MBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[wc4252]

I'll take:

Anderson
Bluffton
Defiance
Franklin

What are everyone's thoughts for POY in the conference? 

[zander]

defiance
anderson
bluffton
manchester

[Jackets Backer]

I've got to make my move on buzz.
DC
AU
RHIT
Manchester

[cave2bens]

Perhaps a difference in generations, but

I've got to make my move on buzz.

that just doesn't sound right.  What happened to "catch a buzz" and make a move?

[Darryl Nester]

After cutting an 18-point second-half deficit to 1 with 10 seconds to go, the Beavers fall to RHIT 65-62.  It's small consolation for a 2-13 conference record, but all but two of BU's HCAC losses have been by single digits, with 6 decided by 5 or fewer points.

[Jackets Backer]

Guess I have to choose my words more wisely with a sly one like Cave lingering in the weeds looking to pounce on this board. 

DC needs to finish this thing off strong this week with two games they should coast in. Obviously Bluffton picked the off earlier this season, so I'm sure the Jackets will have their antennas up come Wednesday night on Senior night.

Anderson drops one at home today to Transy, not sure Anderson is giving it their full effort with things pretty much wrapped up. They better wrap it up against Manchester Wednesday or that game at Hanover gets MIGHTY interesting next Saturday. Not sure the tiebreaker scenario between Hanover and AU, but that would be quite the contest to end the regular season.

[wc4252]

Had a chance to see AU v Transy.  Transy came out on fire hitting 9 of their first 10 3's (all in the first 11 min if I remember correctly).  AU fought back but ultimately didn't play the D down the stretch to get the win.  Also I played D3 bball and have seen my fair share of HCAC games but this was some of the worst officiating I have seen in a long time for both sides.  Phantom fouls called one time and bodies/elbows flying the next with no call.  Oh who am I kidding, it was just another Saturday of HCAC reffing. 

Also, I think AU will be okay.  They played basically their 4th straight game without Bowman (he was hurt 1 min into the Bluffton game).  Once they get him back and hopefully regain some defensive intensity they should be back to normal.  It's definitely going to be an interesting tourney no matter what happens.

[Buzz]

Pickem update..Backer and Star go 3-1, Buzz and Zander go 2-2 and WC goes 1-3. Standings look like...

Buzz 34-10
Backer 33-11
Star 15-1
Zander 18-6
WC 9-8
HasBenn 3-2
Indy 5-4

[Buzz]

What are everyone's thoughts for POY in the conference? 

Man that's a good question. MSJ's Romes has a considerable edge in points but I don't think his team has done enough to put him in consideration. The only other senior I see in the picture would be DC's Nick Sales. Other candidates would be AU's Brock Morrison - but he's only a soph. and I could see several Ravens splitting their votes. So then what? Will Conoley and Franklin's 6th place, sub .500 team? Mitchell Meyer on Hanover despite his somewhat down year by his standards? It really does seem wide open.

[dc_has_been]

This year is finishing up pretty interesting!  Between spot 2 and 5 anything can happen when it comes to the tournament.  I'm still hoping DC finishes strong and Hanover drops their last two .  Plus Transy would need to drop one too, but anything can happen. 

[Darryl Nester]

Whether it was because I was distracted by the Olympics last night, or just because I was suppressing the unpleasant feelings from yesterday's loss, I forgot to post the updated table.  It looks like someone gave me some "pity karma" last night, so I figured I ought to earn it ...

Team	Overall	Home	Away	Remaining Games
Anderson	12-2	6-1	6-1	vs. MC, @ HC
Hanover	10-4	7-0	3-4	@ RHIT, vs. AU
Transylvania	10-5	6-1	4-4	vs. MC
Manchester	9-5	6-2	3-3	@ AU, @ TU
Defiance	9-5	6-1	3-4	vs. BU, @ FC
Franklin	6-8	3-3	3-5	vs. MSJ, vs. DC
Mount St. Joseph	3-11	2-5	1-6	@ FC, vs. RHIT
Rose-Hulman	3-11	2-5	1-6	vs. HC, @ MSJ
Bluffton	2-13	2-6	0-7	@ DC

Team	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	Tournament?
Anderson	87.50%	12.50%	--	--	--	--	Yes
Hanover	12.50%	46.88%	29.69%	7.81%	3.12%	--	Yes
Transylvania	--	23.44%	31.25%	15.62%	29.69%	--	Yes
Defiance	--	4.69%	23.44%	46.88%	25.00%	--	Yes
Manchester	--	12.50%	15.62%	29.69%	42.19%	--	Yes
Franklin	--	--	--	--	--	100.00%	Yes

[RavenFan]

Greetings All!!  First time poster...long time reader.  The officiating was awful in the Ravens' loss to the Pioneers on Saturday.  Bad both ways but is sure bit the Ravens in the end.  However, the Ravens had too many turnovers and defensive lapses.  We should not have been in the position to get beat by free throws.

The Pioneers, like so many HCAC teams are always so well prepared and disciplined.  Hopefully the Ravens can come out mad and seal the deal against a good Manchester team on Wednesday.

[altor]

Not sure the tiebreaker scenario between Hanover and AU, but that would be quite the contest to end the regular season.

The HCAC seems to have taken all the tiebreaker formulas off their website when they went to the new format.  I too would like to be able to look at that.

If Anderson loses out and Hanover wins out, they would both be 12-4 and 1-1 against each other.  Now, IIRC, the next tie breaker is to check records by going down the standings until the tie is broken.  Well, they both would be 1-1 against both Transy and Manchester, so those two would be washes no matter where they fall in the standings.  Anderson's 4th loss would be to Defiance, where Hanover's 4th loss would be to Franklin.  So, if I remember the tie-breaker correctly, I believe a tie goes to Hanover since Defiance will be higher in the standings.

[Darryl Nester]

If the tie-breaker criteria have not changed, the procedure looks something like this (from memory):

1) Ties are broken from the bottom of the standings up.
2) Within a group of tied teams, raise teams with more wins against the rest of the group, and drop teams with fewer wins in the group
3) If step 2 fails to resolve a tied group, compare records against the rest of the conference, beginning at the top of the standings.
4) Within a tied group of 3 or more teams, any time a team is raised or lowered by a tie-breaker criterion, the process reverts to step 2.
5) If ties are not broken by the above, use (a) The NCAA Quality-of-win-index and then (b) Win-loss percentage in-region.

I think after that, it could come down to a coin flip.

My program takes 1-4 into account; I think that it reported that all potential ties all breakable without reverting to step 5.  (I have the program on my computer at home, so I cannot confirm this right now.)

[Buzz]

Yep, a tie would mean Hanover would host the Tourney. In order for Hanover to force a tie, Anderson would have to lose the Manchester and Hanover, meaning they would have split with Hanover, Transylvania, Defiance and Manchester. On the flip side, Hanover would have split with Anderson, Transylvania and Manchester but would win the tie-break with a season sweep of Defiance.

It still looks good for Anderson, but a game against Manchester can't be counted as a gimme no matter where it is played. If Mitch Scheafer is feeling it, MC could pull the upset and set the stage for a HUGE game on Saturday between AU and HC on the Panthers' home court.