MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Pat Coleman]

I think that's called "aspirational scheduling."   You may notice that it is not all that uncommon in schedules in many sports on many websites around the league . . . though this one is an error of the CCIW website, not IWU, right? 

There's an easy way to avoid looking silly, and that would be to check first.

[iwu70]

Pat, he was talking about the CCIW composite schedule, right?   I think all the IWU schedules for all sports team have the schedules all the way out to the national championship games in D3 tournaments.  That's what I called "aspirational scheduling."   IWU is not alone in doing this . . .  one can always hope a team gets that far, right?   Surely, it's clear that IWU men's basketball this year isn't getting a single game in March.

'70

[WUPHF]

I think the extended scheduling is helpful for not very online people who just want to plan out their February and March, but are not following along closely. Illinois Western is only a season removed from the possibility of a Final Four run.

[lmitzel]

I wanted to get a look at the remaining CCIW schedule and noticed that a certain school has evidently made it through all the way to the national championship game. 

Who wants to say it? 


https://cciw.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball


Friday, March 17, 2023 Men's Basketball
Away                                     Home                                        Time   Location   
Illinois Wesleyan University          NCAA Tournament Final Four            TBA.     Fort Wayne, Ind.



Saturday, March 18, 2023 Men's Basketball
Away                                     Home                                        Time   Location   
Illinois Wesleyan University         NCAA Tournament Championship       TBA.     Fort Wayne, Ind.

Congratulations to Illinois Western 

This deserves the full treatment:

Or is it this one?

Por que no los dos?

[Gregory Sager]

I think the extended scheduling is helpful for not very online people

... i.e., IWU's rather long-in-the-tooth fanbase.

who just want to plan out their February and March, but are not following along closely. Illinois Western is only a season removed from the possibility of a Final Four run.

... and when you've been a follower of the team since long before Dennie Bridges was a young pup in a green silk uniform and leather kneepads, and you've never seen the team commit a foul in all that time, every season contains the possibility of a Final Four run.

All ragging on Illinois Wesleyan aside, it does make sense for the school to lay out its schedule that way. It's what the fanbase wants. Unlike most D3 programs, IWU has a large townie following (although it's been shrinking in recent years, whether due to the attrition evident elsewhere in live college sports attendance or, in IWU's specific case, the natural pruning process of the Grim Reaper). And it seems to me that the school is quite conscious of the townies, and caters to them a bit. This was laid bare in Ron Rose's postgame interview after the loss to Elmhurst last Wednesday, at the time the fourth straight loss in CCIW play for the Titans, when he dourly mentioned that he was frustrated on behalf of IWU's fans and reiterated that Dennie Bridges has repeatedly told him through the years, "Always send the fans home happy" -- a tale I've heard Rose tell before. That's a very un-D3 sentiment, not just because D3 is a level of college athletics that is designed first and foremost with the student-athlete in mind rather than the paying fans, but also because most D3 athletics programs don't have a lot of paying fans to begin with who aren't alumni of the school or relatives of the student-athletes. IWU is different in that regard, so I can understand the little things it does like that that're really designed more with the paying customers in mind than as an expression of arrogance (which is a quality that is in no short supply on that campus but which may not really be the driving force in this specific instance).

[WUPHF]

Exactly!  For the fan who still gets the Pantagraph delivered and wakes up every morning after the game to read the sport section.

... and when you've been a follower of the team since long before Dennie Bridges was a young pup in a green silk uniform and leather kneepads, and you've never seen the team commit a foul in all that time, every season contains the possibility of a Final Four run.

.

Not sure if this should be read with the voice of Greg Sager or Garrison Keillor in mind, but both seem to work.

[Gregory Sager]

Exactly!  For the fan who still gets the Pantagraph delivered and wakes up every morning after the game to read the sport section.

And the Pantagraph does the same thing in terms of catering to those fans, since half the time that newspaper doesn't bother publishing a game story at all if the Titans get whipped -- but they always publish one when they win.

... and when you've been a follower of the team since long before Dennie Bridges was a young pup in a green silk uniform and leather kneepads, and you've never seen the team commit a foul in all that time, every season contains the possibility of a Final Four run.

.

Not sure if this should be read with the voice of Greg Sager or Garrison Keillor in mind, but both seem to work.

I'm probably a bit more caustic towards midwestern dufferdom than Keillor was, although not too much. Jim Gaffigan, perhaps?

[Next Man Up]

who just want to plan out their February and March, but are not following along closely. Illinois Western is only a season removed from the possibility of a Final Four run.

... and when you've been a follower of the team since long before Dennie Bridges was a young pup in a green silk uniform and leather kneepads, and you've never seen the team commit a foul in all that time, every season contains the possibility of a Final Four run.

But ref, that can't be a foul. My team doesn't know HOW to foul. I've never taught fouling in practice.

[Gregory Sager]

who just want to plan out their February and March, but are not following along closely. Illinois Western is only a season removed from the possibility of a Final Four run.

... and when you've been a follower of the team since long before Dennie Bridges was a young pup in a green silk uniform and leather kneepads, and you've never seen the team commit a foul in all that time, every season contains the possibility of a Final Four run.

But ref, that can't be a foul. My team doesn't know HOW to foul. I've never taught fouling in practice.

