MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

River Falls 9-1 (19-2)
The Falcons took care of La Crosse, as expected, but then got shocked at home by Oshkosh, 65-60. This is the same Titan team they beat at Kolf by 22. The Falcons get their proverbial trap game at Stout before hosting the suddenly threatening Warhawks on the weekend.

Whitewater 7-3 (18-3)
Remember when the Warhawks were 0-3 and sitting at the bottom of the standings? Yeah, me neither. The ShineTime Express got a scare at 1-conference-win Platteville, eventually winning by 4 before they hosted and dismantled the Blue Devils 83-48.  Whitewater packs their bags this week with a trip to arch-rival Stevens Point and then the game of the year at River Falls on Saturday.

Oshkosh 6-4 (13-8)
Oshkosh took a huge hit to their NCAA post-season dreams by dropping a 69-68 barnburner in the Fox Valley against Point in midweek.  They somehow bounced back and stole one in River Falls to get some momentum back. The Titans hope to keep things rolling this week when they welcome the two bottom-feeding teams, La Crosse and Platteville.

Eau Claire 5-5 (15-6)
The Blugold's stranglehold on their Pool C bid (assuming they don't win the conference tournament) is starting to slip with another loss this past week. They won at Stout before failing to salvage a season split against Stevens Point, falling 61-54. Eau Claire has a tricky trip to Platteville tomorrow before hosting La Crosse this weekend.

Stevens Point 5-5 (11-9)
Ineligible for postseason play, the Pointers are making it miserable for those who are. First, Point walked out of Oshkosh with a shock win and then escaped Zorn with a season sweep of the Blugolds. Point will try to slowdown the Whitewater Express on Wednesday before heading up to Menomonie on Saturday.

Stout 4-6 (13-8)
The Blue Devils have now lots 6 of 8 after dropping games last week to Eau Claire and at Whitewater. Stout will try to stop the artery bleeding when they host league-leading River Falls and then Stevens Point.

La Crosse 3-7 (11-10)
The Eagles drove up to River Falls and came back with another loss, 73-59, before they ended their 3-game slide by sweeping the Pioneers for just their 3rd conference win. They have a chance to play spoiler and get some revenge for previous losses as they pack their bags for trips to Oshkosh and Eau Claire.

Platteville 1-9 (8-13)
After their lone conference win against Stevens Point, the Pioneers have now dropped 5 in a row after losses to Whitewater and at La Crosse. Like La Crosse, Platteville can play spoiler to Eau Claire and Oshkosh this week.

[Greek Tragedy]

The 1st Regional Rankings come out tomorrow.  As previously stated, there are 4 of them and these derermine Pool C (at large) bids. Using Knightslappy's numbers, here's a good indication of what these rankings might look like tomorrow.

http://detroitjockcity.com/division-iii-mens-basketball-regional-rankings-data/

Below is his list with the current conference leaders in bold. These teams are taken out of the equation since we are considering them Pool A (automatic qualifiers) at this time.

Team (winning %/SoS)
1. River Falls .895/.605
2. Washington U .850/.586
3.Whitewater .850/.556
4. Eau Claire .700/.572
5.Oshkosh .619/.592
6. Stevens Point .550/.617
7. Benedictine .857/.510
8. Carthage .684/.562
9. IWU .700/.556
10. Augustana .810/.518

The official regional rankings only go 8 deep, but I wanted to include Augustana, the CCIW league leader.

As you can see, a high SoS is just as important, if not more, than the winning %.

Another thing to note is that Stevens Point IS eligible to be ranked in the Regional Rankings, but obviously not for postseason play. This is imporant because, like winning % and SoS, results against regionally ranked opponents is part of the primary criteria. Basically, if there is a chance Point sneaks into the regional rankings, it helps everyone who has played against them, even if they lose to Point. 0-1 against a regionally ranked opponent can be viewed more favorably than not having any results against a regionally ranked opponent.

[tomt4525]

http://www.waow.com/story/34441011/2017/02/06/despite-postseason-ban-pointers-hope-to-finish-strong-after-roller-coaster-season

Nice article about UWSP.

[Greek Tragedy]

http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2016-17/week10

New poll is out. Falls drops from 4 to 7.

Whitewater goes from 21 to 18.

Eau Claire drops out from 25th.

