Empire 8

[gobombers15]

Naz crushes Elmira, 84-57. Here's what we know about each team:

ITHACA
-Earns the #1 seed and right to host E8 Tourney with win vs Naz
-If IC loses to Naz, Stevens hosts the E8 Tourney and IC earns the #2 seed and would play Naz in the E8 semis

STEVENS
-If IC defeats Naz, Stevens is the #2 seed and will play Naz in the E8 semis in Ithaca
-If Naz knocks off IC, Stevens hosts the E8 Tourney and will play either Fisher or Utica in the E8 semis

NAZARETH
-Locked into the #3 seed, regardless of tomorrow's results
-Will play either Ithaca (if Naz wins tomorrow) or Stevens (if IC wins tomorrow) in the E8 semis

FISHER
-Can do no better than the #4 seed, thus will play whomever hosts
-Clinches E8 Tourney berth with win at Hartwick OR Utica loss vs Alfred
-Misses out on E8 Tourney with loss at Hartwick AND Utica win vs Alfred

UTICA
-Only way to make E8 Tourney is to defeat Alfred AND have Hartwick knock off Fisher
-Two options: misses E8 Tourney or be the #4 seed

Wouldn't it be fitting, after the way this season has went, if Utica rose from the dead and made the E8 Tourney because Fisher got upset at Hartwick. The chances of that happening are slim, but who knows. A small part of me wants Utica to make the E8 Tourney if only to avoid the inevitable "you're lucky the hottest team in the E8 isn't in the E8 Tourney" comments from the Utica fans (well, one in particular).

[bombersquadron]

Bombers put together a great game tonight. Battled the whole second half but kept the led up around 9. They always hit a bg shots and with stodd Stevens' attempts to come back. I have never seen an Ithaca team play that well in a big game. Big game form Louis Kail, he killed Tim Williams, beat him down the floor every time and got easy lay-ups and held him in check on the defensive end. Almost everyone played extremely well and a hgue factor was Ithaca's 17 assists and only 3 turnovers. They exectued well, hussled for loose balls and played very well for the big crowd.

Bostic had a huge game went 5-5 from the field and 5-5 from the line in the first half. Fishised with 24 and 10. He had to have been shorted in the stats, he had at least 6 blocks and more than just 10 rebounds. He played big and i don't think anyone can say Carson for first team now. Carson has played well but Bostic has been dominate since someone called him soft. He didn't play well in the last Stevens game and i felt Ithaca could have won at Stevens without Burton if he had played better. He is a force to be reckoned with right not and he is making moves with his back to the basket, facing up, jump shots and fast breaks.

Burton played great too, even when he was a little off which shows his maturity and growth this season. If Ithaca wins tomorrow and hosts he has to be considered for POY.

Tomorrows game is HUGE.

[magicman]

gobombers15

Nice picks tonight especially the Fisher/Utica game and the Stevens/Ithaca game. That was the same scenario I laid out on the 18th over on the East Region Rankings board in my reply to your tiebreaker info. I'm rooting for your Bombers today against Naz, as I don't want Stevens to back into the top seed. Hopefully because the game means more to the Bombers than to Naz, Ithaca can pull it off.

You stated that Naz was locked into the 3rd seed regardless of the outcome of today's game. But if Naz win's they finish at 12-4 to Ithaca's 11-5. I think that gets them the #2 seed.   Not that it really matters.

[UCgrad45]

"A small part of me wants Utica to make the E8 Tourney if only to avoid the inevitable "you're lucky the hottest team in the E8 isn't in the E8 Tourney" comments from the Utica fans (well, one in particular)"

That tells me that you understand which team that would be.

They aren't just the hottest, they wrecked all the teams ahead of them in their last meeting.

The sad part is, UC should have clinched last night. Go back to when they were beat by the refs with a little help from naz early on, and Naz is the team needing the win today.

That said, congratulations to the teams already in.

Hartwick getting the win today could happen. If I am not mistaken, they played a close game at fisher. Hartwick also has senior night, Coco, no pressure, and fisher is going to be hurting physically from last nights game. They looked like they had no legs left at about the 12 minute mark last night. Collapsing on D and making poor decisions on O. I am a huge Hartwick fan for today. UC also needs to take care of business today.

