MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

https://d3datacast.com/npi/

In case you weren't paying attention, the old system of determining Pool C bids for the NCAA tournament has been changed. The NCAA has a new system called NPI which throws out regional rankings, 10 teams at "the table" etc. Now, every team is simply ranked from 1 to whatever. The AQs are taken out and the top 21 teams are the Pool C teams selected for the tournament. If I misunderstood this, I imagine someone smarter than me will let us know (Matt, Zac, Ryan).

At this time, 4 WIAC teams are in the top 21 with Point being projected as the 13th Pool C team selected.

[Greek Tragedy]

The WIAC invades the UMAC tonight.

Eau Claire at Northwestern
Massey says Eau Claire by 4, 76-72

https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=9047&h=-1&s1=604302&oid1=5721

Stout at Northland
Massey says Stout by 15, 82-67

https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=9097&h=-1&s1=604302&oid1=5667

River Falls at North Central
Massey says River Falls by 4, 75-71

https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=9081&h=-1&s1=604302&oid1=5532

[Greek Tragedy]

Not surprisingly, it was a WIAC sweep over the UMAC last night.

Stout 88 Northland 66
The Blue Devils have now won 3 in row.
https://stoutbluedevils.com/news/2024/12/11/mens-basketball-thirteen-blue-devils-score-in-an-88-66-blow-out-win-over-northland.aspx

Eau Claire 76 Northwestern 58
The Blugolds has put together 6 in a row now.
https://blugolds.com/news/2024/12/11/mens-basketball-win-streak-hits-six-as-blugolds-down-northwestern.aspx

River Falls 72 North Central (MN) 61
The Falcons rally for the win.
https://uwrfsports.com/news/2024/12/11/mens-basketball-falcons-overcome-double-digit-deficit-to-defeat-north-central-72-61.aspx

The WIAC is now 45-19 (70%)

Everyone is off until Saturday.

[The Dean]

Very sad news.  My most heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family, his teammates and the Trine University community.

"The Trine University community is mourning the tragic loss of Fred Garland, a Trine University student and a member of the national championship men's basketball team. Fred passed away Dec. 11, 2024, in a car accident."

[Greek Tragedy]

River Falls (4-3) at Gustavus Adolphus (6-2)
Tough one for the Falcons today. The Gusties have lost to La Crosse and Platteville, but beat the Blugolds in OT.

Massey has the home team winning by 3.
https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=9081&h=-1&s1=604302&oid1=3071

Whitewater (4-3) vs Averett (5-2) at Virginia Wesleyan
Another battle here as Averett received votes in Week 2, but none last week after dropping a pair of conference games. They do have a big win over ranked CNU.

I'm kind of surprised Whitewater is favored by 7 here.
https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=9110&h=0&s1=604302&oid1=457

Platteville (7-1) at Central (6-3)
The Pioneers head to Iowa for a tricky game.

The visitors favored by just 3.
https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=9077&h=-1&s1=604302&oid1=1390

Olivet (1-5) at Stevens Point (7-0)
This is the so-called trap game after the Trine win and before the big matchup with ranked CNU.

The Pointers favored by 12
https://masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=604302&oid0=5935&h=-1&s1=604302&oid1=9089

[Mitch Hall]

Thank you, GT.

[palum]

Platteville beats Central 87-64. They had a 48-31 lead at halftime.  Central got it single to 10 with 10 minutes but Platteville pulled away in the final 10 minutes. Logan Pearson led Platteville with 21 points. Platteville had 6 players in double digits.

[tomt4525]

6'1" Eau Claire North G, Elliot Bessen, has committed to Platteville.

[Greek Tragedy]

My apologies for being MIA, I've been sick since the weekend. Still trying to get my bearings together.

Remaining non-conference schedules

Stevens Point (8-0)
12/19 vs CNU (9-2) (in Charlotte)
12/20 vs RMC (3-3) (in Charlotte)
12/30 vs North Park (5-3)

Oshkosh (7-1)
12/21 at SNC (5-1)
12/29 vs Keene St (4-1)
12/30 Hamline (4-4)

Platteville (8-1)
12/29 vs Bethany Lutheran (1-5) (at SNC)
12/30 SNC (5-1) or Lake Forest (3-5) (at SNC)

La Crosse (6-2)
12/21 vs Ripon (3-5)
12/29 vs Hamline (4-4) (at Oshkosh)
12/30 vs Keene St (4-1) (at Oshkosh)

Eau Claire (7-3)
12/30 vs Carleton (5-2)

Whitewater (5-4)
12/21 at Simpson (1-7)
12/31 vs Ripon (3-5)

River Falls (4-4)
12/19 vs Hamline (4-4)
12/30 vs St. Scholastica (3-5)
12/31 vs UW-Superior (3-5)

Stout (3-6)
12/30 vs Superior (3-5) (at River Falls)
12/31 vs St. Scholastica (3-5)

https://d3datacast.com/npi/

Checking out the latest NPI rankings, the WIAC is in good shape so far. Platteville is the #2 ranked team today. Oshkosh is #15, La Crosse is #22. Point sits at #26. In regards to Pool C predictions, all four make the tournament with Point sitting on thin ice as the 15th Pool C team taken. This does not take into account bid thieves, which usually account for 4-6 bids(?). I think there's 21 Pool C bids this year.

Another thing to look at is the D3 NPI. That's the ranking of each team, by points. One thing to take into consideration is that if the team you are playing against has an NPI number higher than 53, you get bonus points for wins.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2024-254D3MBB_NPIReport.pdf

At this time, 5 WIAC teams are above 53, so wins against Platteville, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Point and Eau Claire will result in bonus NPI points.

[Mitch Hall]

Thank you GT. Always informative.

[Greek Tragedy]

Point starts slow, takes a narrow lead, goes back down 7 and then survives a missed corner 3 at the buzzer to top CNU 70-68. Great win against a real good team. 

[PauldingLightUP]

The the ol' mistakenly foul only up two, Captains miss the first, second is tipped out, and WIDE open corner three is missed at the buzzer.

[PauldingLightUP]

Meanwhile, River Falls is going to pasted by Hamline. I was expecting more from the Falcons in the non conference.

They

[tomt4525]

Don't forget the 10-20 shooting from the free throw line, or getting out rebounded 37-22...Point shouldn't have won tonight.  They have a lot to clean up, good win over a good opponent though.

[ChickenHoops]

Don't forget the 10-20 shooting from the free throw line, or getting out rebounded 37-22...Point shouldn't have won tonight.  They have a lot to clean up, good win over a good opponent though.

Agree. Baumgartner is carrying them. 

Is Miron hurt? Didn't see him in last 10 minutes, only part I could see as I had to sub for my gf Dad in bowling league tonight. Not sure she is worth the trouble.