MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[OxyBob]

Here is what I do not understand, there are TWO pods of 4 teams in the Chicago area this weekend.............Aurora is playing in Minnesota.

Aurora is St. Thomas' bitch.   That is all they get for going undefeated, then they get flushed out like a used condom.

I thought Aurora's nickname was the Spartans, not the Trojans.

OxyBob

[Gregory Sager]

Here is what I do not understand, there are TWO pods of 4 teams in the Chicago area this weekend.............Aurora is playing in Minnesota.

Aurora is St. Thomas' bitch.   That is all they get for going undefeated, then they get flushed out like a used condom.

I thought Aurora's nickname was the Spartans, not the Trojans.

Good one, O-Bob!

[petemcb]

Can anyone explain how the bye games work?  Why would unranked Texas-Dallas get a bye and 12th-ranked Trinity (TX) have to play at their own place when a bye would be easy to have and seemingly earned?

[79jaybird]

Good joints for food/drink in the Elmhurst area
KOPPER KITCHEN- open 24-7 serves all varieties of food.  Very popular joint with the students.  Very reasonable prices
THE STANDARD- pricey, and more upper scale type restaurant.  Great food and has a bar inside

ARMAND'S PIZZA-  great joint for italian food, not just pizza.  along the RR tracks close to EC

FONTANO'S SUBS- just a few doors down from Armand's fast food sub style.  

bars-  FITZ'S PUB-  This is the main college bar and where we go for the 5th quarter after EC football games.  Good food, good times, very close to the campus

DOC RYAN'S - south of the campus very popular place (haven't been there personally in a long time)

Elmhurst is similar to Naperville or "The District" in Rock Island, where there is something for every taste bud close to campus.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Can anyone explain how the bye games work?  Why would unranked Texas-Dallas get a bye and 12th-ranked Trinity (TX) have to play at their own place when a bye would be easy to have and seemingly earned?

That either got a bye was obviously geography at work.  But why the bye went to TX-Dallas, who then goes TO Trinity, I have no idea - perhaps Ralph could explain.

[larry_u]

Could someone add Wheaton and Elmhurst's profiles to this:

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=6299.0

[usee]

When I first saw the pairings I could have sworn Oxybob was on the committee. Then I realized the almighty dollar is at work again. Seriously, anyone who complains about the relative strength of the midwest bball teams need only take solace that the 1st week of March is the great equalizer as they all get to cannibalize each other. Nest time I see some west coast poster get all tighgtened up over the top 25 rankings I am going to post a link to the tournament brackets.
I didn't know the NCAA wanted Salem to be in the west suburbs??!!

Good for us fans though.

[Gregory Sager]

I didn't know the NCAA wanted Salem to be in the west suburbs??!!

I think that you can make a very strong case that, no matter who wins in Salem, the caliber of basketball that will be played in the Midwest/West sectional the weekend after next will be far higher than what anyone will see in Virginia the weekend after.

Honestly, what would you rather see: UWSP or St. Thomas versus Puget Sound, followed by a nightcap of Wheaton or UWP versus Wash U or EC or UWW ... or one of those eight teams vs. John Carroll, followed by Rhode Island College vs. Ithaca?

[coebball70]

I know my eyes are getting a little worse every year, but are my eyes that bad or did 23-2, 8th ranked Buena Vista not even make it to the field?!  We thought the teams in Wheaton's bracket got it stuck to them.  Imagine how they're feeling out at Buena Vista this morning!

petemcb...you are so right on this one.  Traditional biases are hard to change.  The Iowa Conference placed two teams, Loras and Buena Vista, in the second round of the championship.  Buena Vista has, I believe, one of the best coaches in D3 hoops.  I believe he places either #1 or #2 among active coaches as ranked by winning percentage.  Buena Vista really got shafted this year, it's akin to Elmhurst in 2007.  You can say "strength of schedule"...I will say politics and unfavorable biases!  It really stinks for the true small college hoops fan. 

Now for the next problem.  How do I handle deciding between the Wheaton and Elmhurst regional?  Help me out.

[Gregory Sager]

Now for the next problem.  How do I handle deciding between the Wheaton and Elmhurst regional?  Help me out.

