MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[sac]

Championship manual states, highest side in the bracket should be at the top.  Looking at all the brackets it looks like maybe they failed to do that properly.

[wally_wabash]

All-league teams for those interested.  Congrats to all honored this season. 

[sac]

I think will most likely be at IWU... However, if St. Norbert can knock them off, then it seems that it will be at Hope/Wheaton... (assuming Wooster and Washington move on)

And, Hope/Wheaton could be dependent on the outcome on the Hope women does it not?

Yes and no, despite Hope fans wishes I think their women are behind Washington and DePauw in hosting the next round.

[HOPEful]

I think will most likely be at IWU... However, if St. Norbert can knock them off, then it seems that it will be at Hope/Wheaton... (assuming Wooster and Washington move on)

And, Hope/Wheaton could be dependent on the outcome on the Hope women does it not?

Yes and no, despite Hope fans wishes I think their women are behind Washington and DePauw in hosting the next round.

Agreed. Nothing has changed really since the last NCAA regional rankings (the public ones) and they had a one loss DePauw ahead of Hope...

[blindwatchmaker]

Information on NCAC opponents for the first round: 

St Vincent:
Homepage:
http://athletics.stvincent.edu/index.aspx?path=mbball
Roster:
http://athletics.stvincent.edu/roster.aspx?path=mbball
Season Stats:
http://athletics.stvincent.edu/custompages/stats/mbb/2013-14/TEAMCUME.HTM

Calvin:
Homepage:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/
Roster:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/roster.htm
Season Stats:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/results/2013-14/teamstat.htm


St. Norbert
Homepage:
http://www.snc.edu/athletics/basketballm/
Roster
http://www.snc.edu/athletics/basketballm/roster.html
Season Stats
http://www.snc.edu/athletics/basketballm/stats.html

[blindwatchmaker]

Wash U Tourney Site:
http://bearsports.wustl.edu/Sports/Content/Pages/2014NCAABasketballRegional.aspx

IWU Tourney Site:
http://www.iwusports.com/sports/2014/3/4/MBB_0304144832.aspx?path=mbball

[wooscotsfan]

Hey - there's a familiar face on the Saint Vincent roster!

http://athletics.stvincent.edu/roster.aspx?rp_id=3755&path=mbball

I wondered where Geoff FuQuay ended up and thanks to your eagle eye...we now have the answer.   Doesn't look like he has made much of an impact though as he is averaging less than 3 points per game and he didn't even get on the floor in the last two games played by Saint Vincent.

[smedindy]

Championship manual states, highest side in the bracket should be at the top.  Looking at all the brackets it looks like maybe they failed to do that properly.

I'm shocked...shocked and stunned.

[KnightSlappy]

Championship manual states, highest side in the bracket should be at the top.  Looking at all the brackets it looks like maybe they failed to do that properly.

The highest-seeded team that meets all selection criteria (and after a review of the submitted host materials) will be selected
as the host institution, provided geographic proximity is maintained. It is the intent of the committee to create competition
brackets with a maximum of eight teams competing in each bracket. Flights will be kept to a minimum. The host institution
will play the second game when applicable.

The higher-ranked team will be listed at the top of the competition bracket. The top team on the bracket is the designated
home team and will wear the light- (white-)colored jersey in contrast with the visiting team’s dark uniform.

I don't really know what the point of this is, but they seem to be calling "brackets" half of what we might call a bracket region. So what they're saying is Wooster is above Hope and Wash U. is above IWU.

(Would also mean Emory was above UWSP? And Texas-Dallas above UW-Whitewater?)

[sac]

Championship manual states, highest side in the bracket should be at the top.  Looking at all the brackets it looks like maybe they failed to do that properly.

The highest-seeded team that meets all selection criteria (and after a review of the submitted host materials) will be selected
as the host institution, provided geographic proximity is maintained. It is the intent of the committee to create competition
brackets with a maximum of eight teams competing in each bracket. Flights will be kept to a minimum. The host institution
will play the second game when applicable.

The higher-ranked team will be listed at the top of the competition bracket. The top team on the bracket is the designated
home team and will wear the light- (white-)colored jersey in contrast with the visiting team's dark uniform.

I don't really know what the point of this is, but they seem to be calling "brackets" half of what we might call a bracket region. So what they're saying is Wooster is above Hope and Wash U. is above IWU.

(Would also mean Emory was above UWSP?)

It was Emory and Purchase that made me question if they really did it correctly, though I suppose its possible they believe Purchase is a #1 seed.

[Urban For Prez]

A few notes about the upcoming game between Wittenberg and Calvin:

1. The usual starting lineup for the Knights is, as it always seems to be, HUGE. 6'3", 6'3", 6'7", 6'8", 6'9". You just don't see that kind of size and, presumably, length in D3 basketball very often. I think that's why Calvin generally seems to have success in the National Tournament.  Most teams simply aren't used to playing against players of that size.  Adjusting is not easy, and teams can't afford to fall behind too far in National Tournament games. I think the Tigers are going to have to shoot the ball well from the perimeter and really pressure Calvin's guards to have a chance in this game (by numerous accounts on the MIAA board this seemed to work for Hope).

2. If you give Coach Brown time to game plan and strategize, he does pretty darn well.  Some quick research revealed that Witt has won 5 of its last 7 first-round NCAA Tournament games, with the only two losses coming in consecutive years to good John Carroll teams.  I have no doubt that Coach Brown will have the boys ready to play on Friday night. I don't envy his job this weekend though.

