MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[matblake]

As one of the resident lurker's on the CCIW basketball D3hoops board (you'll find me more active on the football board, mostly during the actual football season) I am trying to learn more about the big picture of DIII basketball.  Can someone give me a rundown of the typical power conferences (besides the CCIW of course) and what regions are generally thought of in the highest regards?  For instance, in football this year the general consensus was that the West was a difficult region to be in.  Just like over on the football board, I figure the best way to get an idea of some other areas of the country are to lurk there.  Any other thoughts or tips? Not looking for dissertations or the like, just a Thanks!

[tjcummingsfan]

Honestly CP, it really isn't.  If you want to hear all my reasons let me know, but for now I'll just leave it at that.

[David Collinge]

As one of the resident lurker's on the CCIW basketball D3hoops board (you'll find me more active on the football board, mostly during the actual football season) I am trying to learn more about the big picture of DIII basketball.  Can someone give me a rundown of the typical power conferences (besides the CCIW of course) and what regions are generally thought of in the highest regards?  For instance, in football this year the general consensus was that the West was a difficult region to be in.  Just like over on the football board, I figure the best way to get an idea of some other areas of the country are to lurk there.  Any other thoughts or tips? Not looking for dissertations or the like, just a Thanks!

The best regions are the West, Midwest, and Great Lakes (there are 8 basketball regions, BTW.)  The strongest conferences are generally agreed to be the WIAC, CCIW, MIAA, OAC, UAA, NESCAC, and NJAC.  If you want to get a feel for the top teams, you might start with the Top 25 page, and click through some of the teams to find their conferences and regions, and lurk there.  Another idea is to start in the Multi--Region Topics area, where we have discussions on the Top 25 and on Inter-Conference Comparisons.

As I'm sure it is with football, some discussion rooms are better than others, and it doesn't always relate back to the quality of teams.  For example, the HCAC has two top 25 teams and a perennial power--Hanover--that is currently unranked, but their room is as dead as Generalissimo Franco; whereas the MWC has a lively and informative board, despite having just one team--Lawrence--making noise on the national scene.

Happy hunting!

[iwumichigander]

New top 25 is out.  Elmhurst drops out deservingly so.  But look at these CCIW rankings:

IWU #5
Augie #10
North Central #12

Very impressive from one conference.

Rodney, I think even more impressive -- Six (6) straight weeks with 3 CCIW teams ranked in the Top 25; four straight weeks with 3 CCIW teams ranked #16 or higher.  And, for a conference many on this board have been moaning and groaning about how the CCIW would not be as tough as prior years.

I think some CCIW posters got all hung up with IWU #1 Pre-Season and 5 consecutive weeks @ #1 ;and, may have lost some perspective that there is a reason why the CCIW is considered one of the top conferences in Div III basketball.  But then you know that!

[augiefan]

One upset after another so far. Home court advantage is a myth thus far in the early going. I'm not sure which upset is most remarkable, but I may have to vote for NPU winning at Decatur over the NCC win at IWU or Millikin's win at Elmhurst. Even the NPU fans were predicting a winless conference season for the "other Vikings."

I wasn't that impressed by Augie's win at NPU, but maybe it was more of an accomplishment than I realized. Hopefully, the Augie players took note of last night's upset and put Wheaton away tomorrow night. I still take the Thunder seriously, as it's hard to believe a Bill Harris Wheaton team can be as bad as this one appears to be.

[Gregory Sager]

Rodney, I think even more impressive

It's actually big brother Ryan who posted that, IWM, not Rodney.

One upset after another so far. Home court advantage is a myth thus far in the ealy going. I'm not sure which upset is most remarkable, but I may have to vote for NPU winning at Decatur over the NCC win at IWU or Millikin's win at Elmhurst. Even the NPU fans were predicting a winless conference season for the "other Vikings."

