MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[UWRF]

*not quite sure about 7 and 8 seeds.  Oshkosh and Stout are 2-5 and River Falls is 2-6.  They are 1-1 vs. each other.  Since River Falls has one more loss, with one more game played, I just put Oshkosh and Stout ahead of them with Oshkosh winning the head to head tiebreaker.

ha well the 7-8 seeds dont matter, they wont be playing post season basketball anyway. Conference tourney only takes 6.

[UWRF]

I talked to Jake Voeltz before the game and he said that he rolled his ankle before the end of the first half against La Crosse.  He hopes to be back on Saturday. 

[cubs]

Sorry cubs for being...a year behind.

Its puzzling that after having "Big 3" for several years, that Oshkosh is down to one star and a bunch of other players. Don't know if its lack of development...or recruiting but a program like Oshkosh shouldn't be struggling to make the WIAC tournament.

It's what makes Division III athletics so enjoyable year after year....  You never know who is going to be on who's roster in a given year, whether it be injuries, grade issues, transfers, etc...  

Ironically you would have a UWO kid that would fit into each one of those categories in just the past 12 months alone.  It's things like this that make what Platteville did in basketball, Oshkosh in baseball, and now Whitewater in football all the more impressive!!!!

As far as recruiting goes, UWO's current freshman class had the #27, #31, #35, and #49 ranked kids out of the Class of 2009, according to respected high school basketball writer Mark Miller.  (The #49 ranked kid however didn't bother to go out.)  This doesn't even include Brian Washington, who has turned out to be the best out of them all at this point, starting in all but one game this season for UWO.  Add the #30 ranked kid into the mix now (transferred at semester) and you have what is shaping up to be a pretty solid group.

[stcroix]

I was hoping Point would put the third string in with a three point lead over Soups and over two minutes to go...you know, so as not to run up the score.

I think Superior gave it everything they had to pull themselves back into the game and, yes, they came within inches of pulling off the upset. But the way the night had gone up to that point, I just couldn't expect that Smith three to go in. It was not a night for miracles--in Superior, anyway. I think Point opening the game with eight straight points kind of hammered Superior's self-esteem. The Supe coach was amazingly self-contained. Does he read DIII? Yikes.

But, even the women were only down by four at the buzzer, and they, too, showed some heart by staying in the game. I went to the arena expecting losses, and I should count both games as best case scenarios, but I like it better when both teams play well and the end score is that close. The men's game was too much woulda shoulda coulda.

The men's hockey team took an ugly beating from Stout. Stout played hockey; Superior played some wild-a$$ version of--Good Lord, I don't even know a game that came close--polo?

Helland had a solid week...18 and 8 on Wednesday, 13 and 8 on Saturday.  Culy had less than a Culy like week and Smith didn't have his best yesterday either (the competition obviously had something to do with that)...this team could be one no one wants to play in the WIAC tourney.

[Greek Tragedy]

Oh yeah, I'll have to modify that when I have time today!  I forgot about that!  Thanks.

[chmarx]

I talked to Jake Voeltz before the game and he said that he rolled his ankle before the end of the first half against La Crosse.  He hopes to be back on Saturday. 

Glad the injury wasn't worse.

I have to admit to being shocked at Whitewater losing to EC.  Did anyone pick EC?

[John Gleich]

I talked to Jake Voeltz before the game and he said that he rolled his ankle before the end of the first half against La Crosse.  He hopes to be back on Saturday. 

Glad the injury wasn't worse.

I have to admit to being shocked at Whitewater losing to EC.  Did anyone pick EC?

I called it on the pick em board but didn't pick it...  As a matter of fact, I went 1-3 on the week (OUCH).

Coach Semling was on Hoopsville tonight.  You can check the archived video HERE  It was the very last thing, so go to the end and scroll back.

The Pointer radio show it tomorrow at 6:00 too.

[John Gleich]

Well, Eau Claire defended their home court and River Falls stole one on the road, so here's the re-post, updated through yesterday...

