MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Knightstalker]

I'm putting my money on York, York is too inconsistent and you never know which York is showing up.

[iwumichigander]

I'm putting my money on York, York is too inconsistent and you never know which York is showing up.

Well, at least one York should/will show-up and one York will emerge.

[AndersDY]

Another Hope-Calvin game at Hope might break a tournament attendance record. 

Calvin has hosted a sectional before and while their gym is not nearly as pretty as the newbie in Holland, it does hold about 30% more people so a Hope-Calvin IV in Holland won't be a new attendance record. It very likely will be the scarcest ticket for any tournament game this year however. I wish the NCAA had seen fit to make those two wait more than 7 days to see each other again, but I guess it was too much gas money. Consider yourselves lucky that your conference teams aren't stuck on a peninsula so there is a little more wiggle room for moving the 3 qualifiers in various directions.

[79jaybird]

Congratulations to the 3 CCIW teams, well deserved and my hats off to the NCAA for picking these 3 schools.
"The great lakes South looks tough".
Frankly each and every team is tough and if you don't come to play and have that tournament toughness, you are going to get beat.
I am somewhat surprised ( but not shocked) that NC has to travel to MN first round.  I would have been shocked if IWU was given a home game and not NC.  It appears they awarded the reg. season champ the only home game, while the other 2 travel.  I don't think NC/IWU will have a problem getting their fans to be well represented on the road.
Yes it is unfortunate they are all in the same bracket, however I think I would have written it this way also, based on Geography.  In 2001, Elmhurst/IWU were in the same bracket and played in the 3rd round, while Carthage was in OH.  We might see a NC vs. IWU round 3 on March 10/11. 
Good luck to all

[Jim Matson]

I guess my worry was not without merit as the three teams are bunched up regionally.  But with an expanded bracket, I will not complain about anything!  It is good to see a ton of teams in the post-season - and most if not all of them are well-deserved positions.

[oldreporter]

We might see a NC vs. IWU round 3 on March 10/11. 
Good luck to all

... and hopefully we'll see an NCC vs. Augie, or IWU vs. Augie in the next round... (conference tourney all over again...)

[matblake]

Congrats to the CCIW with 3 teams making it into the tournament.  Time to put the conference rivalries aside (until we play each other again hopefully) and root for the Vikings, Titans, and Cardinals. 

[iwumichigander]

I guess my worry was not without merit as the three teams are bunched up regionally.  But with an expanded bracket, I will not complain about anything!  It is good to see a ton of teams in the post-season - and most if not all of them are well-deserved positions.

Hiker I had similiar concerns yet it is really, really nice to get three very good CCIW teams into the tournament.  No complaints here either.  All three teams deserving of a chance to get to the big dance.  When this sectional is done I think we on CCIW Chat would like to see one of these three CCIW teams still standing.  And then, we will all root that CCIW team whichever one remains to go all the way in the Final Four!

[keith45]

A few IIAC alum may trek down to see the BV game..any good bars/clubs out there?? Please note, I didn't say BV fans, just alum from the conference!

[larry_u]

Don't count onyour CCIW tournamtn rematch just yet....

Give the MWC some credit.  I frankly could see Carroll winning against IWU, and St. Thomas beating North Central, or if they don;t LU doing so.  I'd all be rooting for Augie if I were you, because thats prob gonna be your best shot at getting to the sweet 16.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wow, a cross-board taunt.  This could get ugly before its all over.

Everyone, please locate your crash helmets under your seats and remain calm.  Vague cultural references and haikus will be flying at break-neck speeds.  Please watch your head.

[larry_u]

Yep..had to take the first shot....with luck it will not be a unilateral action....but I assume we will have to wait for the results of thursdays and fridays games before it kicks off in full swing

[Gregory Sager]

Its great to see three CCIW teams in, but very frustrating to see that they are all in the same bracket.  Plus, a fourth historic CCIW team in Carroll.

Carroll's situation is somewhat amusing. This is the first-ever tournament appearance for the Pioneers, who languished for many years in the CCIW's bottom half until they departed this conference a decade and a half ago. Suddenly, a couple of years ago under Dave Schultz the Pios became as good a team as I've ever seen that program put on the floor. Anyone who saw them dismantle Elmhurst in Faganel Hall last season would agree. So now, at long last, Carroll has made it to the big dance. And who is the very first team they'll ever face in the dance? Former CCIW nemesis Illinois Wesleyan.

As Al Pacino said in The Godfather III, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

As far as the game itself is concerned, I think Illinois Wesleyan is the better team. But they will have a tough time against the Pioneers, who should under no circumstances be considered an easy win for the Titans. North Central has a draw that I'd like better if it wasn't in a hostile gym; St. Thomas has a reputation in the MIAC for having an indifferent fan base that sits on its hands, but those kinds of considerations fly out the window at tourney time. As for Augie, I saw Buena Vista at Elmhurst's tournament in December, and the Beavers looked like a team that was going nowhere fast. Considering their 15-13 record and the fact that they only finished in a third-place tie in the lowly IIAC, they don't appear to be that much improved from when I saw them. But they've won seven in a row, including tough road games in the IIAC tourney at Wartburg and Coe, and they have a very solid coach in Bryan Van Haaften. Augie got a good first-round draw, but that doesn't mean that they can take the Beavers lightly.

[Gregory Sager]

Here's the bracket as measured by the current D3hoops.com Top 25:

MIDWEST/WEST SECTION (8 teams)
1 Lawrence
9 Augustana
12 Illinois Wesleyan
14 UW-Stout
15 Carroll
17 Puget Sound
19 North Central
20 UW-Whitewater

MIDDLE ATLANTIC/ATLANTIC SECTION (3 teams)
4 York (PA)
8 Virginia Wesleyan
18 Lincoln

NORTHEAST/EAST SECTION (3 teams)
5 Amherst
16 St. John Fisher
23 Worcester Polytech

GREAT LAKES/SOUTH SECTION (9 teams)
2 Hope
3 Wooster
6 Wittenberg
7 Baldwin-Wallace
10 Mississippi C.
13 Calvin
21 Transylvania
24 Carnegie Mellon
25 Randolph-Macon

NOT IN TOURNAMENT (2 teams)
11 Albion
22 Ohio Northern

The top three teams in the Others Receiving Votes category that made the tourney -- Occidental, Carleton, and St. Thomas -- are all in the Midwest/West section, as is another ORV team (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps). Two other ORV teams (Cortland State and Tufts) are in the Northeast/East section, and the other two sections have one ORV team apiece (Ursinus in the Middle Atlantic/Atlantic section and Trinity TX in the Great Lakes/South section).

[The Show]

Hopefully Augie watches tape of BV from the Elmhurst tournament.  You can usually get a good idea of how good a very young team is in December...