MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[irion]

Sewanee lost to Dallas by 5 in Birmingham on Sunday.  Pursell had 35/15.  The team seemed to lose their focus on defense.  Dallas tried to play very physicial man to man defense and it worked to a certain extent.  Sewanee had a hard time getting the ball down the court at times.

I understand the BSC games do not count in the SCAC for 4 years, so 4 of 5 teams in their division will go to the tournament for the next 4 years.  Why would anyone want to commit their program to 4 years of no post seson play?

[Ralph Turner]

Irion, you seem to be new to the boards. 

Here are some discussions and news releases of the decision by BSC to move up to D-III from May, 2006.

Welcome to D-III

http://d3hoops.com/news.php?date=2006-05-26

http://www.d3hoops.com/news.php?date=2006-06-08

Interview with BSC President David Pollick

[JJFlash]

Trinity improved its record to 4-0 by beating Hardin-Simmons by 2.   Hardin-Simmons came out and was on fire.  They didn't miss a shot for the first 6 and a half minutes and had a 16 point lead at one point.  The Tigers seemed to not be fazed by it all and just kept playing their game.  Trinity trailed for all but the lastone and half minutes of the game showing both the resiliency and confidence to win this way.  The scoring for the Tigers was spread to almost everybody who played.  I hope they can keep this rolling into this weekend's two SCAC games.

On another point,  I see that Trinity made it into the "Others Receiving Votes" category of the Top 25 poll.  This probably makes sense given the 4-0 start.  Just a question though, does it make sense that both teams they beat in last week's Chicago tournament are still significantly ahead of them?

[DPU3619]

On another point,  I see that Trinity made it into the "Others Receiving Votes" category of the Top 25 poll.  This probably makes sense given the 4-0 start.  Just a question though, does it make sense that both teams they beat in last week's Chicago tournament are still significantly ahead of them?

It's still early, hoss.  Remember that the two teams Trinity beat had a better record than they TU did last year.  And OWU isn't significantly ahead of you.  It's two whole points. 

Those are two wins against good teams away from home.  You'll be there if you keep winning.

[JJFlash]

You're point is well taken, Wes.  I wasn't jumping the gun and declaring the Tigers the consensus National Champion.   I was actually just pointing out that Trinity was stasrting to get a little love.  (Probably all they deserve so far.)  I just wanted to point out that teams they beat are still getting a little more of that love.  Polls after all, are just that, polls. 

[Ralph Turner]

I will  be honest about the Trinity games with ASC schools...

Trinity just edged, at home, the Pre-season #7 and the Pre-season #3 West Division picks.

Trinity beat a respected UChicago team and a well-respected Ohio Wesleyan team (#2 pre-season pick in the NCAC).

Is the ASC-West really that strong this year?  I will take a strong Trinity, because TU seems to have the eye of national D3 pundits.  TU can float a lot of ships in this part of the country.   

[brave heart]

Looking forward to the Center vs Depauw game this Saturday!Should be a great early season match up.Depauw has been really strong from the three range,not really heard much about Center this year ,but I am sure they will be ready.

[Gus Sinski]

 This weekend's Millsaps-Hendrix matchup intrigues me.

Hendrix is 4-0, with mostly convincing victories over Rhema Bible College, Westminster, U of Dallas and Central Baptist. Their schedule slightly pales to that of Millsaps, which has had games against Rust and SE Louisiana.

I'm not sure if Hendrix's four opponents accurately represented what the top teams (like Millsaps) in the SCAC will bring to the table. But, given their margin of victory against three of those opponents, maybe they're ready.

'Course, if the Majors rise up rightous and smear the Warriors, that might not portend well for the good ship Hendrix.

[frank_ezelle]

This weekend's Millsaps-Hendrix matchup scares me.

I would expect a big crowd since it is the dedication of the new arena as well as the first SCAC game of the season.  Andrew King is the type player who knows how to initiate contact to draw fouls and I'm afraid that he'll be given a lot of leeway by the officials if there is a big, vocal home crowd--I'm not saying the refs will be unfair to either team, just that they may allow for a physical game which favors King.  In the 4 games King has played against Millsaps he has always scored 20 points or more and Hendrix has some other guys who can score.

