WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[gacunk]

Hey Willy Wonka - Vadness and the Gusties UNO MAS VEZ!!!

[LA RAMS]

Blazerball, CM.....

I hear ya.  No doubt you're upset and disappointed.  And I think you have every right to be.  If somebody would have told me last night around 8 P.M. or so that this was how it was going to turn out I would have asked him what he/she was smokin'.   

[buf]

I'm sure GAC is thrilled (and this is not really meant as a rip on them as they had nothing to with the selections) but maybe next year CSB can go 17-7 in the region (GAC's real region record since UWEC, Maryville, and Carroll are NOT region), finish 18-9 overall, not win a conference title, be the #3 seed in the conference tournament, lose in the semifinals of the conference tournament, lose to Augsburg and St. Catherine in the regular season and still get an at-large berth.  It is hard to swallow that three non-conference, non-region games at a tournament early in the season completely wipes out the body of work in a 22-game conference regular season...

UWEC, Maryville and Carroll are not in the West region but they are in the same administrative region as GAC (so they count as in-region games).  They started this last season, I believe.  The adm. region pretty much extends from WI out to the west coast and down south.

[PRF2007]

In shock for the way this shook out for my blazers....

I have always put more stock in a strong schedule than easy wins...Gustavus definitley had this with their early season tourney.  The loss for CSB to Wartburg is what really stands out for CSB....This is a very young team with loads of players ready and willing to step in next year.  Congrats to the 3 miac teams!!  Let's go out and show the WIAC what's up.

CSB probable starting lineup next year

F-  Frank
F- Tauer
G- Carter
G- Schmidt
G-.... Bowlin(best high school player I have ever seen!  Had to sit out this year with a knee injury), Also, 4 or 5 freshmen from this year that will contribute major minutes.  If there are any incoming freshmen next year they will have to be pretty good to work themselves into this lineup.

I have a hard time seeing this team losing more than 3 games next year.  They will win the games that they didn't this year. 


Once again... Tough pill to swallow w/ the Blazers out, but it's tough for me to get upset too much as long as these teams represent the conference well!

[Nites]

A shocker that the MIAC got three teams in when none of the league's teams were even ranked this year. 

A double shocker that CSB wasn't one of those teams, especially considering the fact that they were the regular season champs and I think they were the best team in the conference.

My hunch that Carleton would nip the Tommies proved to be correct.  Let's hope all 3 MIAC teams win at least one game in the tournament.

[gacbacker]

Gusties not going to Stevens Point, which likely means a trip to Simpson...I wouldn't be surprised if the Gusties played the hosts actually, with Eau Claire there as well.

[buf]

GAC plays Simpson.  Carleton plays UWEC.  Games at Simpson

Good prediction gacbacker!

[Willy Wonka]

Wow. I wonder if Mickey even had the girls still practicing...

I'd love to see an angry column from Frank the Tank where Durbin gives some fuming quotes in tomorrow's Times. They'd be completely justified.

Is this one worse than 2002-03 when CSB went 24-3, tied for the title and got snubbed?

[buf]

Is this one worse than 2002-03 when CSB went 24-3, tied for the title and got snubbed?

Its not that CSB got snubbed this year (when looking at the national picture).  No one had them close to getting in.  The real shocker here is that GAC got in (which no one had close to getting in, except obviously the NCAA committee).  It does look like CSB may have gotten snubbed "in relation to GAC."  The only reason I can think that GAC got in over St. Bens was the fact that GAC had a higher opponents winning percentage and had a decent record against regionally ranked teams.

[Collegeville Magic]

I have a hunch that the minor bump in overall strength of schedule that GAC got for beating Hamline (another above .500 team) last Monday was the kicker that put them ahead of CSB.  If that's the case, it's particularly galling, since GAC played the extra conference tournament game precisely BECAUSE the Blazers were the better team and had the bye.

In any case, the selection process is over and there's nothing to do about it except hope that the MIAC wins some games and makes a national splash again.  Good luck to all whose teams are still playing!

And, in this fan's eyes, NOTHING is more frustrating than the 2003 Blazers squad (with Barlau and Hannon as seniors) not making the tournament after having been ranked in the top 15 all season.

[gacbacker]

Wow. I wonder if Mickey even had the girls still practicing...

Ahhhh...that would be a NO.

I'd love to see an angry column from Frank the Tank where Durbin gives some fuming quotes in tomorrow's Times. They'd be completely justified.

Not quite an angry column, but a story nonetheless...

http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080303/SPORTS/103030056/1002

And I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the conference coaches meeting today and hear a convo between Durbin and Haller. Hehe. 

[gacbacker]

I have a hunch that the minor bump in overall strength of schedule that GAC got for beating Hamline (another above .500 team) last Monday was the kicker that put them ahead of CSB.  If that's the case, it's particularly galling, since GAC played the extra conference tournament game precisely BECAUSE the Blazers were the better team and had the bye.

In any case, the selection process is over and there's nothing to do about it except hope that the MIAC wins some games and makes a national splash again.  Good luck to all whose teams are still playing!

And, in this fan's eyes, NOTHING is more frustrating than the 2003 Blazers squad (with Barlau and Hannon as seniors) not making the tournament after having been ranked in the top 15 all season.

I don't think the Hamline victory played any part in the Gusties getting in. Clearly its the win over Eau Claire -- a tournament team -- wins over St. Thomas and Carleton -- both tournament teams -- and a close loss to Maryville -- a tournament team.

From what I recall, the reason that great '03 Blazers team got snubbed was because the NCAA couldn't justify putting three MIAC teams in the tourney...which obviously wasn't the case this year. That year, they had to take Carleton because they won the conference tournament, and they had to take GAC over St. Ben's because they had identical records but GAC beat St. Ben's 2 out of 3 games that year. St. Ben's might have also been hampered by the fact that arguably their best player was no where near 100% with a broken hand.

The team Blazer fans really need to blame for this year's snub and the '03 snub is Carleton. If Carleton doesn't get the automatic berth both of these years, you could argue that the Blazers are in both times.

By the way, as much as I can't stand watching Metcalf-Filzen's antics on the sidelines, she is one heck of a coach. Hands down the best in the conference in my opinion in getting her team ready for big games and making in-game adjustments in big games. Her MIAC playoff record speaks for itself.

[buf]

gacbacker has it correct.  GAC upped its SOS by playing in that holiday tournament in which they played UWEC (20-5), Carroll (18-5) and Maryville (19-3) (regional records listed). 

By GAC playing Hamline in the 1st round, actually hurt the SOS for GAC in comparison to St. Bens, who started out playing a team with a better record in their first game of the MIAC tourney.

[Nites]

I think we should solve this by allowing GAC to pick up Schmidt, Frank and Falvey for the tournament.   

[buf]

Wow. I wonder if Mickey even had the girls still practicing...

Ahhhh...that would be a NO.

At least they don't play until Friday.