MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[d3bballfollower]

and if they pick Tebow they will have another monstrosity of a season next year...

[columbianmaffia]

MIACWATCHMEN CONGRATS ON POST 1016!!!

it is truely a remarkable accomplishment!

i hope you are showered with love from the D3 gods and i hope they feed you grapes

[columbianmaffia]

UMAC basketball is to the MAC football conf. as MIAC basketball is to the Big 10 football conf.

sure the UMAC will win some games here and there and have an occasional upset but when it all comes down to it the MIAC is better

[columbianmaffia]

triple post to honor the miami dolphins...they called me and asked if i could design the team some under armor because they felt they needed more speed to pick up their first victory...the dolphins scout was checking out the world roller skating races last year in miami and noticed how fast i was...i agreed to help them...we all saw the break away speed on the game winner

[columbianmaffia]

HO HO HO!!!

ugly xmas sweater season is upon us and i am growing a mustache in its honor...its going to be super neato

[AO]

HO HO HO!!!

ugly xmas sweater season is upon us and i am growing a mustache in its honor...its going to be super neato

Since when do MAC teams win all 10 of their previous 10 games with Big Ten teams?  I hope Macalester and Hamline will be good games against Northwestern, but they haven't won in quite a while...maybe they're due...blind squirrels find acorns once in a while. 

[VOJ]

HO HO HO!!!

ugly xmas sweater season is upon us and i am growing a mustache in its honor...its going to be super neato

Since when do MAC teams win all 10 of their previous 10 games with Big Ten teams?  I hope Macalester and Hamline will be good games against Northwestern, but they haven't won in quite a while...maybe they're due...blind squirrels find acorns once in a while. 

AO...you can't just hang your hat on Northwestern...that conference is not close to being as good as the MIAC...I would love to seen Northwestern up against the annual top teams in the MIAC, I think Hamline and MAC could be there at the end of the year, we will have to wait and see, but pound for pound the UMAC gets taken to the hole early and often, and dunked on by the MIAC.

[sumander]

I hope Macalester and Hamline will be good games against Northwestern, but they haven't won in quite a while...maybe they're due...blind squirrels find acorns once in a while. 

Sounds to me like someone is hedging their bets already!
St. Scholastica, a team picked to finish third in the UMAC, loses to both Hamline and Augsburg. Teams who were picked to finish 11th and 6th in the MIAC coaches preseason poll.

I guess we will find out more on the 29th when the Scot's visit the Eagles and on Jan 2, when the Eagles travel to take on the young Pipes! Both MIAC teams have surpassed expectations thus far this season.

[AO]

As far as pre-season polls go, Morris was picked to finish fifth out of 8 in the UMAC and miss the post-season for the second season in a row, but they come out and beat Bethel, the MIAC preseason no. 1.  It's just a poll, it doesn't matter- Macalester deserves to be No. 1. right now until proven otherwise.  With only 1 UMAC game having been played thus far, I can't really tell you if Morris is in the top 4 of the UMAC, but it seems like will be.

If the UMAC isn't close to being as good as the MIAC, the MIAC has got to start beating crown by more than 5 points when they play them.  Crown hasn't won a UMAC game for a couple of years and are clearly at the bottom, yet Bethel can't beat them by 10. 

The MIAC definitely has bragging rights as the head to head record is something like 8-4, but nearly every game was within 10 points with the lead changing heads in the 2nd half.....blah blah blah  I'd rather just hang my hat on Northwestern 

[d3bballfollower]

AO- better hang multiple hats on NWC this year because when this season ends I'm not so sure the Eagles might be favorites against any MIAC team next year...I am just as much a fan of the UMAC as you are, but until Crown does beat a MIAC team, or the UMAC has a winning record against the MIAC then we need to be quiet...plus we need to remember that the UMAC doesn't ever play UST and outside of Morris no one plays SJU, both of whom have traditionally been in the MIAC "elite"...hopefully NWC can at least split with Hamline and Mac, and if they win both that is great, but outside of NWC I would say that there isn't a team that would compete in the MIAC consistenly...yes Morris beat Bethel, but they've also been trounced twice by SJU who is only 2-2 in conference...that is enough from me right now....GO UMAC!!!

