MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Brick]

One other thought -

Had IWU won the OT game in Rock Island 4 days ago, the Titans would be co-champions.  (Augie 10-4, IWU 10-4.)  The line between 11-3 and 9-5 can be as thin as a couple bounces of the ball.

I don't think this group of Titans is going to go away quietly.

Man, I hope you're right!!

Despite the 4th seed in the inaugural conference tourney, I, at least, have not thrown in the towel on the Walnut and Bronze in Salem!

(I'm FAR less confident than two months ago, but I still have hope!)

Ypsi can we get you to guarantee  that for us??  I would feel alot better about our chances on Friday if you would...two times is tough enough but three....I'm worried.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Nice try, AUGIE2000, but I ain't guaranteeing ANYTHING!

And, for the record, I have't GUARANTEED anything all season.  I presented odds of IWU going undefeated, but anyone who cares to check will find that they never rose above 7 to 3 AGAINST them doing it.  I'm getting really tired of being whipped for things I never said.

(If you already knew that, and were just toying with me, I apologize.)

[True Basketball Fan]

One other thought -

Had IWU won the OT game in Rock Island 4 days ago, the Titans would be co-champions.  (Augie 10-4, IWU 10-4.)  The line between 11-3 and 9-5 can be as thin as a couple bounces of the ball.

I don't think this group of Titans is going to go away quietly.

If Elmhurst would've grabbed the rebound off Harrigan's miss 3 weeks ago at the end of the game, they would be conference champs.  To go a little further, if Dauksas wouldn't have made that miraculous 30 footer to send the game into overtime, everybody would be coming to Faganel Hall next weekend.

Your're right Augiedad, the line is thin, thinner than a hair in this case.  Don't count out the Jays.

[Jim Matson]

Yes Joe, you did in fact introduce me to the mike (much to the attending fans dismay...).

[markerickson]

NPU forward Brett Mathisen, who earned second team AC last year, deserves the same this year.  No doubt the coaches will recognize his talent despite his team's woes.   

[markerickson]

PS:  Harrigan is too one dimensional.  I vote for Chris Martin as MOP.

[Brick]

ypsi, chill man I was just yanking your chain

[Gregory Sager]

One other thought -

Had IWU won the OT game in Rock Island 4 days ago, the Titans would be co-champions.  (Augie 10-4, IWU 10-4.)  The line between 11-3 and 9-5 can be as thin as a couple bounces of the ball.

I don't think this group of Titans is going to go away quietly.

If Elmhurst would've grabbed the rebound off Harrigan's miss 3 weeks ago at the end of the game, they would be conference champs.  To go a little further, if Dauksas wouldn't have made that miraculous 30 footer to send the game into overtime, everybody would be coming to Faganel Hall next weekend.

Your're right Augiedad, the line is thin, thinner than a hair in this case.  Don't count out the Jays.

Not only that, but Wesleyan won three games in OT in CCIW play this season, two of them against second-division teams, and won a fourth game against a second-division team by a single point when a last-second shot rimmed out. The line between 9-5 and 5-9 can be as thin as a couple bounces of the ball, too.

That's the great thing about basketball. Throw enough narrowly-decided games into the hopper, and you can spend all night ruminating over counterfactuals, alternate W-L records, and what-if champions -- or what-if second-division teams.

[Gregory Sager]

Q, you make a good point about the Wash U vs. IWU situation.  Another thing to keep in mind is that all possible Pool C candidates should be hoping that CMU takes the AQ.  I think CMU would be a better Pool C candidate than Wash U so hopefully CMU can take that automatic bid.  CMU has got a pretty high QOWI...like 0.9 above IWU, whereas IWU matches up much better than Wash U.

There's another factor you haven't considered, AS. If Wash U loses the UAA to Carnegie Mellon as a result of a Bears loss next Saturday @ Chicago, it might result in Wash U falling out of the Midwest Region's final ranking. It seems like a slender possibility, as the Bears (currently #7 out of the eight teams ranked in the region) won both of their games this weekend, and of the two teams immediately above them, Illinois Wesleyan went 1-1 and took a double QOWI hit (the loss to Augie was worth 7 QOWI points, the win over NPU was worth only 8 QOWI points), and Lakeland played only one game -- an 8-QOWI-point win over Maranatha Baptist in the first round of the LMC tourney. The LMC, which postponed the first round due a snowstorm up in l'etat de fromage on Thursday, has yet to announce when the semifinals will take place. If they take place before Wednesday afternoon, it could further affect Lakeland's Midwest Region rank. What's more, a good showing by North Central or Franklin in the CCIW and HCAC tourneys, respectively, might push them into the lower reaches of the regional rankings and further threaten Wash U's position should the Bears lose to Chicago.

