MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[wheels81]

TitanQ will offer a much more respectful and reasonable look at the match ups this week. But here is my irreverent preview of the RHI v Wheaton game:

Rose Hulman:
Julian "Rod" Strickland, Sr, G, 6-3, 22.9 ppg
Jimmy "Cracked Corn and I don't care" Miller, So, F, 6-5, 10.9ppg
Alec "Baldwin" Houpt  Sr, F, 6-5, 7.6 ppg
Tyler "Peters" Duffy, So, F, 6-5, 5.9 ppg
Jordy "Nelson-Steve" Martin   Sr, G, 5-11, 5.0 ppg

Off the bench:
Michael "C" Hallstein (aka "Dexter")   Jr, F, 6-6, 4.3 ppg
Collin "Kapernick" Wojcik   Fr, F, 6-4, 3.6 ppg

For the Thunder:
Tyler "Duffy" Peters   Sr, G, 6-4, 20.3 ppg
Brayden "Derek" Teuscher  Jr, G, 6-3, 14.9 ppg
Nate "Archibald" Haynes  Sr, F, 6-6, 10.6 ppg
Caleb "Hanie" Demoss  Jr, G, 6-0, 7.6 ppg
Peter "Frampton" Smith  Jr, F, 6-6, 7.4 ppg

Off the bench:
Michael "J. Fox" Berg   So, F, 6-6, 5.3 ppg
Joel "Anthony" Smith  So, F, 6-6, 4.0 ppg

Nice Chris Berman impression :-)

[bbfan44]

Looking at the 4 quadrants and seeing the D3Hoops top ten teams spread over them, it would appear that the lower left with WashU, IWU,St Norbert, and Wooster is the most difficult.  The other quads each have 2 top 10 teams.  That one has 4.
Not that it will be easy, but I'm thinking we will see Williams v Amherst in the Final Four.  Cabrini might have something to say about it but I think Amherst is more battle tested.
UWSP and UWWW would be a great Sectional game.  The grouping of WashU, IWU, St N, Wheaton, et al looks to be the most competitive.  Lots of potential great games there.
Your thoughts?

[Denny McKinney]

I think it still amazes me that if you look at the map. That's linked to somewhere on the boards. You literally can draw a line from the Atlantic, straight across the southern state line of VA. and KY. then straight up the Mississippi River and that is the Tourney. Only six teams of the field are outside the Northeast Quad of America. I'm just saying?

Do Amhearst / Williams and Wash U / IWU have any common opponents?

[bbfan44]

Denny....it could be that the geography you mention just has many more D3 schools than the rest of the country?  Just guessing.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I think it still amazes me that if you look at the map. That's linked to somewhere on the boards. You literally can draw a line from the Atlantic, straight across the southern state line of VA. and KY. then straight up the Mississippi River and that is the Tourney. Only six teams of the field are outside the Northeast Quad of America. I'm just saying?

Do Amhearst / Williams and Wash U / IWU have any common opponents?

Didn't spot any for IWU or Williams, but Amherst beat Brandeis by 5, while WashU swept Brandeis by 10 and 13.

That's not much to hang your hat on.

[Pat Coleman]

I think it still amazes me that if you look at the map. That's linked to somewhere on the boards. You literally can draw a line from the Atlantic, straight across the southern state line of VA. and KY. then straight up the Mississippi River and that is the Tourney. Only six teams of the field are outside the Northeast Quad of America. I'm just saying?

Do Amhearst / Williams and Wash U / IWU have any common opponents?

Denny....it could be that the geography you mention just has many more D3 schools than the rest of the country?  Just guessing.

Indeed. You can draw that line and get the same percentage of non-tournament teams. That is what Division III looks like!

It's also what the population looks like. When you draw that line, Denny, you're not getting one-fourth of the U.S. population.

[Denny McKinney]

I know BBFan. Problem is the Division is so large, it really can't expand to cover the geography. Your going to get a team from this part of the Bracket, that I would say would be the favorite.

