MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Viking Mike]

Titan Q,

     What is the other signature win that you speak of this year on behalf of the CCIW?

Great win for Elmhurst today!  Wash U. looked like they were going to win every game by 2 points or less this year.  I agree with Titan Q regarding the Bears.  They are a great team, but not as solid in the paint as last year.  That being
said, however, their center lit Augie up for 18 points or so.  Thompson is the money man.  He can really shoot the rock.  They seem to always hit for a high shooting percentage.  And they are a tough, well disciplined team that doesn't get rattled on the road.  Augie had them down by 8 in a crazed Carver Center and they responded very well.  If Augie gets a rematch with the Bears later down the road, it should be another great game....................... hopefully with the Vikings advancing this time!!!!

     GO AUGIE!!!!!

     

[Gregory Sager]

Titan Q,

     What is the other signature win that you speak of this year on behalf of the CCIW?

He's probably talking about Millikin beating D1 SIUE.

[thundermike11]

Elmhurst played a great game tonight and got contributions from a lot of different people. Burks was solid all game, he hit a big three with about 4 minutes left that took the lead back up to seven after Wash U had cut it to four. Childs hit some big shots for the Jays on consecutive possessions to help Elmhurst go up double digits in the second half.

Towards the end of the game, the Jays really started pounding the ball into Ruch, about half of his points came in the last 5 or 6 minutes. The Bears double or triple teamed him every time he touched the ball inside the three-point line for most of the night.

Mike McCurdy was hot early and helped Elmhurst gain confidence. He also had a big steal late in the second half, in which he stripped Sean Wallis and ran for the layup. A big momentum play for the Jays. Just a really balanced effort from Elmhurst.

Wash U looked good but not amazing. Elmhurst was able to snuff out any potential runs with big baskets. The Bears "big 3" of Wallis, Thompson, and Nading all had solid games, but Elmhurst was definitely the better team tonight. A great game to watch.

Congrats to the Jays.

[Gregory Sager]

This just in from the Mary Washington sports website:

North Central 70
Mary Washington 61

[Gregory Sager]

CCIW OVERALL:    60-11 (.845)

CCIW vs. D1	1-0
CCIW vs. NAIA-1	0-2
CCIW vs. NAIA-2:	2-1
CCIW vs. USCAA:	2-0
CCIW vs. D3:	55-8 (.873)
...	vs. D3 non-region:	9-0
...	vs. D3 region:	46-8 (.852)
...	...	vs. ASC:	1-0
...	...	vs. HCAC:	6-0
...	...	vs. IIAC:	7-0
...	...	vs. MIAA:	1-0	(4-0 overall)
...	...	vs. MIAC:	1-0
...	...	vs. MWC:	5-1
...	...	vs. NAthCon:	9-0
...	...	vs. SCIAC:	2-1
...	...	vs. SLIAC:	8-0
...	...	vs. UAA:	4-3	(5-3 overall)
...	...	vs. WIAC:	2-3

The CCIW had a perfect 14-0 week.

[thunderstruck88]

Major props to Elmhurst on a big win tonight, for the Blue Jays and for the CCIW!

It's going to be a wild ride through conference play this season. I get the feeling that no team is going to emerge into March without at least one mark on the losing side of the conference record. But it could be done, and that will be the exciting part to watch!

[robberki]

Major props to Elmhurst on a big win tonight, for the Blue Jays and for the CCIW!

It's going to be a wild ride through conference play this season. I get the feeling that no team is going to emerge into March without at least one mark on the losing side of the conference record. But it could be done, and that will be the exciting part to watch!

I think pretty much every year a CCIW team has a mark on the losing side of the conference record...when was the last time a team went undefeated in conference play? Early 70's? I assume this year will be no exception. The CCIW conference winner could easily have 4 losses.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Augie in 1973 and IWU in 1970 were the last to go without a loss - good memory!

But 4 loss champs have been as rare as undefeated ones - 12-2 or 11-3 seems much more probable.

[iwu70]

Ahh, IWU in '70, undefeated in CCIW, a vintage year.  Thanks for the memories, Ypsi. 

Again kudos to Elmhurst on a big win.  A good way to go into the Christmas break for any team . . . to knock off #1 in the country. 

Happy and safe holidays to all.  The Year of the Ox and Obamaland are coming. 

[John Gleich]

Nice win for Elmhurst.  It looks like Ryan Burks really came alive tonight, something that he wasn't able to do in the game that I saw last Saturday night against UWSP.

I wonder how this will shake up the top 25.  There have been quite a few games between common opponents in the top 10.  #5 UWSP has beaten #6 UW Whitewater ans #10 Elmhurst.  #10 Elmhurst lost to Point and beat #1 Wash U.  #1 Wash U lost to #10 Elmhurst and beat #8 Augustana.  Augie lost to UW La Crosse, whom both Elmhurst and St. Thomas have beaten. 

I wonder what will happen to Wash U's 23 1st place votes.  They likely will retain some... but probably not all.  Wheaton will likely be a beneficiary, as will Platteville.  Will St. Thomas or Amherst get any, as they're both still undefeated?  And what about top 10 teams that have a loss (Point, WW, Elmhurst, Buena Vista)?

I think this game kind of brings Wash U back down to earth... they're still the defending champs, but they have a little less of that aura...

