MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[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.

As it turns out, North Park did move ahead of Wash U and finish #2 in the final ranking for Region 8. Wash U is hosting the pod instead of North Park for geographic reasons; Wash U is the only team located within 500 miles of Sewanee that is a viable host (i.e., put in a bid and is ranked high enough in its region to merit hosting selection). So North Park will actually be playing the #4 seed (Sewanee), while Wash U will play the #3 seed (Coe).

WUPHF will no doubt want me to point out that turnabout is fair play, so I will oblige: this exact same scenario happened in reverse a year and a half ago. In men's soccer, Wash U was ranked higher in the region than was North Park, and therefore deserved to host an opening-weekend pod. However, the men's soccer national committee needed a hosting site within 500 miles of two geographical outliers (Carleton and UW-Superior), and North Park was the only realistic option. Therefore, Wash U was the official host of a pod played at North Park and got to play the lowest seed (UW-Superior) while North Park had to play #3 Carleton.

[Gregory Sager]

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.

The CCIW tournament has only existed since 2006.

As for no one currently associated with the program being a part of things the last time NPU won the conference (which was 2017) ... well, define "associated with the program."

[Gregory Sager]

New poll is out:

* Wheaton drops from #6 to #9
* North Park makes its first poll appearance since 2017, entering the poll at #19
* Elmhurst scrapes in near the bottom of the ORV list with 3 points

In terms of next weekend's opponents and possible opponents:

* Wash U is #18, one spot ahead of likely Saturday opponent North Park
* Carleton, which would meet Wheaton in King Arena on Saturday if Friday's favorites triumph, is #21
* Wheaton's opponent on Friday, Illinois College, is in the upper half of the ORV pack with 19 points

https://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2022-23/week13

[WUPHF]

As it turns out, North Park did move ahead of Wash U and finish #2 in the final ranking for Region 8. Wash U is hosting the pod instead of North Park for geographic reasons; Wash U is the only team located within 500 miles of Sewanee that is a viable host (i.e., put in a bid and is ranked high enough in its region to merit hosting selection). So North Park will actually be playing the #4 seed (Sewanee), while Wash U will play the #3 seed (Coe).

Do you have a source, Greg?

The Regional Rankings as developed by the committee are still from February 19 on ncaa.com.  I am not sure that we can draw that conclusion from the data sheets alone.

[Gregory Sager]

The date is wrong on ncaa.com. Look at the W-L records of the teams listed. #1 Wheaton is 22-4, #2 North Park is 22-5, #3 Wash U is 19-6, #4 Elmhurst is 18-10, etc. Despite what the page says, it's the Feb. 26 ranking, not the Feb. 19 ranking.

[sac]

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.

As it turns out, North Park did move ahead of Wash U and finish #2 in the final ranking for Region 8. Wash U is hosting the pod instead of North Park for geographic reasons; Wash U is the only team located within 500 miles of Sewanee that is a viable host (i.e., put in a bid and is ranked high enough in its region to merit hosting selection). So North Park will actually be playing the #4 seed (Sewanee), while Wash U will play the #3 seed (Coe).

WUPHF will no doubt want me to point out that turnabout is fair play, so I will oblige: this exact same scenario happened in reverse a year and a half ago. In men's soccer, Wash U was ranked higher in the region than was North Park, and therefore deserved to host an opening-weekend pod. However, the men's soccer national committee needed a hosting site within 500 miles of two geographical outliers (Carleton and UW-Superior), and North Park was the only realistic option. Therefore, Wash U was the official host of a pod played at North Park and got to play the lowest seed (UW-Superior) while North Park had to play #3 Carleton.

It actually happened to WashU in reverse in 2017 when Hope hosted the 4 team pod with Ripon/WashU/Oshkosh.  WashU couldn't host because their women were hosting but they were the higher seed.

[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.

The CCIW tournament has only existed since 2006.

As for no one currently associated with the program being a part of things the last time NPU won the conference (which was 2017) ... well, define "associated with the program."

I actually forgot North Park won in 2017.   

[WUPHF]

It actually happened to WashU in reverse in 2017 when Hope hosted the 4 team pod with Ripon/WashU/Oshkosh.  WashU couldn't host because their women were hosting but they were the higher seed.

