MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Augustana 86
North Park 70


NPU is most likely on the wrong side of the bubble. I believe NPU is in line behind IWU...and IWU is way down on the bubble.

[AppletonRocks]

The thing that puzzles me the most about Matt Nadelhoffer getting the axe is whether or not it indicates a change of heart on the part of Millikin AD Craig White. MU lost a ton of minutes from last year's team -- everyone was aware that T.J. Sims, T.J. Griffin, Elijah Kinmon, Tommy Pilackas, and Bryn Agnew would either graduate or walk out the door of Griswold for good for other reasons -- so it was plain to see that Millikin would have to start over, one way or the other.

I'm certain that Matt must've made his boss aware last season that his plan for the upcoming 2016-17 campaign would be to shake the Etch-a-Sketch and begin anew with a large crop of freshmen, rather than to try to import a bunch of juco transfers and play them alongside his rotation returnees Jack Simpson, Leighton Lark, and Nathan Lovekamp. (He did bring in two transfers, juco product Levi Bailey and former MacMurray player Brock Snarski, but only Bailey really figured into MU's season in more than a modest way, and Bailey was a DNP in Millikin's last four games, with seven minutes' worth of playing time in the two games prior to that.) In the end, Matt gave very prominent roles to four freshmen this season -- Zach Fisher, Jordan Cunningham, Logan Bader, and Korbin Farmer -- and, as I said, Craig White must've been very aware ahead of time that this was Matt's plan. (Those four freshmen played a minimum of 18 minutes per game, and they represent both of the Big Blue's top scorers and its four leading rebounders.)

In other words, Craig White must've known what was inevitably going to happen this season long before the opening jump ball on November 15 at Aurora was tossed up into the air. Relying that heavily upon freshmen is a recipe for disaster in a league like this, and you don't even get the consolation of doing well in non-conference play, because that's when the freshmen are at their greenest. The Millikin AD could've told Matt Nadelhoffer last year that this rebuilding plan was unsound in terms of Matt's job security, that he needed to produce some wins next season or else, and this would've forced Matt to go in a different direction by scouring the juco circuit to get experienced players that could buy him some time by getting him maybe six to eight wins in 2016-17. Instead, he signed off on Matt's plan to go young and recruit (and then immediately use) the kind of high-school seniors that he felt would be both strong CCIW players and good four-year investments for the program in terms of grades, character, and program culture.

My assessment has some speculation to it, but this is based upon my reading of the MU roster, playing time over the past two seasons, and my (admittedly brief) conversations with Matt over the past couple of years. It really does seem like the rug was pulled out from under him, because I can't see how his boss wouldn't have known last year that this was coming, given Matt's plan.

He told me on Saturday night that his youngsters were all in for Millikin, in spite of the terrible season that the Big Blue has had. He said that he had a full commitment from each of his players that they'd be back next year, and spoke some about how they'd all had their housing worked out for 2017-18. That's a real testament to their belief in him as a coach and in his rebuilding plan, because the usual consequence of a young team getting drilled like that over and over en route to a 3-22 finish is poor attrition and unplanned holes in next season's roster. Now I wonder if: a) those underclassmen may have a change of heart about returning; and b) the prospects that Matt and his staff have been working on are still interested in Millikin (given that his assistants may themselves be shown the door once Craig White hires a new head coach).

This whole thing reminds me of what Abraham Lincoln once said: "I am reminded in this connection of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that it was not best to swap horses when crossing a stream."

Fred Hoiberg will have a place to go if the Bull's owners don't grow some stones.   

[Greek Tragedy]

Augustana 86
North Park 70


NPU is most likely on the wrong side of the bubble. I believe NPU is in line behind IWU...and IWU is way down on the bubble.

Chances are slim none when both are behind 9-loss Oshkosh.

[Titan Q]

Augustana 86
North Park 70


NPU is most likely on the wrong side of the bubble. I believe NPU is in line behind IWU...and IWU is way down on the bubble.

Chances are slim none when both are behind 9-loss Oshkosh.

I don't think either will be behind Oshkosh (if Oshkosh is Pool C) - http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4592.msg1793238#msg1793238.

[Titan Q]

Lake Forest 73
St. Norbert 70

I believe St. Norbert is done due to bad SOS and RRO numbers.

[AppletonRocks]

Bosko with the royalty deal with the Untucked Shirt company. 

[Titan Q]

NCC 87
Carthage 85

Chang at the buzzer.

Carthage probably done.

[Titan Q]

If Augie wins the AQ, pretty good chance IWU is the top ranked CCIW Pool C candidate...

* Illinois Wesleyan: .680/.556/6-2 (2-0 vs Carthage, 0-2 vs North Park)
* Carthage: .680/.550/2-2 (0-2 vs IWU, 2-0 vs North Park)
* North Park: .692/.524/2-3 (2-0 vs IWU, 0-2 vs Carthage)

Bosko said on the postgame that it'd be a "terrible precedent" if IWU gets in due to conference standings.  Again, that just is not part of the actual criteria...based on the actual criteria, IWU should be ranked higher.

