MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[John Gleich]

As far as whether either has a legitimate Pool C chance, I think it's fair to say either would be "on the bubble."  Both would have to hope for very few upsets across the country (where current Pool A teams fall in conference tournament games and steal Pool C bids).  But I do think IWU would have a much better Pool C case, with a .731 in-region record.  Wheaton's .692 would put the Thunder in position to get in as, like, Pool C #19 of 19.  Both would go in with some good wins over other regionally ranked teams (and that is one of the 5 criteria), which would help.

Again, bottom line, Friday is an elimination game.

Current DIII Bracketology projections have both Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan earning Pool C bids. Remember however, that that doesn't predict upsets in conference tournaments and if too many of those projected Pool A's take Pool C bids then some teams will get squeezed out.  See sig for link.

History tells us that it's inevitable that a certain number of regular-season champions will stumble in their respective league tourneys, so Bob's conclusion that Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan are riding the bubble at this point -- and that Friday night's showdown between the two in the Toolshed is a win-or-your-season's-over game -- is pretty sound.

Your history lesson is accurate, but needs one little addition that I think makes a difference.  The regular season champion that stumbles must themselves, be a higher Pool C candidate than the CCIW teams.  A regular season champ with poor Pool C credentials who stumbles means nothing to the bigger picture.  That conference just gets one team in regardless of upsets.

Right, but there are plenty of Pool C locks... Williams, UW Whitewater, UW Stevens Point, St. Thomas, Whitworth, Guilford, probably MIT.  That's 7 teams that have better Pool C credentials who, if they lose, will get a Pool C bid as soon as they're on the table (unless they're going against each other, obviously, but they would quickly be swept off the table).

If Wheaton is ranked ahead of Wesleyan and they're Pool C eligible, then they'll have 8 regional losses.  Only one team with 8 losses has gotten a Pool C bid... so that wouldn't bode well with Wesleyan.

[Mr. Ypsi]

You could probably add Middlebury, Eastern Mennonite, and Virginia Wesleyan to that list.  And with some of those teams sharing a conference, some are guaranteed of being pool C.

Other 'presumed AQs' who would seem to have very high C credentials include St. Norbert, Anderson (though fading lately), William Paterson, UT-Dallas, (I must be forgetting a couple).

[Hardwood]

My 1st team is....

Djurickovic
McCrary
Panner
Nelson
Sexauer

My top three choices for officials in the championship would be.....

Dan Dorian
Dave Lannning
Fritz Larson

[Sideline Fan]

Looking forward to the tournament this weekend, did a little checking on each teams trajectory heading into the matchups.

Carthage
Last 10: 9-1 (L 70-59 vs. Augie on Feb. 6)
Last 5: 4-1 (L 70-59 vs. Augie on Feb. 6)

Wheaton
Last 10: 8-2 (L 60-58 @ NCC on Jan. 30, L 68-63 vs. Carthage on Feb. 3)
Last 5: 5-0

Illinois Wesleyan
Last 10: 6-4 (L 66-65 @ Wheaton on Jan. 20, L 80-55 @ Carthage on Jan. 30, L 65-59 vs. Wheaton on Feb. 13, L 70-67 @ North Park on Feb. 20)
Last 5: 3-2 (L 65-59 vs. Wheaton on Feb. 13, L 70-67 @ North Park on Feb. 20)

Augustana
Last 10: 7-3 (L 71-64 @ IWU on Jan. 27, L 56-53 vs. Wheaton on Feb. 10, L 62-59 vs. IWU on Feb. 17)
Last 5: 3-2 (L 56-53 vs. Wheaton on Feb. 10, L 62-59 vs. IWU on Feb. 17)

It appears these may be the most exciting possible matchups. I'm not a big fan of this stat (final scores aren't always an accurate representation, but the season Carthage-Augie score was 128-134. The season Wheaton-IWU score was 131-124.

Augie won previously at Carthage. I didn't see the game, but Carthage lead by 16 with 3:02 remaining in the 1st half. Augie outscored them by 27 points over the next 23 minutes. Carthage only shot 15.4% in the 2nd half. Djurickovic held to 21 points (if you can call that "being held") and only three 3-pt. shots. Curious to see if this matchup actually favors Augie, or if it was just a bad half. In the first matchup at Augie, it appears Carthage was in control of the game in the 2nd half.

