BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[BigPoppa]

I really want to know how Augustana is still receiving votes.  They were just swept this weekend by Carthage and are 6th in the conference.  Got any ideas?  Poppa I know you got a take on the matter. 

My guess is it is an out-of-region voter who simply sees Augie's 20-11 record and assumes they are playing solid baseball. Still, stranger things have happened. The NJAC had a team miss its own conference tourney a few years ago and still get a bid on selection Sunday.

[jigsaw54]

That's just a shame that a team's playoff fate can be jeopardize by uninformed voters.

[droppinbombs47]

On a side note ....

If North Central sweeps Augustana this weekend ...
If Wheaton takes 2 out of 3 from North Park this weekend ...
and If Carthage loses 1 game to Millikin ....

North Central will clinch its first conference victory since 1996 and the days of Ed Mathey 

[UpperDeck85]

droppinbombs47 that is a very interesting statistic NCC is playing very well, I have been an avid CCIW fan for many years and it is nice to see new teams other than the historical dominant Augie or Carthage at the top this year.  I have made it to a few conference games and overall am impressed with the play of NPU and also NCC.  I feel pitching is somewhat down but there are many potent offenses throughout the CCIW, Kudos to the hitting coaches. 

[BigPoppa]

As solid as Augustana has been in the past, they have not won the CCIW since 1974. Traditionally, they have quite a number of two sport players who play football in the fall. It is a small thing, but those extra 8 weeks of baseball other players get in the fall may be an advantage over the course of the season.

[OshDude]

Psst ... two Carthage pitchers combined to no-hit Marian yesterday.  

[Gregory Sager]

That's just a shame that a team's playoff fate can be jeopardize by uninformed voters.

I presume that you and BP are talking about the NCBWA/d3baseball.com Top 25, in which Augustana received eight votes in this week's poll. But that poll has nothing to do with the playoff fate of Augie or any other team. The Pool B and Pool C (at-large) selections to the D3 tournament are made by the NCAA's D3 baseball committee, as stipulated by Bylaw 31.3.3 of the NCAA manual, and the details of how those selections are made can be found here in the D3 baseball championship handbook. The selection process is outlined on page ten of the handbook.

In other words, the poll is irrelevant as far as postseason selections are concerned.

[BigPoppa]

That's just a shame that a team's playoff fate can be jeopardize by uninformed voters.

I presume that you and BP are talking about the NCBWA/d3baseball.com Top 25, in which Augustana received eight votes in this week's poll. But that poll has nothing to do with the playoff fate of Augie or any other team. The Pool B and Pool C (at-large) selections to the D3 tournament are made by the NCAA's D3 baseball committee, as stipulated by Bylaw 31.3.3 of the NCAA manual, and the details of how those selections are made can be found here in the D3 baseball championship handbook. The selection process is outlined on page ten of the handbook.

In other words, the poll is irrelevant as far as postseason selections are concerned.

You are correct.

[UpperDeck85]

Gregory I don't care what it says in this by law or that championship handbook, it's common sense that voters should not be giving away votes to teams that do not deserve them. 

[droppinbombs47]

As solid as Augustana has been in the past, they have not won the CCIW since 1974. Traditionally, they have quite a number of two sport players who play football in the fall. It is a small thing, but those extra 8 weeks of baseball other players get in the fall may be an advantage over the course of the season.

This is a pretty remarkable stat considering the quality of teams Augustana has put on the field over the years to not have won the CCIW in the last 36 years.  However, I just looked at their roster and compared it with their football and even though they traditionally do have two sport players this year, I didn't match one of their players who get significant time for baseball to anyone on their football roster.  They are a very young team and would be shocked if they didn't make a lot of noise here in the next couple years. 

[HITandRUN463]

predictions for this weekend in the CCIW:

Wheaton vs. North Park: Wheaton 2 / North Park 1 ( this one is hard to predict, but I think Wheaton's pitching has an edge.  Also, Wheaton's hitting has been stellar in the past couple weeks)

IWU vs. Elmhurst: IWU 2/Elmhurst 1 (I have yet to see IWU play, but I think Elmhurst does not have the pitching to compete)

NCC vs. Augustana: NCC 3/ Augustana 0 (If NCC's hitting stays hot then they will come away with 3 wins this weekend.  Also, NCC's pitching has held its ground lately)

Carthage vs. Millikin: Carthage 3/ Millikin 0  (Carthage just seems too strong for a scrappy Millikin team)

[Gregory Sager]

Gregory I don't care what it says in this by law or that championship handbook, it's common sense that voters should not be giving away votes to teams that do not deserve them. 

That's not the point, Upper Deck. Nobody here is disputing the obvious fact that the pollsters who are giving votes to Augie are misguided. The question at hand is whether or not the Top 25 poll affects the D3 tournament selection process, which seems to be a point of confusion for Jigsaw and perhaps others who may not know how the selection process works.

This is a pretty remarkable stat considering the quality of teams Augustana has put on the field over the years to not have won the CCIW in the last 36 years.

Indeed, Augustana has appeared in fifteen of the last 21 CCIW tournaments. And throughout that span of good Augie teams, the Doggies not only failed to win the CCIW title, they also won the CCIW tourney only once (1999). Augie is the perennial bridesmaid of CCIW baseball.

[Mugsy]

Wheaton's tailspin continues with a 7-3 loss to U. of Chicago.

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2010/4/28/BB_chicago.aspx?path=baseball

For those of you keeping track at home, that is 6 losses in the past 7 games.

[yank52]

Wheaton drops 2 to North Park tonight at home 
17 to 14 and 16 to 10, not your stellar pitching performances
Both these teams and others in  the CCIW just keep pounding away.
Looks like North Central and North Park are now in the tournament, looks like its between IWU and Augustana for the 4th spot.

[CCIWFAN6]

Greg, I hate to bring up this topic again, but your favorite pitcher continues to struggle against the top offensive teams in the conference. Of the top three offensive teams in the conference, North Park has played two so far with the Carthage series next weekend.  In those two starts, his line is:
11 IP, 17hits, 14 runs, 13 er, 11 bb, and 12 k's. I want to make this clear; I am not saying he isn't a good pitcher, just don't see how you can say he is having as good of a season this year as last. He has performed very well against the weaker opponents and struggled against the better offenses.