MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Pat Coleman]

Any readers here who are even thinking they might want to attend the Final Four should enter the City of Salem's contest: Free lodging, free tickets, admission to team banquet and VIP passes:

http://www.d3hoops.com/salemgiveaway/

[mactitan]

I was a little disappointed that Claire Sheehan didn't bring another Josten's Trophy back to Bloomington.  Her resume seemed pretty impressive - certainly someone to be proud of as an alum.  Then I read the list of accomplishments of the two winners - holy cow!  Not to take anything away from Sheehan, but the winners are remarkable student athletes.

I love the Jostens Trophy, my only regret is that the only people that know about it are people that come to this site (and maybe a few others).  Wouldn't it be great if ESPN had a presentation show like they do for the Heisman?  All 20 nominees for the award are remarkable young people, they give me hope for a future in times that are pretty dire.  Wouldn't it be great if our society put them up on the pedestal?  These students are the real role models - not TO or A-Rod.

[chairman]

I thought the final four was at Wheaton.

[usee]

I thought the final four was at Wheaton.

No. This weekend is only the final 4.75 (#1, #2, #3 and #7) 

[WahooThunder]

I thought the final four was at Wheaton.

No. This weekend is only the final 4.75 (#1, #2, #3 and #7) 

So it would have been the Final Four if Puget Sound had won their conference tourney.

[iwu70]

Wow, really wish I could be at Wheaton this weekend to see this sectional.  What an incredibly high-quality set of games.  But, I shall be following the Lady Titans and hoping for a trip to Hope for IWU! 

[thunderwearer]

Has anyone heard if any of the schools have returned tickets for the Wheaton sectional?

[chairman]

Interesting Question for Pat-- or any other historians out there.

With the four teams in the building for the Sectional at Wheaton having an average ranking of 3.25, I got to thinking. Has there in the history of the d3hoops.com top 25 poll ever been a higher ranked group of four? I would imagine that given the way the regions work, that it would be very rare to ever get 1,2 and 3 to a final 4. If that were to happen, I couldn't imagine a situation where the fourth team would be in the top eight.

So, has there ever been a four team grouping with a combined ranking of 13 or less?

Enjoy the games.

[usee]

I believe Q and others posted some of the history on the Top 25 board under multi regional topics.

[sac]

I thought the final four was at Wheaton.

No. This weekend is only the final 4.75 (#1, #2, #3 and #7) 

So it would have been the Final Four if Puget Sound had won their conference tourney.

Had Puget Sound won their tournament, this whole bracket might look a lot different.  Without Whitworth there's likely only 2 teams from the left coast.  Perhaps Puget Sound and CMS form a bracket with the Texas schools..........maybe Washington goes south, or Wheaton/Elmhurst finds a more favorable pod involving other Great Lakes region teams or Transylvania.

Interesting how it all worked........or didn't.

[WahooThunder]

I thought the final four was at Wheaton.

No. This weekend is only the final 4.75 (#1, #2, #3 and #7) 

So it would have been the Final Four if Puget Sound had won their conference tourney.

Had Puget Sound won their tournament, this whole bracket might look a lot different.  Without Whitworth there's likely only 2 teams from the left coast.  Perhaps Puget Sound and CMS form a bracket with the Texas schools..........maybe Washington goes south, or Wheaton/Elmhurst finds a more favorable pod involving other Great Lakes region teams or Transylvania.

Interesting how it all worked........or didn't.

Excellent point. Its amazing what a difference a single game can make, and one that went to overtime no less.  Oh well, which ever team survives the weekend certainly won't be complaining about what awaits them in Salem.

[AndOne]

So what is everyone's take on the games at Wheaton this weekend. Anyone know much or anything about St. Thomas and/or Puger Sound?

[Pat Coleman]

Regular listeners to Hoopsville have heard me talk about St. Thomas a couple times, since I've seen them play five times now this year.

Short sketch:  They'll play 12 deep, second five is nearly as good as the first five. They press you all the way up the floor, many different styles. Also very strong defensively in the frontcourt as well.

They start four guards, two of whom are taller than their "center" -- you may see him listed at 6-6 somewhere but 6-3 is more accurate. Now, with that, he handles the ball better than the typical center. He can still get up and rebound and he handles the ball well in the air.

St. Thomas can shoot the ball well from the outside but is not live-or-die. They do have size off the bench.

[WahooThunder]

Regular listeners to Hoopsville have heard me talk about St. Thomas a couple times, since I've seen them play five times now this year.

Short sketch:  They'll play 12 deep, second five is nearly as good as the first five. They press you all the way up the floor, many different styles. Also very strong defensively in the frontcourt as well.

They start four guards, two of whom are taller than their "center" -- you may see him listed at 6-6 somewhere but 6-3 is more accurate. Now, with that, he handles the ball better than the typical center. He can still get up and rebound and he handles the ball well in the air.

St. Thomas can shoot the ball well from the outside but is not live-or-die. They do have size off the bench.

Thanks for the scouting report, Pat.  Any similar info on Puget Sound? I'm really looking forward to seeing how these match-ups play out!

[hopefan]

The loss of Dylan Richter puts a squeeze on Wash U's bench options - may see more of Ross Kelley at point, Sean Wallis at the two, especially if Aaron Thompson gets in foul trouble.