MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WAlum]

Sounds like two great games with Witt beating DePauw by 1 and OWU over Wabash by 1 in 2OT.   Congrats to the Tigers on their NCAC championship and breaking the Wooster dominance.  Amazing 7 year streak by the Scots!  Wabash' loss seems to drop them from Pool C consideration so the LG's need to win the tournament to get the automatic bid and play in the NCAA Tournament.  Denison beat OWU once, can they do it again and ruin the Bishops Pool C chances?  DePauw and Wooster play on Saturday and probably again on Tuesday at Wooster.  The first round of the NCAC tourney could be BRUTAL for the 1-4 seeds with the parity in the league this year! 

[smedindy]

I got a note from the Wabash SID saying that the new interpretation would be that they would only look at games where each team played another twice, so Denison is ahead of Wabash thanks to OWU's sweep of Wabash.

At any rate, here is my look at tourney seeds:

1. Witt
2. Wooster
3. Denison or OWU
4. Denison, OWU, or Wabash
5. Denison, Wabash
6. Hiram, DPU
7. Hiram, DPU
8. Kenyon, Allegheny

If Wabash loses to Oberlin they are locked in fifth.
If OWU wins and Wabash wins, they are third, Wabash fourth and Denison fifth.
If Wabash wins, and Denison beats OWU, Denison is third, OWU fourth and Wabash fifth.
If DePauw wins and Hiram loses, DPU is 6th. Otherwise Hiram is 6th and DPU is 7th.
If Allegheny beats Kenyon, I think Allegheny is 8th. Both teams beat Denison once. Allegheny's next best win is Hiram. Kenyon's best wins are two over Oberlin.

Of course, I could be wrong.

[ScotsFan]

Wow.  Couple of surprises as we head closer to the conference tournament.  First, the fact that Denison could garner a 3 seed when it's all said and done?  That's quite amazing that they could sneak into that three seed after all the talk about how strong the top 4 were this season along with the addition of a 5th in DePauw!  Kudos to Coach Ghiloni on a pretty remarkable job in Granville this season.  He'd get my vote for coach of the year hands down this year!

The other surprise is at the bottom of the standings and the fact that Allegheny actually has a chance to get into the NCAC tournament as an 8 seed.  Might not sound all that impressive, but I don't think anyone thought the Gators would be even remotely competitive this year with the losses they suffered a year ago.  I certainly didn't have Allegheny in and Kenyon staying home, but given the way those two teams have been playing lately, I would not be surprised to see Allegheny knock off the struggling Lords and bring Kenyon's season to an end on Saturday.

Other than that, this is shaping up to be one entertaining NCAC tournament.  Looking at Wooster's possible first round opponents, having to pick between DPU and Hiram, I'd take Hiram in a heartbeat, but I don't see Wooster losing to DPU at home on Senior Day so it looks as though DPU will have the unenvialble task of making the 5+ hour bus ride from Greencastle to Wooster twice in 3 days!  Hope they have a comfy bus!   

[BigRedFan]

Congrats on ANOTHER Big Red VICTORY!!!

Setting up a crazy last weekend.

I think those early losses to Kenyon and Allegheny could end up biting them in the butt......

It won't be easy to beat OWU at OWU but never say never!!!!

Regardless they have put together a great run to put themselves in position!!!!

GO BIG RED!!!

[WAlum]

With all the seeding possibilities still alive, it proves why I dont like unbalanced schedules in league play.  The NCAC not playing a true round-robin format gives some teams a big scheduling advantage.  Looking only at the top 5 teams, Denison could end up with a 3rd seed because of playing a much easier schedule than Wabash or Ohio Wesleyan.   Look at how the unbalanced schedule can have a dramatic impact on the standings.   
Toughest to easiest of the top 5:
Ohio Wesleyan - OWU played Kenyon and Oberlin once each (combined league record of 6-24).   I am sure the Bishops would gladly take away a game with Witt and one with Wooster in exchange for another game each vs Kenyon and Oberlin.
Wooster - Scots play Oberlin and Denison once each (combined league record of 11-19).   
Wabash - The 'Bash played Allegheny and Hiram once each (combined record of 12-20).
Wittenberg -  Witt plays Kenyon and Denison once each (combined record of 13-17).
Denison - The Big Red only played Wittenberg and Wooster once each (combined league record of 24-6).   I am sure the Big Red is happy to play two games vs Kenyon and Oberlin and only one vs Witt and Wabash.