[augiefan]

This might be the first year the conference tourney champ is the only CCIW team to make the tourney.

[GoPerry]

This might be the first year the conference tourney champ is the only CCIW team to make the tourney.

If Augie wins tomorrow, it seems likely to me that they'll be the sole representative.  If NCC wins, then maybe Augie squeaks in?  I just don't see .680 W/L% IWU getting in.  Can we even be certain they will be regionally ranked?

NCC has got to be feeling good right now - they get another crack at the Vikes after the OT heart-breaker in Rock Island. And on a neutral court as well.

[augie77]

This might be the first year the conference tourney champ is the only CCIW team to make the tourney.

If Augie wins tomorrow, it seems likely to me that they'll be the sole representative.  If NCC wins, then maybe Augie squeaks in?  I just don't see .680 W/L% IWU getting in.  Can we even be certain they will be regionally ranked?

NCC has got to be feeling good right now - they get another crack at the Vikes after the OT heart-breaker in Rock Island. And on a neutral court as well.

Nolan "You're no Hunter Hill" Ebel has plenty of incentive.

[Mr. Ypsi]

This might be the first year the conference tourney champ is the only CCIW team to make the tourney.

If Augie wins tomorrow, it seems likely to me that they'll be the sole representative.  If NCC wins, then maybe Augie squeaks in?  I just don't see .680 W/L% IWU getting in.  Can we even be certain they will be regionally ranked?

NCC has got to be feeling good right now - they get another crack at the Vikes after the OT heart-breaker in Rock Island. And on a neutral court as well.

Of course we can't be CERTAIN that IWU will be regionally ranked, but their total demolition of Augie on Tuesday should put them back up over Oshkosh (IWU has a better winning%, nearly as high an SoS, and is 6-2 vRROs rather than 5-5).  The .680 winning % is probably the 'kiss of death', but I haven't completely given up hope.

[augie77]

I could argue that "style points" should be a consideration.  However, I don't believe they play into the evaluation process at all. 

[iwumichigander]

If Augie wins the AQ, pretty good chance IWU is the top ranked CCIW Pool C candidate...

* Illinois Wesleyan: .680/.556/6-2 (2-0 vs Carthage, 0-2 vs North Park)
* Carthage: .680/.550/2-2 (0-2 vs IWU, 2-0 vs North Park)
* North Park: .692/.524/2-3 (2-0 vs IWU, 0-2 vs Carthage)

Bosko said on the postgame that it'd be a "terrible precedent" if IWU gets in due to conference standings.  Again, that just is not part of the actual criteria...based on the actual criteria, IWU should be ranked higher.

i am reconsidering my vote for Bosko as COY.  I am calling a full timeout, reviewing archived game tapes! 
A "terrible precedent" is 2 much coach speak even for Bosko . A three tie for first place at 9-5 with 2 other teams.  A 2 point loss tonight to a 9-7 team that got a 2 point win over the 'other 9-7 team' to finish in a tie for 4th.  The main reason Carthage played NCC and not IWU was NCC 2-0 head to head over IWU.  And IWU is still 2-0 against Carthage this season!

Can not wait for AndOne to put his 2 cents in as I am sure the Redmen would have lost by 20 had Conner Raridon played.  But the Cardinals rallied at the end rather than getting their feathers plucked by the Redmen.

[kiko]

If Augie wins the AQ, pretty good chance IWU is the top ranked CCIW Pool C candidate...

* Illinois Wesleyan: .680/.556/6-2 (2-0 vs Carthage, 0-2 vs North Park)
* Carthage: .680/.550/2-2 (0-2 vs IWU, 2-0 vs North Park)
* North Park: .692/.524/2-3 (2-0 vs IWU, 0-2 vs Carthage)

Bosko said on the postgame that it'd be a "terrible precedent" if IWU gets in due to conference standings.  Again, that just is not part of the actual criteria...based on the actual criteria, IWU should be ranked higher.

i am reconsidering my vote for Bosko as COY.  I am calling a full timeout, reviewing archived game tapes! 
A "terrible precedent" is 2 much coach speak even for Bosko . A three tie for first place at 9-5 with 2 other teams.  A 2 point loss tonight to a 9-7 team that got a 2 point win over the 'other 9-7 team' to finish in a tie for 4th.  The main reason Carthage played NCC and not IWU was NCC 2-0 head to head over IWU.  And IWU is still 2-0 against Carthage this season!

Can not wait for AndOne to put his 2 cents in as I am sure the Redmen would have lost by 20 had Conner Raridon played.  But the Cardinals rallied at the end rather than getting their feathers plucked by the Redmen.

Eh... it's a coach who is trying to sell as hard as he can given what his team's resume is.

Unrelated - I've listened to just about all of the CCIW teams' broadcast teams this year, including the Carthage crew 2x.  Everyone is a homer to one extent or another, so that is expected, but while the Carthage guys do a decent job, they probably spend about 4x more time complaining about calls than any of the other teams' crews.  I recognize that the other teams' fans are not their target audience, but they are an outlier on this metric IMO compared to other teams' crews.