WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

bballfan13 · February 12, 2013, 09:44:32 AM

Congratulations to Carissa Verkaik on being named to the Team of the Week: http://d3hoops.com/awards/tow/2012-13/week12

sac · February 12, 2013, 01:42:24 PM

Top 25

1. DePauw
2. Calvin
3. Hope
4. Ohio Northern

....same region.

Roundball999 · February 12, 2013, 01:56:34 PM

Quote from: sac on February 12, 2013, 01:42:24 PM
Top 25

1. DePauw
2. Calvin
3. Hope
4. Ohio Northern

....same region.

Well, I would assume all are shoo-ins for an NCAA tournament spot. But just in case, here's to hoping for no upsets in conference tournaments that muddy the waters for at-large bids.

Pat Coleman · February 12, 2013, 02:32:06 PM

More importantly, it would be nice if they were somehow separated in the bracket ...

Roundball999 · February 12, 2013, 03:59:09 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on February 12, 2013, 02:32:06 PM
More importantly, it would be nice if they were somehow separated in the bracket ...

Absolutely! Do they ever try to make that happen? Or is the focus on minimizing travel even if that means early round meetings of top teams?

Pat Coleman · February 12, 2013, 04:04:11 PM

It's hard to really say how much they try. I would say they occasionally succeed, but not often enough.

The pendulum has swung backward on this. Once upon a time, the women's committee was the forward-thinking one and produced the most innovative brackets in Division III basketball, but over the past couple of years, it has been the men's committee.

sac · February 12, 2013, 04:18:34 PM

Quote from: Roundball999 on February 12, 2013, 03:59:09 PM
Quote from: Pat Coleman on February 12, 2013, 02:32:06 PM
More importantly, it would be nice if they were somehow separated in the bracket ...

Absolutely! Do they ever try to make that happen? Or is the focus on minimizing travel even if that means early round meetings of top teams?

Two years ago they put Hope, DePauw and Denison in the same pod......and then bussed in WashU from the Central.

That was #4, #8, #10 and #12 in the poll leading into the tournament.

I don't remember what the GL rankings were that year but I guess they "separated" Thomas More and Calvin away from Hope, DePauw and Denison by giving Calvin and Thomas More pods of their own, which were also not easy.

bballfan13 · February 12, 2013, 04:41:47 PM

Quote from: sac on February 12, 2013, 04:18:34 PM
Quote from: Roundball999 on February 12, 2013, 03:59:09 PM
Quote from: Pat Coleman on February 12, 2013, 02:32:06 PM
More importantly, it would be nice if they were somehow separated in the bracket ...

Absolutely! Do they ever try to make that happen? Or is the focus on minimizing travel even if that means early round meetings of top teams?

Two years ago they put Hope, DePauw and Denison in the same pod......and then bussed in WashU from the Central.

That was #4, #8, #10 and #12 in the poll leading into the tournament.

I don't remember what the GL rankings were that year but I guess they "separated" Thomas More and Calvin away from Hope, DePauw and Denison by giving Calvin and Thomas More pods of their own, which were also not easy.

I really hope they do a better job this year in the separation of these teams. We are also forgetting to mention Thomas More is #8 in the country and is in the GL region as well.

I have no idea how the NCAA national committee puts the bracket together once they have received the rankings from the regional committee's. Maybe someone can shed some light on that.

But I think we also need to keep in mind that the NCAA does not look at the D3Hoops.com poll. Yes, in my opinion (and the poll voters), the GL region this year is easily the strongest, but depending on how the NCAA ranks the teams nationally they may see it differently. I agree with how the D3Hoops poll looks right now and hopefully the NCAA will try and keep these teams as far apart as they possibly can. Time will tell. Here's to hoping though

As for the situation 2 years ago with the 'pod of death' at Hope. Yes, those teams were all highly ranked in the D3Hoops poll but regionally they were not all ranked that high. I do not agree with what the NCAA did but you might be able to see some of their logic as Hope was #3 in the GL region, Denison was #4, and DePauw was #6. Wash U. was #6 in their region (Central).

It was definitely an interesting situation but you also must keep in mind that Hope was 3rd in the GL region and was still hosting, that is not something you see a ton of I believe (I may be wrong here). In the past we have seen 1 maybe 2 3rd ranked regional teams host. I definitely hope that changes this year if one region, the GL region, so loaded. Maybe it's possibly to see 4 hosts from the GL this year, but I wouldn't bank on it.

realist · February 12, 2013, 09:19:04 PM

One must be careful what they ask for. If memory serves me correctly last year Calvin got moved to the MW, and their reward was #1 Chicago, and the next night the eventual champion St. Thomas. This after beating WLU, and UWSP at the VNA.
I still recall 2000 when Calvin's mens team was in a pod with them @ 1, #3 Wooster, #4 Mc Murry, and Marysville which beat the # 2 team (Chris Newport) so yes it is possible to see #1, #3, #4, and the team that beat #2 in one gym.

bballforever · February 13, 2013, 07:24:25 AM

Remebering last year, you are right, Calvin got rewarded after beating very, very tough WI teams at home by a trip to Chicago. That is after only one regular season loss. I guess we will wait and see. It will help the team that wins the MIAA!!!

realist · February 13, 2013, 07:56:18 PM

Looking ahead a bit now that Calvin beat Adrian 83-52 to Sat's game. On the Calvin site they are showing video for the Sat. 3 p.m game at Hope. Is that correct or just a typo?

sflzman · February 13, 2013, 10:54:09 PM

Alma's basically out now. They need a win and a trine loss to Kalamazoo which quite frankly is not going to happen

gohope · February 14, 2013, 12:30:32 PM

Nice Article on Hope Senior Liz Ellis:

http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2013/02/liz_ellis_the_heart_and_sole_o.html#incart_river

bballfan13 · February 15, 2013, 11:05:24 AM

Quote from: realist on February 13, 2013, 07:56:18 PM
Looking ahead a bit now that Calvin beat Adrian 83-52 to Sat's game. On the Calvin site they are showing video for the Sat. 3 p.m game at Hope. Is that correct or just a typo?

Looks like it is not a typo. There will be a livestream of the game. Also, if you click on the livestream link right now it is showing as Hope's stream, so maybe this is their "one time a year stream"

http://www.calvin.edu/sports/news/comments/calvin-hope-womens-basketball-rivalry-set-to-renew-on-saturday-with-miaa-ch/

realist · February 15, 2013, 01:20:44 PM

Quote from: bballfan13 on February 15, 2013, 11:05:24 AM
Quote from: realist on February 13, 2013, 07:56:18 PM
Looking ahead a bit now that Calvin beat Adrian 83-52 to Sat's game. On the Calvin site they are showing video for the Sat. 3 p.m game at Hope. Is that correct or just a typo?

Looks like it is not a typo. There will be a livestream of the game. Also, if you click on the livestream link right now it is showing as Hope's stream, so maybe this is there "one time a year stream"

http://www.calvin.edu/sports/news/comments/calvin-hope-womens-basketball-rivalry-set-to-renew-on-saturday-with-miaa-ch/

Perhaps they wanted to keep the women on a par with the men's teeam. I recall reading a post not to long ago that video was in Hope's furture. Maybe it has something to do woth hosting NCAA games, as I know the v ball was streamed.