MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Greg, I agree, NPU looking up, surely much stronger this year.  No, IWU's loss to BU not in the same category of shocking upsets as AC vs. Mac, but still IWU should not have lost that one.

AO, I have no inside info on Nelson.  But, stats don't lie, the other Titan perimeter players playing better so far.  I think IWU has always had a lot of program guys who have to sit the pine, wait their time, get their chance as upperclassmen.  Many had stellar earlier basketball careers, just needed the time to shine, the chance for the minutes.  Clearly Coyle has waited for his time which has now come, perhaps Pennington too.  Seibring and Bausch are sophomores, so they will be around a long time.  The good IWU seniors, six of them, last year, blocked a lot of these guys from ample opportunities for varsity minutes.

Yes, yes, I know Heyen is a long shot, unlikely to break into regular rotational minutes, but I still have hope that he will finally get healthy, get his chance to shine, or at least contribute.  I think he's a good player and can be put in a situation to help the Titans.  Plus one never knows about injuries or illnesses as the season wears on.  Folks can tease me all they want, but Heyen is a good basketball player.

Nice to have a deep bench, guys willing to wait their turn, only playing significant minutes as juniors and seniors.  Hope IWU is also having a robust JV schedule this year, giving those many freshmen, some sophomores time to play and mature as CCIW varsity players.  Seibring and Bausch played a lot of JV games last year, now paying dividends for the Titans' season.

IWU70

[Titan Q]

* "No Jordan Nelson at all tonight." Is it known why Nelson was MIA tonight? Illness (lots going around lately)? Injury? Another episode of Ron Rose just holding him out of action to "get his head in a better place," as TitanQ recently reported already occurred once previously this season?
Nelson has been an important weapon for IWU.

Nelson had an MRI on one of his knees a few days before the Wash U game - they thought it was cartilage damage, and it turned out to be something different (but I can't remember what it is).  Basically it's a day-to-day thing where he can practice/play if it feels decent...or he sits if it doesn't.  I didn't ask anyone why he didn't play last night, but I assume it's this.  I know a few days before the Wash U game they didn't think they'd have him for that one.

Nelson missed the entire preseason with that foot/ankle injury, then the 2 Memphis games due to illness, and now he has this knee thing.  It's been a rough year so far.

[veterancciwfan]

Ask the legion of Hope fans what they considered the biggest upset they witnessed and they would reply the 2nd round game of the 2012 NCAA tournament played at #1 Hope (they had lost only 1 game and that was a Nov. game at D1 Western Michigan) before 3,635 raucus fans (Hope could have sold a lot more as this was a must see game) when IWU won 108-101 in double overtime.  The Holland newspaper game headline used the word "stunned." But, hey, I know I'm biased and were only green.

[Titan Q]

Ask the legion of Hope fans what they considered the biggest upset they witnessed and they would reply the 2nd round game of the 2012 NCAA tournament played at #1 Hope (they had lost only 1 game and that was a Nov. game at D1 Western Michigan) before 3,635 raucus fans (Hope could have sold a lot more as this was a must see game) when IWU won 108-101 in double overtime.  The Holland newspaper game headline used the word "stunned." But, hey, I know I'm biased and were only green.

I doubt Hope fans would say that's the biggest upset they've witnessed.

And I'm positive that upset wasn't in the ballpark of what MacMurray over Augustana would have been (which is where this conversation started).

[sac]

Ask the legion of Hope fans what they considered the biggest upset they witnessed and they would reply the 2nd round game of the 2012 NCAA tournament played at #1 Hope (they had lost only 1 game and that was a Nov. game at D1 Western Michigan) before 3,635 raucus fans (Hope could have sold a lot more as this was a must see game) when IWU won 108-101 in double overtime.  The Holland newspaper game headline used the word "stunned." But, hey, I know I'm biased and were only green.

I doubt Hope fans would say that's the biggest upset they've witnessed.

And I'm positive that upset wasn't in the ballpark of what MacMurray over Augustana would have been (which is where this conversation started).

Be assured Hope has lost to far worse teams than that IWU team.

I'm not sure I'd ever consider two teams basically equal going double-overtime any kind of upset.

