MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[David Collinge]

I know this would probably be a giant list, but does anyone have a list of all the potential Pool C teams?

I suggest you look in the Pool C room for several takes on this question.

[TheHerr]

I know this would probably be a giant list, but does anyone have a list of all the potential Pool C teams?

I suggest you look in the Pool C room for several takes on this question.

Or I could have paid attention to Titan Q's information from yesterday. Sorry.

[ecdubb420]

Rob Strzemp has sat out the past two games indicating that Scherer maybe looking to "redshirt" the sophomore forward. 
If the 1/3 rule still applies (Strzemp has played 7 games), is it possible for Rob to continue playing as long as that threshold isn't broken?

[Titan Q]

Titan Q - I know it has been said before, but it is worth saying again;
Thank you for all your detailed work that you share with this board.  It is greatly appreciated by most of us!
CoeB'ball

Gregory, Titan Q, as usual, thanks for the information.  You two and everyone else have really allowed me to furthur my D3 education and attempt to sound semi-intelligent.

You are very welcome...my pleasure.

[AndOne]

Andone I did not say ONU is the main competition for EC.  I was posting is as a "hypothetical" if the final pool C spot boiled down to ONU or EC.

OK----I just read it wrong---sorry

[rknuppel]

So can tickets for tomorrow be bought at the door?  Or are they needed in advance?  Planning on attending my first ever CCIW conference tournament so should be exciting.  Anyone else from CCIW Chat going?

[diehardfan]

Does anyone know if they are doing video of the games? Apparently not?

I am still kicking myself for not buying a ticket when they were a mere 180 dollars. Definitely will be listening though... Cheer for Wheaton for me Ryan! Oh wait......

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst finishes 20-4 in the regular season which is close to the Bluejays school record of 21-4 that was under the Ryan Knuppel's Sweet 16 (2001) team.

Actually, the Bluejays concluded the regular season with a 20-5 record. Their five losses were at the hands of Simpson, Wheaton, Augustana, Millikin, and North Central.

So if Ohio Northern and Elmhurst were battling for a Pool C bid, I guess I have a question here.  ONU has 7 regional losses, Elmhurst would have 5 (if they were to lose 1 more game) I would think Elmhurst with 2 less losses, would have the go over ONU?

No. First of all, as I said above, Elmhurst has five regional losses. A loss in the CCIW tourney final would give the 'jays a 17-6 regional record heading into Selection Sunday. Second, it's not regional losses per se that are the issue; it's regional winning percentage with which you need to be concerned. Ohio Northern's regional winning percentage is .667 (the Polar Bears are 14-7 in regional play), so they're not going anywhere near the dance. As I've said before, an Elmhurst win on Friday followed by a loss on Saturday would give the Bluejays a .739 regional winning percentage.

You can stick a fork in the Polar Bears. As Sac said, they're done.

[Gregory Sager]

This never occurred to me:  if the UAA is spread across 3 regions, then do some of their conference games NOT count as in-region games?  Seems crazy.  The composition of their conference seems to fly in the face of the spirit and stated intent of DIII, doesn't it?

It's even more dramatic than that. The UAA is spread across five regions, not three: Northeast (Brandeis), East (Rochester and NYU), South (Emory), Great Lakes (Case and Carnegie-Mellon), and Midwest (Chicago and Wash U).

Yes, the UAA does fly in the face of the spirit and stated intent of D3 ... literally, at about 35,000 feet every Friday morning and Sunday evening. However, the UAA schools are eight of America's most elite and exclusive universities, so I think it's a given that their student-athletes are capable of handling their studies in spite of their distinctly un-D3ish regimen of airports and hotels during the conference season. I don't think anyone in D3 is worried that the time UAA student-athletes spend away from their respective campuses will create adverse effects upon their schoolwork.

[Gregory Sager]

When you think that the WIAC has only been playing D III since the mid- 80's, their run is more impressive.

The WIAC has only been playing in D3 as a league for less than two decades, but UW-Whitewater was a D3 national power long before the rest of the league joined them in our ranks. The Warhawks first participated in the D3 tourney in 1983, and finished fourth nationally, and then won it all the next year. Nor were they the only team from what was then called the WSUC to participate in D3 under the status of an independent; UW-Milwaukee, which was also a member of the league back then, participated in the 1982 D3 tournament as an at-large independent.

[Gregory Sager]

I've only made it to a handful of games this year, the good news for Carthage is the future looks very bright. Higgins and Fendley got 3 more years, and if Bowens can play another full season that would be huge. With Bosko's son coming in (he is truly going to be something special in this league) Carthage should be very competitive over the next 3 seasons. They need to find another post player, hopefully they can land a few solid recruits for down low.

Carthage could definitely use a couple of post players who can play immediately at the CCIW level, and the Red Men desperately need one of them to fill Schlemm's shoes as the go-to big man. I don't see Francisevic filling those shoes.