[Greek Tragedy]

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d3/regional-rankings-0

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2017/02/men-regional-rankings-first

1. River Falls
3. Whitewater
5. Eau Claire

[AppletonRocks]

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d3/regional-rankings-0

1. River Falls
3. Whitewater
5. Eau Claire

Interesting.  Oshkosh has beaten Eau Claire twice (handily) and split with River Falls, plus throttled #9 St Norberts. I would see them above the Blugolds in the region. Would love to hear arguments for or against that.   

[Greek Tragedy]

EC 14-6 .700 .561 SoS
Osh 13-8 .619 .596 SoS

[Greek Tragedy]

Oshkosh's winning % is horrible, but their SoS is far superior to Whitewater. 556, Augie .518, Benedictine. 511, North Park .525 and IWU .556

1. River Falls 17-2 .895/.604
2. Wash U 17-3 .850/.586
3. Whitewater 17-3 .850/.556
4. Augustana 17-4 .810/.518
5.Eau Claire 14-6 .700/.561
6. Benedictine 18-3 .857/.511
7. North Park 15-5 .750/.525
8. IWU 14-6 .700/.556

[Gregory Sager]

EC 14-6 .700 .561 SoS
Osh 13-8 .619 .596 SoS

A two-game difference in W-L is equivalent to an .030 SoS gap, according to the committee, so these two criteria would actually balance out in favor of UW-Oshkosh at the moment. As it stands, though, UW-Eau Claire owns W-L percentage and UW-Oshkosh owns SoS.

However, there are other primary criteria, not just those two. UWO has swept UWEC head-to-head, so the Titans own that criterion as well. However, UWEC is 3-1 against regionally-ranked opponents (wins over Wash U, Buena Vista, and UW-Whitewater, loss to UW-River Falls) while UWO is 1-4 (win over UWRF, losses to Benedictine, Augustana, UWW, and UWRF, win over UWRF), so UWEC owns that criterion. Against common opponents, UWEC is 7-3 (5-3 versus non-UWO WIAC opponents, plus wins over St. Norbert and Wartburg), while UWO is 5-5 (4-4 against non-UWEC WIAC opponents, plus a loss to Wartburg and a win over St. Norbert), so UWEC owns that criterion.

[Just Bill]

EC 14-6 .700 .561 SoS
Osh 13-8 .619 .596 SoS

A two-game difference in W-L is equivalent to an .030 SoS gap, according to the committee, so these two criteria would actually balance out in favor of UW-Oshkosh at the moment. As it stands, though, UW-Eau Claire owns W-L percentage and UW-Oshkosh owns SoS.

However, there are other primary criteria, not just those two. UWO has swept UWEC head-to-head, so the Titans own that criterion as well. However, UWEC is 3-1 against regionally-ranked opponents (wins over Wash U, Buena Vista, and UW-Whitewater, loss to UW-River Falls) while UWO is 1-4 (win over UWRF, losses to Benedictine, Augustana, UWW, and UWRF, win over UWRF), so UWEC owns that criterion. Against common opponents, UWEC is 7-3 (5-3 versus non-UWO WIAC opponents, plus wins over St. Norbert and Wartburg), while UWO is 5-5 (4-4 against non-UWEC WIAC opponents, plus a loss to Wartburg and a win over St. Norbert), so UWEC owns that criterion.

I'm pretty certain "wins over regionally ranked opponents" does not factor on this first ranking, because at the time it's created no one is ranked. Because it's the first ranking. That category comes into play on the second ranking, now that we have established who a ranked team is.

[Greek Tragedy]

I was actually thinking the same thing. So, like last year, they got rid of the "once ranked, always ranked"?

[Pat Coleman]

At 13-8 in-region, they just don't have the winning percentage to get in.

Once ranked, always ranked (which in recent years has been currently ranked, currently ranked) has been replaced this year and now, if you are ranked in either of the final two rankings, you are considered ranked on Selection Sunday/Monday.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm not sure 19-9 will do it for Oshkosh. 13-8 now, 4-0 in the regular season, 2-1 in the conference tourney. .678 winning %.

[tomt4525]

No Chris Jones or Scotty Tyler for Whitewater tonight??

[Greek Tragedy]

Even without their two best players, ShineTime U DOMINATES the hosts and runs away with a  56-55 win over Stevens Point. The victory was never in doubt and rumor was Jones and Tyler were just given the night off since this was basically a "gimme" and Miller wanted to rest his star players for Saturday's trip to River Falls. Obviously, great coaching and now his two best players will be rested and ready to go this weekend.