MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[thunder38]

Greg Sager wrote:  "Hey, we're a league that doesn't make sense. We changed the men's basketball schedule in a way that only benefits one school in the league, and it's the same school that we once kicked out of the league; we berate our oldest fans for their obnoxious behavior at games rather than our student sections; we all know how to pronounce "Djurickovic" but not "Dylan"; and our most colorful coach is named Grey."

I hereby proclaim that  Mr. Sager is definitely, absolutely, non-controversially, most-assuredly in post-season form!  Let the games begin.

An astute observation indeed.  Enough of the warm up talk...let's get to tip-off already!

[NCF]

********************THE FOLLOWING IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ANDONE ENTERPRISES*********************

The following information is provided for D3Hoops/CCIW fans planning on attending Friday's CCIW basketball tournament games at North Central College in Naperville-----

1. Weather---As of the 10:00 PM news Thurs night, 4.6 inches of snow is predicted for the Aurora-Naperville area by noon Friday. As of right now, its still just raining lightly.

2. Conference indoor track championships----Please keep in mind that NCC will also be hosting the CCIW men's and women's indoor championships this weekend. Events commence at 11:00 AM Friday in the Res/Rec Center which is the building immediately east of Merner Fieldhouse where the basketball games will be played.

3. Parking---The track meet will undoubtedly consume the vast majority, if not all, of the parking spots in the lot directly across from the gym, and at the top of the drive/street leading down to the Res/Rec Center and Merner Fieldhouse. Fans arriving for the basketball action should probably not entertain thoughts of being able to park on campus. There may be parking on some of the streets surrounding campus. Parking on the downtown streets and small city lots on Saturday mornings in Naperville is a zoo, but some spots usually open up by late afternoon before the arrival of the crowds for Naperville's very active nightlife scene. Downtown, for those not familiar, is only 2-3 blocks from the NCC campus.

Due to the above, your best bet may be to park in either of the 2 City Of Naperville parking garages. There is a 3 story garage with about 450 spaces on Chicago Ave, just east of Washington St. This is only about 2 blocks from Merner Fieldhouse. The facility runs between Chicago and Jefferson, the next street north. There is an entrance on both Chicago and Jefferson.
IF YOU PARK IN THIS GARAGE---Directly across from the Chicago Ave entrance, on the south side of Chicago is a small strip mall with Slice Pizza on the west end and Bangkok Village on the east end. Walk about 20 yards up the hill east from Bangkok Village restaurant to the big round cement garbage bin. There you will find a sidewalk heading south toward the NCC football field. Take the sidewalk slightly downhill between the strip mall and the dorm on your left. You will come out near the north end of the football stadium. Merner Fieldhouse is the 1st building immediately east of the stadium. 

The 2nd City garage, with about 800 spaces is a few blocks farther away. it is on Van Buren St, 1/2 block west of Washington. It runs between Van Buren and Benton, the next street north. There are entrances both on Van Buren and Benton. Walk out of the garage and go 1/2 block east to Washington. Walk south on Washington to Chicago. Turn left/east on Chicago, and follow the above directions to complete your walk to Merner Fieldhouse. The Van Buren garage is about 5-6 blocks northwest of Merner.

Even with these garages, there are no guarantees. The track meet will likely take up all on campus parking anywhere close to the gym. However, being as though the basketball tourney begins Friday, the garages should not be as full as they are on Saturdays when downtown Naperville is busy all day and night.

**SEATING---I understand there will be assigned seating on the main floor of Merner. For the Wheaton/Wesleyan game, Wheaton, as the higher seed, will be assigned the black folding seats on the risers. Wheaton will also be assigned specific sections of the main floor bleachers, as well Wesleyan.

AFTER THE 1ST GAME, ALL FANS SEATED ON THE MAIN FLOOR WILL HAVE TO VACATE THEIR MAIN FLOOR SEATS AND FIND SEATS IN THE BALCONY AS THE MAIN FLOOR SEATS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO NORTH CENTRAL AND AUGIE FANS. NCC, BEING THE #1 SEED, WILL BE ASSIGNED THE BLACK FOLDING CHAIRS.

Thanks for the great info-especially about the parking on Friday. The buses from the track meet take up a lot of space. Saturday night should be better for the late game as the track meet is scheduled to end at five, then awards, so most people should be gone by 6-6:15. Go Cards!!! (both bball and track)

[Titan Q]

Interesting night on the bubble tonight with some conference top seeds going down and crowding the Pool C picture: 

St. Josephs(L.I.) #3 Atlantic
St. Mary's(Md.) #3 Mid-Atlantic

Augustana just got moved further to the back of the line and it's very possible their bubble may have been one that popped tonight.