Why does this matter? Because one of the five primary criteria for Pool C is a candidate's record against regionally-ranked teams. Illinois Wesleyan is 0-2 against Augie, which will definitely be ranked within the region on Selection Monday. A win against Augie on Friday in the CCIW tourney, followed by a loss to either North Central or Elmhurst in the championship game, would improve the Pool C standing of the Titans in at least one respect by making them 1-2 against Augie. That win over Wash U could prove to be the ace in the hole for the Titans that gets them up to a .500 record against regionally-ranked teams -- but they can only play it if the Bears are ranked within the region on Selection Monday.

Similar scenarios are in play for North Central, the other CCIW runner-up that has a serious shot at a Pool C bid. (Elmhurst can forget about one; with seven regional losses and an eighth on the way if they were to need a Pool C bid, they're staying home in March unless they win the CCIW tourney.) Two games in particular look interesting on the Cardinals' resume right now: Their win over Loras, and their win over Franklin. Loras is the fourth seed in the IIAC; even if they win the IIAC tourney, chances seem remote that they'd get ranked within the West Region on Selection Monday, since they already have eight regional losses. But Franklin seems like a promising bet for a Midwest Region ranking. The Grizzlies, who finished second in the HCAC behind Transylvania, are currently 16-6 in the region. If they managed to win the three-round HCAC tourney, they'd be a likely candidate to move into the final regional rankings and thus give North Central an additional win over a regionally-ranked team, giving the Cards a plus-.500 record against regionally-ranked teams and thus improving their Pool C stock.

If you're a Titans fan, you may need to root for Wash U to beat Chicago next Saturday, depending upon where the Titans themselves end up in the regional rankings. But if you're a Cardinals fan, you definitely should be rooting for Franklin to win the HCAC tourney.

[Pat Coleman]

The LMC, which postponed the first round due a snowstorm up in l'etat de fromage on Thursday, has yet to announce when the semifinals will take place. If they take place before Wednesday afternoon, it could further affect Lakeland's Midwest Region rank.

The regional rankings are through Sunday's games, as always.

[Gregory Sager]

The LMC, which postponed the first round due a snowstorm up in l'etat de fromage on Thursday, has yet to announce when the semifinals will take place. If they take place before Wednesday afternoon, it could further affect Lakeland's Midwest Region rank.

The regional rankings are through Sunday's games, as always.

Then why wait until Wednesday to release them?

[Ralph Turner]

The LMC, which postponed the first round due a snowstorm up in l'etat de fromage on Thursday, has yet to announce when the semifinals will take place. If they take place before Wednesday afternoon, it could further affect Lakeland's Midwest Region rank.

The regional rankings are through Sunday's games, as always.

Then why wait until Wednesday to release them?

The NCAA probably expects all of the scores to be input by Monday pm.  They arrange the conference call for Tuesday pm or Wednesday morning.  The NCAA posts the rankings for D2 before D3, and therefore we are relegated to a 5pm EST release.

[Pat Coleman]

Two sets of conference calls, one regional committee call, then the next day a national call.

[augie_superfan]

You make a good point Sager.  I have yet to really consider any of the other criteria besides in-region win % and QOWI.  I guess it's really a toss up then as to if Wash U taking the UAA is a good or a bad thing.  I think it is a bad thing for most Pool C candidates but, asyou have pointed out, could help IWU.  I was just thinking that Wash U winning the UAA would be like a conference tourney upset in a way.

[Knightstalker]

Two sets of conference calls, one regional committee call, then the next day a national call.

Plus there are probably schools that don't get their scores reported on time.  If I were a conspiracy theorist I would think that a school that lost might delay reporting a score hoping they would get the rankings done before the score is in.  Not that I would actually believe that.