MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

So in the topsy turvy world of SLIAC hoops, in the two contender vs contender games, BOTH home teams LOSE, bringing things to this!!!!!

hopefan standings

Webster      1   won at Principia, lost at home to Eureka, won at Blackburn, lost to Mac, won at Greenville, won at Eureka, lost at home to Iowa Wes
Greenville      1   won at Blackburn, lost at home to Webster, won at Westminster
Iowa Wesleyan      0   won at Blackburn, lost at home vs Prin, lost at home to Blackburn, won at Webster
Eureka      -1   lost to MacMurray, won at Webster, lost at home to Webster
Westminster      -1   lost at home to Greenville
Principia      -1   lost at home vs Webster, won at Iowa Wesleyan, lost at home to Blackburn, lost to Spalding, won at Blackburn
Blackburn      -2   lost at home to Iowa Wesleyan, won at Prin, lost at home to Webster, lost at home to Greenville, won at Iowa Wesleyan, lost at home to Principia

Now then, with their schedules, here is the max attainable, assuming each team holds serve by winning out at home and not losing to the bottom 3:

Webster has maxed out at +1... they have no more away games at contending schools
Greenville could move to +3 if they win at Principia and at Eureka
Eureka could get back to 0 if they win at Westminster
Iowa Wesleyan could move to +2 with wins at Eureka and Greenville
Westminster could move all the way to +3 if they won out on their killer final 2 weeks.. at Blackburn, at Iowa Wes, at Eureka, and at Prin
Blackburn could move to 0 with wins at Webster and Greenville
Principia could move to 0 with win at  Greenville

And obviously, a +1 for one team means a -1 for another.

GEESH.. IT'S SO EASY.... WIN AT HOME, BEAT THE BOTTOM 3

BUT NOT IN THE SLIAC

I LOVE IT

[hopefan]

Two CRITICAL games Monday

Eureka (7-6) at Westminster (10-3)  an Eureka win makes the conference picture all the more interesting but  Sean O'Brien should dominate the middle against smaller Eureka defenders...Westmin defense could make life tough for Feehan, Davis.
I know not many readers will be seeing this game, but note, women at 3:00, men at 5:00

Greenville (10-3) at Prin (7-6)  I can't conceive how this game won't be a blowout win for Greenville given Prin's short bench as well as their already high turnover rate... but wow, Prin has now won several "must-win" games to stay alive.... maybe....

[Greek Tragedy]

Two CRITICAL games Monday

Eureka (7-6) at Westminster (10-3)  an Eureka win makes the conference picture all the more interesting but  Sean O'Brien should dominate the middle against smaller Eureka defenders...Westmin defense could make life tough for Feehan, Davis.
I know not many readers will be seeing this game, but note, women at 3:00, men at 5:00

Greenville (10-3) at Prin (7-6)  I can't conceive how this game won't be a blowout win for Greenville given Prin's short bench as well as their already high turnover rate... but wow, Prin has now won several "must-win" games to stay alive.... maybe....

The Greenville game is a makeup game from Jan 14, I think, right?

[hopefan]

Two CRITICAL games Monday

Eureka (7-6) at Westminster (10-3)  an Eureka win makes the conference picture all the more interesting but  Sean O'Brien should dominate the middle against smaller Eureka defenders...Westmin defense could make life tough for Feehan, Davis.
I know not many readers will be seeing this game, but note, women at 3:00, men at 5:00

Greenville (10-3) at Prin (7-6)  I can't conceive how this game won't be a blowout win for Greenville given Prin's short bench as well as their already high turnover rate... but wow, Prin has now won several "must-win" games to stay alive.... maybe....

The Greenville game is a makeup game from Jan 14, I think, right?

BOTH games are makeups from Jan 14...

[WUPHF]

This has certainly been a great year to follow the SLIAC.

If you go by the Massey Ratings conference ranking, the SLIAC is currently ranked No. 31 which is the best ranking this century if you are OK comparing the current ranking to the corresponding end of season rankings.  This ranking is probably 10-12 points higher than the average season.

Greenville is ranked No. 85, though Massey takes the score in to consideration.  Westminster, Webster and Iowa Wesleyan are all in the Top 160.

