MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

iwufan32 is either, a) 10 years old, b) drunk, c) on some sort of banned substance, or d) all of the above.

but yea i hope iwu creams the hanover players too

[Mr. Ypsi]

PS,

I'm afraid I'm not the one to ask those questions - at IWU it was just part of the atmosphere, at U of Michigan (grad school) 'spirit' really only holds at hockey games (who make the Cameron Crazies look civilized! - the Big House may be the quietest 110,000 people in history!), and at E. Michigan we're probably going to get kicked out of d1A fb for lack of attendance.  EMU does have 'Gang Green', a combination athletic department and student-led group that livens up the bb games somewhat, but the Convo center is still usually more than half empty (the new facility was built because Earl Boykins, et.al., were overflowing Bowen Fieldhouse, but we've fallen on hard times since then).  If 2 consecutive national titles can't get the students involved, I don't have any solutions!

Q,

Worst possibility - maybe he's an IWU student!  I think our sheepskins just lost most of their value!

[dansand]

Augie beat Lake Forest 64-45 tonight. 16 points each for Harrigan and McAdams Thornton. Dain Swetalla and Joe Caricato are both still not able to play. Shaun Rose was back on the court but only played a few minutes.

A typical sluggish effort after too much time off, but Augie led all the way in an ugly low scoring game that was only 26-15 at the half. Hopefully, everyone will be back on the court for the Stout tourney.

I read in the local paper a week or so ago (not that I believe everything I read in the paper) that Caricato is done for the year. Hope they're wrong, but that's the only word I've heard so far.

[dansand]

Great defensive effort in the first half by Augie tonight. It's only the second time I've seen them this year, but they definitely looked better than they did against Simpson. Harrigan had a quiet 16, the first time in the last 10 games that he's had less than 20. My biggest concern at this point is that when he and/or McAdams-Thornton are out, no one really looks for a shot. They run the motion offense, trying to pound it in to the post, until the shot clock goes under 5 seconds and then thay have to take a bad shot (if they don't turn it over before that). I know they've got guys who can put it in the hole (particularly Nate Swetalla and Mike Kolze), but they all just seem very tentative, especially when Harrigan/McAdams-Thornton are out. Defensively, at least in the first half, they looked terrific. Drew Wessels was a nightmare for Forester point Adesina Benton. The intensity wasn't quite as good in the second half, but they maintained a big lead the whole way.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

PS - I know that at Hope the "Dew Crew" is something that got started by a couple of students with a real passion for the game amybe 10 -15 years ago.  That has grown into  around 400-500 rowdy, stand the entire game, face painted, costume wearing, students.  They do contests during halftime - and will be stadning outside the arena several hours before any big games, grilling hot dogs.

But Hope also has huge local support (two games last year between Chrismas and New Years drew 2300 & 2500). 

[amateurstatus]

Dansand you are correct about augie. Caricato blew out his ACL and is gone for the year.Another FYI is that Dain Swatella's ankle is not healing as expected don't know how much longer he'll be out.

[Mugsy]

The topic of tuition and endowments per each CCIW school seems to come up a couple of times every year.  From the latest NCC alumni magazine:

	Cost(tuition, room/board)	Endowment
Illinois Wesleyan	$34,050	$163.0M
Carthage	$29,000	$39.3M
North Central	$28,701	$61.6M
Elmhurst	$28,216	$74.3
Augustana	$28,173	$93.2
North Park	$27,945	$36.3M
Millikin	$27,854	$67.0M
Wheaton	$27,760	$294.0M

Highest in Red
Lowest in Blue

[augiedad]

North Central won their two games in Hawaii at the Hoop n Surf Classic (I guess they are now surfing).  They beat NAIA Mount Marty (South Dakota) 80-69 Sunday and beat D3 Midwest region Ripon 80-64.  Daniel Walton had another big game vs Ripon - 30 pts.  NCC next faces 8-1 Franklin (from Hanover's league) at Franklin.  FC already has home wins over Millikin (by 16) and Wheaton (by 15).

The CCIW has 3 undefeated teams:

Augustana 8-0
IWU 7-0
North Central 7-0
Elmhurst 7-2
Millikin 5-3
Wheaton 3-5
Carthage 3-6
North Park 2-7

Cumulative: 42-23 (.646)

The more I look at this Quality of Wins Index thing the more I realize games like NCC over Ripon, Carthage over Concordia (WI), and Augie over Lake Forest are important.  The conference as a whole needs to do as well as it can vs the Midwest region (or teams within 200 miles) so that teams get "max points" for conference wins and so that losses aren't quite as bad.

The CCIW's cumulative in-region record per this site is 29-18 (.617) with 7-0 Augie, 4-0 IWU, and 3-0 NCC leading the way (in-region games only).  Remaining CCIW in-region non-conference games:

1. Hanover @ IWU (12/20)
2. Rose-Hulman @ Augustana (12/22)  
3. Augustana vs Marian @ UW-Stout (12/28)
4. North Central @ Franklin (12/28)
5. Elmhurst @ Albion - (possible 12/29) - not sure on mileage
6. Millikin @ Blufton (possible 12/30)
7. Grinnell @ Carthage (1/4)

[augiedad]

I see the CCIW right now as follows:

- IWU is in a class by themselves with 13-1 potential.  Maybe someone can get them early on the road and give everyone a chance.

- Augustana/Elmhurst/North Central very even in terms of #2.  All have 2 great players (1st/2nd Team All-CCIW candidates), but not the 3 great players IWU has in addition to all of IWU's depth.

- Carthage is sort of the X-factor -- they have struggled but I see them as a lot closer to the #2 cluster than the Wheaton/Millikin group below.

- Wheaton/Millikin -- will battle for 6 & 7

- North Park - bad

[ScrappyMcTavish]

I also think that Carthage will be the X-factor in the CCIW. They are not nearly as bad as everyone makes them out to be. The two NAIA schools they lost to are solid teams loaded with D1 transfers.

They have also played a brutal non-conference schedule. It will lead to an interesting CCIW conference season this year.

Anybody disagree?

[tjcummingsfan]

yes I disagree

[bluejaybacker1]

Regarding the potential Albion vs. Elmhurst matchup. I have it listed as 206 miles to Albion from the school. I know Pat uses streets and maps. Could someone help me out here to see if this would be an in region game?

[Knightstalker]

Check the schedule page.

[Titan Q]

The IWU/Hanover game is on the main WJBC stream this evening with pregame coverage starting at 7:10pm (CST)...

http://www.wjbc.com/

Hanover's station will also be there...

http://www.sportsjuice.com/providers/hanover

The Pantagraph's article on the game...

http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/122005/spo_2005122077.shtml


The Panthers got to town late yesterday afternoon and practiced at the Shirk Center last night and had their walk-through today at noon.  Sounds like a lot of down today for the boys today in B-N.

If Hanover makes 3's at a good %, it will be a close game...if not IWU could win this one pretty convincingly.

[Pat Coleman]

Shortest possible distance via S&T is 200.8 miles, not a regional game if it happens.