Should be a great atmosphere in St. Louis this entire weekend. If I didn't have to work, I would certainly be at the game on Friday. If the Tigers are fortunate enough to pull out the victory, I plan on driving over on Saturday to catch the sectional final.  Good luck to the Bishops and Scots as well.  Would love to see three NCAC teams advance.

[oldknight]

A few notes about the upcoming game between Wittenberg and Calvin:

1. The usual starting lineup for the Knights is, as it always seems to be, HUGE. 6'3", 6'3", 6'7", 6'8", 6'9". You just don't see that kind of size and, presumably, length in D3 basketball very often. I think that's why Calvin generally seems to have success in the National Tournament.  Most teams simply aren't used to playing against players of that size.  Adjusting is not easy, and teams can't afford to fall behind too far in National Tournament games. I think the Tigers are going to have to shoot the ball well from the perimeter and really pressure Calvin's guards to have a chance in this game (by numerous accounts on the MIAA board this seemed to work for Hope).

2. If you give Coach Brown time to game plan and strategize, he does pretty darn well.  Some quick research revealed that Witt has won 5 of its last 7 first-round NCAA Tournament games, with the only two losses coming in consecutive years to good John Carroll teams.  I have no doubt that Coach Brown will have the boys ready to play on Friday night. I don't envy his job this weekend though.

Should be a great atmosphere in St. Louis this entire weekend. If I didn't have to work, I would certainly be at the game on Friday. If the Tigers are fortunate enough to pull out the victory, I plan on driving over on Saturday to catch the sectional final.  Good luck to the Bishops and Scots as well.  Would love to see three NCAC teams advance.

Some good points made here. I've looked at the season box scores for Calvin and Wittenberg and just based on that look, the two teams seem remarkably similar. Calvin shoots the ball slightly better, both overall and from the arc, but the difference isn't significant. Neither team seems to force a high number of turnovers. The biggest difference seems to be that Calvin blocks a lot more shots than Witt (141 vs. 49). Calvin's Tyler Dykstra blocked 52 by himself, more than the entire Wittenberg team. Both teams seem to hang their hat on beating their opponent on the boards and have exactly the same rebounding differential at +8.5. To me that is the key stat to watch Friday night. Calvin has been outrebounded four times this season and lost each time that happened. In Calvin's two regular season losses to Hope the Knights were outrebounded by a combined total of 18 boards, a remarkable differential for a team I think is a very good rebounding team. On Saturday, Calvin was +1 on the boards and ran away from the Flying Dutchmen in the second half.

[HOPEful]

Neither team seems to force a high number of turnovers. The biggest difference seems to be that Calvin blocks a lot more shots than Witt (141 vs. 49). Calvin's Tyler Dykstra blocked 52 by himself, more than the entire Wittenberg team. Both teams seem to hang their hat on beating their opponent on the boards and have exactly the same rebounding differential at +8.5. To me that is the key stat to watch Friday night. Calvin has been outrebounded four times this season and lost each time that happened. In Calvin's two regular season losses to Hope the Knights were outrebounded by a combined total of 18 boards, a remarkable differential for a team I think is a very good rebounding team. On Saturday, Calvin was +1 on the boards and ran away from the Flying Dutchmen in the second half.

In the three games that Calvin played Hope, the rebound differential was -10, -8, +1... guess which one they won?

In the three games that Calvin played Hope, they turned the ball over 15, 13, and 7 times... guess which one they won?

Kruis and Brink will get their points, but I agree that Wittenberg needs to watch out for Tyler Dykstra and Mickey DeVries, blocking shots and pounding the boards...

On the other end, watch sophomores Jordan Daley and Austin Parks and wheather they make good decisions passing the ball, as well. Calvin will be a very tough to team to beat, for Wittenberg or Washington/Wilmington, if their guards make good decisions and their bigs play aggressive and stay out of foul trouble.

[David Collinge]

2. If you give Coach Brown time to game plan and strategize, he does pretty darn well.

Unless the opponent is Wooster.

This is something that has been gnawing at me for a while. Wittenberg is pretty good every year, winning 17-20 games, getting a top-four seed in the conference tournament, and qualifying for the NCAAs every other year or so. That's the kind of resume that would be very exciting to at least 97% of D3 schools.

But Wittenberg is not 97% of D3 schools. Wittenberg is, or used to be, accustomed to success at the very highest levels, and apart from one magical tournament run eight years ago, Coach Brown has just not achieved that level of success. I would like to believe that winning one NCAC (regular season) title in 10 years and losing to Wooster game after game would be wearing pretty thin in Springfield by now. They've got to be looking up at Wooster, going to the NCAAs in 19 of the past 20 seasons and winning at least 20 games for 18 straight seasons, and thinking, "that should be happening here."

I wonder if I'm alone in wondering this.

[woosterbooster]

2. If you give Coach Brown time to game plan and strategize, he does pretty darn well.

Unless the opponent is Wooster.

This is something that has been gnawing at me for a while. Wittenberg is pretty good every year, winning 17-20 games, getting a top-four seed in the conference tournament, and qualifying for the NCAAs every other year or so. That's the kind of resume that would be very exciting to at least 97% of D3 schools.

But Wittenberg is not 97% of D3 schools. Wittenberg is, or used to be, accustomed to success at the very highest levels, and apart from one magical tournament run eight years ago, Coach Brown has just not achieved that level of success. I would like to believe that winning one NCAC (regular season) title in 10 years and losing to Wooster game after game would be wearing pretty thin in Springfield by now. They've got to be looking up at Wooster, going to the NCAAs in 19 of the past 20 seasons and winning at least 20 games for 18 straight seasons, and thinking, "that should be happening here."

I wonder if I'm alone in wondering this.

I don't wonder about it much, but when I do it makes me happy.