Wheaton-IWM has produced two very close games already. I'd say that Wheaton held some measure of control in the second half of both games, but very competitive games.

[Sideline Fan]

On another note, took a look at the limited history of the CCIW Tournament:

Results by seed:
2009: 1 beats 4, 2 beats 3, 1 beats 2
2008: 1 beats 4, 3 beats 2, 1 beats 3
2007: 1 beats 4, 2 beats 3, 1 beats 2
2006: 4 beats 1, 2 beats 3, 2 beats 4

Team Records
Carthage: 0-0
Wheaton: 2-2
IWU: 2-2
Augie: 4-2

Of course, neither of my last two posts mean anything once the ball is tipped.

[WUPHF]

In case anyone is interested, Steve Djurickovic and Matt Pelton were named ESPN Academic All-Americans.  Djurickovic has a 3.49 gpa while Pelton has a 3.92 gpa.

Congratulations on a job well done in the classroom as well as on the court.

[Into_the_Blue]

I read a lot here but never posted.  Hopefan thought one of you might be able to answer this...

Do division 3 ncaa schools receive money for winning national championships?  If so (or if not at d3 then at the D1 level) are there any stipluations on how that money is spent?  For instance does a certain percentage have to go toward the sport that championship was won in, whether its facilities, equipment or spending budget?

[The Roop]

Not sure but I would guess that it gets distributed equally amongst the teams in the conference like the bowl money is in football. General fund, etc.

[Moser]

All-Conference Team is posted: http://www.cciw.org/winter_bball_m/09_10_MBBallconf.htm

[CCIWFAN3]

That's a good All Conference Team. Congratulations to them all.

[Gregory Sager]

Some interesting picks in there. It's the first time since 2000 that three freshmen have been named All-CCIW, and it's the third time in the last dozen years that two freshmen from the same team have been named All-CCIW (Rob Garnes and Antoine McDaniel of Carthage in '00, and Chris Martin and Reuben Slock of Elmhurst in '02 were the other plebe duos).

This makes three years out of the last four that the CCIW coaches have expanded the All-CCIW team from fifteen players to sixteen. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I'm a little surprised that Dustin Bainter got Elmhurst's sole All-CCIW slot over Zack Boyd, considering that Boyd was clearly the best player on that team, but I suspect that Mark Scherer wanted to reward his senior by nominating him. Mitch Thompson's a bit of a surprise as well -- he didn't start any CCIW games, and he averaged less than 22 minutes per game -- but Carthage clearly deserved three players on the All-CCIW team, and it's not really clear-cut whom players two and three ought to be for the Red Men.

Congratulations to Nick Williams upon becoming the first three-time All-CCIW player for North Park since Chris Stanley accomplished the feat in 1989, 1990, and 1991.

[Gregory Sager]

Off-year or not, it's clear that Ken Massey still likes us:

Carthage	13
Wheaton	22
Illinois Wesleyan	26
Augustana	31
North Central	102
North Park	105
Elmhurst	203
Millikin	208

Almost everyone finished within the upper half of D3's 413-team membership. And the CCIW received the third-highest power rating, after the WIAC and the MIAC (?!).

[Titan Q]

This makes three years out of the last four that the CCIW coaches have expanded the All-CCIW team from fifteen players to sixteen. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I assume there was a tie for the final 3rd Team spot, and then a 4-4 tie in the vote-off.  I know this is how we've ended up with 16 players a few times in recent years.

[Gregory Sager]

That's how the manual says it's supposed to work -- but in practice the coaches have almost always been able to avoid that 4-4 tie until this current trend started. If it's merely a coincidence, it's a mathematically improbable one.

[Moser]

Mitch Thompson's a bit of a surprise as well -- he didn't start any CCIW games, and he averaged less than 22 minutes per game -- but Carthage clearly deserved three players on the All-CCIW team, and it's not really clear-cut whom players two and three ought to be for the Red Men.

His numbers don't jump off the page at you, but Bosko has been very high on Cody Hilton this season. I would have expected him over the freshman Thompson.