Not exactly the same situation, but it has happened to Washington University more than a few times over the years.

[WUPHF]

The date is wrong on ncaa.com. Look at the W-L records of the teams listed. #1 Wheaton is 22-4, #2 North Park is 22-5, #3 Wash U is 19-6, #4 Elmhurst is 18-10, etc. Despite what the page says, it's the Feb. 26 ranking, not the Feb. 19 ranking.

Thanks Greg!

I thought I could trust the first data point at ncaa.com but obviously not.

[Pat Coleman]

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.

Sure they did. They won the CCIW tournament.

[GoPerry]

And Wheaton is going to have to find a way to overcome the loss of Eli Considine, the team's best interior defender.

Sounds like you have good knowledge that Considine is definitely out Greg?  I've been thinking for several weeks that the Thunder could go pretty deep into March.  Losing a starter like Considine, if true, is a huge blow to those chances of even getting through this weekend. 

I"m not sure how Mike Schauer replaces 31 mins/g.  Probably the combo of Connor Braun and Nate Sock will really need to step up.  I'm hoping that Cruickshank is full strength, although few are physically 100% this late.

[markerickson]

A quick bit of research on the Vikings opponent, Sewanee.  Two (Kahl-16.4ppg and Marr-21.4ppg) earned 1st team AC. Two (Corrigan-11.4ppg and Avaliani-10.6ppg) earned HM.

Sewanee got hot in its conference championship game, shooting 56/39/88%.  Marr and Kahl accounted for 58 of 86 points.  The above-listed four scored 81 of 86 in the victory over #1 seeded Berry in which only eight Sewanee players saw action.  Thus, four players totaled five points.

I am befuddled that the NCAA sent Cal-Lutheran to New Jersey (Rowan hosting).  What a nightmare of a trip!!

[lmitzel]

I am befuddled that the NCAA sent Cal-Lutheran to New Jersey (Rowan hosting).  What a nightmare of a trip!!

The NCAA was going to put them on a plane regardless. Since they're on an island the committee was able to ship them pretty much anywhere they needed to. Doesn't negate your point that that's a nightmare of a trip, to be sure, but there's a reason for it.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I talked to one west coast coach who says his team is super excited about the travel.  Obviously a long day to get there, but it's a new experience and they're used to traveling anyway.

[Gregory Sager]

And Wheaton is going to have to find a way to overcome the loss of Eli Considine, the team's best interior defender.

Sounds like you have good knowledge that Considine is definitely out Greg?

100% positive that he's done. I'm not an athletic trainer, nor do I play one on TV, but after watching countless basketball games over the years I've learned how to read the evidence when a player gets hurt. Even before I had it confirmed, there were plenty of tell-tale indicators from Friday night that made me strongly suspect that Considine had played his last game in a Wheaton uni.

I feel badly for him. Nothing's worse than to see a senior go down like that just when his team is entering the postseason.

I've been thinking for several weeks that the Thunder could go pretty deep into March.  Losing a starter like Considine, if true, is a huge blow to those chances of even getting through this weekend. 

I"m not sure how Mike Schauer replaces 31 mins/g.  Probably the combo of Connor Braun and Nate Sock will really need to step up.  I'm hoping that Cruickshank is full strength, although few are physically 100% this late.

I don't see what choice Mike has other than to lean upon Braun and Sock. You're totally right; they're going to have to raise their level of play immediately, because they've both been pretty marginal players for Wheaton this season.

I'm convinced that if Tyson Cruickshank has at least two semi-functional arms, two semi-functional legs, and a semi-functional head, he'll be out there for at least 35-36 minutes in every game that Wheaton has left. A guy like Cruickshank does not go down unless he goes down fighting.

Right now TJ Askew is playing at an extremely high level for Wheaton. I'm not sure that Wheaton can afford for him to come down from that level for even one game. Regardless, I still think that Wheaton is probably going to get by Illinois College on Friday -- although it's not a foregone conclusion -- and they're at least a push against a very formidable Carleton team on Saturday.

I'm never going to underestimate a Mike Schauer team, but by the standards of a top-seeded host Wheaton has a tougher row to hoe than usual this weekend.