MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[bluemom]

There are many what if?  And I have posed a few myself.  But what I keep coming back to is that this next Wednesday's games are the "tell all".  Let me pose my questions:

1.      We know that Wesleyan has the talent to be No. 1 and win it all.
         They are however, "on-the-ropes" for whatever reasons.  Augie
         seems to play up to their opponents potential and win the close
          ones.  But given where they are right now, I find it hard to even
         think that IWU will NOT win in Rock Island.   As much as I hate
         listening to the greenies boast over their team's success every year,
         this is
         one time in which i must wear green and sit in the IWU Student
         section, or given my age, sit in the stands with my "ben-gay" in hand!

         On the other sie, Augie as it has been said, "backed into the
         championship," so this game is the only way that they can legitimize
         their crown.
                                           Its IWU!

         2.   Can Elmhurst take care of business on their home floor?  There
          is no let down because of their position as a result of this wkd losses,
          because it is Senior Night, and I don't think that these Seniors are
          wanting to leave home on a loss!  Although NCC has some excellent
          talent, a good coach, they also have a short bench, which in playing in 
          Fanagel I feel that the stripes, the speed of play by Elmhurst, etc. requires
          bench help and bench points.  In all my years there, I have only seen one
          or two teams take the Blue Jays from their style of play while playing at
          Fanagel.  Granted I have missed a few home games this year, and 
          Augie played their own game against E-hurst at Fanagel, NCC.....  I don't
          see it in my cloudy crystal ball.   (There again, givem the history of these
two teams. call it in overtime!) 

                                             Its Elmhurst!

         3.  Can Wheaton beat Millikin in Decatur?  I can't handicap this one at
               all.  I don't know which Millikin will show up.  iF Wheaton wins, then its 
               a legitimate game of "What ifs" for us to debate. 

I can't look ahead of this Wednesday, just like I  look past this last Saturday and totally missed good discussions on whether Wheaton could stay with IWU, lowly ()  Carthage over NCC at NCC...  Millikin-Augustana.....

Whomever plays wherever, this weekend has taught teams not to look ahead.  I just hope that they are listening as tantilizing as our discussion are of the what if's and the rewards of what ifs' might bring!  If anything I just wonder how teams are going to handle the aftermath of this weekend, and will of will it not affect any play Wednesday nite?

After Wednesday granted, our discussion may only be on seeding, but there again, if IWU beats Augie, E-hurst holds serve (or even if they don't ) with NCC, and the biggie...Wheaton steals one in Decatur, then the race is on and our what ifs scenarios are all possibillities----real possibilities!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hey don't worry too much guys, the NESCAC killed itself this weekend too.  They went from 4, maybe 5 down to 2 maybe three.  Throw in a tournament and it will be the #2 schools from the small conference taking all the Pool C bids and not the big conference fighting over them.

[Johnny Augie]

On the other sie, Augie as it has been said, "backed into the
championship," so this game is the only way that they can legitimize
their crown.

Some keep mentioning that Augie "backed" into the championship by other teams losing last Saturday.  It almost seems as though a lot of people didn't think they deserved it.

In order to win a conference championship, you must have the best record in conference.  Augie has the best record right now and with one more win they are #1 all by themselves.  I consider that winning a very competitive CCIW conference, not "backing" in.  That itself should legitimize their crown.

[thunderwearer]

There has been talk about there being something wrong with IWU but no one knows what it is.  I have an Idea about that.

To me IWU entered Saturdays game with a buisness mentality.  Sometimes a buisness mentality is good, but IWU played with no heart and it seemed as if they were going through the motions.  For example, how many times did Trost stand there and berate his team for not talking on the defensive end.  There was only one player that I heard talk for IWU on the court and it was Steve Schweer (the player who called out his teammates).  With less than 2 minutes gone in the game Wheaton was up 10-5 and Trost called a timeout for the sole purpose of getting his team to talk.  To me it didn't work and looking back at the game it was as if IWU was playing with out emotion.  Wheaton on the other hand played with all the emotion they could muster up.  You could see that they believed they would win.  After a time out during the run to take the lead I saw Johnnie Standard sit down waving his towel with a smile that said that we had take the lead by 10 points even though we were still a couple points behind.  If IWU wants to make a run in the tourney, they better start playing with the kind of emotion that their coach is trying to instill in them.