Unbalanced scheduling can give a potential 7 seed a 3 seed.   Curious to hear others thoughts.

[seinfeld]

With all the seeding possibilities still alive, it proves why I dont like unbalanced schedules in league play.  The NCAC not playing a true round-robin format gives some teams a big scheduling advantage.  Looking only at the top 5 teams, Denison could end up with a 3rd seed because of playing a much easier schedule than Wabash or Ohio Wesleyan.   Look at how the unbalanced schedule can have a dramatic impact on the standings.   
Toughest to easiest of the top 5:
Ohio Wesleyan - OWU played Kenyon and Oberlin once each (combined league record of 6-24).   I am sure the Bishops would gladly take away a game with Witt and one with Wooster in exchange for another game each vs Kenyon and Oberlin.
Wooster - Scots play Oberlin and Denison once each (combined league record of 11-19).   
Wabash - The 'Bash played Allegheny and Hiram once each (combined record of 12-20).
Wittenberg -  Witt plays Kenyon and Denison once each (combined record of 13-17).
Denison - The Big Red only played Wittenberg and Wooster once each (combined league record of 24-6).   I am sure the Big Red is happy to play two games vs Kenyon and Oberlin and only one vs Witt and Wabash.

Unbalanced scheduling can give a potential 7 seed a 3 seed.   Curious to hear others thoughts.

I completely agree with your sentiment that the unbalanced schedule creates the potential for unfairness, and this year is really exposing it. Nothing is a bigger joke than the NCAC football schedule, but there is no reason why the NCAC doesn't play a double round-robin in basketball. The OAC has been doing it for years. With 25 regular season games, 18 conference games still leaves seven non-conference games, which is plenty. I know there is more travel for the teams on the eastern and western edges of the NCAC than the OAC, but it can be made to work. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe the NCAC is having this discussion right now.

[smedindy]

Well, football will be fixed after 2012 to a full round-robin.

But I don't think Denison is a 'potential' 7-seed. That's reputation and not this team this year.

[smedindy]

BTW, Denison's strength of schedule according to Massey (ranked 74) is better than DePauw's.

The issue was the Denison under-achieved earlier in the year. They had the talent and had leads but kept blowing games. I think the Big Red are finally playing like many thought they could. And really, there's no complaining about schedule - you play the games you have in front of you. In almost every Little Giants loss, you can definitely make a case that they should have won (the one big exception is the game at Wooster...)

[goscots]

Other than that, this is shaping up to be one entertaining NCAC tournament.  Looking at Wooster's possible first round opponents, having to pick between DPU and Hiram, I'd take Hiram in a heartbeat, but I don't see Wooster losing to DPU at home on Senior Day so it looks as though DPU will have the unenvialble task of making the 5+ hour bus ride from Greencastle to Wooster twice in 3 days!  Hope they have a comfy bus!   

I can add another piece of motivation for the Senior Scots - a chance to win their 100th game. It would make a very special evening even more so. If successful it would be the 10th straight Senior class to achieve this mark. Note - I'm conceding that less than half of those seniors played in 100 wins - (Kyle Witucky's wins 109 will probalby never be matched), but I look at it as being part of the program.

[smedindy]

Well, this is it. The last regular season NCAC games of the year. Two of these teams won't be playing after Saturday.

Wabash (9-6, 17-7) @ Oberlin (2-13, 7-17) - Oberlin is one of those teams that will not be moving along. They've had a rough go of late, and with Josh Merritt basically out and only Andrew Fox stepping up. The Little Giants are bitterly disappointed with their loss, and now need help to host a first round NCAC game. You would think the Little Giants would close out strong and I think Oberlin's upset of DPU last weekend will send the message to Wabash that they can't just coast through this one.