That's unfair to Ron Rose, Mark. It would not be unfair if it was attributed to a couple dozen or so of the elderly green-clad guests who will be sitting to my immediate right in the crackerbox a week from tomorrow rather than to the head coach of the Titans.

[kiko]

IWU has a large townie following (although it's been shrinking in recent years, whether due to the attrition evident elsewhere in live college sports attendance or, in IWU's specific case, the natural pruning process of the Grim Reaper).

I'm trying to decide if this means they've graduated, or if they've exhausted their eligibility.

Either way, Imma probably not going to be receiving the key to the city from Bloomington's civic leaders anytime soon...

[WUPHF]

In all seriousness though, I think listing the entire schedule should be a standard practice for SIDs.  The vast majority of fans do not think about basketball between games.  And that makes planning ahead much easier.

[iwu70]

Kiko, you are always welcome (especially if you spend money!) . . . 

As to the IWU fan base, no doubt it is elderly and at times cantakerous, myself included.   We do like to rag on the refs and defend our guys, but this year there have been plenty of fouls by the Titans, including Ts too often by Mitchell, a few by others.  Little doubt about those.  Our guys have been edgy and, at times, out of control  I'm sure Ron Rose is not happy about that kind of stuff.

As to the schedule, I too feel all the websites in all the sports should have the post-season schedules as well.  It's not arrogance, it's just good to see where one might go and when, if your team makes the D3 tournament phase in that sport.  And, to be honest, IWU teams often do get there . . . basketball in many seasons, golf almost always, sometimes football, women's soccer often, women's softball often, sometimes in women's volleyball. . . less so in other areas.  So, we like to see those dates and make some D3 tournament events if possible, esp. if they are hosted here in beautiful BloNo.  I think Mia Smith has made the D3 tournament 10 years out of her 25 or so coaching at IWU.  Ron Rose's record on that score is pretty good too.  So, pardon the Titan pride . . .  IWU is down now in track and field, surely in tennis and cross-country . . . and only starting out in lacrosse and men's volleyball.  Starting wrestling again next year. 

The Pantagraph's coverage of IWU sports is at a low point now too . . . just not as good or thorough as in the past.   The maladies and significant cut-backs of local journalism, likely just not the folks there now to cover it extensively.   Most everyone goes to the IWU website and information . . . and they do a great job with the IWU sports site.  Yes, we miss Ed Alsene and Stu  . . .  but the new folks there are just as good, with the help of a number of aspiring student journalist, videographers, camera folks, and stats staff.   Stu is often in the house, still there watching games. 

As far as I can see, none of us are getting any younger and I think the "grim reaper" has no favorites when it comes to CCIW programs and fan bases.   Demographics are demographics . . .  believe it.

IWU men to The Griz tomorrow.  The Titans need this one to keep things moving toward a good seed in the CCIW tournament.  I think Millikin at home a far greater challenge that Carroll at The Shirk.   

The big one is the IWU women hosting #1 Millikin at home.   I'll be there . . . and leave The Griz to others . . .

'70

[Pat Coleman]

Alphabetical regional rankings are out:
https://d3hoops.com/playoffs/men/2023/men-regional-rankings-alpha

[Gregory Sager]

As to the schedule, I too feel all the websites in all the sports should have the post-season schedules as well.  It's not arrogance, it's just good to see where one might go and when, if your team makes the D3 tournament phase in that sport.

The issue isn't listing post-season schedules, per se. Listing them is simply being thorough and helpful. The issue is listing the school as taking part in those post-season games when the schedule is posted before the season even starts.

[Gregory Sager]

Alphabetical regional rankings are out:
https://d3hoops.com/playoffs/men/2023/men-regional-rankings-alpha

Bit of a surprise there, as Matt Snyder had the CCIW getting five teams into the alphabetical round of rankings in the latest episode of D3 Datacast. Turns out there was only four, as Marian got in and Illinois Wesleyan didn't. Matt has Marian #182 in his efficiency ratings and IWU as #95, so that's a pretty big disparity. Massey's disparity is pretty big as well (Marian #141, IWU #44).

IWU's got a hugely lopsided SOS advantage over Marian, while Marian has a slightly better winning % (.550 to .524) than do the Titans. The two teams haven't played head-to-head, but common opponents certainly works in Marian's favor; the Sabres are 1-3 (win over UW-Oshkosh, losses to Elmhurst, North Park, and Carthage) and IWU is 1-4 (win over Elmhurst, losses to UW-Oshkosh, Carthage, North Park, and Elmhurst). Thus, IWU has a big advantage in one criterion, Marion has narrow advantages in two criteria, and two criteria are not applicable. Is the Region 8 committee perhaps less sold on SOS as the dominant criterion than are other regional committees?

I have mixed feelings about this, from a North Park fan's perspective. I'm pleased to see Marian make the alphabetical ranking, and I hope that the Sabres will be spurred on to finish strong and stay in the ranking. But we don't know the outcome of NPU's head-to-head with IWU yet -- the Vikings could sweep, or they could split -- and North Central, which plays the CCIW's final non-con game on Friday the 17th against that selfsame Marian squad, could be an even better friend to NPU than Marian presently is if the Cardinals get into the regional ranking, since NPU has already swept NCC.