Here is that 19-round mock Pool C selection I did Sunday...

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4232.3540

And here are current numbers for St. Joseph's and St. Mary's...

* St. Joseph's (LI): 21-3 (.875), .470 SOS, 1-0 vs regionally ranked
* St. Mary's (MD): 17-6 (.739), .568 SOS, 1-3 vs regionally ranked

(SOS through Sunday 2/19...probably didn't change much in last game)


Both teams are very competitive Pool C candidates, but I don't see either as being in the top, say, 14 of the Pool C list.  St. Joseph's has a tremendous winning % but a big SOS problem, and only 1 win vs regionally ranked teams.  St. Mary's has a a great SOS, but a .739 WP (not bad, but not great) and only 1 win vs regionally ranked.

I see both of these teams still being on the table in Round 15 and battling with whoever the "last 5 in" currently are.  Even with a loss tonight, I am positive Wheaton (who I have as roughly the #5 Pool C) is ahead of both of these teams.  IWU (who I had #12 on Sunday) would surely fall into that "last 5 in" mix with a loss tonight, but would really benefit from 3 wins over regionally ranked teams, as well as secondary criteria wins over Atlantic #1 Staten Island and Great Lakes #5 Bethany, when stacked up against these two.  There is a good chance IWU would get in before these two if at the table together.  (Augustana, who I had #17, has lost since my mock projection and I don't think the Vikings are a competitive Pool C candidate any longer.)

Keep an eye on the "bubble burster" games all weekend!

[Titan Q]

Wish I could be in Naperville tonight.  Should be a classic.  As I posted before both IWU/Wheaton games, there just is not much separation at all between IWU and Wheaton.  Just gonna come down to players making plays.  I feel good about IWU's seniors all playing big roles tonight - Zimmer, Gonzalez, Koschnitzky, Rudnicki.  Need a couple big games out of the younger guys.

For those heading to Merner Fieldhouse, have a great night!

[USee]

And in the category of "What if...", it appears that if the CCIW had NO tournament our conference would be close to a lock for 3 teams in the NCAA tournament. NCC gets the AQ, Wheaton pool C and IWU pretty much a solid pool C. Am I right on that?

Also, Wheaton fans should realize "if" Wheaton had taken care of business @Carthage, tonights games would be taking place at King Arena instead of Merner FH.

Good luck to everyone tonight!

[cardinalpride]

And in the category of "What if...", it appears that if the CCIW had NO tournament our conference would be close to a lock for 3 teams in the NCAA tournament. NCC gets the AQ, Wheaton pool C and IWU pretty much a solid pool C. Am I right on that?

Also, Wheaton fans should realize "if" Wheaton had taken care of business @Carthage, tonights games would be taking place at King Arena instead of Merner FH.

Good luck to everyone tonight!

Usee, not so fast my friend! "if" wheaton had beaten carthage, then NCC would have beaten wheaton the very next game.  Right?

[Titan Q]

And in the category of "What if...", it appears that if the CCIW had NO tournament our conference would be close to a lock for 3 teams in the NCAA tournament. NCC gets the AQ, Wheaton pool C and IWU pretty much a solid pool C. Am I right on that?

This is absolutely correct as I see it.  With no tournament, North Central would be the Pool A, Wheaton would be a Pool C lock, and IWU would be sitting at about #12-13 on the Pool C list, only worried about a large # of "bubble burster" upsets through Sunday...and probably still OK, even with a number of upsets, due to a good SOS and wins vs regionally ranked teams (in-region and out-of-region). 

Because there is a conference tournament, 3 teams are guaranteed to see their in-region winning % fall before Selection Sunday.  Contrast with the UAA, where there is no tournament.  Pool C candidates like NYU and Emory aren't going to lose games in a conference tournament.  And if you go to that mock Pool C selection I did, note the major impact of going 0-1 or even 1-1 in terms of Pool C.  For example...

IWU today: 17-6 (.739)
IWU with a loss tonight: 17-7 (.708)
IWU with 1-1 this weekend: 18-7 (.720)

When you consider how competitive the process is, the difference between .739 and .720 is what I'd call "very significant", and .739 vs .708 might be a deal killer.