OK, that makes three of us regular posters who're trying to decide between Faganel and King on Friday: You, me, and Tom Doebler. Is anyone else out there who doesn't bleed Wheaton orange or Elmhurst blue struggling with this decision?

Maybe we should let Tom's wife pick a slip labeled "Wheaton" or "Elmhurst" out of a hat, the way that she did for the D3 tourney fantasy league draft order.

[usee]

You could go to the 6 in one gym and make the 8 in the other! That's pretty good.

[titan2000]

Fontbonne is staying at the Hyatt in Leslie. Any info about the area would be appreciated.

I would change that before the Wheaton fans call in a fire at 3 am !!

[voxelmhurst]

Good joints for food/drink in the Elmhurst area
KOPPER KITCHEN- open 24-7 serves all varieties of food.  Very popular joint with the students.  Very reasonable prices
THE STANDARD- pricey, and more upper scale type restaurant.  Great food and has a bar inside

ARMAND'S PIZZA-  great joint for italian food, not just pizza.  along the RR tracks close to EC

FONTANO'S SUBS- just a few doors down from Armand's fast food sub style.  

bars-  FITZ'S PUB-  This is the main college bar and where we go for the 5th quarter after EC football games.  Good food, good times, very close to the campus

DOC RYAN'S - south of the campus very popular place (haven't been there personally in a long time)

Elmhurst is similar to Naperville or "The District" in Rock Island, where there is something for every taste bud close to campus.

If anyone goes to Kopper Kitchen - I highly recommend the hobo skillet!

Also, if anyone wants to get into that vaunted underbelly of Elmhurst, you know, the place Dave Attell would seek out, I recommend The Club - just north of the train tracks, across from the Charter One bank.  Its right next to another gem, Pizza Palace. 

[dansand]

Just for fun I did a composite Top 25 of the four (that I know of) computer rankings that include Division III.

Massey: http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&yr=2009&sub=III&mid=6
Rothman:  http://prwolfe.bol.ucla.edu/cbasketball/rothman.txt
Wilson: http://talismanred.com/ratings/hoops/divisioniii.shtml
Wolfe: http://prwolfe.bol.ucla.edu/cbasketball/ratings.htm

Here it is with the teams not making the tournament indicated:

1 St Thomas MN
2 Wheaton IL
3 UW-Stevens Point
4 UW-Platteville
5 Puget Sound
6 UW-Whitewater
7 Washington MO
8 Elmhurst
9 Whitworth
10 Augustana IL 
11 Capital
12 John Carroll
13 Buena Vista 
14 Richard Stockton
15 Texas Dallas
16 Ithaca
17 UW-Oshkosh 
18 N Central IL 
19 Centre
20 Middlebury
21 UMass-Dartmouth
22 Carthage 
23 Lawrence
24 Trinity TX
25 Lewis & Clark 

I know it doesn't mean anything 'cause it doesn't have anything to do with the NCAA's selection criteria, but it is interesting.

[Gregory Sager]

Good joints for food/drink in the Elmhurst area
KOPPER KITCHEN- open 24-7 serves all varieties of food.  Very popular joint with the students.  Very reasonable prices
THE STANDARD- pricey, and more upper scale type restaurant.  Great food and has a bar inside

ARMAND'S PIZZA-  great joint for italian food, not just pizza.  along the RR tracks close to EC

FONTANO'S SUBS- just a few doors down from Armand's fast food sub style.  

bars-  FITZ'S PUB-  This is the main college bar and where we go for the 5th quarter after EC football games.  Good food, good times, very close to the campus

DOC RYAN'S - south of the campus very popular place (haven't been there personally in a long time)

Elmhurst is similar to Naperville or "The District" in Rock Island, where there is something for every taste bud close to campus.

If anyone goes to Kopper Kitchen - I highly recommend the hobo skillet!

Also, if anyone wants to get into that vaunted underbelly of Elmhurst, you know, the place Dave Attell would seek out, I recommend The Club - just north of the train tracks, across from the Charter One bank.  Its right next to another gem, Pizza Palace. 

"The Club"? That's what that place is called? That's where I always go to wait for the train back to the city after a game at Elmhurst, 'cuz it's so close to the Metra station (a la Orazio Pub in Naperville after a game at NCC). I didn't realize that it was Elmhurst's "vaunted underbelly" ... I thought that it was the hot spot for the village glitterati.