #2 seed and the Auggies would drop to #3.

There is an interesting battle for the #5/6 seeds. St. Olaf can clinch the #5 seed with a win. But, watch out if they lose--an Oles loss and a Bethel win would cause a tie and send Bethel to the #5 seed by virtue of both of Bethel's head-to-head wins over the Oles.

Macalester and Hamline go head-to-head for the #7/8 seeds. Mac clinches #7 with a win. Hamline causes a tie with a win and will take the #7 seed by the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Only pride is on the line for Concordia and St. Scholastica. Neither team can better their position. Saint Mary's is idle Wednesday night and is locked in at #9.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Here's what's on the line on Wednesday in the final night of MIAC regular season play:

Saint John's is playing for pride and tuning up for the MIAC tournament, but Gustavus must win in order to have a shot at the #3 seed. The Golden Gusties need a win AND a Carleton loss to clinch the #3 seed.

Augsburg needs to right the ship in order to avoid going into the conference tournament on a three game skid. A win clinches the #2 seed for the Auggies. A loss and a Carelton win would make the Knights the #2 seed and the Auggies would drop to #3.

There is an interesting battle for the #5/6 seeds. St. Olaf can clinch the #5 seed with a win. But, watch out if they lose--an Oles loss and a Bethel win would cause a tie and send Bethel to the #5 seed by virtue of both of Bethel's head-to-head wins over the Oles.

Macalester and Hamline go head-to-head for the #7/8 seeds. Mac clinches #7 with a win. Hamline causes a tie with a win and will take the #7 seed by the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Only pride is on the line for Concordia and St. Scholastica. Neither team can better their position. Saint Mary's is idle Wednesday night and is locked in at #9.

Excellent! Thanks for putting together the bracket and scenarios!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Week 2 Regional Rankings - which are ranked now: https://d3hoops.com/notables/2022/02/men-regional-rankings-first

[SagatagSam]

Not much space for the Johnnies to move up in the regional rankings. I think the only game (besides their own against Gustavus on Wednesday night) that could have any impact on the Johnnies is UW-La Crosse vs. UW-Stout. A win by both the Johnnies and UW-Stout could move the Johnnies up to #3 in the regional rankings.

Since we've had a break from NCAA tournament talk for a few years now, where do we begin the discussion of the bubble teams? I have to think being in the top half of your region gives you at least a fighting chance at an at-large bid. But, perhaps there are enough non-regionally ranked conference champions (UMAC, anyone?) that snag a few automatic bids that put the teams in middle of the regional rankings on the wrong side of the bubble.

[txg]

I think St. John's can feel reasonably good about their at-large chances.  One of the three UW teams above them will probably be the automatic bid, and the other two will be among the first few at-larges picked.  If the Johnnies beat red-hot Gustavus tomorrow and get to at least the semi of the tournament, I think that's probably enough.  Getting to the final would almost certainly be enough.

Obviously we are a one bid league now that Augsburg has struggled in the last week, barring another team winning the tournament.

[Greek Tragedy]

Man, what happened to Augsburg?? That's rough, 4 losses in the last 5 games. Even Whitewater and Dubuque are ahead of them now. Two weeks ago they were basically a shoe-in for a Pool C.

[AO]

But, perhaps there are enough non-regionally ranked conference champions (UMAC, anyone?) that snag a few automatic bids that put the teams in middle of the regional rankings on the wrong side of the bubble.

Do I really need to remind you what happened the last two times the UMAC champ got sent to Collegeville?   I agree with txg, the only team in Minnesota in position to burst a bubble is the Johnnies if they lose in the MIAC tourney.

[Retired Old Rat]

But, perhaps there are enough non-regionally ranked conference champions (UMAC, anyone?) that snag a few automatic bids that put the teams in middle of the regional rankings on the wrong side of the bubble.

Do I really need to remind you what happened the last two times the UMAC champ got sent to Collegeville?   I agree with txg, the only team in Minnesota in position to burst a bubble is the Johnnies if they lose in the MIAC tourney.

No reminder needed here. Bad memories of Johnnie meltdowns. Not trying to take anything away from the UMAC teams. They came ready to play and the home team did not.

[Retired Old Rat]

I don't follow hoops that closely. Why such uneven numbers of teams per region?

[Retired Old Rat]

My conference picks are:


POY:  Palmer
COY:  McKenzie
FOY:  Don't know enough about the candidates other than Vaughan.

[SagatagSam]

But, perhaps there are enough non-regionally ranked conference champions (UMAC, anyone?) that snag a few automatic bids that put the teams in middle of the regional rankings on the wrong side of the bubble.

Do I really need to remind you what happened the last two times the UMAC champ got sent to Collegeville?   I agree with txg, the only team in Minnesota in position to burst a bubble is the Johnnies if they lose in the MIAC tourney.

No need. I was there for one of them. ROR is right. Johnnies didn't come ready to play. Bethany Lutheran and Northwestern showed up locked in and ready to play.

I wasn't trying to take a dig at the UMAC. There are a number of other conferences whose champion will not be regionally ranked. I just picked one that would be relevant for those on a MIAC board.

[SagatagSam]

Here's an interesting question coming from someone that has followed his own basketball team (the Johnnies) but not much else in the greater context of the national D3 conversation:

Are there the same regional disparities when it comes to D3 hoops similar to what we see in football? (i.e., the knock on the East is that they don't have as rigorous a path in the NCAA tournament because it is perceived as a weak(er) region than the West)

I can see that 10 of the last 12 national champions came from the west, but that doesn't necessarily paint the entire picture.