MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Ypsi, seems the polling for CCIW teams is about right.  IMHO.   NCC surely playing well, Augie on the rise, and EC in a funk.  Senior-filled, senior-strong teams.  Still plenty to play for, even for our TITANS.  Tournament is bigger this year, right -- 6 teams?  Always a chance for the AQ if you get hot at the right time.  Our young team surely has good years ahead . . .

Still missing Grant Wolfe.  Wondering what could have been ? ? ?   (But, for the young guns, with some great experience leading into the next 2-3 seasons).

IWU'70

P.S.  Ypsi -- put it on your calendar -- October 9-11 IWU Homecoming -- our 50th class reunion.  What a party it will be! 

[Gregory Sager]

Somebody's gotta step up and give congrats to Kienan Baltimore for being named POW, so I will.

Sometimes in life the biggest obstacle to overcome is yourself. The fact that he's had to work through his own issues makes him no less deserving than anyone else of our congratulations upon winning this award.

Tournament is bigger this year, right -- 6 teams?

It was six teams last year, too, Mark.

[augie77]

If those two teams happen to tie for first place... which team would host the tournament?

Or what if there's a three-way or four-way tie?  If head-to-head results and best record against #3, #4 (and so on) still result in a deadlock, then what are the remaining tiebreakers?

As Ryan said, the tiebreaker formula is now behind an administrative wall on the CCIW website. But we've posted it on CCIW Chat countless times over the years. Here it is:

Men's & Women's Basketball
Seeding will be determined by regular season finish. Ties are broken by the following:

1. Head-to-head competition.
2. Record against team(s) above the tie beginning with the highest ranked team.
3. Record vs. team or teams in 3 rd place. If still tied, go to the next place for determination, et cetera.
4. Road record against conference schools.
5. Record in their last seven conference games.
6. The point spread of the tied teams' head-to head competition.
7. Coin toss

Let's say Augustana beats North Central at home on Wednesday, and otherwise the top three team win out.  North Central, Augustana and Elmhurst would all be 13-3.  North Central swept Elmhurst and the other matchups were split 1-1.  Would this make North Central the top seed for the conference tournament? 

(modified by GS for formatting)

[Gregory Sager]

Let's say Augustana beats North Central at home on Wednesday, and otherwise the top three team win out.  North Central, Augustana and Elmhurst would all be 13-3.  North Central swept Elmhurst and the other matchups were split 1-1.  Would this make North Central the top seed for the conference tournament? 

Yes.

[augie77]

If North Central and Augustana end up in a two-way tie at 13-3 (splitting their two games, and both being 12-2 against lower teams in the standings), that would mean Augustana hosting on the basis of their 8-0 record to end the season?

[kiko]

If North Central and Augustana end up in a two-way tie at 13-3 (splitting their two games, and both being 12-2 against lower teams in the standings), that would mean Augustana hosting on the basis of their 8-0 record to end the season?

You don't look at the lower teams in aggregate.

It's record versus third place team.

If still tied, record versus fourth place team.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

[augie77]

The not-so-secret tie-breaker formula has been modified slightly this year:

Item 3 in Greg's list now reads "below the tie" instead of "in 3rd place"
Item 5 now reads "in their last eight conference games (reflecting the change to a 16-game schedule)

Sources:  CCIW Basketball Sports Guides (2019 editions)

The Women's Guide also includes an example of how to determine "head to head" records when more than two teams are tied.

[kiko]

Here is the full language as of October 2019.  I suspect that the reason for the language change is that this procedure needs to break ties where "third place" (the old language) could be either above or below the tie.  Previously, the language assumed third place was below the tie.  So the new guidance is essentially the same as it was previously, but with less specific language so it covers ties anywhere in the standings.

https://static.cciw.org/custompages/CCIW_Links/General/Administrative/Sports_Guides/MensBasketballSportsGuide.pdf

III. TOURNAMENT

A. The conference champion is determined on the basis of each team's win/loss record during the regular season.

B. The CCIW automatic qualifier (AQ) winner will be determined by a six-team tournament held on the Tuesday, Friday and Saturday preceding NCAA selection day [Adopted 1/18]. The first round of the tournament (#3 seed versus #6 seed and #4 seed versus #5 seed) will be played on the Tuesday before Sunday NCAA selections and hosted by the #3 and #4 seeds. The #1 seed and #2 seed will receive first round byes. Seeding will be determined by regular season finish. Ties are broken by the following:

1. Head to head competition
2. Record against team(s) above the tie beginning with the highest ranked team.
3. Record vs team or teams below the tie. If still tied, go to the next place for determination, et cetera.
4. Road record against all conference schools.
5. Record in their last eight conference games.
6. The point spread of the tied teams' head-to head competition.
7. Coin toss

C. The semifinal games will be played on the Friday before Sunday NCAA selections at the site of the #1 seed. The lowest remaining seed after Tuesday will play the #1 seed, while the highest remaining seed after Tuesday will play the #2 seed.

D. The championship game will be played on Saturday at the site of the #1 seed. The recommended start time is 7:00 p.m. Game time may be determined by the host institution in consultation with the CCIW office if the institution is hosting more than one event.

E. The winner of the tournament championship game receives the AQ for the NCAA tournament.

[kiko]

This was an interesting nugget given some of the recent comments around sportsmanship:

K. Players are not to shake hands with opposing coaches or game officials or fist bump with game officials during introductions or before the game begins.

[mwunder]

Somebody's gotta step up and give congrats to Kienan Baltimore for being named POW, so I will.

Sometimes in life the biggest obstacle to overcome is yourself. The fact that he's had to work through his own issues makes him no less deserving than anyone else of our congratulations upon winning this award.

Agree 100% here.  He accepted his suspension and learned from it.  Steve D talked about it after the game as well.  Farmer and Baltimore got tangled up near the end of the game on Saturday and Farmer knee'd Baltimore in the face apparently.  I didn't see it and I'm not taking sides but the refs thought it a big enough deal that Farmer was given a flagrant foul and ejected from the game.  Baltimore just walked away.  I don't think he would have done that in the past.

As for not posting anything about his POtW honor...I knew he was in the running after the game he had vs Elmhurst, but assumed the 8 pt output vs. Millikin removed him from that conversation so much so that I didn't even check the CCIW website this week.

[Yogao]

If those two teams happen to tie for first place... which team would host the tournament?

Or what if there's a three-way or four-way tie?  If head-to-head results and best record against #3, #4 (and so on) still result in a deadlock, then what are the remaining tiebreakers?

As Ryan said, the tiebreaker formula is now behind an administrative wall on the CCIW website. But we've posted it on CCIW Chat countless times over the years. Here it is:

Men's & Women's Basketball
Seeding will be determined by regular season finish. Ties are broken by the following:

1. Head-to-head competition.
2. Record against team(s) above the tie beginning with the highest ranked team.
3. Record vs. team or teams in 3 rd place. If still tied, go to the next place for determination, et cetera.
4. Road record against conference schools.
5. Record in their last seven conference games.
6. The point spread of the tied teams' head-to head competition.
7. Coin toss

Let's say Augustana beats North Central at home on Wednesday, and otherwise the top three team win out.  North Central, Augustana and Elmhurst would all be 13-3.  North Central swept Elmhurst and the other matchups were split 1-1.  Would this make North Central the top seed for the conference tournament? 

(modified by GS for formatting)

Elmhurst already has 4 conference loses: NC x2, Augie on the road and Carthage at home.

[augie77]

You're right.  I'd forgotten about Elmhurst's loss to Carthage.

[Titan Q]

IWU has lost starting PG Luke Yoder for the rest of the season with a broken hand.

Luke is a stud who was playing extremely well. I think he had a good chance to make the 1st Team All-CCIW.

Huge blow for the Titans.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Thank goodness IWU is Guard U, right? If not for all that stockpiling of guards, what would the Titans do right now. Am I right? [/sarcasm]

[iwu70]

Very sad about Yoder.  He's played so so well, esp. for a freshman.  Great future with IWU.

Assume that means Noe steps in, perhaps Schumacher playing PG? 

Very tough loss -- Wolfe and now Yoder.  Grim.

Titans have to suck it up and play on . . . still more important games to be played. 

IWU'70