MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Gregory Sager · February 27, 2016, 07:20:41 PM

Nope. They told me to say, "final game of his career as a basketball official," no league qualifier, and that's what I announced.

It's no big deal, really. I just thought it was funny ... a bit of a laugh at my own expense. I really did a double-take when I saw Ken standing on the sideline in his stripes during warmups at Ratner today.

Titan Q · February 27, 2016, 07:27:24 PM

Quote from: Viking Mike on February 27, 2016, 04:42:46 PM
Titan Q - Just wondering how you figured Augustana as a #5 national seed. How does St Thomas, Benedictine, and the 2 others you mentioned, figure to look stronger to the NCAA? Augie has a better win % than all but Benedictine, and their SOS is not shabby.

Our conference is arguably one of the strongest, and despite some lesser teams as far as team records, last I looked, we had 6 teams in the top 10 of the most difficult schedules in the country. Some of that is due to playing the Jays, Cardinals, and Vikings twice, but I think IWU, Wheaton, and North Park played a challenging non conference schedule as well.

It is definitely a matter of subjectively evaluating objective data, but I am pretty confident Augie's numbers are the 5th best here...

(These numbers are a day old now, but I don't think anything has really changed.)

1. St. Thomas (West #1): .920/.556/10-0
2. Benedictine (Central #1): 1.000/.523/4-0
3. Marietta (GL #1): .926/.546/5-2
4. Christopher Newport (MA #1): .960/.530/4-1
5. Augustana (Central #2): .960/.528/3-1

Where Augie has a winning % advantage above, their SOS is lower and RRO (3-1) not as strong.

Augustana's strength of schedule (as determined for NCAA selection) is actually not a competitive advantage -- it's basically the same as St. Norbert's. Scroll through the SOS column on Matthew Snyder's list...

http://detroitjockcity.com/division-iii-mens-basketball-regional-rankings-data/

Augie's SOS should go up a bit tonight by playing Elmhurst.

mr_b · February 27, 2016, 08:15:25 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 27, 2016, 07:06:14 PM
As I said last weekend, I was requested to announce during NPU's Senior Night that the game would be the last of Ken Falkner's career. I complied with the request. So which three CCIW-pool refs called today's Wash U @ Chicago game at Ratner? Andrew Williams, Tony Driscoll ... and Ken Falkner.

I've been duped.

You should T-him up.

Augie6 · February 27, 2016, 08:47:11 PM

Augie up 39-19 at half vs Elmhurst. Elmhurst has more turnovers in the 1st half (17) than they do shots (15).

iwu70 · February 27, 2016, 09:19:18 PM

Augie in a blowout over EC. Hope EC still gets in. IWU surely gave Augie a better game.

'70

Gregory Sager · February 27, 2016, 09:46:53 PM

Augustana 69
Elmhurst 53

Augie put on a defensive clinic tonight.

Augie6 · February 27, 2016, 09:49:42 PM

Final in RI, Augie 69-53 over Elmhurst in a game that wasn't as close as the final score. Augie leads by 20+ most of the 2nd half. Neither team shot it particularly well, with Augie at 37.3% and Elmhurst at 32.6%. Elmhurst couldn't hit anything beyond the arc, shooting 6.7% from 3. Turnovers killed Elmhurst with 23 for the game (17 in the decisive first half). Congrats to the Vikes on the CCIW regular season and tournament championships. Good luck in the NCAA tournament.

Gregory Sager · February 27, 2016, 09:53:59 PM

Quote from: iwu70 on February 27, 2016, 09:19:18 PM
IWU surely gave Augie a better game.

... which doesn't mean a thing. What does matter is that Elmhurst was able to do something that neither IWU nor anybody else was able to do from opening night until now, and that's beat Augustana at least once. And that's a big part of the Elmhurst resume that's going to get the 'jays a Pool C berth on Monday morning.

bbfan44 · February 27, 2016, 10:02:11 PM

Were the three ref's in the Championship game the season's highest rated, or were they just next up for a game selection? Wondering how it works...anyone know?

The game was a dud. I turned it off.

Gregory Sager · February 27, 2016, 10:10:16 PM

Good question. I don't know the answer.

The refs were very inconsistent tonight, but they had zero effect upon the outcome.

iwu70 · February 27, 2016, 10:26:59 PM

The game was a real dud, agreed. I turned it off too. Augie D is superb, no doubt.

EC has looked very poorly in the final few weeks of the season. I'm hope they get in, have a chance like NCC and AC to make some noise in the tourney, but wouldn't be at all surprised if they lose pretty early in the bracket.

IWU clearly has some rebuilding to do -- six seniors departing, some good pieces still there, but a long long way from challenging for the CCIW crown now. I guess NCC and NPU best positioned for top spots next year.

Thanks again to all the IWU seniors -- a great group who played hard and represented the IWU program with a lot of class.

IWU'70

Titan Q · February 28, 2016, 09:26:38 AM

My Pool C look as of Sunday morning.

