MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[veterancciwfan]

IWU's NCAA tournament record at Shirk is 14-2 with the losses to Steve Alford coached Manchester in 1995 (IWU's initial loss at Shirk) and to Hanover in 2005 (the season Hanover beat IWU twice, a feat which is practically impossible for a nonconference foe to achieve). Those Hanover teams of Mike Bietzel were very good with minimal turnovers, tough man-to-man defense, and run the shot clock down offense.

[John Gleich]

Mike Marietti's improvement will be critical against a big and experienced Calvin team. Calvin played a great game in St. Louis to knock off Wash. U., shooting 52% (30/58), 47% on 3s (8/17), and 65% from the line (15/23). Austin Parks, a 6' soph. guard came off the bench to score 18 and was 4/5 on 3s. Calvin has good depth as 8 players got at least 12 minutes. Jordan Daley, a 6'3" soph. guard, scored 12. Calvin's bench outscored Wash. U. 23-13. Chris Klimek was called for a technical. Terrible attendance of only 476. Regarding attendance, noticed that the Calvin/Hope Jan. game at Calvin drew 4,800. I'm assuming at least 3,000 were Hope fans and that this has to be the biggest D3 crowd of the 2013/14 season (similar to the ending football game between DePauw and Wabash).

Not necessarily a safe assumption - Calvin also draws well (generally top 3,4 attendance in the country).

My guess would be roughly an even split; perhaps even a slight plurality of Calvin fans.  (And that is probably THE top d3 bball rivalry.  Both Calvin and Hopes fans hold that 'in west Michigan, an atheist is anyone who doesn't care who wins'!

Calvin has historically drawn well... but they're not drawing that well this season. If you look at their attendence, they're averaging just 1058 this season, and that's WITH a sellout of 4800 against Hope:

http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/results/2013-14/teamcume.htm


Because I'm a nerd, I know that 1058 has, on average, been good for about 16th place nationally. Attendance figures aren't what they used to be in the 90's or even though Oughts, so it likely will be good for about 12th this season.

They're definitely behind Hope (who will run away with number 1 again, at 2459 per game). I'm fairly confident that Wooster is #2 and Stevens Point #3:

1. Hope 2,459
2. Wooster 1,801
3. UW Stevens Point 1,706 (Point needs to average 2600 fans over the next possible two games to reach Wooster... To quote Pauli Shore "Ain't gonna do it!")


IWU is at 1,278
Wheaton is at 1,106

[Gregory Sager]

Nice win for the Thunder tonight.  Nice to be the only team in blue and orange at Devos tomorrow night.

I wouldn't be too smug about Hope losing if I were you. I watched some of that overtime game, and PSUB looks legit.

Smug?  Really?  I was happy with the Wheaton win.  I am a fan of this team.  Do you have a problem with that?

Furthermore, my opinion was that it would be preferable to play a team from Penn as opposed to playing Hope at home in front of 3,000 screaming home towners.

No disrespect to PSUB intended and none expressed.

Not that I speak for Greg but the undertone in his post was his point that PSUB looked awfully good and shouldn't be underestimated. I don't think it had anything to do with your approach to your (my) team. Obviously neither of those teams was going to beat Wheaton this past weekend. They are playing at a really high level.

Precisely. Methinks toooldtohoop was a bit touchy. But, given my oft-stated rooting preferences, his suspicions of my good intentions were understandable.

[iwu70]

With Calvin and Wheaton in the field, sure hope for a sell-out @The Shirk this Friday.  Capacity is often listed at 2600, but with the fans standing along the rails it surely could go to 3200-3400 or so.  Too bad this game is still during Spring break, with students away.  Do hope some students return a bit early, even IWU opening the dorms a bit early, to get some student support, the normal student section and Pep Band back in action. 

IWU attendance has been down somewhat over previous years too, I think, even with this super fine team this year.  The townies, IWU staff/families and the fan bus, graybeard crowd are ever faithful.   Wish I could be there to add to the gray,  oh, I mean GREEN.

GO TITANS!

IWU70

P.S.  Any assessment by Hope or other posters on the skills, deficiencies of the Calvin squad?  Seems like Wheaton, they have been playing very well in the last two months or so.   ms

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like former NPU assistant (and Augie graduate) Steve Schafer is moving out of the D3 ranks, from Fontbonne to Benedictine's new branch campus in Mesa, AZ, which will apparently begin fielding sports with an NAIA affiliation. Steve served as the assistant coach for the team of the main Benedictine campus in Lisle in between his stops at North Park and Fontbonne. Congrats to him. Arizona might be a hard place to find opponents if you're a head basketball coach, but you certainly can't complain about the weather.