[AO]

The Morris-SJU games are pretty hard to base a conference upon.  Both are middle of the road teams thus far with Morris gaining a 7 point lead at the half--perhaps as predicted-then throwing in the towel in the 2nd half as the johnnies get hot.   There's a reason they call it madness in march.  All of the UMAC-MIAC matchups have been competitive.  I believe we're past the age where MIAC teams expect to win easily every game against UMAC teams. 

[MiacLostProphet]

AO, we debated a pointless topic about Carr when he hasn't done anything at SMU.  Now we continue to talk about the UMAC vs MIAC. Another pointless argument, MIAC is better, and thats that. But you are right in one thing AO, a poll is just a poll, it doesn't really mean anything, but an 8-4 record does.

[abominable_snowman]

This UMAC MIAC scruffle feels like a rerun of a bad episode of a sitcom I don't like.

But since there's not much else being discussed, I'll bring up a little fuel for the fire that is relevant to, but can also be discussed OUTSIDE of the UMAC/MIAC bubble. 

It's a little phenomenon in basketball (and perhaps other sports) called "Playing to your opponents Level" Perhaps for fun it can be dubbed "WTF syndrome."

WTF syndrome is most noticable after a basketball game where spectators leave the gym with a look of extreme jubilation or disgust or sheer confusion.  Sometimes it occurs after a David triumphs over a Goliath, other times it's like a very accurate weapon that inexplicably misses its mark. 

Situation1: A bad ( or perhaps less talented) team plays out of their mind.  In this case, in order to compete with the elite team, the inferioir team must play at a higher level.  Often players know this at both a conscious and subconscious level. Passes appear more disciplined, mechanics are executed better.  The games are lots of fun to watch.  The underdog may or not win, but either way they leave an impression on the fans and their opponents.  Are they really better than people thought?  Maybe, maybe not.  This is closely related to, but to be confused with the "RUDY factor".  The "RUDY factor" accounts for HEART.  This when a team member, and sometimes a team as whole, just lays it all on the line. It is possible for the RUDY factor will accompany the WTF game. Another closesly related event is the "VEGAS effect".  This when a team that plays AND-1 mixtape type ball or some sort of semi-structured variation makes shots that have no earthly reason for being made, and meanwhile their opponents come out ice cold and officials seem outrageuosly lopsided.  In other words they just get lucky.

Situation2: A great team ends up looking like they hadn't practiced all.  Often this comes in shortly after a large lead has been established, but could be sooner. A more skilled team starts making uncharacteristic turnovers, looks like they are in panic mode, and finds themselves in game that really shouldn't be as close as it is.  These are often painful to watch.  It is a big contributor to the "Ugly win".

Case Studies:
Bethel vs everybody
UST vs Winona

[AO]

Is Macalester still a candidate for WTF syndrome though they're 3-0 in the MIAC?  They seemed to have more talent last year and didn't manage to beat St. Thomas, Gustavus, Bethel or St. John's.  There's got to be some serious Rudy factor at work for the Scots.

[MiacLostProphet]

I think a year playing together between Abe and Conboy is why MAC is better this year.  I didn't feel mac was a very strong team last year but Conboy and Abe are playing great together this year.  They are just one year more mature and are becoming crafty MIAC vets.

Question for the board.  I have always thought there where two types of players in the MIAC.  The young athletic energetic youngsters, and the crafty veterans.  Teams like Hamline and UST have an abundance of quick athletic youngsters but no real crafty vets, where MAC is being run by two seasoned MIAC veterans.  In SJU's case they have are led by Johnson, Brink, and Leisure with the help from their youth in Schwartz. 

My question is what is the make-up for a Championship team?  How many vets to youngsters creates the perfect team?

St. Thomas had a veteran leader on the floor in Sweeney and athleticism from Ike.  Bethel this year is still youth heavy even with the big man in the middle.  They don't get the inside touches that are necessary to consistently win games.  They are still young and don't understand the game of basketball fully.  Gustavus in the past was filled with smart veterans like Doug E Fresh and Phil Sowden.  Hamline's playoff run a few years back had a great deal of youth on the team in Derock, Thrasher, Smock, Kelzer, Kujolic, and David Johnson.  But still had the necessary vets in Charlie Good, Weiner, Viemeister.  This only took them so far until they ran into a more veteran savvy team in st. Thomas.  What are everyone else's takes on the youth vs. the vets.