MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

Dr. Acula · February 21, 2009, 05:53:33 PM

I'm not surprised that the top 3 teams won this afternoon. I was a little surprised by the scores though. A little tighter than I would have thought. I know Bein is a rivalry game, but they're 3-15 in conference and it was at Cap.

Capital over Otterbein 83-78 (OT).

ONU over MUC 100-99 (2OT).

JCU over Wilm 75-72

sac · February 21, 2009, 05:55:08 PM

Ohio Northern 100 Mt. Union 99 2OT

......that close to a Pool C crushing loss.

albertjackson · February 21, 2009, 06:21:28 PM

Its that time of the year!! Great game in Alliance today! ONU freshmen hits game winning 3 in double OT!! I was very impressed with the effort by Mt. Union - I really wasnt expecting that. They are playing surprisingly well right now. I wont hold my breath come tournament time as they have Capital - but I see Capital isnt playing that great right now. Who knows?! Best of luck to the Raiders! I'm now changing my tourny prediction. After seeing JCU smack BW on STO - coupled with their road win at Wilmington, I have to believe they are clearly the OAC's best and I'm not expecting that to change - but I do expect the tournament to be exciting. Doed the OAC have any chanve of getting 2 teams in? I dont think ONU or Wilmington can get in without winning the tourny. Cap and JCU should be interesting if they make final and fail to win it. I'm picking JCU over Berg, Cap over Mt., not sure who has tie breaker with ONU and Wilmington but they both could be shark bait in the 1st round to either Marietta or Muskingum. Hope the final 4 is held at JCU for selfish reasons (easy trip to watch!).

On a side note - Congrats and my apologies to Andrew Bene of BW. AB scored 1,000 pts in his last game at BW (finished with 1006). Sorry for misspelling the name in my post last week.

Any thoughts on how JCU or any other OAC team might fair come NCAA tourny time?

jcu_fan · February 23, 2009, 11:26:28 AM

JCU hosts the OAC as long as they're in it. That was a huge win at Wilmington. Both Capital and JCU were undefeated at home this year, I think.

I'm not sure how Capital's close shaves with teams at the bottom of the standings will look if they don't win the tourney. Who knows what Pool C will think of that. Still, a win's a win, and nothing's a given in the OAC. Should be a very interesting tournament.

Gregory Sager · February 23, 2009, 11:34:17 AM

Quote from: jcu_fan on February 23, 2009, 11:26:28 AM
I'm not sure how Capital's close shaves with teams at the bottom of the standings will look if they don't win the tourney. Who knows what Pool C will think of that.

It won't matter. Margin of victory is not one of the five primary criteria used by the selection committee to determine Pool C bids.

kiltedbryan · February 25, 2009, 09:54:16 PM

Well the NCAC did its best OAC impression last night, with 3 of 4 lower seeds winning quarterfinal games.
The OAC returned the favor tonight, doing its best impression of a typical top-heavy year in the NCAC with 3 of 4 top seeds winning.

Final scores:

#8 Heidelberg 68, #1 John Carroll 78
#5 Muskingum 70, #4 Wilmington 69

#6 Marietta 52, #3 Ohio Northern 62
#7 Mount Union 56, #2 Capital 95

Pairings for the OAC Semifinals, to be held at John Carroll's DeCarlo Varsity Center:

#3 Ohio Northern vs. #2 Capital, 6 p.m.
#5 Muskingum at #1 John Carroll, 8 p.m.

Both Capital and JCU swept their opponents during the regular season.
JCU now has a 17-game winning streak and is unbeaten at home this year.

albertjackson · February 25, 2009, 11:11:04 PM

Can't say I'm surprised by the whoopin Mt. took from Capital. The question is ... was Capital making a statement or did Mt. throw in the towel. Took in the JCU vs Heidelberg game tonight. The Blue Streaks didnt look pretty but they were still able to beat a competitive but marginally talented squad from Tiffin. The younger players for JCU came through as they have all year. Hard to fathom this squad has won so many in a row! The OAC is not what it's accustomed to being. I have a hard time believing this year's team is anywhere close to as good as the past couple JCU championship teams. But its hard to argue with 17 straight or however many it is now. Muskingum's win over Wilmington only proves my thought that Muskingum was better than their record! I've been complaining about them and BW all year for underachieving. ONU gets the win against a team I'm saying right now will battle JCU the next couple of years for league supremacy with. The boys on the border have some talented freshmen playing major minutes. It might not happen next year, but the following year, 2010-11, look for the Pioneers to do what hasnt occurred in Marietta since 1995 - make a championship run! Hell for that matter - make a run at the upper tier of the OAC!! Amazing what a new coach can do for a program! I wonder if certain AD's are taking notice!?