[bbfan44]

There has been some talk about crowd size recently and how well certain schools draw.  I noticed that last weekend at Holland, Mi on Friday night the Hope v PSB game showed a good attendance of 2077.  On Saturday night with Hope having lost, the attendance was a meager 292.  Sad story.
I'm wondering what will happen at Bloomington if or when IWU loses on Friday night.  Will there be basketball fans going to the Saturday game if their beloved Titans aren't playing?  I'd hope so.  The Saturday night game should be a good one no matter who is playing.

[D-3 watcher]

This happened two years ago, in the CCIW conference tourney. IWU lost to Augie, then really didn't care who won the next night. Fans and players both. Much smaller crowd.
Hopefully with a little more help from the refs, IWU will advance to the elite eight.
Just kidding Denny McKinney

[Flying Dutch Fan]

There has been some talk about crowd size recently and how well certain schools draw.  I noticed that last weekend at Holland, Mi on Friday night the Hope v PSB game showed a good attendance of 2077.  On Saturday night with Hope having lost, the attendance was a meager 292.  Sad story.
I'm wondering what will happen at Bloomington if or when IWU loses on Friday night.  Will there be basketball fans going to the Saturday game if their beloved Titans aren't playing?  I'd hope so.  The Saturday night game should be a good one no matter who is playing.

Should IWU lose on Friday night, I can guarantee the Saturday attendance will easily quadruple the number at DeVos last Saturday - and probably more.  I'd bet on 1000 Calvin fans alone, and you are talking about a winner goes to Salem game. Completely different story than last weekend.

I will point also point out that 1/3 or so of the fans last Saturday were Holland people, but most of us were either in Kenosha or watching online as the Hope women's team played the Lady Reds.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm dubious about 1,000 Calvin fans, but I'm sure there will be a sizable contingent.  Assuming Wheaton wins on Friday, there should also be a large Wheaton contingent.  And there are enough people in B-N who just love bball, that it should still be a good crowd even if (heaven forbid!) the Titans are not there on Saturday.

[Gregory Sager]

I will point also point out that 1/3 or so of the fans last Saturday were Holland people, but most of us were either in Kenosha or watching online as the Hope women's team played the Lady Reds.

... and none of the four schools that will be meeting at Shirk this coming weekend have a women's team that's still alive, so there will be no conflict of the type to which FDF referred.

[markerickson]

I have not visited this website since I attended the North Park v Adrian (or was it Alma?) debacle.  I then said NP would not win a single conference game.  NPU+MU combined to win a total of three conference games this year, surging past the minimum achieved two years ago.  So, North Park has no more than six conference victories in the last three years, I believe.

I attended more NP home football games this academic year than home men's bball games for the first time since I arrived on North Park's campus in 1981.

[iwu70]

Even with the issues caused by Spring break, students being gone, I'd expect Calvin and Wheaton (perhaps Dickinson, too -- who knows?) to travel well and provide good crowds at Shirk this weekend.  Of course, if the Titans advance, there will be a sell-out or near sell-out on Saturday night for the championship game.  Calvin will be a tough out for the Titans, but I do expect another IWU-WC game for the berth in Salem. 

Mark, your loyalty to NPU is commendable, to say the least, -- seems NPU's football program has a much better potential, opportunity for breaking into the top four than the basketball program, Juwan Henry notwithstanding.  IMHO.

My prediction for this weekend -- IWU over Calvin by 3, WC over Dickinson by 12.

Some really great games on tap in so many of the sectionals around the country -- men and women.  Carthage women have a great challenge playing defending national champs DePauw on their home floor.

Go CCIW!  GO TITANS!

IWU70

[izzy stradlin]

Are they clearing the gym prior to the second game Friday or does the single ticket get you both games?   I couldn't find the answer on the IWU sectional site but I am not the best at reading. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Are they clearing the gym prior to the second game Friday or does the single ticket get you both games?   I couldn't find the answer on the IWU sectional site but I am not the best at reading.

I don't know, but Shirk is pretty good sized.  I would doubt they would feel the need to do so.

[bigz61550]

Even with the issues caused by Spring break, students being gone, I'd expect Calvin and Wheaton (perhaps Dickinson, too -- who knows?) to travel well and provide good crowds at Shirk this weekend.  Of course, if the Titans advance, there will be a sell-out or near sell-out on Saturday night for the championship game.  Calvin will be a tough out for the Titans, but I do expect another IWU-WC game for the berth in Salem. 

Mark, your loyalty to NPU is commendable, to say the least, -- seems NPU's football program has a much better potential, opportunity for breaking into the top four than the basketball program, Juwan Henry notwithstanding.  IMHO.

My prediction for this weekend -- IWU over Calvin by 3, WC over Dickinson by 12.

Some really great games on tap in so many of the sectionals around the country -- men and women.  Carthage women have a great challenge playing defending national champs DePauw on their home floor.

Go CCIW!  GO TITANS!

IWU70

Wheaton is also on spring break this week I think.