The Undefeated and the Winless

[Titan Q]

What the heck - I'll be a homer, too!  IWU

(I'm probably dead by Dec. 6 when they play at WashU, but IF they survive that, and a home date against Chicago on the 19th, they should be good 'til CCIW play in January.)

Think again, O Wizard of Washtenaw County! Take a good look at the three other teams in that Northwood (FL) tournament in which your Titans will be participating on Dec. 29 and 30.

While I'm way too stubborn to cede D3 superiority to you (despite all evidence to the contrary ), I'll readily yield on other classifications.  I took a look at the other teams, recognized none of them, and figured we're cool.  I take it one or more of them is a D2 or NAIA-1 powerhouse?

I expect we'll go down in St. Louie on the 6th (but we've surprised them before), and will be the underdogs against Chicago on the 19th (but, hey, the only IWU game I've seen in 39 years was a WIN over Chicago ), so I'll stick with the Titans surviving until the CCIW starts.

Chuck, St. Xavier is a very good NAIA D1 program.

Northwood U., coached by Rollie Massimino, is ranked #4 is NAIA D2.  They have transfers from Seton Hall, George Washington, and Providence and have 3 players 7-0 or taller.  The Titans might be a slight favorite vs St. Xavier, but they are a big underdog vs Northwood...

http://seahawks.gonorthwood.com/mbasketball/roster/

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thanks, Bob.

Let me get this straight.  Northwood has Rollie Massimino (with a D1 national championship) and THREE 7-footers, and they're FOURTH in NAIA-TWO??

Oh, well, we're not facing #ONE.

My green-tinted goggles say we'll take 'em somehow!

[You can slip some of our guys (fast-acting) HGH, can't you? ]

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks, Bob.

Let me get this straight.  Northwood has Rollie Massimino (with a D1 national championship) and THREE 7-footers, and they're FOURTH in NAIA-TWO??

Oh, well, we're not facing #ONE.

My green-tinted goggles say we'll take 'em somehow!

[You can slip some of our guys (fast-acting) HGH, can't you? ]

Chuck, you're not just drinking the green Kool-Aid. This time you fell into the vat.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thanks, Bob.

Let me get this straight.  Northwood has Rollie Massimino (with a D1 national championship) and THREE 7-footers, and they're FOURTH in NAIA-TWO??

Oh, well, we're not facing #ONE.

My green-tinted goggles say we'll take 'em somehow!

[You can slip some of our guys (fast-acting) HGH, can't you? ]

Chuck, you're not just drinking the green Kool-Aid. This time you fell into the vat.

Now, now, depends on whether Q can produce the HGH.

We've (occasionally) overcome worse odds.  Besides, I figure my pick will be dead long before Florida!  

[You're just too chicken to be a 'homer'! ]

[Gregory Sager]

The only homerism to which I've ever cared to lay claim is the one at the bottom of my post, Chuck.

[John Gleich]

I'll take Centre...  even though they LOST their first game last year...

Risky. The Colonels will open the season at Franklin on Saturday, and the Grizzlies are supposed to be pretty good this year. Then on Tuesday the Colonels are at Maryville (TN), and Murvul is always a very tough place to earn a road win.

I like to live dangerously, what can I say?  All I know is that these guys had the longest winning streak last year, and I didn't see too many world beaters on the schedule...  WhichEVER team is the survivor will need to have some balls bounce their way... and I'm pulling for those balls to bounce a little more to the Centre than off to the (other) side...

The only homerism to which I've ever cared to lay claim is the one at the bottom of my post, Chuck.

LOL!!

[sac]

Chuck, St. Xavier is a very good NAIA D1 program.

Usually, but this score should raise a brow.......Cornerstone(naia II) 82 St. Xavier 66, along with a 2-2 start I'm not sure this is the usual St X.   Two wins are over Silver Lake College and the dubious Purdue Calumet.

To be fare C'stone is 4-0 and reportedly excellent.

[Gregory Sager]

Chuck, St. Xavier is a very good NAIA D1 program.

Usually, but this score should raise a brow.......Cornerstone(naia II) 82 St. Xavier 66, along with a 2-2 start I'm not sure this is the usual St X.   Two wins are over Silver Lake College and the dubious Purdue Calumet.

To be fare C'stone is 4-0 and reportedly excellent.

That's actually Calumet College of St. Joseph that St. Xavier beat by ten points last week, not Purdue-Calumet. Same conference, different school, different town. CCSJ is 1-4, and the only win for the Crimson Wave thus far was a six-point triumph over an Indiana-Northwest team that is annually among the most awful teams in all of college basketball. A coach I know who has seen CCSJ play this year says that the Crimson Wave is not very good at all. Silver Lake? It's a USCAA outfit that's 0-3 thus far; the day before the Lakers lost to St. Xavier by 20 they lost to Trinity Christian by 50 points, 92-42. (The Trolls lost to Cornerstone by 13 in the TCC tourney's championship game.) Needless to say, Silver Lake does not appear to be a top-of-the-line small college outfit, either. Carthage's Steve Djurickovic might set a single-game school scoring record when the Red Men visit the Lakers a week from Wednesday in Manitowoc.

Bottom line, those were not impressive wins by SXU. But the season is still very young if you're an NAIA team like the Cougars.