Side note, did anyone else get a laugh out of looking at Trost when he was yelling at IWU with his black suit and his sparkling white sneakers.  I realize that it was Coaches against Cancer week and I thought it was awesome that D3 coaches are getting into the act, but it was still a bit odd and for some reason I could not take his ranting seriously when I looked at him (maybe thats why IWU wasn't listening to him either).

Just my two cents.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Q can answer this better, probably, than anyone, but I wonder how much the four years of hype and pressure are weighing on the IWU squad right now.  "Business mentality" tends to signify a team that feels it has to win every game.  At this point, they do need to win every game, but I can imagine its a lot less fun when your four years are coming to an end and the championship that was practically given to you three seasons ago hasn't materialized yet.  I'm not sure any group of kids has had higher expectations placed on them in recent years.  We all know the talent is there, but if its just not that fun anymore, it explains they way they've been playing.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Number 1 sign the CCIW has gone crazy:

Millikin has only three wins - all three are against top-half teams!

[heatherfeather24]

I, too, was at the IWU/Wheaton game on Saturday.  I don't have anything to add from a pure basketball perspective, but I did want to note that I was really impressed with how both teams conducted themselves after the game.

In my IWU years, it seemd as though the IWU/Wheaton rivalry was getting ugly.  There was no trace of that on Saturday night.  I was particularly impressed that the Wheaton players came to shake hands even in the midst of the student celebration.

Coach Harris and his team are clearly quality people.

[Stat]

Yes, Wheaton always has been class and quality.

Augie backed in! (I like saying that)

From the posts, I must surmise the greenies are playing tight, with Trost only getting them tighter. 

[79jaybird]

I don't feel that Augie "backed into" their current position.  They ( like the other 7 schools) won games that they should have and lost some games they shouldn't have.  Fact is, there record is a touch better than the 2nd and 3rd place teams and that is all that matters.
Wild Wednesday is coming!  Basically a judgement day for a couple of teams.
Bluemom-- Senior Day yes, but I have seen Elmhurst blow too many games that they should have won in both bball and football.  Where they had leads late.  I think EC should have some extra momentum on their side, but they still need to get the job done!  Here's hoping

[augie_superfan]

Did the Wheaton players shake hands with the Augie players after the game Wed.?

[sac]

Mr Prikkel gets an A+

Senioritis,...............I was walking around after a Hope game a couple weeks ago and most of the post game conversations were about job fairs, recruiters and interviews.

Priorities are different for Sr's at this stage in life.

[Brick]

Augie
no they did not

[iwumichigander]

Wow, four CCIW teams in the Top 25 this week through games 2/12/06
Top 25                                                QOWI
9 Augustana              20-3 391 3               10.700  (12)
10 Illinois Wesleyan   18-4 378 7                  10.471  (17)
21 North Central        18-5 136 15                09.353  (71)   
25 Elmhurst               16-7 74 —                   09.421 (64)

Updated men's QOWI through Sunday, the ones that will be used in this week's regional rankings (and please note these are 1) from Pat Coleman's post and 2) a team short in 11 - 20 grouping.

Looks like the voters have continued high regard for the CCIW  despite what we CCIW posters may post-up through our various tints of CCIW glasses!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Pat clarified that (QOWI) #20 NYU had been omitted - the rankings are still as listed.

[dansand]

On the other sie, Augie as it has been said, "backed into the
championship," so this game is the only way that they can legitimize
their crown.

Some keep mentioning that Augie "backed" into the championship by other teams losing last Saturday.  It almost seems as though a lot of people didn't think they deserved it.

In order to win a conference championship, you must have the best record in conference.  Augie has the best record right now and with one more win they are #1 all by themselves.  I consider that winning a very competitive CCIW conference, not "backing" in.  That itself should legitimize their crown.

I think Pat needs to add a "sour grapes" emoticon. While I'm disappointed about their performance this past week, Augie hasn't backed into anything. Their share of the title is already legitimate, and if they win one of their final two, their outright title will be just as legitimate. Let's look at the three other contenders' record against the Vikings this year...0-4.

Nobody, myself included, thought anyone but IWU would win the regular season title and host the CCIW tournament this year, and I'm glad to admit I was wrong. I'll be hugely disappointed if they don't finish strong, but what's done is done and they've earned at least a share of the regular season title by gutting out tough wins earlier in the season, in some cases against teams that I think have more talent.