[UCgrad45]

If the events of this weekend don't bring UCGrad45 back to the board then we can safely assume he was buried alive in a snowdrift during a previous CNY blizzard.

.  .  .  if Utica gets in, those guys are running on afterburners right now and could fly all the way to the title...and I just threw up a little in my mouth thinking about that possibility.

I'm a little worried about UCGrad myself.  Haven't seen him at a game lately?  Great team wins for the Pioneers this weekend and a good omen for the future.  10 players (including 3 freshmen) had over 10 minutes in tonights win.  Most of the first half was played without Herring who picked up two early fouls and Utica ended the half down only 2.

And for the Munch detractors, Dennis gets the game ball tonight!  By the numbers, 10 points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds, but more importantly the timing on several of the steals and rebounds was clutch. 

It's taken most of the season, but the last two games have shown that UCGrad wasn't entirely crazy in his early assesment of the team.  For two consecutive games, it's nice to see all the new parts working together.   Unfortunately, at this point Utica can only win and hope, but if Ithaca doesn't mind the store, Caz Bombers' "distress" is well founded.

With my Executive Director having major surgery I have been working insane hours. Usually between 9-14 hours a day. When she is out, it means I am running the place.

Last night was the first time I could see a game (not on empire 8 tv) since Oswego.

I likely won't be there today. My Daughter turned 1 yesterday, and depending on how my wife feels (she has been sick), we are probably going to do something as a fam for her birthday today.

Let's go UC! Let's go Hartwick!

Pioneers deserve to be in. They have played their hearts out and it finally came together.

[FisherDynasty]

If Fisher loses to Hartwick today, I will banish myself from any D3 board for the rest of my life.

Good win by Ithaca, I hope the tourny is hosted there, however, I don't think there going to be Naz. They are home though, so we'll see. 

Also guys, 'Hottest team in the E8? come on, what does that mena? 2 or 3 straight wins?  I think every other weekend a new team gets it open so to say a team is the hottest maybe be in the moment but once the tourny starts its back to ground zero, and I guarantee the hottest team going into the tourny will fall whoever it might be.

[UCgrad45]

If Fisher loses to Hartwick today, I will banish myself from any D3 board for the rest of my life.

Good win by Ithaca, I hope the tourny is hosted there, however, I don't think there going to be Naz. They are home though, so we'll see. 

Also guys, 'Hottest team in the E8? come on, what does that mena? 2 or 3 straight wins?  I think every other weekend a new team gets it open so to say a team is the hottest maybe be in the moment but once the tourny starts its back to ground zero, and I guarantee the hottest team going into the tourny will fall whoever it might be.

Right now, the teams that end in 'ca are the hot teams. Both are playing extremely well and dominating the other top teams in the conference.

Let's go UC!

[jasper]

If Fisher loses to Hartwick today, I will banish myself from any D3 board for the rest of my life.

True if Fisher loses to Hartwick i'll stone cold a six pack and run naked through downtown rochester. With that being said I'm sure Fisher will right the ship and take care of business.

[reelentless]

UCGrad, good to see you back at the desk.  Agree, Fisher looked tired at the end of the game, especially the bigs.

Utica can only worry about Alfred today, I'm just happy to see the team play the way UCGrad and I (and most people familiar with the talent) thought they could.  It's taken a while, but if Utica wins and Hartwick makes it happens, Utica can feel good about "backing in".  Three convincing wins in the last week over the teams above them in the league qualifies for a shooters chance.  If it doesn't happen, the entire team, minus Munch returns next year.

And FisherDyanasty, I'll take the hot team.  Go Giants!

Go Utica.

[Jacketfan2011]

If Fisher loses to Hartwick today, I will banish myself from any D3 board for the rest of my life.

True if Fisher loses to Hartwick i'll stone cold a six pack and run naked through downtown rochester. With that being said I'm sure Fisher will right the ship and take care of business.

For your sake, and Rochester's, I hope you're right.  Think of the children, man!

[Jacketfan2011]

I asked this question a while ago but I don't think anyone answered.  Maybe no one knows, but the the Carson brothers have not appeared in a Hartwick box score for some time and I was just wondering why?