[Denny McKinney]

I realize that Pat. Amazing to think of how many great schools in an area the size of a lot of countries.

[Gregory Sager]

The first logical host would be IWU. If they move on, it seems like they would be a the logical host based on merit and geographics. However, if they lose to St. Norbert (not an impossibility), it appears that Wheaton/Hope would be next in line...

CCIW fans don't tend to have much respect for MWC basketball, but this St. Norbert team should be an exception. It's basically the same SNC squad that lost to Wheaton in last year's first round at King on a rimmed-out attempted buzzer-beater, with a D1 stud in Kam Cerroni added to the SNC rotation for good measure. I've seen St. Norbert in person, and I can attest to the fact that the Green Knights are very, very good. I think that Illinois Wesleyan would be a six- or seven-point favorite in Shirk should they meet on Saturday, but you're absolutely right that a St. Norbert upset would certainly not be out of the question.

[Titan Q]

Very nice article on IWU senior Brady Zimmer...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/despite-adversity-zimmer-finds-contentment/article_41adb986-6813-5bc0-805d-05a0943adf6d.html

He's really a first-class young man and has been a great leader for the Titans.

[iwu70]

Nice tournament review, bracket by bracket assessment, by Pat on the D3hoops front page now.  Thanks, Pat.

He has Point, IWU, Cabrini and Williams getting to Salem.  Then, Point winning it all.  Lots of tough, tough games between now and then.

Yes, nice Pgraph piece on Brady Zimmer today.  He has really perservered through many challenges and woes.  Great to see him still there, back on court, and getting some PT now down the stretch run, in the tournament. 

IWU70

[toooldtohoop]

Very nice article on IWU senior Brady Zimmer...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/despite-adversity-zimmer-finds-contentment/article_41adb986-6813-5bc0-805d-05a0943adf6d.html

He's really a first-class young man and has been a great leader for the Titans.

Thanks for sharing.  What a great story and a fine young man.  I am glad that he has been able to get back on the floor and contribute effectively for his team.  May he continue to blessed on his journey...

[A Lover of the Game]

Very nice article on IWU senior Brady Zimmer...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/despite-adversity-zimmer-finds-contentment/article_41adb986-6813-5bc0-805d-05a0943adf6d.html

He's really a first-class young man and has been a great leader for the Titans.

Thanks for sharing.  What a great story and a fine young man.  I am glad that he has been able to get back on the floor and contribute effectively for his team.  May he continue to blessed on his journey...

I'd like to second that.  Thank you for sharing this.  I have had quite a few conversations with Brady. He is a class act for sure. I remember watching him last year tape one of the games. I stopped and talked with him for moment. He was so excited for his teammates. He talked about the season with what I would say was true passion. I’m excited to see him back on the floor, and playing well. I'm looking forward to watching him play this weekend!

Congrats to all of the CCIW teams that made it in. Good luck this weekend!!  Someone spoke about Landon Gamble's career; thanks for sharing that. I enjoyed watching him play. I have always said that he can be a beast down low. 

Go Titans!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Pat, thanks for the reply.  I was afraid that was pretty much it.  Surely seems that this should be changed and that these rankings should also be released as a matter of course, for transparency and fairness, just like the first three weeks of regional rankings.  Who decides?  The NCAA, the national committee, or regional committees?  Given all the concerns this year about inconsistency and possible weight given to various criteria, surely seems these rankings, the final ones before the selection, etc., should be made public. 

The overall Championships Committee for Division III makes this call. And something I have stated in the past and I am starting to really get a sense is in play... the minority rules. I suspect there is a minority of sports committees who don't like their decisions scrutinzed and thus complained getting the Championships Committee to change course (the final rankings used to be released). I know there are some who constantly complain about this... hopefully it will be changed... because I don't think some realize that by not releasing the info... they are setting themselves up for more questions and questioning... not less.

