MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[markerickson]

I have previously admitted my ignorance on this board regarding offensive and defensive schemes.  Yes, I love that NPU plays man-to-man ala the Bosko years when I sauntered into the NPC gym, expecting victory.  Bosko told me after one game he too likes that Coach Smith utilizes the man-to-man because, "That's the way I was taught."  I know the pick and roll, but not much other designed O plays...what I can do is ID talent.  Elmhurst did not get the ball enough to Zapinski.

I sat with friends at the Carroll game and told them to watch the guy with (I forgot the color) shoes.  Kolden V. shot something like 0-11 as NP squeaked out an ugly victory.  While sitting with the same friends, NP shot the trey poorly in the first half against Elmhurst, and Pumphrey had to exit with three fouls.  Despite the shooting woes, the teams went to regroup at halftime with the score tied.

Pumphrey did not pick up his fourth until late and EC shot the trey poorly in the second half. NP's trey percentage ticked up while the D remained stout the entire game.  You live by the three, you die by the three.  NP has an inside presence, notably Marquis Jackson, that needs to keep the opponent honest.

Lots of bandwagon alumni in attendance who probably had not seen the Vikings in many, many years.  IF the Vikings host, 1st Ward Alderman and NPU alum will need to talk to his colleague 39th Ward Alderperson to keep the CFD at bay.

Finally, kudos to Adam Bulwa, a career role player (read: four year nonstarter) from New Trier HS who energized the Vikings to start the pullaway.  He definitely made an impact during his minutes and sparked the bench and crowd when he grabbed a rebound, dribbled confidently the length of the court, and made a finger roll layup in a crowd.  The heightened emotions were then on display.  No way was North Park gonna lose at that point.

[Gotberg]

Finally, kudos to Adam Bulwa, a career role player (read: four year nonstarter) from New Trier HS who energized the Vikings to start the pullaway.  He definitely made an impact during his minutes and sparked the bench and crowd when he grabbed a rebound, dribbled confidently the length of the court, and made a finger roll layup in a crowd.  The heightened emotions were then on display.  No way was North Park gonna lose at that point.

I appreciate many of the players that weathered the difficult recent years to enjoy this year's success, including the Boyd brothers.  It was nice to see them hoist the championship trophy and celebrate with their teammates.

[Gregory Sager]

IF the Vikings host, 1st Ward Alderman and NPU alum will need to talk to his colleague 39th Ward Alderperson to keep the CFD at bay.

In Chicago, the key word is always "clout".

Finally, kudos to Adam Bulwa, a career role player (read: four year nonstarter) from New Trier HS who energized the Vikings to start the pullaway.  He definitely made an impact during his minutes and sparked the bench and crowd when he grabbed a rebound, dribbled confidently the length of the court, and made a finger roll layup in a crowd.  The heightened emotions were then on display.  No way was North Park gonna lose at that point.

Bulwa has become North Park's designated crowd energizer. His three big dunks on Friday night against Carthage really got the decibel level up among the NPU faithful.

[Gregory Sager]

They should be, but I threw my arms in the air on that topic about a month ago.

But I'll bet a whole lot of Manito's corn that they will be come season's end.  Draw your own conclusions about what needs to happen for an unranked team to get ranked in the final poll.

I'm 100% sure that the Vikings will be ranked today. Where they'll be ranked, I don't know, but they will be ranked.

My barometer is the ballots of what I call "the transparent voters" -- the D3hoops.com Top 25 voters who post their ballots on Twitter each week. Of the transparent voters who have refused to put NPU on their ballots this season, I've already spotted two who have the Vikings 17th on this week's ballot, and another who has them 18th. I've only seen one transparent-voter refusenik continue to hold out on the Vikings on this week's ballot.

Of the two voters who were backing North Park in late December before the brief stumble of the loss to St. Mary's (MN), Bob Quillman has NPU all the way up to #10 on his ballot this week, and Benedictine SID/broadcaster Tim Calderwood has NPU #15.

Edit: Just spotted another refusenik's ballot who has made it clear that he's a refusenik no longer. He has the Park at #16 on his ballot.

[kiko]

They should be, but I threw my arms in the air on that topic about a month ago.

But I'll bet a whole lot of Manito's corn that they will be come season's end.  Draw your own conclusions about what needs to happen for an unranked team to get ranked in the final poll.

Almost certainly won't need to wait for the final poll. There's a poll on Monday.

They should be, but I threw my arms in the air on that topic about a month ago.

But I'll bet a whole lot of Manito's corn that they will be come season's end.  Draw your own conclusions about what needs to happen for an unranked team to get ranked in the final poll.

