Empire 8

[superman57]

I think with a win over utica and fisher takes Uticas spot in the top 5

[FisherDynasty]

Also, you can actually add Fisher in their righ t now with the Hamilton loss to Hobart.

[superman57]

Here are the scores

Ithaca 68 RIT 66
Hartwick 72 Alfred 63
Utica 61 Fisher 70 (game is closer than score implies)
Elmira 58 Naz 70


Elmira 52 RIT 70
Utica 84 Alfred 68
Ithaca 65 Naz 67
Hartwick 58 Fisher 86

[bamm]

Big weekend for the Rochester squad in the UAA.  They host Chicago (18-4) and WashU (18-3), the two teams ahead of them in the league standings.  If they can win both I would not be surprised to see them on top of the East Region rankings next week.

NYU travels to cellar dwellars Case Western and Emory.  Cleveland to Atlanta in one weekend... love the UAA.

[clearconceit]

Here are the scores:

Naz 70 Elmira 59
Ithaca 80  RIT 77
Alfred 88  Hartwick 65
UTICA 76 SJF 65  (Score not indicative of how bad UTICA beats them)

Saturday
Ithaca 84  Naz 77
RIT 77  Elmira 55
Alfred 70 UTICA 67  (hung over from post game celebration on Fisher's floor, oh was it sweet)
SJF 71 Hartwick 66

A new Champion Will Be Crowned Tonight!!!!!!!!!!

[superman57]

ok clear first off your on crack...second off when Utica loses to fisher you should change your name to your on crack stop being blinded by your team....  Fisher is very tough to beat let alone beat at home and your team struggled to beat them when you were home...

[dewcrew88]

ok clear first off your on crack...second off when Utica loses to fisher you should change your name to your on crack stop being blinded by your team....  Fisher is very tough to beat let alone beat at home and your team struggled to beat them when you were home...

Here is my prediction, FWIW.

Utica 70, Fisher 67. Utica wins the E8 title and hosts the tourney. Yes, I am a Utica supporter, but I definitely believe the Pioneers can get it done. It will be very difficult to win in Varsity Gym, but I think Utica can do it. Should be an awesome game tonight.

[dmcclintock]

tonight will be a very exciting game.  I believe that Fisher is going to win but it will be a battle.  I am just hoping that it will not take doulbe overtime for someone to break the 60pt barrier this time around

[fisheralum91]

Have the pioneers left Utica yet?
Hope so-we got another 8 inches with more falling now.
UC didnt open til 10 because of the snow.
Itll be a long trip to roch!

[gobombers15]

My Predictions:

FRIDAY

Fisher over Utica, 67-62: Fisher gets off to one its patented fast starts at home, leading by double-digits in the first ten minutes. Utica claws back to trim the halftime deficit to around 6. The second half is a back-and-forth affair with Utica taking a short-lived lead with about 8 minutes remaining. The teams trade hoops for awhile before Dan Mueller hits a big three to put Fisher up four with a minute remaining. Ray Bryant tries to answer, but no dice. Fisher takes care of business at the foul line and once again earns the right to host the E8 Tourney, while the Cardinal Crazies remind the Utica players about how they choked away the chance to host the tourney during Fisher's "rebuilding" year.

Ithaca over RIT, 83-80. Too bad this game is on the same night as Fisher/Utica as it would have been a nice game to go watch on Saturday for Rochester hoops fans. I think this will be a tight game throughout. Big momentum swings will be the name of the game here. If Ithaca can keep RIT off the glass and not let Zeinfeld go off, they have a great chance in this one. Too many second chance opportunities for the Tigers in the first matchup. Ithaca is playing good ball right now, but a lot depends on which RIT club shows up.

Alfred over Hartwick, 71-64
Naz over Elmira, 85-62

SATURDAY

Fisher over Hartwick, 69-52
Utica over Alfred, 72-65
RIT over Elmira, 78-60
Ithaca over Naz, 75-70

[FisherDynasty]

I'm with Gobombers and DMC, I think Fisher will not allow Utica to beat them 2 straight times, with the second being at home.  Fisher's fresh are coming together nicely and starting to put up some good numbers and score more.  Should be a very hard fought, physical game.  I just hope the ref's let them play.  If Mcsweeney and beigal get into foul trouble it could be tough for fisher to get the win.

[gobombers15]

Also, if Ithaca sweeps this weekend (big if), does Jim Mullins have the inside track at E8 Coach of the Year? Trust me, I'm taking my temperature after uttering those words, as you all know I'm not the biggest Mullins supporter there is. However, I think one could make a strong argument for him and it would go something to the effect of, "the team finished 10-4 in conference...

a) when they lost one of the top three players in the conference (Bellis) and a genuine go-to-guy on the offensive end

b) Ithaca's starting five consists of a freshman, three sophomores and a junior

c) the junior started the season as the third-string shooting guard and didn't even letter in either of his first two years

d) of the three sophomores, one spent all Fall away from basketball and focusing on football (Bostic), and another didn't even play organized basketball last year (Leahy)

e) the team survived the loss of its top two shooting guards when Brian Joe left school and Brad Clemente is no longer with the team (reasons unknown)

f) in past years, the season would have went slip-sliding away after the blowout loss at Fisher and the loss later that week at Oneonta; the Bombers had lost three of four games and, as I mentioned, that usually would have led to a prolonged slump during other seasons

As I mentioned, this is not any Ithaca bias here. I've made my feelings known about Mullins on several occasions. That said, if the team finishes 10-4 in the conference, I think he has to warrant a fair amount of consideration. A lot of similar things could be said for the losses at Fisher and the job Kornaker has done. Also, we all know Goodemote is a good coach. Finally, I think McVein deserves consideration every year as it seems like RIT is always in contention with one very good player, one or two pretty good players and then a ragtag bunch of other players.

[FisherDynasty]

I agree mullins should def. be in consideration.  However, depending on the outcome of tonights game, If Fisher wins and hosts its 4th straight E8 tournament, then Kornacker will and should get it hands down.  Also, if fisher wins the league this year, and Ithaca has not beat them, thus their coach should not get coach of the year.  However, if fisher loses and Ithaca wins out, then I dont see why he shouldnt itd be down to him or goodemote most likely.

[gobombers15]

I agree mullins should def. be in consideration.  However, depending on the outcome of tonights game, If Fisher wins and hosts its 4th straight E8 tournament, then Kornacker will and should get it hands down.  Also, if fisher wins the league this year, and Ithaca has not beat them, thus their coach should not get coach of the year.  However, if fisher loses and Ithaca wins out, then I dont see why he shouldnt itd be down to him or goodemote most likely.

Not sure how much that matters, especially when Fisher beat Utica four times last year and Goodemote split Coach of the Year with Kornaker. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't give it to Kornaker this year based solely on the fact that the team wasn't as dominant as it has been in the past. I'm not saying this is fair and, in fact, this is probably the best coaching job he's done with any of his teams. That said, I think the time is right to give it to someone else. I still think Fisher has more talent than any team in this league and this was the first time that the Cards lost a "bad" game, when it lost to Alfred. They lost to Naz last year, but that's a rivalry game. I still think the issue is undecided but I have a feeling Kornaker isn't going to win.

[UCgrad45]

Let's get this thing started.