St. Xavier doesn't look very big. The Cougars start three guards, plus a 6'6, 200 swingman and a 6'5, 225 senior transfer at center who is on his fourth college already. C'stone center Matt Kingshott blistered the Cougars with 23 points and 16 rebounds. My guess is that big and physical teams are probably too much for SXU to handle. We'll see how IWU fits that bill, I guess.

As far as the teams that beat SXU are concerned, both Indiana Wesleyan and Cornerstone appear to be pretty good NAIA-2 teams. You're right, though, that these are teams that normally don't shellack St. Xavier by 27 and 16 points, respectively.

Missouri Baptist doesn't look all that impressive at first blush, either. The Spartans have played their first two games at home and are 1-1, with the win being a four-point triumph over the mighty Spinal Crackers of Logan Chiropractic College, that club team that is so famed in song and story over in the SLIAC room.

But I'll stick with the contention Bob and I share that tourney host Northwood (FL) will be a huge obstacle (both literally and figuratively) to any chance that Illinois Wesleyan has to enter January with an undefeated record.

By the way, I'm interested in seeing what sort of career SXU freshman Zach Opheim has. I remember watching his father Craig star for Carthage back in the '80s on some pretty dismal Redmen teams.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Thanks, Bob.

Let me get this straight.  Northwood has Rollie Massimino (with a D1 national championship) and THREE 7-footers, and they're FOURTH in NAIA-TWO??

Oh, well, we're not facing #ONE.

My green-tinted goggles say we'll take 'em somehow!

[You can slip some of our guys (fast-acting) HGH, can't you? ]

Chuck, you're not just drinking the green Kool-Aid. This time you fell into the vat.

And somebody added a bottle or two of Wild Turkey

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thanks, Bob.

Let me get this straight.  Northwood has Rollie Massimino (with a D1 national championship) and THREE 7-footers, and they're FOURTH in NAIA-TWO??

Oh, well, we're not facing #ONE.

My green-tinted goggles say we'll take 'em somehow!

[You can slip some of our guys (fast-acting) HGH, can't you? ]

Chuck, you're not just drinking the green Kool-Aid. This time you fell into the vat.

And somebody added a bottle or two of Wild Turkey

Any wonder that I dove (not fell) into the vat?!

[Titan Q]

Chuck, St. Xavier is a very good NAIA D1 program.

Usually, but this score should raise a brow.......Cornerstone(naia II) 82 St. Xavier 66, along with a 2-2 start I'm not sure this is the usual St X.   Two wins are over Silver Lake College and the dubious Purdue Calumet.

To be fare C'stone is 4-0 and reportedly excellent.

Agreed, sac and Greg....which is why I subtlely used the word "program."  SXU is a very strong NAIA I program that appears to be headed for a down season.  In my IWU preview piece I said :
 
"The Titans will once again face a tough slate during the non-conference portion of the schedule, but maybe not as tough as year's past due to a few traditionally strong programs being a bit down.  For example, NAIA St. Xavier is not ranked in the NAIA D1 preseason poll, while Olivet Nazarene is just #25 (both have been Top 15 teams in recent years).  Also, Hanover is in its first season under new head coach Jon Miller and won't look like those powerhouse Panther teams the Titans faced a few years ago."

http://www.iwuhoops.com/prev09.htm

But usually teams like that are still tough to beat on a given night because they have plenty of good players (SXU has a lot of kids pursued by CCIW schools the last few years) and are well coached.  Illinois Wesleyan was way down in 2006-07, for example, but still gave CCIW champion Augustana all it could handle twice that season. 

My parents are SXU season ticket holders who go to every home game.  Because of that, they've seen Cornerstone every season for about the last 10 years now.  My dad told me after the recent SXU/Cornerstone game that this C-stone team is nowhere near some of those great teams of recent years.  He feels they are just average, relative to where they usually are.  We'll see how they do vs Hope and Calvin - not that anyone really knows what to make of the two MIAA powers this season yet.

Bottom line as it applies to IWU and that Northwood U. tournament in December, I consider the Titans a favorite vs SXU, but certainly will not be surprised if it is a tough game.  As for Northwood, I have that chalked up as a probable "L" as I look at IWU's 11-game non-conference slate and try to project what I think a good record will be.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'll go with St. Thomas (Doebler)...

Copycat.

[sac]

.......where were we?


After carefull consideration (throwing darts, reading tea leaves, picking names out of hats and just generally guessing blindly)

I'll take..........  Mary Hardin-Baylor

[Greek Tragedy]

I didn't even know you picked them, honestly!  I actually had to scroll back and see when you posted your pick and it was one of the first ones.  Oops!  Oh well.  Maybe we'll both win.

[Greek Tragedy]

Not a lot of entrants this year...

multiple posters can have the same team.

Ralph Turner:  Washington U.
pabegg:  Buena Vista
Hoops Fan:  St. Thomas
Hope 1:  Hope College
ChicagoHopeNut:  Mary-Hardin Baylor (you can have BV instead if you want)
HopeCovert:  Wheaton (?) (or Gettysburg?)
Flying Dutch Fan:  Brandeis
Log Show:  Puget Sound
Mr. Ypsi:  IWU
WooScotsFan:  Wooster
Magicman:  Cortland State
Point Special:  Centre
Gregory Sager:  St. Mary's (MD)
Old School:  St. Thomas
Sac:  Mary-Hardin Baylor