MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwumichigander]

Is Larry's gym worse then NPU box in Chicago?  Only being able to fit 1000 fans in a gym and also not being able to watch both games this Friday would be a huge disservice to the fans and schools.

The listed capacity for the Crackerbox is 1000 per D3Hoops.com. 

Perhaps Greg Sager, King Dennis or other CCIW posters have been to Lawrence and could provide some insight to contrast the two venues?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Lawrence, I think, was rated 1100 by the Fire Marshall.  I haven't been there myself, but the MWC fans generally give Lawrence credit as the best home court advantage in the league.

[Brick]

I would hope so, hell if you only seat 1100 then most of that space should be taken up by your home fans....What a shame to put the sectional up there when there are two good facilities in the Shirk and Carver, and one great one in the Shirk that could have held this sectional.

[IWU53]

Been a "Lurker" for several years. Feel it's time for me to express my appreciation for the high quality of information/observations made by those who have such obvious expertise. It's rare that  an ego gets pumped out of proportion.

Went to IWU during the days when the Anderson brothers  - read identical twins -  were on the floor at the guard positions -- would have driven Art nuts!

Will admit without shame that I "wear green tinted glasses" -- There's a lot of CLASS in the CCIW and , in my opinion, IWU owns
it's rightful share of same! GO CCIW!!!!

[petemcb]

With all this talk about the limited capacity of LU's venue, but not wanting to give Augie or IWU a home court advantage (Carver/Shirk) that they didn't earn, how about the possibility of a neutral sight hosting, ie: Carthage?  Maybe this has been discussed other years, but I don't recall so.  Carthage is in between Lawrence and Augie/IWU, still closer to Appleton, seats more than twice as many fans, is a desirable facility with parking, and Kenosha has hotels and restaurants more than adequate for fans.  Obviously, it won't happen this year, so we're speaking hypothetically.   Talk amongst yourselves.

[Brick]

thats not a bad Idea, however I THINK it was discussed a couple of pages ago that the host site would have to agree to this, and I doubt that Larry U is going to do that...plus it's already set.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Isn't a small gym part of the home court advantage?  You know, to a lot of teams in d3, 1000 seats is pretty big.  Just because you guys are all used to large capacity, doesn't mean it has to be that way.

The NCAA set the lower limit at 1000 and has screwed Larwence out of hosting before.  They earned it this year; let them enjoy it.  IWU will get to pack some 400 odd fans into the gym to root for the Titans and they probably will not be outnumbered by too much.

It is a shame that they are going to do the games with two different crowds, but then again it just means more tickets for everyone.

[Late nite]

Good thing is, the other six regions are not going to just forfeit in the face of the mighty IWU/Lawrence winner, so we'll have an opportunity to see the rest of the season play out.

Couldn't agree with you more.  Everyone is capable at this point in the season.  I'm sure that Puget Sound isn't traveling 2000 miles just to watch 3 teams from the Midwest play.  Just like 15 other teams, they're planning to be in Salem.

[martin]

These complaints remind me of 2001 when Chicago hosted the sectional at the old Crown Fieldhouse which held about 1,700.  IWU, Elmhurst and Lewis & Clark were the other three teams.  Some (green) posters suggested that the sectional be held at the Shirk Center with its greater capacity to accomodate all the interest - 3 schools within 2 hours of each other.

Except Chicago was 22-3 and ranked number 1.  Elmhurst was 21-4 and ranked 9.  IWU was 19-6  and ranked 17.  Lewis & Clark was 20-6 and ranked 20.  Chicago was on a 14 game winning streak.  Chicago had never hosted a regional before.  You could even say they earned the right to host. You can say the same for Lawrence this year.

[JUSTINTYEM]

I would hope so, hell if you only seat 1100 then most of that space should be taken up by your home fans....What a shame to put the sectional up there when there are two good facilities in the Shirk and Carver, and one great one in the Shirk that could have held this sectional.

Would you stop your crying already.Just shut up and show up to the game.Oh but im sure if LU pulls off the Upset you'll be asking again for a change of venue the next night if your team also wins.Its college basketball at its finest,QUIT CRYING about seating.LARRY U HAS EARNED THE RIGHT TO HOST,AND IF THE NCAA DIDNT THINK SO IT WOULDNT BE AT THE ALEX!!!!! SHUT UP ABOUT THE HOST SITE ALREADY IT GETS OLD AFTER HEARING IT 1,000 TIMES!!!! GOOD THING THE IWU AND THE REST OF TE AUGIE FANS ARENT LIKE YOU!!!!!

[Hoosier Titan]

I haven't seen any IWU posters here suggesting that this round should be played at Shirk.  Augustana would have a much better claim.  Nor have most IWU posters even suggested that the IWU/Lawrence game would be the only one worth watching.  In fact, the reason I'm upset is that there's a good chance that I won't get to see Puget Sound vs. Augustana.

Sam Johnson, you present a very good case for why Lawrence should host based upon their unbeated status and inferred top seeding.  By those criteria, you're absolutely right.  It's the fans who may well only get to see one game (while presumably paying the same as fans at other sites who will see two) that I'm thinking of--and, yes, I'm one of those fans.

It's interesting that, in the CCIW this year, home court advantage wasn't always such a big advantage.  IWU and Augie beat each other on the other's home court; same with NCC and IWU. 

Obviously, my beef is with the NCAA, not with anybody here.  So I'm done venting on this topic.  Looking forward to seeing Alexander Gym!

[JUSTINTYEM]

If some of you really want to watch the game,watch it from the green room on closed circuit TV.

[devildog29]

Cabonney, I'll stick up for you, not that my two cents is worth even half a cent.  I think you can make a legitimate argument that the winner of the Lawrence/IWU game would be favored to win any remaining games which either of those two are in after that game.  Nowhere in that hypothetical however, did I read a famous Ypsilanti prediction that either of those two WILL win any remaining games, only that they would more than likely be favored.  Someone could probably disagree as to whether IWU would be favored should they win against LU, but that's different than you saying it's all over for anyone else after that game.  Every sporting contest in this country has some oddsmaker coming up with a "favorite" to win that contest, which is why Vegas rakes in so much money.  I think we all know that the "favorites" do not always win every game however.  At this point in the tournament, a "favorite" is determined by an ever so slight difference in the two teams, a difference which is almost too close to call one way or the other.  However, even if a "favorite" is picked there's no gaurantees that team will actually win the game, otherwise we'd never even play the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA championship, etc.  

So if folks are going to disagree w/ Ypsi, I think the disagreement should be whether IWU would be the favorite in any following games if they should happen to be the winner against LU.  The disagreement shouldn't be whether he's calling the winner of that game as the gauranteed National Champion.

[79jaybird]

I was still in my bball mascot suit at Elmhurst in 2001 at the Crown Center in Chicago.  Yes it was cramped and not "ideal", but we had a great time and made do with what was available.
Appleton is a beautiful place.  I used to go up there almost once a month when my corp. film printer ( Duralam) was up there. Lawrence is a beautiful school and I have all the confidence that their accomodations will be fine.
Congrats to Augie and IWU making the CCIW proud.  To me, the CCIW is the D-3 world, as the MVC is to major NCAA.  You have 5-6 teams that are strong, and would succeed in the tourney, you just can't pick them all.  I.E. SIU, Bradley, Wich St., Creighton, Missou St. etc.  and the MVC is well regarded.
Hopefully we see both in the Elite 8.

[Titan32]

According to Titan Q's statistical preview of this weekend's sectional, posted at iwuhoops.com, IWU and LU are nearly identical in all statistical categories.  They also don't look too much apart w/ regards to size.  This is going to be one heck of a game.