MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[Salem, VA]

Baker is having an outstanding year, I totally agree but come on...I know I am from York and bias but Chad has taken everyone on his back the last two games and is carrying this team into the 3-peat for regular season championships.  It's not all about numbers but ask Catholic who beat them in the final three minutes on Thursday night.  I did not see SAturday's contest but from the box score it looked like Chad just took over. 

Let's get the three peat York
Beat Hood

[mwgoonie]

True, I think McGowan will win. Esp. if they catch Hood and win the reg season. The tourney will be more important. YCP split the season with MW and McGowan wasnt that great against us, which is the only first person knowledge i have of him: Here's the lines from the 2 games i saw him:

15 pts, 12 rebs, 6-11 FG   (loss)
9 pts, 7 rebs, 3-10 (Win)

he didn't have his best games against the Eagles. But, again, I was merely putting out some numbers to back my pint which was that Baker should be getting a decent amount of votes. If Baker was the only returning player from a great team, he'd have alot better numbers.

MW, most likely wont get the number one seed but will end up going on the road against the top seeds in the tourney, most likely York/Cua with a match up aginast Hood in the CAC Finals?

[ycp]

D-Mac,

The CAC will have nine men's basketball teams for the forseeable future. Your Gophers and the Cardinals are leaving and being replaced by Villa Julie and Wesley. Unless there are teams added (not likely) or there is a team removed (more likely of the two scenarios) we will have nine teams in men's basketball (and a few other sports).
Certainly not an ideal situation but it is what it is.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

YCP - thanks... once again my math is not up to its usual stellar best (it really was the only class in high school I could get A's in). But, while the CAC looks like it will be a nine team conference in the foreseeable future... I will once again state (and as YCP aluded to)... I am not going to be surprised if that changes up or down in the off season this year.

[andre james smith]

I personally think that leaving the #9 seed out of the playoffs is a little weak.  I understand that in some big conferences (i.e Big East 16 teams) it is neccessary to trim the number down a little, but part of the luster of college basketball is the postseason where a team with a disappointing regular season can go on a magical run and make it to the Big Dance....

[bbald eagle]

do you really think 1-13 Gally is poised to make a big run if it only is let into the post season CAC tournament?

[CACsportsnut]

well, it all comes down to wednesday, winner of Hood at York takes first round buy and home court advantage if im not mistaken right?

Hood only won by 2 last game, and it was at Hood.

Now it is at York, against a new York team who is lead by McGowan, and accompanied by Zerfing, Brady and Lankford. This is going to be an insane game, i am taking off work the next day so I can take my time driving home.

My pick....York by 11

[Pat Coleman]

well, it all comes down to wednesday, winner of Hood at York takes first round buy and home court advantage if im not mistaken right?

I don't believe there is a first-round bye in an eight-team tournament.

[CACsportsnut]

your correct, my apologies....wow

[andre james smith]

Do I think Gally will make a run, absolutely not.  That's not the point.  How many people had GMU in the final four last year?  How many people had Syracuse winning the Big East tourney.  The fact of the matter is that the unexpected happens and that is what makes college basketball great.
Now back to the last two games of the season.... I've looked at the possible tiebreakers, and I'm pretty sure that if Mary Wash wins their last two games and York can beat Hood this week, that the Eagles will take the regular season crown based on their season sweep of Catholic..... (that is unless Catholic is somehow passed in the standings from behind)  It's pretty cool that with two games left, any of four teams can still grab the number one seed.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Andre - if they would have had a #8/#9 playin game... it would have cause scheduling nightmares.

The #8/#9 game would have to be played on Monday... and with the current schedule, the winner would have then traveled to the #1 team on Tuesday.

IF Gallaudet and Goucher had to go through that... and Gallaudet won and traveled to York or Goucher won and traveled to UMW (worse case scenarios on travel)... I don't think either team would have loved getting home late (or finishing their game late) and then taking off early the next day to do a game somewhere else.

It's a bit nuts for Division III which prides itself in academics and making sure students miss as little time as possible from the classroom.

I also think that by leaving the #9 team out and not planning on changing the tournament schedule right now... leads to the chance that there won't be nine teams in this conference in the near future.

[Matt Letourneau]

Well, I bet, for instance, Gallaudet would prefer that than to not getting to play at ALL. 

I think every team in the conference should get a chance.  This "new" system is rather arbitrary.  Hey, Gallaudet somehow or other beat Catholic this year, didn't it?  Not that I want THAT to happen again, but who is to say it couldn't again?

If they wanted to find a way to make it work, they could.  Why not play the 8/9 game on Sunday?

Sure, those teams would have to play back to back games, but so what?  You're going to have to in the NCAAs anyway. 

Pretty confident, CAC Nut...York by ELEVEN?  Wow. 

Catholic needs to focus and be ready for Gallaudet.  Just like last time, it will be easy to look ahead to the game after, but they CANNOT do that.  They HAVE to beat Gallaudet.

[hoodfan]

Should be a great game on Wed. at York, I think it benefited Hood to have some time off before going to York to play. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the game will be played. I know there's a lot of snow in the forecast. Should be alright for Wed. though. I need some things to work out for me if I want to attend, hopefully they will.
CACsportsnut or YCP, will they have so big a crowd that they would turn people away? This is my first go round in the CAC, and I have no idea what kind of crowd they will have for this game. Don't want to drive that far and get turned away.

[CACsportsnut]

Um....I cannot say yes, or no. I am not sure how they handle that. But I will say that York gets the largest number of fans at their home games of any team in the CAC, close to 1,000 actually. This game is for first place in the conference, and a new rival who they lost to by 2 points last meeting. Also with players of the year canidates McGowan and Gutekunst, and other great players in Junghans, Zerfing, Robine, Brady, Edmunds...there is another reason in itself. Plus, I hate to say it, but I am sure the York fans are going to be a plentiful and hostile crowd after word spread of how the Hood fans acted towards several York players after the game. Going to be the type of game any college fan LOVES to see. I would call ahead if I were you and ask what the procedure is for the tickets, if you can get there, then do it.

[Matt Letourneau]

Crowd wise, I don't think that is true. CUA actually did a hard count for some of its earlier games this year.  They are selling tickets now so they now how many actually show.   For the CUA-St. Mary's game in November, attendence was 1,877.  The Goucher game the following week was 1259.  That was still early season.

Crowds have been very strong at DuFour all season--stronger than I ever remember.   Believe it or not, more students are showing up now than they did in the Lonergan era.   The gym is deceptive because its so large--its larger than any other gym I've been to in the conference except maybe Gally's. (I have NOT been to York's new gym, Hood and Salisbury).  If you get that thing 2/3rds full, than you have the largest crowd in the conference.  (Gally's is large too but I've never seen it close to full).

Now, that isn't to say York fans will be plentiful and hostile--I know they will be!  But Mary Washington shouldn't expect a walk in a park next weekend at DuFour either!