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4232.msg1733790#msg1733790

Titan Q · February 28, 2016, 09:46:11 AM

Quote from: Titan Q on February 27, 2016, 07:27:24 PM
Quote from: Viking Mike on February 27, 2016, 04:42:46 PM
Titan Q - Just wondering how you figured Augustana as a #5 national seed. How does St Thomas, Benedictine, and the 2 others you mentioned, figure to look stronger to the NCAA? Augie has a better win % than all but Benedictine, and their SOS is not shabby.

Our conference is arguably one of the strongest, and despite some lesser teams as far as team records, last I looked, we had 6 teams in the top 10 of the most difficult schedules in the country. Some of that is due to playing the Jays, Cardinals, and Vikings twice, but I think IWU, Wheaton, and North Park played a challenging non conference schedule as well.

It is definitely a matter of subjectively evaluating objective data, but I am pretty confident Augie's numbers are the 5th best here...

(These numbers are a day old now, but I don't think anything has really changed.)

1. St. Thomas (West #1): .920/.556/10-0
2. Benedictine (Central #1): 1.000/.523/4-0
3. Marietta (GL #1): .926/.546/5-2
4. Christopher Newport (MA #1): .960/.530/4-1
5. Augustana (Central #2): .960/.528/3-1

Where Augie has a winning % advantage above, their SOS is lower and RRO (3-1) not as strong.

Augustana's strength of schedule (as determined for NCAA selection) is actually not a competitive advantage -- it's basically the same as St. Norbert's. Scroll through the SOS column on Matthew Snyder's list...

http://detroitjockcity.com/division-iii-mens-basketball-regional-rankings-data/

Augie's SOS should go up a bit tonight by playing Elmhurst.

I believe this picture changed last night, with Marietta's loss. I now see Augustana as a top four seed on paper...

1. St. Thomas .923/.562/11-0
2. Benedictine 1.000/.525/4-0
3. Christopher Newport .963/.540/5-1
4. Augustana .963/.537/4-1
-----
5. Marietta .893/.555/5-3
6. Amherst .846/.561/5-1
7. St. Norbert .920/.539/3-1
8. John Carroll .893/.541/4-2

It will be very interesting to see how they build the bracket -- there are some big-time geography challenges here. I have 3 of the top 8 resumes coming from the Central region (Benedictine, Augustana, St. Norbert). And in my top four, St. Thomas, Benedictine, and Augustana are all from the same general part of the country. Two of those three are going to have to end up in the same quadrant I believe.

Let's hope the men's national committee is ready to get creative with the bracket - that hasn't always been the case. They really have their work cut out for them. Is there a way to build quadrants around St. Thomas, Benedictine, Christopher Newport, and Augustana?

Viking Mike · February 28, 2016, 10:39:16 AM

It sounds like it may be difficult to accomplish such a feat and keep costs down.

My fear is that a 26-1 Augustana team who won their regular season and conf tourney will NOT get one of the top 4 seeds, and will be forced to travel if they advance to the sectional round. Do you still reward Marietta with a top seed after a loss in their conf championship?

If that is the case, I hope we stay in the Benedictine bracket. Sending the Vikings to St Thomas or Marrietta would not be right. Again, you would have a final four matchup early in the tourney and not get the best teams to the championship. The NCAA did a excellent job last year splitting up the top teams.

Is there anyway that Augie jumps ahead of an undefeated Benedictine in the final regional rankings?
Not likely I'm sure but.......
IF Oshkosh wins the WIAC today and moves up to #8 in reg rankings
(as Tom Snyder has them), Augie's regional record goes to 5-1
Aurora will drop out of the top 8 reg rankings in the final poll, so Benedictine
loses 2 wins and falls to 2-0 against regional foes (NC / Elm)

Also, using other NCAA criteria.......

Augie is 11-1 against common opponents with Benedictine
Benedictine is 5-0 (Augie beat Elm 2/3!)
Augie SOS is 0.537 currently , Benedictine's is 0.525 with one to go against
an unranked MSOE team.

Most would look at the criteria and say Augie has more regional wins agains reg ranked teams (4-1 or 5-1 vs 2-0) AND more wins against common opponents (11-1 vs 5-0) Also better SOS as above.

The darn thing against this is Benedictine's 26-0 record. I doubt the NCAA will ignore the Eagles sparkling record. (Kind of like Lawrence years ago) Nonetheless, it doesn't seem as black and white to me.

A trip to Lisle would not be so bad. The Augie alumni would have that gym packed in no time. May not be a road game anyway!!!

Titan Q · February 28, 2016, 12:01:19 PM

Quote from: Viking Mike on February 28, 2016, 10:39:16 AM
Is there anyway that Augie jumps ahead of an undefeated Benedictine in the final regional rankings?
Not likely I'm sure but.......
IF Oshkosh wins the WIAC today and moves up to #8 in reg rankings
(as Tom Snyder has them), Augie's regional record goes to 5-1
Aurora will drop out of the top 8 reg rankings in the final poll, so Benedictine
loses 2 wins and falls to 2-0 against regional foes (NC / Elm)

This is a great point. The final Central region ranking between UW-Oshkosh and Aurora is very significant. Oshkosh replacing Aurora in the rankings would seem to be enough to flip things in Augie's favor.