Home win = +0
Road win = +1
Home loss = -1
Road loss = +0

Whitewater	+3	(3-0 at home, 3-1 on the road)
Stevens Point	+2	(4-0 at home, 2-1 on the road)
Platteville	+1	(3-0 at home, 1-3 on the road)
La Crosse	+0	(2-2 at home, 2-1 on the road)
Superior	-1	(2-2 at home, 1-2 on the road)
Eau Claire	-1	(3-1 at home, 0-3 on the road)
Oshkosh	-1	(2-1 at home, 0-4 on the road)
Stout	-1	(1-2 at home, 1-3 on the road)
River Falls	-2	(0-4 at home, 2-2 on the road)

Schedule through 1/20 (halfway point in the conference schedule)

Wed 1/20/10
UW-Stevens Point  @ UW-Eau Claire
UW-La Crosse  @ UW-Oshkosh
UW-Whitewater @ UW-Platteville
UW-Superior @ UW-Stout

River Falls (bye)

And we'll be at the halfway mark (everyone with 8 games in) after Wednesday.

Interesting match up between Platteville and Whitewater... the Pios haven't lost at home yet (though they have played, and lost to LaX, Point, and Stout on the road).

The separation is now Whitewater/Point in the top tier, everybody else in the bottom.

Team	Record
Whitewater	6-1
Stevens Point	6-1
La Crosse	4-3
Platteville	4-3
Eau Claire	3-4
Superior	3-4
Oshkosh	2-5
Stout	2-5
River Falls	2-6

That means my post from January 11th really only needs the top breakdown (with La Crosse)...

As we saw, the bottom teams aren't pushovers by any stretch of the imagination.  But all teams 3-9 are now 2 games behind Point and Whitewater and would definitely need some help to be able to get to the top spot (they can sweep both teams and still only be tied for second place with the loser of the Point/WW rematch if both teams go 6-0 against the other bottom teams).


Again, we're looking at this as a 7-team tournament just for the heck of it...


La Crosse 4-1 W vs. Superior, Platteville, Stout, EC, L vs. River Falls
2 games vs. Oshkosh , 1 game Superior, Platteville, Stout, EC, and River Falls

Platteville 4-2 W vs. Superior, Oshkosh, EC, River Falls, L vs. La Crosse, Stout
1 game vs. Superior, Oshkosh, EC, La Crosse, Stout, River Falls

Superior 3-2 W vs. Oshkosh, River Falls EC, L vs. La Crosse, Platteville
2 games vs. Stout, 1 game Oshkosh, River Falls, La Crosse, Platteville. EC

EC (+1) 2-4 W vs. River Falls, Stout, L vs. Oshkosh, La Crosse, Platteville, Superior
1 game vs. River Falls, Stout, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Platteville, Superior

Stout 2-3 W vs. River Falls, Platteville, L vs. Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh
2 games vs. Superior, 1 game vs. River Falls, Platteville Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh

Oshkosh 2-3 W vs. Eau Claire, L vs. Platteville, River Falls, Superior, Stout
2 games vs. La Crosse, 1 game vs. EC, Platte, RF, Sup, Stout

RF 2-4 W vs. Oshkosh, La Crosse, L vs. Stout, EC, Superior, Platteville
1 game vs Oshksoh, Stout, EC, Superior, La Crosse, Platteville

So Platteville and EC have Whitewater and Point, and RF has the bye on Wednesday.  Things are looking rough for the Falcons, though they might be tied with Stout and Oshkosh after Wednesday night's games.  Right now, Eau Claire's win over Whitewater has them in the conference tournament if things ended today.


This last game has a few interesting match ups.  Whitewater goes to Platteville... the Pios haven't lost in conference at home, but they've played bottom teams.  And how does Whitewater rebound after a bad loss?  La Crosse goes to Oshkosh... Oshkosh beat a resurgent Stout team on Saturday and La Crosse has lost two straight, including Wednesday at home.  They've been sitting around thinking about those losses... and Oshkosh, though they lost the three games prior to their win against Stout, played right with Point and Whitewater.  And, like I said, the game is in Oshkosh... and Oshkosh is better at home than away (though they were pretty tough on the road at Point and Whitewater!!).