Mike Schauer talked about the conference tournament issue on Hoopsville last night - see the archive.  He said he's opposed.  His main point was that the CCIW's regular season champion deserves to make the NCAA tournament and should not have to go "earn it" this weekend.  (NCC won the CCIW last year and stayed home...it could very well happen again this year).

I think the tournament is a lot of fun, but I'm pretty sure the odds are better that it hurts and not helps the league get teams into the NCAA tournament.  It was originally billed as a way to help get teams in, and I just don't think that is the case.

I'm also of the old school opinion that the winner of the grueling 2-month, 14-game CCIW schedule should get the Pool A bid.

[AndOne]

NAPERVILLE WEATHER REPORT

I'm 5 minutes from Merner Fieldhouse. Only 2 inches of snow in the driveway from overnight. Right now its 31 with light "snow showers" which are expected to end in the next couple of hours. The "feels like" temp is 19. Doesn't look like we'll get more than another 1 inch max of snow, if that, during daylight hours today. City plows have already been through my subdivision, so I'm sure they have already got the downtown area pretty well cleared. Currently, the wind is a worse factor than the snow. Wind from the NW at 16 mpg, gusting to 23.

Any posters coming to NCC today/night?

[robertgoulet]

********************THE FOLLOWING IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ANDONE ENTERPRISES*********************

The following information is provided for D3Hoops/CCIW fans planning on attending Friday's CCIW basketball tournament games at North Central College in Naperville-----

1. Weather---As of the 10:00 PM news Thurs night, 4.6 inches of snow is predicted for the Aurora-Naperville area by noon Friday. As of right now, its still just raining lightly.

2. Conference indoor track championships----Please keep in mind that NCC will also be hosting the CCIW men's and women's indoor championships this weekend. Events commence at 11:00 AM Friday in the Res/Rec Center which is the building immediately east of Merner Fieldhouse where the basketball games will be played.

3. Parking---The track meet will undoubtedly consume the vast majority, if not all, of the parking spots in the lot directly across from the gym, and at the top of the drive/street leading down to the Res/Rec Center and Merner Fieldhouse. Fans arriving for the basketball action should probably not entertain thoughts of being able to park on campus. There may be parking on some of the streets surrounding campus. Parking on the downtown streets and small city lots on Saturday mornings in Naperville is a zoo, but some spots usually open up by late afternoon before the arrival of the crowds for Naperville's very active nightlife scene. Downtown, for those not familiar, is only 2-3 blocks from the NCC campus.

Due to the above, your best bet may be to park in either of the 2 City Of Naperville parking garages. There is a 3 story garage with about 450 spaces on Chicago Ave, just east of Washington St. This is only about 2 blocks from Merner Fieldhouse. The facility runs between Chicago and Jefferson, the next street north. There is an entrance on both Chicago and Jefferson.
IF YOU PARK IN THIS GARAGE---Directly across from the Chicago Ave entrance, on the south side of Chicago is a small strip mall with Slice Pizza on the west end and Bangkok Village on the east end. Walk about 20 yards up the hill east from Bangkok Village restaurant to the big round cement garbage bin. There you will find a sidewalk heading south toward the NCC football field. Take the sidewalk slightly downhill between the strip mall and the dorm on your left. You will come out near the north end of the football stadium. Merner Fieldhouse is the 1st building immediately east of the stadium. 

The 2nd City garage, with about 800 spaces is a few blocks farther away. it is on Van Buren St, 1/2 block west of Washington. It runs between Van Buren and Benton, the next street north. There are entrances both on Van Buren and Benton. Walk out of the garage and go 1/2 block east to Washington. Walk south on Washington to Chicago. Turn left/east on Chicago, and follow the above directions to complete your walk to Merner Fieldhouse. The Van Buren garage is about 5-6 blocks northwest of Merner.

Even with these garages, there are no guarantees. The track meet will likely take up all on campus parking anywhere close to the gym. However, being as though the basketball tourney begins Friday, the garages should not be as full as they are on Saturdays when downtown Naperville is busy all day and night.

**SEATING---I understand there will be assigned seating on the main floor of Merner. For the Wheaton/Wesleyan game, Wheaton, as the higher seed, will be assigned the black folding seats on the risers. Wheaton will also be assigned specific sections of the main floor bleachers, as well Wesleyan.