On that same note - how will Coach Gholson's 1st recruitng class turn out? He needs players! Or Coach Sheldon's at BW? The loss of Bene is a large hole inside for the YellowJAckets. I like their guard play, but they need inside help. I didnt see much on the bench this year. Can Coach Sheldon muster the type of class he had last year at Heidelberg or will it take 6 years to put toghter a winning team? I cant imagine it would take that long at a school like BW. One last question..... how long can a program like Otterbein stay down? Gotta think Coach Reynolds wont stay in the bottom of the league for long - but they definitely need players. Thats the worst I ever remember Otterbein being!

David Collinge · February 27, 2009, 11:17:09 PM

Capital 63, ONU 58
John Carroll 83, Muskingum 69

Championship game: #2 Capital at #1 JCU, 7:30pm Saturday. The winner gets the automatic NCAA bid and a fairly likely home regional, while the loser probably gets the booby prize of a Pool C bid.

kiltedbryan · February 28, 2009, 12:34:08 PM

Everything goes to form in the OAC and we've got Capital-JCU for the OAC championship. As David noted, win or lose Cap and JCU should have bids. But home court for next weekend could easily be on the line.

Watch it tonight- free. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

http://www.teamline.cc/sportpage?teamcode=1037&eventcode=6

I pick JCU by 8.

Mr. Ypsi · February 28, 2009, 08:58:43 PM

Quote from: kiltedbryan on February 28, 2009, 12:34:08 PM
Everything goes to form in the OAC and we've got Capital-JCU for the OAC championship. As David noted, win or lose Cap and JCU should have bids. But home court for next weekend could easily be on the line.

Watch it tonight- free. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

http://www.teamline.cc/sportpage?teamcode=1037&eventcode=6

I pick JCU by 8.

But isn't "form" in the OAC that favorites rarely win!

kiltedbryan · February 28, 2009, 08:59:39 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on February 28, 2009, 08:58:43 PM
Quote from: kiltedbryan on February 28, 2009, 12:34:08 PM
Everything goes to form in the OAC and we've got Capital-JCU for the OAC championship. As David noted, win or lose Cap and JCU should have bids. But home court for next weekend could easily be on the line.

Watch it tonight- free. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

http://www.teamline.cc/sportpage?teamcode=1037&eventcode=6

I pick JCU by 8.

But isn't "form" in the OAC that favorites rarely win!

Yes, of course.

82-79 JCU leads with 3:49 left.

kiltedbryan · February 28, 2009, 09:17:16 PM

JCU 90, Capital 87, Final.

John Carroll remains unbeaten at home and earns the OAC Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

ScotsFan · March 01, 2009, 01:38:02 AM

Quote from: kiltedbryan on February 28, 2009, 09:17:16 PM
JCU 90, Capital 87, Final.

John Carroll remains unbeaten at home and earns the OAC Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

And the favorite to put that home unbeaten streak on the line in the NCAA tournament IMHO...

Who would have ever guessed at the start of the regular season that the road to Salem out of the GL region would be going through John Carroll???

kiltedbryan · March 01, 2009, 02:22:03 AM

Quote from: ScotsFan on March 01, 2009, 01:38:02 AM
Quote from: kiltedbryan on February 28, 2009, 09:17:16 PM
JCU 90, Capital 87, Final.

John Carroll remains unbeaten at home and earns the OAC Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

And the favorite to put that home unbeaten streak on the line in the NCAA tournament IMHO...

Who would have ever guessed at the start of the regular season that the road to Salem out of the GL region would be going through John Carroll???

Hard to say, SF- but it wasn't these "experts"

JK · March 01, 2009, 08:32:44 AM

Cap's women are back in the tourney, where they belong, and the men are likely to get a pool C and get in (although given what happened back in 01, I won't get too excited until they actually announce it).

I'll take it...

I'd be even happier if the Football team hadn't mailed in the second half of the season after the QB got hurt. But, who didn't expect a little slide after losing the best (OK, second best) coach in the conference.

Hoping that the baseball team can rebound from last year and fulfill some of the promise they showed making the OAC tourney final game two years ago.

Cap has quietly built a strong overall athletic program. They will never win the OAC all-sports trophy because they don't have all the sports that MUC, JCU, BW, ONU have (no wrestling or swimming and diving), but pretty solid since the Capital Center was built.