MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

sac · February 08, 2015, 11:51:09 AM

Wilmington is still in it for the 4th seed, its a long shot but with BW having to play John Carroll and Wilmington next week, any loss by BW the following week if they lost both this week could give Wilmington a chance at the 4th seed. IF Wilmington were to beat BW next Saturday and they finished tied I think Wilmington gets the tie-breaker by beating Mt. Union at least once. Wilmington probably has to run this table.........

OTTERBEIN
@ Baldwin-Wallace
@ Muskingum
MT. UNION

BW has this left
JOHN CARROLL
WILLMINGTON
@ Ohio Northern
@ Capital

BW lost to JCU earlier this year but has handled Wilmington, ONU and Capital without much trouble.

EttaFan1 · February 10, 2015, 08:12:52 AM

Big midweek matchups:

JCU @ BW - Must win for the Streaks if they want to stay in the hunt for the regular season title. Streaks turn around and host Marietta on Saturday, and then play Mount in a week. Tough stretch for them. If they go 0-3 in those games, they could be passed up by the Jackets for the 4th spot. BW is trying to hold on to that 4th spot, so it is big for them as well.

MAR @ Mount - A Marietta win all but seals the deal for the regular season title, as it would essentially be a three game lead over Mount with the tiebreaker. A Mount win makes it a race to the wire. Is DeAllen Jackson good to go? If he isn't it is a big blow to Mount. Both teams will be up for this one.

ONU @ Berg - Either of these teams could end up in that 5th spot, or they could end up 7th. Jockeying for position in the playoff bracket.

OTT @ WILM - Strangely enough, with 4 games to play Otterbein is still "in" the hunt. Wilmington can climb to the 4, but the Quakers need a lot of help from outside forces.

MUSK @ CAP - A Cap win means they split the season series, and then possibly tiebreakers. A Muskie win and they have the sweep over the crusaders. They are playing for a tournament spot, the one where you normally go on the road and get mashed upside the head by the top seed, but it is a chance to continue the season.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 11, 2015, 02:41:32 PM

Regional Rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2015/02/11/first-regional-rankings-released-today/

Dr. Acula · February 11, 2015, 08:29:01 PM

Etta and Mount are scorching the nets! Etta was 11-21 from deep in the 1st half while Mount was 13-20. Mount up 62-59 w 16 min to go.

Dr. Acula · February 11, 2015, 09:02:44 PM

Final from Alliance: Mount 102, Etta 92

Great win for the Raiders. The MAAC looked like it was packed and they got to see a good one. Both teams continued shooting well as both squads finished 50%+ from 3 and the field. They combined for 40 triples!

ohiofan1954 · February 12, 2015, 03:00:37 PM

Well if Mt. needed a big win this was it. Congrats raiders.

Ohigy · February 12, 2015, 08:50:04 PM

BIG win for Mount. both teams have a legit shot at playing in the NCAA Tournament. Cap looks locked in at the 8 spot and the Crusaders are playing good ball at the right time. Its; going to be a fun few weeks!

Dr. Acula · February 12, 2015, 10:55:06 PM

Yikes. Jarrett Ruffin almost broke his hand blocking this shot. Good lord!

YouTube

ohiofan1954 · February 13, 2015, 09:24:59 AM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on February 12, 2015, 10:55:06 PM
Yikes. Jarrett Ruffin almost broke his hand blocking this shot. Good lord!

YouTube

nice video, and to think there are still snob d1 fans (my school one of them) who don't think there are athletes in d3. Looked like a great crowd also.

ohiofan1954 · February 13, 2015, 09:29:09 AM

I realize Cap was playing the Muskies the other night but they not only played well but closed the deal as well. They shot lights out, 67% on the 3 point shot. It will be hard to repeat that especially against a top team but if they are anything close watch out.

sac · February 14, 2015, 03:45:53 PM

John Carroll 86 Marietta 71

complicates the OAC and regional rankings

Dr. Acula · February 14, 2015, 06:34:19 PM

I believe Mount now heads to University Hts. Wednesday with a chance to pull ahead of Etta in the chase for the regular season title. I would think that since they split head-to-head the next tie breaker would be record against the next best team which would be JCU. A win Wednesday would give Mount the title via that sweep of the Streaks. Someone correct me if that's incorrect though.

p.s. The anticlimactic ending would be an emotional victory at JCU followed by stumbling at Wilm. Etta has Ott and ONU left so they're going 16-2. Mount has to win out.