[hopefan]

Westminster handles Eureka easily, Greenville wins at Prin, closer than I expected

hopefan standings

Greenville      2   won at Blackburn, lost at home to Webster, won at Westminster, won at Prin
Webster      1   won at Principia, lost at home to Eureka, won at Blackburn, lost to Mac, won at Greenville, won at Eureka, lost at home to Iowa Wes
Iowa Wesleyan      0   won at Blackburn, lost at home vs Prin, lost at home to Blackburn, won at Webster
Eureka      -1   lost to MacMurray, won at Webster, lost at home to Webster
Westminster      -1   lost at home to Greenville
Principia      -2   lost at home vs Webster, won at Iowa Wesleyan, lost at home to Blackburn, lost to Spalding, won at Blackburn, lost at home to Greenville
Blackburn      -2   lost at home to Iowa Wesleyan, won at Prin, lost at home to Webster, lost at home to Greenville, won at Iowa Wesleyan, lost at home to Principia

Now then, with their schedules, here is the max attainable, assuming each team holds serve by winning out at home and not losing to the bottom 3:

Webster has maxed out at +1... they have no more away games at contending schools
Greenville could move to +3 if they win and at Eureka
Eureka maxes out at 0... they have no more away games at contending schools
Iowa Wesleyan could move to +2 with wins at Eureka and Greenville
Westminster could move all the way to +3 if they won out on their killer final 2 weeks.. at Blackburn, at Iowa Wes, at Eureka, and at Prin
Blackburn could move to 0 with wins at Webster and Greenville
Principia could get to 0 with win at  Greenville

And obviously, a +1 for one team means a -1 for another.

GEESH.. IT'S SO EASY.... WIN AT HOME, BEAT THE BOTTOM 3

BUT NOT IN THE SLIAC

I LOVE IT

[hopefan]

With the results of last night and last Saturday, the SLIAC race appears to have taken more form... the top 3 spots seem to be going to Greenville, Westminster and Webster... with Prin, Blackburn and Eureka vying for the 4th spot.

Blackburn currently has 6 losses, with Westminster, at Webster, Spalding, and at Greenville remaining.... tough, right?

Principia has 7 losses, with Fontbonne, at MacMurray, at Greenville, and Westminster remaining. Not quite as tough, but tough enough.

Eureka has 7 losses with MacMurray, Greenville, Westmin, and Iowa Wesleyan remaining... Vert tough, but... all at home

The last day of the season is a monster
BC at GC... GC could be playing needing to win for 1st and host role for conference tourney, BC playing for 4th
WC at Prin... WC could be playing needing to win for 1st and host role for conference tourney, Prin playing for 4th
IWU at EC.... IWU could be playing for a spot in the USCAA, EC playing for 4th.

I can see a 3 way tie at 9 losses for 4th, EC, PC, BC.. and they have each split with each other... would come down to how they did vs 1st place finisher, 2nd place finisher etc.....longest shot... Eureka.. they'll have a tougher time finishing with 8 losses than Prin or Blackburn....

[WUPHF]

A story from the Webster Journal student newspaper on Webster freshman Will Berger who is out this season with an injury.

http://websterjournal.com/2017/01/31/webster-basketball-player-fights-back-injury-achieve-dream/

[hopefan]

Gotta talk a little more about Westmin - Eureka.... Not too often, I make a trip to see a game and it disappointingly turns out to be lopsided... well, that was last night.. Westminster just dominated from the get-go... It was quickly, 18-4.. EC may have cut it to 10 at one point in the 1st half, but they were out of it the rest of the way.  The dynamic twosome of Feehan and Davis were anything but... not much would go in the basket for either (Feehan constantly double teamed, and Romo TABB just ate up Kendall Davis).. and if Feehan found the open man, no one else could hit from the perimeter, and poor Alex Wiegand, who played really well, had 3 beautiful backdoor cuts end with missed layups.  This being the first time seeing Eureka, I have to say I came away very impressed with the backup guard tandom of Ryan Mcelmurry and Brady Schmidt... both a little out of control, but they really got a lot accomplished in their minutes on the court.  Most disappointing was the demeanor of Kendall Davis as the game slipped away...I'll leave it at that, but a fan like me can notice a lot when they are sitting a couple of rows behind the bench...
Westmin.. wow... SUPER defense.. SUPER movement of the ball on offense.. much credit to Sean O'Brien, who became the outlet pass in the middle... his numbers don't look big in this game, but he constantly got the ball from a pressured guard, then passed to the weakside where the offense was really generated. 

Finally.. nice of both coaches to ask about my month in Florida... it was great, but good to be back too...

[hopefan]

Prin does what is necessary to keep them alive... beating Fontbonne 78-69... gotta admire Fontbonne, they've kept in a number of games, just not enough to get them the wins....

Today, huge games..

