MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[NCF]

Oh, one other thing before I call it a night:

Congrats to North Central upon reaching the Sweet Sixteen. This marks the first time ever that the Cardinals have advanced to the second weekend of the dance.

Congrats to them-hoping it's a great start to 2012 for all Cardinals!!

[WUPHF]

But when your team loses a close one-it's never called "evenly" LOL

My team lost a close on to Illinois Wesleyan in the same game two years ago.  For the game, it was called evenly.

[USee]

Great for the CCIW. Huge wins @Hope and @WashU. IWU conintues the streak of beating now 6 top ranked teams on their own floor. Looks like the better teams won. Great to see everyone in the sweet 16. I remember Q suggesting that this year d3 bball may have a lot of parity. We may be seeing what a tough CCIW slate can do for our conference when aren't any real dominant teams in the tourney.

[HopeConvert]

Congrats to the Titans on winning an absolutely classic basketball game. They came on to the floor of the #1 team in the nation, fell behind 15-2, and found a way to win. Maybe more impressively, they came back when they fell behind by 11 in the second half, thanks to Jordan Zimmer hitting some big time threes. I have no idea how much pain he was in, but he is a shooter the likes of which I have rarely seen and sure played like a guy who was 100%.

Last year I was impressed by how Hope hung tough against a superior Augie team. This year I saw IWU hang tough against a superior Hope team. Hope lost last year but I wasn't too bummed. They lost this year and I'm extremely so. This one hurts. But I have nothing but respect for IWU and all their fans but one.

To Chuck, and the guy with the iPad who was so nice to my son and so kind after the game: thanks.

[Titan Q]

I remember Q suggesting that this year d3 bball may have a lot of parity. We may be seeing what a tough CCIW slate can do for our conference when aren't any real dominant teams in the tourney.

That was part of this discussion...

No doubt. But there's more to it than that. The first-division teams, while all representing healthy programs, aren't Salem caliber this year. In fact, I think it'll be a struggle for any one of them to make the sectionals, although it's really hard to predict that sort of thing (particularly before the bracket is released).

Is this "Salem caliber" in terms of what you traditionally perceive a Final Four team to look like, or based on actual 2011-12 observations?  Because here are the top 2 teams in each region (from the current regional rankings)...

Atlantic - 1) William Paterson, 2) Staten Island
East - 1) Hartwick, 2) Oswego State
Great Lakes - 1) Hope, 2) Wittenberg
Mid-Atlantic - 1) Cabrini, 2) Keystone
Midwest - 1) Wash U, 2) Lake Forest
Northeast - 1) Amherst, 2) Middlebury
South - 1) Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2) Va Wesleyan
West - 1) UW-River Falls, 2) UW-Stevens Point


Is the grouping of North Central/Wheaton/Illinois Wesleyan/Augustana really inferior to these teams?  Consider...

* IWU won @ Staten Island
* Wheaton lost by 1 @ Hope
* IWU beat Wash U by a bunch
* Augie beat UW-Stevens Point


Or do we just have a ton of parity in Division III this year, and the top 4 CCIW teams could basically play with anyone in the country on any given night?

Who exactly are the definite "Salem caliber" teams in 2011-12?

I've watched a lot of games online from around the country this year.  I've been convinced of that statement in bold (above) all season long.   

The CCIW was "down" this year because the bottom half of the league was down -- NCC, Wheaton, IWU, and Augie are very competitive with the best in Division 3.  With 3 CCIW teams in the sectional round now - with each having to earn their way there on the road in the regionals - I think we have pretty good evidence of this.  None of these teams is a powerhouse, but I just don't think there are any true powerhouses out there. 

[Titan Q]

IWU 108
Hope 101 (2 OT)

Boxscore:  http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/MBB/MBB2012/HTML/ncaa2.htm


* Jordan Zimmer: 28 pts, 4 reb
* John Koschnitzky: 19 pts, 8 reb
* Victor Davis: 17 pts, 7 reb
* Stephen Rudnicki: 16 pts, 3 reb, 3 assists
* Eliud Gonzalez: 5 pts, 4 reb, 10 assists


This one is right up there near the top of the list in terms of IWU wins in the 22 years I've been following the program.  Four seniors played their tails off tonight, and sophomore Victor Davis was a ton.  (Victor's tip dunk was captured in a Holland Sentinel photo - see the link below.)

I'll use the same word I did after the UW-Stevens Point game - "gutty."  Just another absolutely gutty performance by Ron Rose's team.

How bout this road through D3's elite programs - vs UW-Stevens Point, vs Hope, vs Wooster.  Quite a line-up.

Media coverage...


http://wjbc.com/iwu-upsets-hope-in-double-ot-heads-to-sweet-sixteen/

(Ron Rose interview from WJBC postgame show)

"It was 108 to 101 and this was a defensive battle."
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http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2012-03-03/ill-wesleyan-stuns-no-1-hope-2ot

"This was about as good of a college basketball game as you'll ever see," said IWU head coach Ron Rose. "To be part of a game like this is pretty special and I have ton of respect for Hope College. There was no loser in this game — we just scored more points than they did."
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http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x1785608293/Illinois-Wesleyan-knocks-out-No-1-Hope-College-mens-basketball-in-2OT

"You've got to give them credit," Snuggerud said after scoring a career-high 40 points while playing 46 of a possible 50 minutes. "They're just very physical, very deep. They just made the plays down the stretch we didn't."
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http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2012/03/hope_stars_40-point_effort_in.html

"I'll be really honest. I hope (Illinois Wesleyan) wins the whole thing. I think they're that good."
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http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/iwu-men-upset-no-hope-in-ncaas/article_0564dd50-65b6-11e1-96e1-0019bb2963f4.html

"That was about as good of a college basketball game you're going to see played at any level," IWU coach Ron Rose said. "We had two teams playing their hearts out. Every play was contested. We feel fortunate to come out with a win tonight."