Dennis may have made that dire prediction, but I didn't ... and I don't think that Rob or any of the other NPU fans on here did, either. I always had a strong feeling that the Vikings would pull off at least one win in conference this season.

I figured that, since this NPU team is extremely young but does has some talent (as well as a couple of gaping holes in the lineup, admittedly), they would get progressively better as the season went along and might be ready to notch a victory before it ended. While the win at Millikin is one for which I thought they had an outside shot, I actually projected them winning a game a little further down the road.

As bizarre as it sounds, this win came a little ahead of schedule, as far as I was figuring. I'm certainly gratified, not only because the win came on the road, but because it came so early in the CCIW slate.

[matblake]

Thanks David!

[iwumichigander]

Rodney, I think even more impressive

It's actually big brother Ryan who posted that, IWM, not Rodney.

Thanks Greg! 
Congratulations to North Park; and, folks that two back to back wins by North Park in three days against the Millikin Big Blue:
Women - Jan 7, 2006  Millikin * +   W 65-55 
Men       - Jan 9, 2006  at Millikin * +   W 61-59

[Dark Knight]

Congrats, CCIWers! You've surpassed the WIAC in Massey's latest ranking of D-III conferences (http://masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&sub=III&mid=6).

Unfortunately, the UAA got a higher ranking still. All of their teams have a better than .500 record.

[iwufan32]

GO TITANS GO NUMBER #32

IS THERE A JV GAME TOMMOROW BEFORE THE VARSITY??

GO TITANS!

[dansand]

Is anyone planning on going to the Augie/Wheaton game tomorrow night? Does anyone have any idea of how the two teams match up? April, where are you these days? Good job by North Park to get a win against Millikin.

Martie,
I plan on being at Carver Center tomorrow night. I don't know a whole lot about the Thunder this year. Guard Tony Bollier is the only player they have that has logged substantial minutes before this season. Despite their sub par record (4-7), their shooting number are very impressive, both as a team and individually. They've also out-rebounded their opponents this year. Their big problem appears to be nearly 20 turnovers per game, not surprising with a team that lacks experience. I'm sure some of the regulars here who have actually seen Wheaton play can give you a better idea of what they've got. I'm expecting another low-scoring, probably ugly game tomorrow. Hopefully Harrigan keeps lighting it up and the Vikes can come away with another win going into a tough road game with Carthage Saturday.

[cardinalpride]

Honestly CP, it really isn't.  If you want to hear all my reasons let me know, but for now I'll just leave it at that.

TJ, please enlighten me! 

[Jim Matson]

Not sure if Standard is suiting up for tomorrow night's game against Augustana, but we sure need him.

Since Wheaton always loses at Augie when they really need the win, I say Wheaton can give 'em some payback tonight with a serious upset.

Ha.

[Titan Q]

Today's Pantagraph article on IWU vs Millikin...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/01/11/sports/103439.txt

The IWU broadcast in on WJBC2.com.  I will be working with Ben Alsene, the public address announcer at the Shirk Center and WJBC's color commentator for Titan football broadcasts.

http://www.wjbc2.com/

[tjcummingsfan]

Alright CP,

To be fair I've only been there once, so my observations are all based on that one game.  To start off with, the place is real dark and dingy, its hard for fans to see anything, so it can't be terribly easy for the players.  Its not a permanent floor, and has kind of a weird feel to it, just kind of a dead feel.  I think the part that impressed me least of all was the student section.  It reminded me of all of the underclassmen walking around the area next to the stands at a high school football game. 

The Crackerbox may be small, but it can get wicked loud.  It has a ton of character, from the 5 National Championship Banners for Men's basketball, to the Carlson Crazies, to the handful of semi-devoted alumni that seems to become a larger group each year.  Now I haven't been to the Crackerbox yet this year so I can't say for sure, but when the students are there, they actually care about the game, they aren't wandering around trying to figure out where the party is at (at least not until halftime), they pay attention, and they cheer, or boo, depending on the situation.