MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wooscotsfan]

3.  IF 3 Ohio teams are all left in the NCAA tourney when the sectional sites are being set, look for the sectional to be held in Ohio.  It is hard to imagine that the NCAA would make 3 Ohio teams travel all the way to Hope for a sectional....but I am assuming that the NCAA is rational and that is rarely the case!  

Way to premature to talk about sectional pairings..........geez man we don't even know who's in the tournament yet or who they're playing in round one..

(but I know Hope will be playing a Wisconsin school)

Sac -- try reading someone's entire post before you quote them out of context (above) and then feel the need to advise them that it is "way to premature to talk about sectional pairings....geez man..."

In my post, I was only responding to a presumed Hope supporter (zosobob) who asked which team would host if Hope, Woo, Witt and B-W were in a sectional?  This was zosobob's hypothetical scenario and question -- not mine!

The last paragraph of my original post yesterday was:
"Overall, this question about who hosts the sectional seems premature.  Hope, Witt, Woo and BW all have several games left to play including their conference tournaments which will play a large factor in determining the actual NCAA tournament bracket."

Sac -- clearly I posted initially that it was a "premature" discussion so your "geez man" exclamation was not justified.

[sac]

Well maybe I'll just quit using quotes........it was just a general response to a general question.

[seinfeld]

I believe Wooster is playing tonight because the Wooster women would not play the early game in a scheduled doubleheader Wednesday night. Which seems silly, considering the women have played the second game of at least a couple of home doubleheaders this year, including just this past Saturday.

[MoneyBallSTL]

...And the Wooster women deserve a say in scheduling because.........?? I mean, come on, they are 7-16 and 4-10 in the conference. Which to my knowledge is WAY below expectations at the beginning of the season. Until they start playing to their potential and practicing like they want to win, which although I haven't been there this year to witness it, I'm sure it hasn't improved, they should play in a doubleheader and at least they'd get more fans that way.

[MoneyBallSTL]

Also, on the topic of sectional hosting, I think the NCAA would be smart enough to host it at one of the Ohio schools, regardless of who given the trouble of officiating in Michigan lately. Given the MIAA overturned game this year and need I bring up the Albion disaster last post-season. Let's just not go north of the border, because who knows what could go wrong next for any team up there.

[ScotsFan]

In some fairness to the Women's team, they have been playing most of the season without two of their better players.  I know one of their better players was lost early in the season due to injury and Beth Besancon, one of their best shooting guards quit the team for personal issues.  At one point, they only had 7 players dressed and healthy because of the rash of injuries.  I thought I would just throw that out there as to why they haven't quite lived up to expectations this year.

[smedindy]

MoneyBall -

Some here in the NCAC room would claim that Ohio officials have as many *issues* as Michigan Officials.

Witness the clusterflop at Earlham on Saturday. Oy!

[MoneyBallSTL]

AHH, smedindy you may be correct, I by no means said Ohio officials were invincible, I've seen them blunder on more than one occasion, haha. Anyway, back to the women's program, I guess I should rephrase a little, the last thing I want to do is upset girls on Valentine's Day haha. I suppose the injuries do have a little to do with the season, but was Barone injured or did she quit because I didn't even see her name on the roster. just wondering. And injuries can't be the sole reason, because if I recall correctly, the women's b-ball team is usually the closest resemblance to a M*A*S*H unit year in and out in Tom Love's training room. But it's actually probably good that the men don't have to wait another day to play Kenyon, the scout team will surely tell you that the days of simulating Tyler Rehm and Matt Formato are longer than any other during the season, knowing that the game situation won't be as tough as the practice days. haha. Good luck tonight fellaz and try not to drain a 3 at the buzzer for good measure. 

[bigkrapper]

Hey i know this is slightly off topic but it is always nice to see some NCAC Alumni out and about.  I was lucky enough to see recent Woo grad Matt Schlingman play in a men's basketball league last night and he has not lost his touch.  Matter of fact he even hit a couple threes.  He had a nice post game in college but he must have been working on his perimeter game in recent weeks.  Shame he didn't have one more year of eligibility, With Witucky graduating, Schlingman could be a nice addition to the perimeter of the Scots, a 6'8" guy that can shoot the three!  (maybe even better than JJ Redick)  Good work Matt!