Ohigy · February 15, 2015, 01:31:23 AM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on February 14, 2015, 06:34:19 PM
I believe Mount now heads to University Hts. Wednesday with a chance to pull ahead of Etta in the chase for the regular season title. I would think that since they split head-to-head the next tie breaker would be record against the next best team which would be JCU. A win Wednesday would give Mount the title via that sweep of the Streaks.

I believe you are correct. A major shift in a short time as a week ago Marietta seemed to be in complete control. The only thing we know about the tournament is BW will be the #4 seed. #1, 2, and 3 and 5, 6, 7, and 8 could go a multitude of ways. We also know Muskingum and Otterbein will be at the bottom again this year. The Cards lost their 11th in a row.

sac · February 18, 2015, 08:43:21 PM

John Carroll 87 Mt. Union 81
Marietta 95 Otterbein 69

Marietta clinches a share of the OAC title. At the moment I think JCU has the #2 seed over Mt. Union

EttaFan1 · February 19, 2015, 08:36:49 AM

The thing which could complicate a few things is the ONU/Wilmington positioning. Right now Mount's loss to Wilmington (#5) is the tie breaker between them and JCU. If Mount wins on Saturday (@WILM), ONU wins on Saturday the Quakers and the Bears (@MAR) and JCU (@MUSK) wins on Saturday, there is now a three way tie for first, all of whom split against each other.

MAR 15-3
JCU 15-3
MOUNT 15-3
BW 10-7

WILM 8-10
ONU 8-10

MTU was 1-1 vs Wilmington and 2-0 vs. ONU
JCU was 2-0 vs. Wilmington and 1-1 vs. ONU
MAR was 2-0 vs Wilmington and would be 1-1 vs. ONU.

Would ONU by virtue of their two wins against the top 3 be the higher seed? If so, that might give Mount the top seed in the tournament, and who knows how you split the mess with MAR and JCU as their records against the rest of the league are identical.

Marietta, of course, solves that problem by beating ONU and winning the thing out right.

If the top 3 all win, I believe sac is correct, in that JCU would be the #2 seed as their 2-0 record against #5 WILM is better than Mount's 1-1 record.

BW has clinched the 4th spot.
5-8 are up for grabs.

WILM is currently 8-9, they host Mount. A win puts them at 9-9 squarely in the 5 spot and a trip to Berea on Tuesday. A loss combined with an ONU win and they tie the bears. (JCU's result would figure in the tiebreaker see above).
ONU is currently 7-10. They play at MAR. A loss puts them at 7-11 a win puts them at 8-10, and potentially in a tie for 5th.
Berg is currently 6-11. They host a bad Otterbein team. A win puts them at 7-11, a loss at 6-12.
Cap is currently 6-11. They host BW. A win puts them at 7-11, a loss puts them at 6-12. two 6-12 teams gets pretty murky as well, as results of the Saturday games will impact the pairings.

MUSK and OTT are eliminated.

Marietta should beat the Polar Bears. (MAR won in Ada by 10)
JCU has the easiest opponent of the top three, and should beat Muskingum. (JCU won at home by 22)
Mount should beat Wilmington (although the Quakers grabbed a 1 point win in alliance)
BW should beat Capital (BW won by 15 in Berea)
Berg should beat Otterbein.

(I know really hard picking the better teams to win all five games right)

If this happens,

The seeding should work out like this

1. Marietta 16-2
2. JCU 15-3 (wins the tie because of Mount's loss to WILM)
3. Mount 15-3
4. BW 11-7
5. WILM 8-10
6. ONU 7-11 (wins the tie by virtue of their win against JCU)
7. Berg 7-11
8. Cap. 6-12

The bracket looks like this
CAP @ MAR
---Winner
WILM @ BW
---Semi final Winners
Berg @ JCU
---Winner
ONU @ Mount