AFTER THE 1ST GAME, ALL FANS SEATED ON THE MAIN FLOOR WILL HAVE TO VACATE THEIR MAIN FLOOR SEATS AND FIND SEATS IN THE BALCONY AS THE MAIN FLOOR SEATS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO NORTH CENTRAL AND AUGIE FANS. NCC, BEING THE #1 SEED, WILL BE ASSIGNED THE BLACK FOLDING CHAIRS.

Thanks for the great info-especially about the parking on Friday. The buses from the track meet take up a lot of space. Saturday night should be better for the late game as the track meet is scheduled to end at five, then awards, so most people should be gone by 6-6:15. Go Cards!!! (both bball and track)

Great info, AO. I think I will be making it to my first NCC game in 4 or 5 years tonight. Looking forward to it.

[74impala]

NAPERVILLE WEATHER REPORT

Any posters coming to NCC today/night?

I'm going to be there!!  Thanks for the parking update.  I'll just avoid going on to campus to look for a open spot.

[NCF]

NAPERVILLE WEATHER REPORT

Any posters coming to NCC today/night?

I'm going to be there!!  Thanks for the parking update.  I'll just avoid going on to campus to look for a open spot.

Wish I could go, but I'll be at a basketball game watching youngest cheer.

[iwu70]

AndOne, thanks for all the weather and parking info. Wish I could be there tonight, but I'll be in the Shirk, cheering on the IWU women.  No snow here at all, only a sprinkling of rain.  We've been so so lucky on winter weather this year. Very mild.  This storm seemed to have tracked all north of here.

Should be a wonderful tournament up there . . . and very very busy with the track and other activities going on.  IWU the same here this weekend -- CCIW basketball tournament, Conference of IWU Women, visit/concert of Met opera star and IWU grad, and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in town.  Lots to do.  Plus, of course, all of us "older fans" are getting ready to whine at the refs and practicing to be obnoxious   . . .  just say'in. 

Have to agree with Q on the negative value of the CCIW tournament, at least pretty clear for this year.  If WC wins the tourney, very possible that only WC gets a bid.  Right?  Too many #1 seeds in other tourneys already going down -- see d3hoops frontpage.

Go Titans -- go get that AQ!!!

IWU70

[AndOne]

AndOne, thanks for all the weather and parking info. Wish I could be there tonight, but I'll be in the Shirk, cheering on the IWU women.  No snow here at all, only a sprinkling of rain.  We've been so so lucky on winter weather this year. Very mild.  This storm seemed to have tracked all north of here.

Should be a wonderful tournament up there . . . and very very busy with the track and other activities going on.  IWU the same here this weekend -- CCIW basketball tournament, Conference of IWU Women, visit/concert of Met opera star and IWU grad, and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in town.  Lots to do.  Plus, of course, all of us "older fans" are getting ready to whine at the refs and practicing to be obnoxious   . . .  just say'in. 

Have to agree with Q on the negative value of the CCIW tournament, at least pretty clear for this year.  If WC wins the tourney, very possible that only WC gets a bid.  Right?  Too many #1 seeds in other tourneys already going down -- see d3hoops frontpage.

IWU70

IWU70---You've just broken a major news story!

I wasn't aware that Wesleyan fans, young OR old, actually had to practice being obnoxious. I always thought it just automatically came with those green outfits and tinted glasses!.......Just sayin'         

And yes, it would be great to already know that, being the CCIW regular season champion, North Central would have already wrapped up the conference AQ, and that the CCIW might be represented by 3 teams.

[veterancciwfan]

I can't understand why the CCIW coaches want a conference tournament. It only helps one team and hurts the other 3. And NCC with 2 consecutive leage titles could be twice denied a worthy NCAA tourney berth. The conference tournament makes no sense, either economic, academic (more classes missed), or NCAA tourney wise.

[iwu70]

AO, practice makes perfect.   You know what John Wesley said, right . . . something about "on toward perfection."  Gotta keep up all the grand Wesleyan traditions. 

NCC deserves the AQ from regular season performance, IMHO.  But, gotta go out and earn it again this weekend.  The tournament is what it is . . .'til they change it.   Sure wish we could get three teams in, as in past years of wishing.  But, doubt it.  Would be sad if only one got it.  Guess we'll know soon enough.  Pool A isn't helping too too much as yet.   WC seems to have a good Pool C shot, IWU on the bubble, Augie little chance, . . . according to all the assessment, numbers, stats on this board.  Gotta play the games out and see where we stand come Sunday/Monday.   Hopefully, all the teams can play their best basketball in these few games remaining. 

Have a great weekend up at NCC.  Should be some very exciting games.

IWU70