DePauw (7-8, 13-11) @ Wooster (11-4, 20-4) - The New Tigers' season looked so promising a month ago but the realities of this version of the NCAC has hit home. The Scots are resigned to the second seed of the tourney but definitely want to keep their momentum strong entering the tournament. These two teams will probably meet on Tuesday in the first round right back at Wooster (unless DPU pulls an upset Saturday) and Wooster. I hope DPU's players get frequent bus miles.

Hiram (7-8, 14-10) @ Wittenberg (13-2, 19-5) - A revenge game for the Old Tigers, as the Terriers beat them back in January. Hiram can clinch the #6 seed and avoid Wooster in the first round with a win (or can back into it with a DPU loss) and that could give them motivation besides sweeping the NCAC champ. Wittenberg can't get caught looking ahead, but I don't think they will.

Kenyon (4-11, 10-14) @ Allegheny (3-12, 5-19) - The second biggest game of the final weekend is a battle for the #8 seed. Yawn? Well, not this year. The Lords have caught what Denison had early in the season - underachievement. They should, on paper, have no trouble with the Gators. Yet, here they are and if the Gators win, my calculation is that Allegheny goes to Wittenberg on Tuesday. That would be a bitter ending to a Kenyon season that seemed promising in the outset.

Denison (9-6, 12-12) @ Ohio Wesleyan (10-5, 18-6) - If I have calculated the tiebreakers correctly, the winner gets the #3 seed. Denison would fall to #5 with a loss and OWU would only fall to #4. This will be a whale of a game too. Denison is finally playing to their potential, and while there are quibbles about them only playing Wooster and Witt once - they are a legit team that has finally peaked. OWU has been up and down but the huge win at Wabash Wednesday has to give them some confidence. One troubling item is that recently, against Wooster and Wabash, Tim Brady sat out a lot of the first half due to fouls and the Bishops built a lead, only to surrender it when Brady was back on the floor in the second half. That's not dogging Brady - that may be due to the reliance on Brady that OWU has when he's on the floor. I think most NCAC fans will be glued to this game Saturday.

[oldtiger]

Article on Witt's McKee and Cooper careers winding down:

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/springfield-oh-sports/wittenberg-university-tigers/cooper-and-mckee-a-wittenberg-success-story-1330497.html

[smedindy]

When you shoot 9-44, you're not going to win. Oberlin shot 9-44 and lost to Wabash 69-32. It was a total dismantling by the Little Giants.

Josh Merritt scored half of the Yeomen's points with 16. Kasey Oetting led Wabash with 12 points and 11 rebounds. No Wabash player played more than 23 minutes. Colten Craigin had a career high of nine points.

[smedindy]

Good news for Wabash fans - OWU leads 39-35 at the half.

Tim Brady has 15 at the half to leave the Bishops. Dimonde Hale has 13 for the Big Red.

Other scores:

Wooster leads DPU 33-28 at the half.

Allegheny is all over Kenyon 38-24 at the half. Wow. And that's despite Ikenna Nwadibia's 15 points.

Nwadibia is 5-6 from the floor and the line. The rest of the Lords? 4-22 from the floor and 0-4 from the line. Ulp.

[smedindy]

OWU clinches the third seed with an 83-77 win over Denison. Tim Brady scored 32 points for the Bishops, who will be the #3 seed. Dimonde Hale led the Big Red with 21, and they'll travel to Wabash as the #5 seed.


Kenyon trailed 40-24 early in the second half, and then stormed back to win 67-64 and clinch the #8 seed.

[smedindy]

Wittenberg beat Hiram 72-50. The Old Tigers played pert near everyone with Alex Brandt and Scott Masin leading them with 12. Hiram was led by Aaron Stefanov with 13.

Wooster also won, beating DePauw 74-67. Surprised the Wooster contingent hasn't chimed in, so I'll wait for them to recap.

Final Standings:

Wittenberg 14-2
Wooster     12-4
OWU          11-5
Wabash      10-6
Denison       9-7
Hiram          7-9 *
DePauw       7-9
Kenyon       5-11
Allegheny    3-13
Oberlin        2-14

Hiram gets the #6 seed because of they beat DPU head to head.

Tourney matchup:

Kenyon @ Wittenberg
DePauw @ Wooster
Hiram @ OWU
Denison @ Wabash