[Titan Q]

Here is a list of all 0, 1 and 2-loss teams in the Midwest region..."in-region" games only (please let me know if you find errors).  This is sorted by in-region winning %, since that is the #1 NCAA criteria for ranking purposes.  Also noted is remaining non-conference, in-region games...

1. Millikin, 7-0 (1.000) – vs Knox
2. Wheaton, 5-0 (1.000) – vs Mount St. Joseph, @ Grinnell
3. Westminster-Mo., 3-0 (1.000)
4. Elmhurst, 9-1 (.900) - @ Anderson
5. Washington U., 7-1 (.875) - @ Webster
6. North Central, 6-1 (.857)
7. St. Norbert, 5-1 (.833) – vs St. Scholastica
8. Illinois Wesleyan, 4-1 (.800) – vs Illinois College
9. Transylvania, 4-1 (.800) – vs Berea
10. Augustana, 7-2 (.778) – vs Coe
11. North Park, 6-2 (.750)
12. Grinnell, 3-1 (.750) – vs Wheaton, @ Fontbonne
13. Miwaukee Engineering, 5-2 (.714) - @ U. of Dallas, vs Chicago
14. Concordia-WI, 4-2 (.667)
15. Carthage*, 2-1 (.667) – vs UW-Platteville, vs St. Scholastica
16. Ripon, 3-2 (.600) - @ Rockford, @ UW-Stout

* Someone help me out here – is Carthage/Hope in-region?  I factored it as not being in-region.

Thoughts...

- When I commented earlier in the year about the significance of Augie's losses to Wash U and UW-La Crosse, and then yesterday about how huge that Elmhurst/Wash U game was (and any in-region loss basically), I think you can see above why.  Those may be early season games, but they're huge when you are dealing with a percentage as a criteria.  And the NCAA does not factor in when games are played at all...just the result (ie games in December count as much as games in February)

- Some teams are going to be hurt by not playing enough in-region games.  Illinois Wesleyan, for example, will only end of playing 6 of its 11 non-conference games "in-region."  Carthage, just 5 of 11.  On the flip side, Elmhurst is going to play all 11 of its non-conference games in-region. 

- I don't think there will be an NCAA tournament at-large team from the Midwest region that is not on this list.

- I think it makes a lot of sense that the NCAA now waits until February to do its first ranking...I believe they used to start in early January.  Waiting allows things to sort out much better.

- All 8 CCIW teams are still in position to be competitive for an at-large bid with a good conference record (10-4, 9-5...maybe even 8-6)...by this time, usually that list is down to about 4 CCIW teams.  Very, very impressive non-conference season so far.

[Titan Q]

To go along with the above, here is an important publication for anyone who wants to understand how the Division III selection process works...

2009 Division III Men's Basketball Championship Handbook

It's all in there.

A few very important notes:

1) Only games considered "in-region" count (page 12 - "Division III Philosophy")

2) "In-region" games are any one of 3 (page 15):
- vs a team in your designated region (Midwest for us)
- vs a team out of your region but within 200 miles, campus to campus
- vs a team in your same Membership Region (for CCIW teams, this basically means any game vs the entire West region or Texas schools count...yes, Wheaton vs Calvin is out-of-region, but Carthage vs California Lutheran is in-region!

3) "Primary" selection criteria is some combination of (page 16):
- in-region win/loss %
- in-region strength of schedule (Opponents Winning %, Opponents' Opponents Winning %)
- in-region head-to-head play
- in-region results vs common regional opponents
- in-region results vs regionally ranked teams (NCAA rankings)

4) This year there are 18 at-large ("Pool C") bids available for teams that don't win their league.  This # was as low as 7 within the last 7-8 years, so the D3 bracket has come a long way.

[voxelmhurst]

Towards the end of the game, the Jays really started pounding the ball into Ruch, about half of his points came in the last 5 or 6 minutes. The Bears double or triple teamed him every time he touched the ball inside the three-point line for most of the night.

Yes, this was HUGE for Elmhurst down the stretch, and especially so because they struggled getting the ball into Ruch for almost the first 30 minutes of the game.

Bainter, McCurdy, and Childs combined for 28 points (33 if you count Zach Boyd), and most importantly they all played fearless and tenacious.  McCurdy had a huge steal in midcourt for a layup to halt a Washington run late in the game.

Elmhurst also had 7 blocks in the game, 3 from Aaron Hintzsche to go along with his 4 boards in just 10 minutes of play.

Elmhurst shot 50 percent from three point land, compared to Washington's 21.

The only critique I would give Elmhurst in this one was their susceptibility to the back door screen.  I only bring this up because aside from that, I can't name one thing they did not do almost perfectly.

[aceon2]

* Someone help me out here – is Carthage/Hope in-region?  I factored it as not being in-region.

According to the NCAA website you are correct in calculating Carthage vs Hope as out of Region being that they list them as 214 miles apart.  I guess the NCAA doesnt think boating across Lake Michigan would be the shortest distance possible!

Congrats to Elmhurst on their victory over Wash U!

[wizbegs1304]

DECEMBER 12, 2008  
Carroll awaits response to joining CCIW
WAUKESHA - Carroll University is awaiting word from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin on whether it is interested in the school rejoining its former conference.

Source: http://www.freemanol.com/

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