[NCF]

Well, if you don't think there is a powehouuse out there this year-then the title is up for grabs.It would be sweet to see a CCiW team take it. I'd prefer the red team but would still root for any of them in Salem!

[pointlem]

Congrats to the Titans on winning an absolutely classic basketball game. They came on to the floor of the #1 team in the nation, fell behind 15-2, and found a way to win. Maybe more impressively, they came back when they fell behind by 11 in the second half, thanks to Jordan Zimmer hitting some big time threes. I have no idea how much pain he was in, but he is a shooter the likes of which I have rarely seen and sure played like a guy who was 100%.

Last year I was impressed by how Hope hung tough against a superior Augie team. This year I saw IWU hang tough against a superior Hope team. Hope lost last year but I wasn't too bummed. They lost this year and I'm extremely so. This one hurts. But I have nothing but respect for IWU and all their fans but one..

HopeConvert speaks for me.  Last season Hope overachieved, and came within a missed free throw of beating Augie to enter the sweet 16--and yet as a Hope fan I could feel satisfied.  The year's loss, also attributable to one of the many missed free throws (Hope had the better season FT average, but not last night), is much more painful . . . because the expectations and hopes were so much higher. 

Still, we finally got the long-awaited IWU/Hope match-up, and boy was it a match-up.  Kudos to IWU, and especially to Jordan Zimmer (who was given some medication--pain medication, I presume--to swallow about 30 minutes before tipoff).  Boy does he have range!  And kudos to IWU for hitting all those free throws under the pressure of the bedlam of 3600 fans.  The Hope venue gave IWU a memorable experience, I trust, and IWU responded with great courage, skill, and tenacity--especially after the 15 to 2 beginning, when it looked like Hope might run them out of the gym. 

[NCF]

That's what makes the tournament so exciting! Sound like last night's game is just the type of game the fans come to see.

[USee]

What? IWU cut down the net at Devos last night in celebration? Didn't they realize it was only the 2nd round? That's almost as bad as Wheaton fans storming the court after a regular season win over North Central! How dare they celebrate on an opponents floor in such meaningless games! 

[Gregory Sager]

How bout this road through D3's elite programs - vs UW-Stevens Point, vs Hope, vs Wooster.  Quite a line-up.

I honestly have no idea about Wooster's comparative level of ability, having not seen the Scots this season. And since your parity theory has thus far borne out, I certainly would not discount IWU's chances next Friday at all, regardless of the fact that Wooster was the national runner-up last season. But it needs to be said that what you're referring to in your "quite a lineup" bit is as much brand-name identity as anything. Yes, Hope was #1, and a great team, and IWU did a magnificent job last night of knocking off that team on its home floor. Titans fans can be very proud of that. But UWSP was not even close this year to being the UWSP of the three recent national championships -- and the Pointers were further held back on Friday night by the absence of their top scorer, Tyler Tillema, due to injury. Just some perspective.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Back from Holland - WHAT A GAME!!!!

Dummy that I am, I replaced Zimmer with Clayton Black of Witt in my fantasy starting lineup for Saturday.   (Zimmer got 39 fantasy points; Black got 13.)  When a Titan senior is facing possibly the last game of his career, ignore his grandfather and your own lyin' eyes - he's gonna play, and play as though he was 100% no matter how much he's hurting!  I'm still in disbelief of his performance - he didn't just play well, he took over the SECOND OT: 2 3s in a 17-second burst broke the game open, 4 straight FTs down the stretch iced it!

Note to HopeConvert - very gracious post, but no surprise.  Thanks again for the company (and the beers!) after the game, which must have really hurt.  Early in both halves, my wallet was getting really nervous!  (We had bet during before game festivities that 'loser buys' - only later did it strike me that I was essentially giving 2 to 1 odds, since there were two of them and one of me!   Thanks Titans!)

[NCF]

This post is for GS as I  know he has a LOVE of the D1 game. #1 Kentucky in a battle with Florida.

[Greek Tragedy]

But UWSP was not even close this year to being the UWSP of the three recent national championships -- and the Pointers were further held back on Friday night by the absence of their top scorer, Tyler Tillema, due to injury. Just some perspective.

First off, congrats to the CCIW faithful for getting three teams in the Sweet 16.  Huge feat for IWU to get by Hope on their home floor and NCC topping Washington U. as well (though Pat C had them as the disappointment in the preview, I think).  Wheaton had it a little easier with Edgewood shocking River Falls on their home court.  It's the NathCons first tourney win and the first for an ex-Lake Michigan Conference member.  River Falls tailed off at the end of the year, though they beat Whitewater for the 1st time in 3 tries in the WIAC tourney final.  I thought that would be a stepping stone for the Falcons, but apparently the NCAAs is a different breed and they aren't too experienced in that area. 

As GS said, though a big win over a traditional elite D3 program, Point was not itself after losing top scorer (and assist man too, I think) in Tyler Tillema.  They lost the game he got hurt in, the following game against lowly Eau Claire, a win in Superior, and a loss to River Falls in the conf. tourney.  A lot of WIAC and Pointer fans didn't think they'd get out of the first round without him.  Didn't Augie lose a big part of their team?  It seems like they fell off the map after that.  I could compare the two senarios.

Looks like the WIAC will get a shot at Wheaton this coming weekend.  Should be a great game.  Anyway, didn't want to make it sound like the CCIW had an easy road, because obviously they didn't! 

[Titan Q]

Flying back to Omaha from Phoenix...WIFI onboard.  Posting from 35,000 above Durango.

I've always wanted to join the Mile High Club, so this is exciting.