MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

By percentage...chances of CCIW teams making the Sweet 16:

Wheaton over MH Baylor (20%)
Wheaton over Texas Dallas (5%)

IWU over Central (80%)
IWU over Washington U (25%)

Carthage over Aurora (85%)
Carthage over St. Thomas (35%)

Thoughts?

Not that Massey is the be-all and end-all of the discussion, but are you aware that Wheaton is ranked higher than either UMHB or UT-D?  And that IWU is ranked lower (also by d3hoops.com poll) than Central?

I think that people will naturally gravitate to picking IWU to beat Central simply because the CCIW is a power conference and the IIAC isn't. The overall head-to-head between the two leagues tends to be pretty lopsided every year (granted, Augie's the team that plays the most IIAC opponents, and Augie's almost always a good team), but the CCIW's advantage has been especially pronounced in D3 tournament play. The CCIW has an 8-1 record head-to-head against the IIAC in the dance, with the lone win by the denizens of the Hawkeye State occurring all the way back in the first round of the 1977 tounrey, in which Central beat Augustana, 73-69.

[carthagealum]

If Friday goes well for the men's and women's Carthage teams, and St. Thomas men's and women's also win Friday, then Saturday both the men's and women's matchups will be Carthage vs. St. Thomas, albeit a skip and a jump away from each other. (The women play in Whitewater.)

I checked the Carthage academic calendar http://www.carthage.edu/academics/calendar/ and the last day of classes before spring break is this Friday. That could make the crowd smaller, unfortunately. I think spring break should be scheduled with March Madness in mind! Hopefully they don't kick the kids out of the dorms. That is what used to happen during spring break back in the day.

[armywife]

UMHB is about 3 miles from my house here in Texas, so I will be going to the game. I'm going to have to root for UMHB since that is the school my daughter attends; I'm looking forward to the game. I'm looking forward to seeing Wheaton play again. If anyone is going to be at the game and wants information on Central Texas, please let me know.

[usee]

Augiefan- wheaton loses both ben panner and Jake Carwell this year.

[iwu70]

WJBC gone bust . . . what's the world coming to? 

Good luck to all the teams in the DIII dance.  Should be some really great basketball.

[CCIWchamps]

I don't think it was just wheaton that "got" that bracket. As I recall there were several good teams including the eventual National champ. WashU, St Thomas didn't seem to get any "make up call" this year.

I apologize for not emphasizing the tongue in my cheek as I made that last post. 
You're right, they all got lumped in gladiator's arena together last year for our entertainment.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I checked the Carthage academic calendar http://www.carthage.edu/academics/calendar/ and the last day of classes before spring break is this Friday. That could make the crowd smaller, unfortunately. I think spring break should be scheduled with March Madness in mind! Hopefully they don't kick the kids out of the dorms. That is what used to happen during spring break back in the day.

All Carthage students now have permission to stay in the dorms until Sunday.

Good to see that.  I think that is now fairly standard practice when a school hosts a playoff game (football) or series (basketball).

[REDMENFAN]

Article from Kenosha News today about Carthage hosting. Bosko with some good quotes about the other teams, especially Aurora and their coach.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/carthage_to_host_ncaa3_regional_7460094.html

[Pat Coleman]

Good to see that.  I think that is now fairly standard practice when a school hosts a playoff game (football) or series (basketball).

Depends how much the administration cares about athletics.

[Klompen]

Hello from the lone representative on the IIAC board for the Dutch!  Central is a good team this year that can be up or down, but has continued to grow and improve throughout the season and the IIAC tourney.  Last year we tied for 5th place in the "weak" IIAC, as I have heard it described on here.  So go ahead and count us out and just strategize for Wash U.  We don't mind.   