As for the "seeding," we all know there isn't actual seeds in the D3 tournament. However, one thing I did hear from Steve Ulrich and has been reiterated to me by others, the committee basically took the top two teams in each regional ranking and set them up to host. Thus, Wheaton was not a #1 or #2 in the final regional rankings... they were clearly a #3 or lower. The exception was when Texas-Dallas (a #3 or #4) and Emory (#3 or #4) were given the right to host (we know why Texas-Dallas had to host), instead of taking those hosting chances away from either Randolph-Macon or Guilford, they took them from Scranton and Richard Stockton - both #2s in their regions.

The problem I have is by the definition of hosting shown on this thread, "seeding" (let's call it ranking instead) falls BEHIND geographics thus indicating that taking the hosting to Centre instead of Emory was completely in the rights of the committee who stated on air they didn't want to send the games to Centre since they didn't rank higher than Emory in the final regional rankings. This is a completely flawed concept and I think made an already uninteresting bracket flat out boring and uncreative.

Also, should a #2 from one region host over a #3 or #4 from another region who has better data? You can go around in circles on that one to be sure. I can understand the argument from Wheaton and CCIW fans that Hope shouldn't be hosting due to the data... but at the same time, the committee certainly seems set on having the top two teams in each region host - unless they can make up a reason (Emory) or have a legitimate reason (Texas-Dallas) to do otherwise.

[AO]

Pat, thanks for the reply.  I was afraid that was pretty much it.  Surely seems that this should be changed and that these rankings should also be released as a matter of course, for transparency and fairness, just like the first three weeks of regional rankings.  Who decides?  The NCAA, the national committee, or regional committees?  Given all the concerns this year about inconsistency and possible weight given to various criteria, surely seems these rankings, the final ones before the selection, etc., should be made public. 

The overall Championships Committee for Division III makes this call. And something I have stated in the past and I am starting to really get a sense is in play... the minority rules. I suspect there is a minority of sports committees who don't like their decisions scrutinzed and thus complained getting the Championships Committee to change course (the final rankings used to be released). I know there are some who constantly complain about this... hopefully it will be changed... because I don't think some realize that by not releasing the info... they are setting themselves up for more questions and questioning... not less.

As for the "seeding," we all know there isn't actual seeds in the D3 tournament. However, one thing I did hear from Steve Ulrich and has been reiterated to me by others, the committee basically took the top two teams in each regional ranking and set them up to host. Thus, Wheaton was not a #1 or #2 in the final regional rankings... they were clearly a #3 or lower. The exception was when Texas-Dallas (a #3 or #4) and Emory (#3 or #4) were given the right to host (we know why Texas-Dallas had to host), instead of taking those hosting chances away from either Randolph-Macon or Guilford, they took them from Scranton and Richard Stockton - both #2s in their regions.

The problem I have is by the definition of hosting shown on this thread, "seeding" (let's call it ranking instead) falls BEHIND geographics thus indicating that taking the hosting to Centre instead of Emory was completely in the rights of the committee who stated on air they didn't want to send the games to Centre since they didn't rank higher than Emory in the final regional rankings. This is a completely flawed concept and I think made an already uninteresting bracket flat out boring and uncreative.

Also, should a #2 from one region host over a #3 or #4 from another region who has better data? You can go around in circles on that one to be sure. I can understand the argument from Wheaton and CCIW fans that Hope shouldn't be hosting due to the data... but at the same time, the committee certainly seems set on having the top two teams in each region host - unless they can make up a reason (Emory) or have a legitimate reason (Texas-Dallas) to do otherwise.

Another great reason to move towards using a national RPI to rank all the teams in the bracket.  Something to make it more painfully obvious that teams like Stevens Point should have gotten the bye and be on the opposite side of the bracket from Whitewater.  I don't hate the initial pods or the hosts they chose, they just didn't bother to think about how to properly order the pods around the bracket.