[sjfcards]

If Fisher loses to Hartwick today, I will banish myself from any D3 board for the rest of my life.

True if Fisher loses to Hartwick i'll stone cold a six pack and run naked through downtown rochester. With that being said I'm sure Fisher will right the ship and take care of business.

Well I hope they can take care of business. Just when you start to feel good about Fisher, and think that they have things going in the right direction, they drop two games and don't look particulaly impressive in either game. The loss to IC was much closer than it should have been, and the loss to UC was not much better. Fisher had a great opportunity last night, with the team chasing them on the floor. I am not as confident in this team as some other fans, but I am pulling for them. They really should beat Hartwick, with the season on the line, but 2 games ago I thought they would take care of business, only needing one win. Congrats to UC for making the run they needed to make, I just hope Fisher can get it done.

On another note. I am really pulling for IC against Naz. Living in Cortland, Ithaca is a much better option for the E8 tourny, than Stevens.

[gobombers15]

You stated that Naz was locked into the 3rd seed regardless of the outcome of today's game. But if Naz win's they finish at 12-4 to Ithaca's 11-5. I think that gets them the #2 seed.   Not that it really matters.

Yeah, I forgot about that. I had initially put that but I went back and edited it for some reason. I guess my brain had turned off at that point. Oh well, the point remains that it would be Ithaca/Naz in the semis if Naz wins today.

I asked this question a while ago but I don't think anyone answered.  Maybe no one knows, but the the Carson brothers have not appeared in a Hartwick box score for some time and I was just wondering why?

I noticed that, too. I had predicted a Hartwick upset against Naz. Unfortunately, that was the first game where the two didn't play. One would have to assume that they both left the team or were dismissed from the team for the same reason. Just seems like too much of a coincidence that both stopped playing at the exact same time and neither has returned.

UCgrad, IC and UC are certainly the two hottest teams right now. But, as FD said, the hottest team in the conference seems to rotate every week or two. About two weeks ago, it seemed like Fisher and Stevens were the teams to beat. Now, it's Ithaca and Utica. With a win at Ithaca today, I'm sure many people will be high on Naz's chances come next weekend. It really is wide open.

PREDICTIONS

UTICA over Alfred, 75-54
Fisher tops HARTWICK, 69-62
ITHACA beats Naz, 87-82

I think the Pioneers run out of time. If the season was two games longer, they'd probably find their way into the E8 Tourney. I don't necessarily think it was only the first Naz game that will cost them a spot. That game was so early that there was plenty of time to rebound and get things straight. I can point to other games, too. For instance, letting that first Naz game affect them and losing at home the next day to RIT. Getting swept by RIT, for that matter (even though IC was a Leahy 3-pointer at the buzzer away from getting swept by the Tigers). Also, I still cannot get over the 41-cent stamp that Utica put on that first Fisher game. That was a mail-in job if I've ever seen one. Seemed like the Pios gave up about 10 mins into that one. Of all the games I watched on E8TV, that was probably the worst effort. Utica still has a chance, but Fisher controls their destiny. I don't think Beigel lets them lose this one.

BTW, does anyone know why Baltz didn't start last night and only played 13 minutes? That could be a factor today.

[UCgrad45]

"BTW, does anyone know why Baltz didn't start last night and only played 13 minutes? That could be a factor today."


He started. Had a lot of foul trouble. He didn't help himself when he yelled that he had never fouled out in his life after the second one, then complained after shoving someone in the back to get his third.

[UCgrad45]

UCGrad, good to see you back at the desk.  Agree, Fisher looked tired at the end of the game, especially the bigs.

Utica can only worry about Alfred today, I'm just happy to see the team play the way UCGrad and I (and most people familiar with the talent) thought they could.  It's taken a while, but if Utica wins and Hartwick makes it happens, Utica can feel good about "backing in".  Three convincing wins in the last week over the teams above them in the league qualifies for a shooters chance.  If it doesn't happen, the entire team, minus Munch returns next year.

And FisherDyanasty, I'll take the hot team.  Go Giants!

Go Utica.

It was good to be back. That was the best I have seen UC play since the second round of the NCAA tournament.