I think if the Dutch can handle the nerves of making it to the dance, they will give you a good game to watch.  It has been a long time since a Central team was even pretty good, let alone conference championship and playoff calibre.  But this team is pretty special, to turn it around from tied for 5th last year with all the same starters says something about this team.  They are much more balanced than last year, making it harder to defend them because you don't know which guy is going to have the hot hand which night.  Prior to this year, if you stopped Miguel Ley, you stopped Central.  This year, if you stop Miguel Ley, you have to worry about 4 other guys, each of whom has the ability to shine on any given night.  Central plays terrific defense and that has caused problems for some teams. 

I don't know much about IWU, but look forward to a good game.  Best of luck to both teams, double best of luck to the Dutch.   

[John Gleich]

New Top 25

14. Carthage

Second team (tied) ORV. IWU (26 poll points)
Sixth team ORV. Wheaton (13 poll points)

[Mugsy]

Congrats to Ben Panner on being selected as a finalist for the Josten Award.  

Go to the home page of d3hoops for more details:  http://www.d3hoops.com/

Two finalists from the CCIW for the womens award.

Lyndsie Long, Elmhurst 
Christina Solari, Illinois Wesleyan

[Titan Q]

Article from Kenosha News today about Carthage hosting. Bosko with some good quotes about the other teams, especially Aurora and their coach.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/carthage_to_host_ncaa3_regional_7460094.html

In the photo, look at what great defensive position Travis Rosenkranz is in...and look at the shot Stevie D. is taking.  I don't remember when that was in the game exactly...but I'm guessing he made it.

[Gregory Sager]

Hello from the lone representative on the IIAC board for the Dutch!  Central is a good team this year that can be up or down, but has continued to grow and improve throughout the season and the IIAC tourney.  Last year we tied for 5th place in the "weak" IIAC, as I have heard it described on here.  So go ahead and count us out and just strategize for Wash U.  We don't mind.   

Nice try, Klompen, but I doubt that the people who matter -- IWU head coach Ron Rose and his team and staff -- are going to count out your Dutch. I can understand why you and the other Central folks might be irked by the characterization of the IIAC as a weak league, but the truth is that: a) the CCIW dominates it in head-to-head competition every November and December, and has historically done so in March as well; and b) the IIAC has a dismal record in D3 tournament play. The league as a whole is 26-48 (.351) in the D3 tourney, including Central's 5-9 record, and only once has an IIAC team made it as far as the Elite Eight -- and that team, the 1986-87 Wartburg squad, lost to a CCIW team (North Park) by 25 points for the right to go to the Final Four.

I think if the Dutch can handle the nerves of making it to the dance, they will give you a good game to watch.  It has been a long time since a Central team was even pretty good, let alone conference championship and playoff calibre.

You're right ... this is a pretty special year for the Dutch. Central hasn't been to the dance in fifteen years, so this team has broken a long drought.

I think that a very significant asset that Central brings to the table is the fact that it has five senior starters. That's a huge strength; senior leadership makes a big difference in March.

Article from Kenosha News today about Carthage hosting. Bosko with some good quotes about the other teams, especially Aurora and their coach.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/carthage_to_host_ncaa3_regional_7460094.html

Aurora head coach James Lancaster is a good guy -- and a terrific coach. We don't give the NAthCon much credit around here, and the Spartans inevitably struggle in the D3 tournament. But the fact of the matter is that they get to the tournament with impressive regularity -- this is Aurora's eighth trip to the dance in thirteen seasons -- and in a league as large and as competitive as the NAthCon it's not easy to string together multiple trips. Don't underestimate the job that Lancaster has done at Aurora.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

back in the day Central (IA) had several good basketball teams.

There 1969-70 team featured a bruising 6-7 center, who later went on to make a name for himself in the NFL, Vern Den Herder, starting at defensive end for the Miami Dolphins of undefeated fame.

Their 1978 team hosted the midwest regional in Pella.  They lost a close battle to Minnesota-Morris in the first round.

In 1979 they came to North Park for the midwest regional.  They pressed Minnesota-Morris into 32 turnovers in easily winning their opener.  In the regional championship game North Park played a near-perfect game to win by 15 points, with one turnover and only five fouls.  To this day I still think that the best game North Park played in its three-year championship run.