[badgerwarhawk]

Hope fans were pretty upset after this....http://www.uwwsports.com/news/2013/3/9/WBB_0309134325.aspx?path=wbball

[hopefan]

One only needs to revisit last year's amazing tourney game between Webster and IWU for a comparible near upset.

[AndOne]

* "No Jordan Nelson at all tonight." Is it known why Nelson was MIA tonight? Illness (lots going around lately)? Injury? Another episode of Ron Rose just holding him out of action to "get his head in a better place," as TitanQ recently reported already occurred once previously this season?
Nelson has been an important weapon for IWU.

Nelson had an MRI on one of his knees a few days before the Wash U game - they thought it was cartilage damage, and it turned out to be something different (but I can't remember what it is).  Basically it's a day-to-day thing where he can practice/play if it feels decent...or he sits if it doesn't.  I didn't ask anyone why he didn't play last night, but I assume it's this.  I know a few days before the Wash U game they didn't think they'd have him for that one.

Nelson missed the entire preseason with that foot/ankle injury, then the 2 Memphis games due to illness, and now he has this knee thing.  It's been a rough year so far.

The number one consideration would be to avoid surgery which, if it was necessary the MRI would have shown. That he was able to play in the WU game should be a positive sign as surgery at this point would likely be season ending. Maybe its just something like tendonitis, and he just needs to rest it.

[AndOne]

Hope fans were pretty upset after this....http://www.uwwsports.com/news/2013/3/9/WBB_0309134325.aspx?path=wbball

Badger--

Tisk, tisk. Reporting women's history in the MEN'S room. 
IWU70 can advise you regarding the wrath incurred for that particular transgression. 

Now, if you want to talk MEN'S history. I think you and your fellow Warhawk fans were pretty upset after this:      

http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2013/3/9/MBB_0309135848.aspx?path=mbball

[gordonmann]

I don't think any NCAA tournament result would be a bigger upset than Augustana losing to MacMurray last night, though the stage would be larger and the attention longer lasting. 

Augustana is a team that we've recently deemed a national title contender and MacMurray is a one-win team in one of the weakest conferences in the country. Two years ago the SLIAC had a .362 non-conference winning percentage against D3 opponents, which was 37th of 43 conferences. The CCIW had a .674 winning percentage that same year, fourth overall.  And we have enough historical information to know neither of those winning percentages are anomalies.

The nearest example that comes to mind is Williams losing to Southern Vermont last year, given where those teams finished the year -- Williams a play away from a national championship and SVC third place in another weak conference.  And even that SVC team at least finished the year with a 6-3 non-conference record, better than this MacMurray team will likely achieve.

[Mr. Ypsi]

One only needs to revisit last year's amazing tourney game between Webster and IWU for a comparible near upset.

Not really.  Webster was SLIAC champ (and a very fine team, albeit not nationally competitive); MacMurray will likely finish in the bottom reaches of the SLIAC.  It would have been an upset (after all, IWU went to the FF), but not at all comparable to a potential MacMurray/Augie upset.

[AppletonRocks]

When the wunderkind (2 years out of residency) Obama nominated for Surgeon General is rejected by Congress, he would be available to preside over all the brain surgeons, current and future, at Illinois Wesleyan.     Of course Dick Durbin will say he is eminently qualified; after all, he bundled for Obama. 

[Titan Q]

Augustana is a team that we've recently deemed a national title contender and MacMurray is a one-win team in one of the weakest conferences in the country.

Not really.  Webster was SLIAC champ (and a very fine team, albeit not nationally competitive); MacMurray will likely finish in the bottom reaches of the SLIAC.

I don't think it's fair to peg MacMurray as a bottom SLIAC team. The Highlanders have 6 losses:

* 2 NCAA D2 teams (Quincy, Missouri-St. Louis)
* #2 Augustana
* UT-Dallas (27-win/NCAA tournament team last year)
* Webster (SLIAC favorite)
* Spalding (SLIAC #2 pick)
* Millikin

MacMurray was 19-7 last year, 15-3 in the SLIAC.  Todd Creal has a good SLIAC program and I'll bet they finish near the top of the league again this year.

[y_jack_lok]

TQ, good points.

[gordonmann]

If the Highlanders finish third in the SLIAC, then the comparison to Williams/Southern Vermont is probably a fair one.