As for Millsaps, I thought they looked a little shaky in their team play against both Pensacola Christian and LA College.  The play was much better against Rust and they played Southeastern Louisiana even for 30 of the 40 minutes in the last game (it didn't help that the other 10 minutes was a 19-0 run to start the second half).  If the team plays like they did in the last two games, then they should have a good shot at picking up an SCAC road win.  If they play like in the first two games, then this will be a game that could go either way.

[Gus Sinski]

 Frank;

The arena was actually dedicated a little over a month ago. They had a huge shindig, and even flew in Bill Bradley to speak. My former tuition at work and all that.

Not sure how the crowd will be, but I'm sure it helps that there's no big college football game to draw everyone's attention.

Looking at the last four games, I'm impressed that it hasn't all been the Andrew King show. Hendrix has gotten some very good outings from David Foley, Justin Avery and others. The more I think about it, though, the more I'm convinced that the Warriors' season will hinge on whether those players can do the same against SCAC competition. Saturday could be a good indicator.

The refs will be a coin flip. We've got some officials that seem to fulfill every available stereotype regarding the Arkansas education system, while others call a good game.

[frank_ezelle]

I was a little sloppy with my reading of the Hendrix website.  This Saturday will just be dedication ceremony between games of the new basketball court.  I have a feeling Coach Garrison will draw quite a few folks from the Hendrix community but I'm sure it won't be as big as the event a month ago. 

With the Millsaps team, there is no question that they have a lot of talent.  I guess what worries me is that this core group has been together for a few years and they do have moments when things just go flat for long stretches or an entire game.  It's gotten less frequent each year, but I guess I still have that 4-5 start from last year stuck in my mind. 

The home loss to Dallas last year and the road loss to Pensacola Christian cost them a 20 win season and possibly an NCAA at-large bid.  Couple last year's start with this year's 6-point win over Pensacola and LA College having a shot at the buzzer that could have beat Millsaps, and I'm still waiting for confirmation that this year's team will be totally focused to play in every game. 

Over the last 12 months the basketball, baseball, and football teams at Millsaps have all been close to getting into the NCAA Tournament but all fell short in their hopes for an at-large bid.  I'm counting on the basketball team to break that dry spell this season.

[Ralph Turner]

Frank, as we switch from teams we play in football to teams that we play in basketball, the Pensacola Christian game had no bearing, but the UDallas loss really hurt.

http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4232.msg686873#msg686873

Please check message #1104.

I recalculated the QOWI with a UDallas win and got a QOWI of 9.38.

That would have given Millsaps a South Region record of 16-5 which was still below McMurry (20-7/19-5) and QOWI 9.583.

I felt that McMurry's loss to ETBU was the reason we did not get a Pool C bid.

I don't think that the UDallas game cost Millsaps ultimately.  They would have been another 20 win team sitting home.

Now, a win over a quality in-region opponent instead of the Pensacola game and the UDallas win is another matter. 

[frank_ezelle]

Ralph, that quality win might have been the 1 point home loss to Trinity or the 2 point home loss to DePauw after Millsaps led by 16 at the half.  Millsaps had the last shot in both games, which just goes to show how thin the margin is on getting an at-large bid.  (Of course, Millsaps had some close wins also, so the "what if" works both ways.)

I wasn't really sure how close Millsaps was to getting in last year, but I know that a team can't stumble very often if they want an at-large bid.  With Millsaps playing only away games with Centre and DePauw this year, both tough places to win, the Majors can't afford to start slow in these first 5-6 weeks and put themselves in a must win situation for every game in 2008.

[JJFlash]

Trinity beat Austin College by 27.

[FlightofthePetrel]

OU beat Birmingham Southern tonight 75-70 and Bham made a 3 at the buzzer.... should have been an 8 point game. 

OU dominated from the start as Craig Jackson was hot from 3 with a career high 19 pts and Ahmad Kareem Shaheed has his usual 13 and 4. 

Not sure how big of a win this is, (considering Bham is a team of Freshman and Sophmores), but OU is young too and it's good to see them get another win under their belt and some confidence going into a big conference game Sunday against Rhodes.  I think we'll be able to judge a lil more about this young OU team after Sunday...