I know there's a lot here... what do you guys think?

[John Gleich]

I thought Point would struggle a little up in Canada Superior, but I didn't think they'd come that close to losing!  I guess Superior had the ball and the lead with 30 seconds to go, but Jenkins stole the ball and went in for the dunk to give the Dawgs the lead.  Wow! 

I think the Whitewater loss came out of nowhere.  I realize the Warhawks had been "down" a little bit, winning by just two vs. Whitman and losing to Whitworth over the holidays.  They also squeaked by in overtime against Oshkosh.  But, Eau Claire was coming off two losses and I didn't think they had a chance against Whitewater.  It's the first time Eau Claire has beaten Whitewater in 5 years and the first at Zorn since 2004. 

Solid road win for Platteville at River Falls.  The Pioneers were on a two-game slid, while River Falls had a good road win at La Crosse recently.  Four Pioneers scored 16 or more points.  What happened to Jake Voeltz?  No sign on him in the boxscore.

Big win for Oshkosh over a streaking Stout.  Marsh did his usual damage but Schrimpf come out of nowhere and goes for 25 while doing his best impression of Matt Miller (all his shots from 3-pt. land).  Looked like Stout had problems stopping anyone (unless they fouled) with 3 guys fouling out while only playing 21 or less minutes.

I watched/listened to the Point/Superior game.  I had a feeling this was going to be a tough game too.  It isn't any excuse, but Point hasn't played well in the second half of double headers up in Superior. 

It's interesting... games between Stevens Point and Superior have typically played out like this:  Either Point plays/shoots really well and Superior doesn't, and it's a blow out, or Point plays/shoots poorly, Superior does too, and it's a scrappy, hard fought game to the end.  The close Point/Superior games have been scratch-and-claw games that have been battles of attrition more than things of beauty.

01-02 Point went up to Superior and an Iserloth jumper with :35 broke a 70-70 tie.  Point survived 3 Superior shots and had the game sealed on a Justin Mallett block in the last few seconds to seal it.  Point won a share of the conference and Superior was 3-13.

02-03 Point  headed North and led by just 2 at the half and won 71-61.  Point their 4th straight conference title, Superior was 1-15.

03-04 Game 2 @ Point Game 3 @ Point Superior beat Point at home 57-54.  Superior then traveled to Point and beat Point 61-53 to prevent Point's 5th straight conference title.  Point ended up 11-5, Superior 6-10  Three days later, Superior came back to Point in the first round of the conference tournament as the #7 seed and Point finally managed to get the upper hand, 83-73.  This win started a string of 9 straight that culminated in Point's first National Championship.  This was also Cody Kastern's senior year and he had a ton to do with Point's troubles with Superior from 01-02 through 03-04.  He got a well-deserved ovation from Pointer fans and handshake from Coach Bennett when he fouled out of his final game in Quandt.

For the next several years, Superior didn't get within about 19 points.  Until this year.

And Jared Jenkins had Point's two biggest steals of the year.  Down one, with the clock running down, Jenkins picked Hill's pocket and got a dunk for the lead.  He then got another steal (it was attributed to Sweeney, but Jenkins actually got it, then passed it to Evan, who got fouled and nailed two huge FT's to seal the win.

[Greek Tragedy]

Geez, Point Special, did the twins grow up and leave for college already?  You seem to find more time to post lately! lol    That, and they're sleeping right now!

I'll end up commenting on your posts later this evening, when Carrie is coaching swimming!  She hates me on the computer.

[John Gleich]

Geez, Point Special, did the twins grow up and leave for college already?  You seem to find more time to post lately! lol    That, and they're sleeping right now!

I'll end up commenting on your posts later this evening, when Carrie is coaching swimming!  She hates me on the computer.

1.  Yes, the boys are sleeping
2.  Yes, Kate is sleeping.
3.  Yes, she hates me on the computer too!

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Geez, Point Special, did the twins grow up and leave for college already?  You seem to find more time to post lately! lol    That, and they're sleeping right now!