Westmin starts their road trip of death at Blackburn... Big chance for BC to put themselves in position for a tourney slot..

Iowa Wes at Greenville... Huge for Greenville in battle for first place with Westmin... I'll go to this one, not expecting a reception committee greeting...I feel bad, but justified...

Webster at Spalding... watch out Webster, this could be dangerous

Mac at Eureka.... Mac won first time around, Eureka needs to recover from Westmin debacle....

[WUPHF]

Blackburn has lost to Principia, Greenville, Webster, and Iowa Wesleyan at home.  I think the road trip of death for Westminister begins on Saturday.

[ecreddevils]

EC program in the news:  http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20170207/eureka-college-men-and-women-roll-with-peoria-area-basketball-talent

[hopefan]

With the results of last night and last Saturday, the SLIAC race appears to have taken more form... the top 3 spots seem to be going to Greenville, Westminster and Webster... with Prin, Blackburn and Eureka vying for the 4th spot.

Blackburn currently has 6 losses, with Westminster, at Webster, Spalding, and at Greenville remaining.... tough, right?

Principia has 7 losses, with Fontbonne, at MacMurray, at Greenville, and Westminster remaining. Not quite as tough, but tough enough.

Eureka has 7 losses with MacMurray, Greenville, Westmin, and Iowa Wesleyan remaining... Vert tough, but... all at home

The last day of the season is a monster
BC at GC... GC could be playing needing to win for 1st and host role for conference tourney, BC playing for 4th
WC at Prin... WC could be playing needing to win for 1st and host role for conference tourney, Prin playing for 4th
IWU at EC.... IWU could be playing for a spot in the USCAA, EC playing for 4th.

I can see a 3 way tie at 9 losses for 4th, EC, PC, BC.. and they have each split with each other... would come down to how they did vs 1st place finisher, 2nd place finisher etc.....longest shot... Eureka.. they'll have a tougher time finishing with 8 losses than Prin or Blackburn....

Let's update after last night
Westmin and Greenville keep winning.. Greenville holds the tiebreaker having beaten Westmin twice... neither has a bottom 3 team left to play, Westmin has a much more difficult sched, particularly finishing at Iowa Wes...

With Webster's loss to Spalding, they now have 6 losses, and are no longer to be considered the automatic 3rd place finisher... Still with BC, Mac, and Fontbonne all at home, you'd have to figure they're still in good shape... if they were to lose to BC or Mac, they'd finish with 7 losses, if they lose to both, 8 losses... They COULDN'T lose to the Griffs, right?

Prin with 7 losses has 3 toughs left...at Mac, at Greenville, and Westmin... who knows, but it's doubtful finishing with 7 losses... Finishing with 8 would be a major challenge.

BC has 7 losses... with just as tough of a sked left... at Webster, Spalding and at Greenville... and from the lineup changes and minutes played vs Westmin last night, there may be injuries or problems right now too..  8 losses? or 9?

Eureka now has 8 losses... and went down to Mac without Shea Feehan... can they beat anyone without him? I'm not do sure despite Brady Sanders good numbers as his replacement...They'd likely have to win out vs Greenville Westmin and Iowa Wes... that is VERY unlikely...

So it sure appears that barring a major collapse, Webster is still good for 3rd... and whoever gets 4th either has to earn it, or it could be a total case of backing into it...Prin or BC... both of these teams have been such an underdog the last 5 or 6 years, it will be a pleasure to see one or the other make the tourney...Eureka, well, it'd take a quick recovery from Feehan, then playing much better than they have been.

[cheapseats]

Just another great year in the SLIAC, happy to be a fan. I know there has been talk on this board before about how competitive the SLIAC is in the NCAA tourney every year, but can Greenville or Westminster be competitive. They seem to have terrific athletes and decent size that would translate well in other conferences. I may be totally off base, but what do you all think?

[hopefan]

Just another great year in the SLIAC, happy to be a fan. I know there has been talk on this board before about how competitive the SLIAC is in the NCAA tourney every year, but can Greenville or Westminster be competitive. They seem to have terrific athletes and decent size that would translate well in other conferences. I may be totally off base, but what do you all think?

in my mind, no chance... still will be behind the Wash U/Augie level... Good teams likely will slice the system to ribbons, just as has happened to Grinnell in the past.  And Westmin has matured a year after last year's appearance, but the SLIAC kids are just not at the level necessary....man for man comparison would not hold up... If D3 had 'playin' games like D1 had, I'd feel confident that the best of the SLIAC could have a chance... but when we constantly face top regional seeds,no...