I'm 100% sure that the Vikings will be ranked today. Where they'll be ranked, I don't know, but they will be ranked.

My barometer is the ballots of what I call "the transparent voters" -- the D3hoops.com Top 25 voters who post their ballots on Twitter each week. Of the transparent voters who have refused to put NPU on their ballots this season, I've already spotted two who have the Vikings 17th on this week's ballot, and another who has them 18th. I've only seen one transparent-voter refusenik continue to hold out on the Vikings on this week's ballot.

Of the two voters who were backing North Park in late December before the brief stumble of the loss to St. Mary's (MN), Bob Quillman has NPU all the way up to #10 on his ballot this week, and Benedictine SID/broadcaster Tim Calderwood has NPU #15.

Edit: Just spotted another refusenik's ballot who has made it clear that he's a refusenik no longer. He has the Park at #16 on his ballot.

I didn't realize there would be a poll this week, since the games will decide things from here out.

I'm glad the Parkers are ranked now.  But let's be clear -- this is late.  They didn't show anything this past week that they haven't shown over the course of the past two months.  And as we know, I am anything but a NPU homer.

[USee]

North park on the road vs Sewanee in St Louis (WashU is host)

[mr_b]

North park on the road vs Sewanee in St Louis (WashU is host)

Interesting to see that Wash U, an at-large bid, is hosting, rather than an AQ team.

[USee]

Wheaton hosting vs Illinois College

Carleton v St Norbert is other game

[Gregory Sager]

North park on the road vs Sewanee in St Louis (WashU is host)

Interesting to see that Wash U, an at-large bid, is hosting, rather than an AQ team.

That's not an unusual occurrence at all. In fact, there are seven hosts this coming weekend that are Pool C teams: Wash U, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Stockton, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Wheaton, and St. Joseph (CT).

Hosting is all about regional ranking and geography, not the means by which you got into the field in the first place.

[Gregory Sager]

A lot of people -- including some of the D3 spreadsheet mavens on Twitter -- thought that North Park would host, but I always knew that it was a longshot. If Chicago hadn't coughed up a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds of the game against its archrival Wash U at Ratner on Saturday, it might've been a different story. But Wash U's one-point win over the Maroons meant that North Park wasn't going to move ahead of the Bears in the final Region 8 ranking, and Wheaton was simply too far out in front of both the Bears and the Vikings to lose that #1 spot in Region 8. And it's extremely implausible for a #3 seed in a region to host.

I was pretty sure that it would be UW-Oshkosh, Wheaton, and Wash U hosting from our neck of the woods, and that's how it played out. Actually, given this committee's predilection to send teams hither and yon regardless of the usual strictures regarding too many flights (unless you're from the Lone Star State), I'm just happy that the Vikings didn't get sent to Connecticut or New Jersey or Timbuktu.

[Gregory Sager]

Winning on the road in the Gateway City -- especially if, as expected, North Park has to face Wash U on Saturday in the Wash U Field House -- will be no picnic. But Wheaton doesn't necessarily have a weaker pod with which to contend, even though the Schauerites will be at home. Illinois College is not your typical MWC pushover, and don't sleep on Carleton -- the Knights are an impressive team. And Wheaton is going to have to find a way to overcome the loss of Eli Considine, the team's best interior defender.

[WUPHF]

A lot of people -- including some of the D3 spreadsheet mavens on Twitter -- thought that North Park would host, but I always knew that it was a longshot. If Chicago hadn't coughed up a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds of the game against its archrival Wash U at Ratner on Saturday, it might've been a different story. But Wash U's one-point win over the Maroons meant that North Park wasn't going to move ahead of the Bears in the final Region 8 ranking, and Wheaton was simply too far out in front of both the Bears and the Vikings to lose that #1 spot in Region 8. And it's extremely implausible for a #3 seed in a region to host.

The prognostications were based in part of the early conference play success of the Washington University Women who had shrugged off December losses to Platteville and Greenville to defeat No. 10 Chicago, No. 1 NYU and ultimately racked up a host of other quality league wins. 

The Bears were one of the Top 16 seeds just a week or so ago, but unfortunately lost a heartbreaker to UChicago and the 17-8 record was not enough to retain hosting privileges.

[deepthroat]

Not anyone here, of course, but some folks are taking the "NPU has never won the conference tournament championship" and thinking it means NPU has never won a conference championship.

[mr_b]

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts on the first-round matchups, North Park v Sewanee and Wheaton v Illinois College.

[sac]

Not anyone here, of course, but some folks are taking the "NPU has never won the conference tournament championship" and thinking it means NPU has never won a conference championship.

No one currently associated with the program has though, unless someone in the backrooms has been there 35 years.