I'll end up commenting on your posts later this evening, when Carrie is coaching swimming!  She hates me on the computer.

1.  Yes, the boys are sleeping
2.  Yes, Kate is sleeping.
3.  Yes, she hates me on the computer too!

I think they should be happy that you're on this site rather than an "Adult Site".  At least this is free.  Thats important in this economy these days you know!?!

[John Gleich]

Geez, Point Special, did the twins grow up and leave for college already?  You seem to find more time to post lately! lol    That, and they're sleeping right now!

I'll end up commenting on your posts later this evening, when Carrie is coaching swimming!  She hates me on the computer.

1.  Yes, the boys are sleeping
2.  Yes, Kate is sleeping.
3.  Yes, she hates me on the computer too!

I think they should be happy that you're on this site rather than an "Adult Site".  At least this is free.  Thats important in this economy these days you know!?!

Well, this site is free and not morally bankrupt... Liberty League football board excluding, I think...

Point jumps to #1 as predicted.  They're unanimous, which is a little more of a surprize... but the other 4 of the top 5 did all lose.

Point @ Eau Claire
La Crosse @ Oshkosh
Whitewater @ Platteville
Superior @ Stout

Does anyone think Eau Claire can pull off two huge upsets in a row by beating Point?  Does anyone think Platteville can knock off Whitewater for their second loss in a row?

I think history is on Point's side... they've won 18 straight in this matchup, though last year's games were both decided by 6 or fewer points.  To be honest, I'm more concerned about Oshkosh on Saturday (I'm actually going to make it to my first Point game then!) because Oshy gave Point such a great game in the first matchup.

As I said the other day, after tomorrow's games, we'll be to the halfway point of the conference schedule.  It's very possible that Point and Whitewater may have a 3 game lead on the rest of the conference at that point... If Point and Whitewater both win and Oshkosh beats La Crosse, the bottom 7 teams will be 4-4 or worse.  Pretty unbelievable if you ask me!

Just for giggles, let's have Stout beat Superior too...

I think that just truly shows the parity of the league.  Yes, Point and Whitewater are really good... but everybody else is on roughly the same level.

If the above situation happens, this is what it would look like:

#1 Whitewater (7-1) (owns tiebreaker with Point)
#1 Point (7-1)
#3 La Crosse (4-4) (owns tiebreaker with Platteville)
#3 Platteville (4-4)
#5 Eau Claire (3-5)  (in no particular order... I didn't want to figure out the tiebreak on 4 teams in a hypothetical situation!)
#5 Superior (3-5)
#5 Oshkosh (3-5)
#5 Stout (3-5)
#9 River Falls (2-6)

Now, if La Crosse beats Oshkosh and Superior beats Stout, there's more separation...

#3 LaX (5-3)
#4 Platteville (4-4) (owns tiebreaker with Superior)
#4 Superior (4-4)
#6 Eau Claire (3-5)
#7 Oshkosh (2-6) (no particular order)
#7 Stout (2-6)
#7 River Falls (2-6)

The bottom situation makes things really easy for projected conference tournament seedings.  The top... not so much.

What I find amazing about both cases is that the bottom team will have 2 wins at the halfway point.  There have been years that the bottom team hasn't even WON two conference games, let alone in January.

[John Gleich]

...Where is everybody? 

I actually ask that on two fronts... Where are people posting, and where are the fans at the games?  There have been only three non-Quandt gym 1000+ attendance games this year... one at Winona State, one at Whitworth, and Stout @ EC. 

I know that late January/February games bring in more fans... but still...

Last year, EC had played 4 games (vs. Stout and 3 others).
Platteville averaged over 1100 at home last year.
And Whitewater avereaged over 900 at home and over 1000 on the road.

The average home game attendance was 780 last year... and it's 580 this year.  That means to get back to last year's average, 400 more people are going to have to show up for every game... which isn't going to happen.  The only team that is up in attendance up to this point is River Falls.

Anybody have any ideas why?

Is anybody out there?

[Just Bill]

They're all still reading your posts.