MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

I don't ever remember seeing two games on the same floor in the opening weekend of the tourney as exciting as the Augie vs. St. Thomas game and the Northwestern vs. UW-Whitewater game up at Kachel Gym tonight.

[GoPerry]

Great game going to D OT, River Falls vs Bethel

. . . . and you gotta love that packed gym!

[Gregory Sager]

Great game going to OT, River Falls vs Bethel

Double OT!

[augie77]

Not that the Cardinals and Vikings need additional incentive to win tomorrow, but my review shows that those two and UW-Whitewater are the only potential host sites for the next round that would not entail air travel for one of the four teams.  My suggestion would be for the Vikings to knock off the Warhawks and let the committee agonize over Naperville and Rock Island as host sites for the Round of 16.  That means the Cardinals also need to win   

Edit--I suppose if Wartburg were to upset UWRF, then either Hope or Washington U could provide a flightless host site.  It's hard for me to envision that scenario, but I wasn't envisioning their upset of Benedictine either.

[AndOne]

Not that the Cardinals and Vikings need additional incentive to win tomorrow, but my review shows that those two and UW-Whitewater are the only potential host sites for the next round that would not entail air travel for one of the four teams.  My suggestion would be for the Vikings to knock off the Warhawks and let the committee agonize over Naperville and Rock Island as host sites for the Round of 16.  That means the Cardinals also need to win   

Edit--I suppose if Wartburg were to upset UWRF, then Washington U could provide a flightless host site.  It's hard for me to envision that scenario, but I wasn't envisioning their upset of Benedictine either.

With no disrespect to the wonderful community of Rock Island or the metropolis of Whitewater, I sense that in their infinite wisdom, the Committee may envision that it's a tad easier to fly into O'Hare or Midway than either the Quad City airport or Whitewater International. 🛬  ;
Of course, a loss by their representative team would remove the corresponding airport from consideration. 

Concerning the possibility Wash U being a potential site, I believe there is far less probability of Wartburg beating UWRF than there was of them beating a team that chalked up a sizable portion of their victory total against the very weak Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

[augie77]

Not that the Cardinals and Vikings need additional incentive to win tomorrow, but my review shows that those two and UW-Whitewater are the only potential host sites for the next round that would not entail air travel for one of the four teams.  My suggestion would be for the Vikings to knock off the Warhawks and let the committee agonize over Naperville and Rock Island as host sites for the Round of 16.  That means the Cardinals also need to win   

Edit--I suppose if Wartburg were to upset UWRF, then Washington U could provide a flightless host site.  It's hard for me to envision that scenario, but I wasn't envisioning their upset of Benedictine either.

With no disrespect to the wonderful community of Rock Island or the metropolis of Whitewater, I sense that in their infinite wisdom, the Committee may envision that it's a tad easier to fly into O'Hare or Midway than either the Quad City airport or Whitewater International. 🛬  ;
Of course, a loss by their representative team would remove the corresponding airport from consideration. 

Concerning the possibility Wash U being a potential site, I believe there is far less probability of Wartburg beating UWRF than there was of them beating a team that chalked up a sizable portion of their victory total against the very weak Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

The issue isn't ease of flying access.  Rather, it's about not flying, as the NCAA has tight pockets when it comes to D-3.

[AndOne]

Very tight for sure 77. That's why, if any flying has to be done, Chicago is both more convenient and, especially, economical.

[augie77]

Most scenarios involving Naperville and Rock Island as hosts would involve exclusively ground travel--no flights.  Otherwise, I'd accept your point.

[augie77]

I'd love to continue this discussion on Sunday.  First, there's work to be done!

[iwu70]

Wow, what happened to Benedictine.  They got creamed.

IWU70

[AndOne]

Very surprised they got creamed, but not at all surprised they lost, 70.
Their center and PG from last year's excellent team graduated. While they still had 3 super good seniors, the vast majority of their wins were achieved against an exceedingly weak conference that, counting the conference tournament, they got to play 22 games against. 3 of their 4 losses prior to last night, came against non-conference opponents. Their #10 ranking is very misleading because of all the easy conference wins. Accordingly, their schedule didn't do much to prepare them for the rigors of national tournament play.

[badgerwarhawk]

I don't ever remember seeing two games on the same floor in the opening weekend of the tourney as exciting as the Augie vs. St. Thomas game and the Northwestern vs. UW-Whitewater game up at Kachel Gym tonight.

This is exactly what I said to several people last night.  The atmosphere almost equaled the action.  Augustana had a large following and I'm expecting even more tonight.

[USee]

Matchups for round 2:

First up is Augie @UWW:

UWW

Chris "Paul" Jones G, 6-0, Jr

Scotty "Pippen" Tyler "Hansbrough" F, 6-8, Jr

Derek "Linda" Rongstad F. 6-5, So

Andre "Iguodala" Brown G, 6-1, So

Demetrius "Lamarr"  Woodley G, 6-4, Jr

Zach "Levine" "Chip off the Ole" Knoblach G, 6-0, Fr

Augustana

Chrishawn "Agent" Orange  G, 6-2 So

Jacob "Moose" Johnston G, 6-5, Sr

"Matt" Dylan Sortillo G, 6-3, Jr

Nolan "Richardson" Ebel G, 6-1, So

"George" Brett Benning "and the jets" G, 6-6, So

AJ "McCarron" Dollmeyer C, 6-8, Jr

Micah "Kenyon"  Martin C, 6-10, Fr

Lucas "Oil Stadium" Simon  G, 6-5, Fr

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Very tight for sure 77. That's why, if any flying has to be done, Chicago is both more convenient and, especially, economical.

Yeah... so these ideas for flights and planning only applied to the bye-games on Thursdays and who they would play on Saturdays. NCAA wanted big-hub metros because it would be easier to get teams in there on very short notice.

Otherwise... a LOT of teams would be eliminated because of location. Whitman would never host, for example. Convenience and costs are not a factor in determining who is hosting the following weekend. Mileage and ranking criteria (along with hosting requirements if there are issues) are the only guidelines. They aren't going to take it from someone who is deserving because their airport doesn't compare to O'Hare's, for example.

[USee]

And for the NCC v Hanover game:

Hanover

"Kiss" Cam "Tries, but" Fails G, 5-11, So

Logan "Alley" Ratts G, 6-0, Fr

Colin "J.R." Smith G, 6-2, Jr

Levi "Joe" Buck G. 6-2, Jr

Nick "Young" White F, 6-5, So

Wes "Welker" McKinney F, 6-4, Jr

Corey "I Expected" Muchmore F, 6-5, Sr


NCC

Alex "Ovechkin" Sorenson F, 6-8, JR

Erwin "Oh" Henry G, 6-2, Jr

"Mick" Jagger "Pamela" Anderson G , 6-0, Sr.

Aiden "PF" Chang G, 6-3, So

Matt  "Barnes" Cappelletti F, 6-5, Fr

Nick "Van Exel" Chambers G, 6-1, Fr

Tommy "Cut from the Same" Koth G, 6-2, So

Jaquan "Lyle" Phipps G, 6-3, So

Jack "Reacher" Bronec F, 6-7, So

Injured Reserve: "Sarah" Connor Raridon F, 6-6, So.