[earlhamalum]

Bigkrapper- Funny you say that... i happen to be in a sunday night league in Indianapolis that Brady Claxton and Joe DesJean (Wabash Alum) also play in.  They have not lost to many steps themselves.

[smedindy]

Ah, I have the tiebreaker scenarios.

Wooster has basically clinched first.
Witt loses the tiebreaker with Wooster if they tie, but has the tiebreaker with OWU if they tie - so they're second.
OWU has the tiebreaker with Wabash if they tie.

If Wabash and Earlham tie - then Earlham would host based on that win against OWU. I think I remember a three-way tie scenario or something, or maybe it's different for football. Anyway - if Earlham wins out and Wabash goes 1-1 then it's a bus ride to Richmond for the LGs.

Denison could still finish fourth but loses all tiebreakers with Wabash, but gains tiebreakers with Earlham. So they'd be fifth if those three teams finished 8-8.

Gheny could also be 8-8 but loses all tiebreakers. Warm the bus up.

If Kenyon beats Wooster and Wabash they have a chance for seventh. Yeah, sure.

If Kenyon  loses twice, and Oberlin wins twice, then Oberlin is in the tourney.  Mind you, that involves Oberlin beating Earlham and OWU.

[smedindy]

So basically:

If Wabash loses to Witt - they must root for Denison over Earlham - and pray the Fighting Formatos don't sting them. (Hopefully, they won't need a Medeiros Miracle this year).

Earlham needs to beat Denison and not fall asleep against an Oberlin team that is actually playing better now.

Does Denison want 5th or 6th? They could slide to 7th, ostensibly, if they continue to play poorly.

Gheny will want to try to avoid Witt if they can.

[earlhamalum]

Smedindy- kind of hard to believe Earlham still controls their Desinty with Two O.T. loses in a row.  They can't ask for anymore chances... since they still have a chance to Host and finsh FOURTH.  Unless Wabash pulls off the win Tomorrow!  Should be an interesting WEEK!

[AndersDY]

Also, on the topic of sectional hosting, I think the NCAA would be smart enough to host it at one of the Ohio schools, regardless of who given the trouble of officiating in Michigan lately. Given the MIAA overturned game this year and need I bring up the Albion disaster last post-season. Let's just not go north of the border, because who knows what could go wrong next for any team up there.

I have certainly had occasion to gripe about MIAA refs quite regularly, but thought I should at least set the record straight, the Kalamazoo review debacle is actually a 5 year old issue, so that isn't some recent question mark hanging over the officiating in Michigan this year:

http://www.d3hoops.com/notable/01/videotape.htm

As for the Albion foul at the buzzer, I was as angry as anyone leaving that game last year (and would be happy to avoid seeing COW play in that gym ever again) but, looking back with an attempt at neutrality, that was just a close call at an unfortunate time. Most of us would much prefer that refs save a whistle in that situation for a blatant foul, but a (rather ticky-tack) foul probably did occur. That call certainly ticked me off, but I wouldn't put it on the Sun-Belt Conference Refs in the Alamo Bowl level of incompetence which requires some sort of review of the situation. From what I've read here, the NCAC certainly isn't all sunshine and lollipops in the officiating department either.

In a perfect world, I'd wish that D1 refs could come in to handle the all-important tournament games, but I'm guessing that's not a possibility either.

[smedindy]

That's Wabash's penance for letting the home OWU game slip away, and playing poorly at Earlham.

Though the don't totally control their destiny - they need Witt to beat Wabash.

Wabash does have bodies they can throw at the Witt big men - but Maloney, Stephens, Coffey, Lyttle and Zimmer need to step up and play well to give the Chadwick Crazies another home game.

BTW - if worst comes to worst - I'll go to Richmond and run the computer for the playoff game, if need be, so that the box score will be accurate! That's the least I can do for the NCAC!