I've heard great things about Steve Djurickovic's abilities, too. He certainly has the cager's bloodlines and the coach's-kid pedigree, on both sides. His mother, my North Park '83 classmate Becky Johnson Djurickovic, is one of the all-time greatest women's basketball players in NPU history, and is both a member of NPU's Viking Club Hall of Fame and a former Vikings coach with a CCIW women's basketball title to her coaching credit. From what I'm told by impartial observers, Steve Djurickovic could be able to step in immediately and take on a big role for the Red Men next season. Higgins, Fendley, and Bowens are proven commodities. But doughnut teams don't go far in this league -- and right now Carthage looks like a doughnut team in 2007-08, unless Bosko can rope in some big men in the off-season.

Bosko's postgame comments last night were unusually candid with regard to the Red Men's talent level: "This has been a fun team. I've enjoyed working with them, and they've given me everything they've had. They competed to the very, very end. The lifeblood of college sports is recruiting. We have nice players, but we don't have good enough players. We need size, and we need better players to be able to get back to the level we want to be at."

Sounds like he's a little less optimistic about his current roster than are some of the Carthage fans.

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like if you want to make it to the big dance, you better win your tournament. I think will even suprise Coach Sherer who said last night after the game he felt Elmhurst was just one win away.

I have no idea why Mark Scherer would say such a thing. The numbers don't add up for Elmhurst to support that statement of his.

[John Gleich]

The WIAC only became the WIAC in July 1996... before that, the women and men technically competed in different conferences... the men in the WSUC (Wisconsin State University Conference), like GS said, and the WWIAC (Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference).  The entire conference was techincally an NAIA conference, but some teams, notable Whitewater and Platteville (and also, I believe Oshkosh) had duel membership, as Whitewater won the aforementioned D-3 National Championships in 1984 and 1989, and Platteville won in '91 and '95, before the conference itself switched over.

Whitewater appeared in NCAA tournaments in: 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96.  They have also appeared as WIAC representatives in 97 and 06.

Platteville appeares in NCAA tournaments in 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96.  They also appeared as WIAC reps in 97, 98, and 99.

Oshkosh appeared in 96.  Also appeared as WIAC rep in 97, 98, 02, 03.

EC appeared as WIAC rep in 00 and 01

Stevens Point in 97, 00, 03, 04, 05

Stout in 06

La Crosse in 06

See this here

... Interestingly, though Milwaukee was a conference memeber at the time, they aren't listed on that page... thought the page is listed as WIAC in the NCAA tournament...

[Gregory Sager]

79jay----

Are you sure Ohio Northern is EC's main competition for a Pool C bid?

WC & NCC already had to win the CCIW tourney to advance to the nationals. Now its looking like EC has been pushed into the same boat by today's NCAA ruling.

Elmhurst's QOWI, regional ranking, and regional winning percentage had already pushed them into that boat prior to the NCAA memo, AO. The memo simply assigned them an oar.

... Interestingly, though Milwaukee was a conference memeber at the time, they aren't listed on that page... thought the page is listed as WIAC in the NCAA tournament...

I wouldn't be surprised if UW-Beertown has been all-but-forgotten as a league member by those in charge of the WIAC webpage.

Rob Strzemp has sat out the past two games indicating that Scherer maybe looking to "redshirt" the sophomore forward. 
If the 1/3 rule still applies (Strzemp has played 7 games), is it possible for Rob to continue playing as long as that threshold isn't broken?

Yes, the 1/3rd rule still applies, at least as far as I can tell from the hardship-waiver (i.e., "medical redshirt") rules in section 14.2.5 of the D3 bylaws. However, note that junior-varsity participation also counts towards a player's season total. I know that you said at some point that Strzemp was taking part in Bluejays JV games. Depending upon for how many JV games he suited up and was in the book, he might already be past the 1/3rd limit.

[Gregory Sager]

In the spirit of basketball, I hope we have some great games this weekend.  Also, I'm hoping the CCIW gets more than one team in the tourney or else this site could get interesting.

Gregory, Titan Q, as usual, thanks for the information.  You two and everyone else have really allowed me to furthur my D3 education and attempt to sound semi-intelligent.

"The Division III championship philosophy is to field the most competitive teams possible while minimizing missed class time; to emphasize regional competition in regular-season scheduling; and to provide representation in NCAA championship competition by allocating berths to eligible conferences, independent institutions and a limited number of at-large teams, realizing that this may be done at the expense of leaving out some championship-caliber teams."

This is shocking.  I agree with the purpose, but disagree with how its enacted.
Something makes me think that robbing a student athlete the chance of having what could easily be his/her greatest athletic moment for the sake of a few days of missed classes or two needs to be re-evaluated. 
A day of missed classes can easily be made up, but missing out on a chance of playing for a chance of calling yourselves the best team in the land CANNOT be replaced.
Academics should come first, but knowing how professors operate, I think they would be willing to accomidate for a team being ambassadors of the school and taking time off to play in a tournament elsewhere.  Those same professors have no problems with bands going on trips, Student Government reps from going to conferences, or the hundreds of other SCHOOL sponsored trips during the school year that takes many kids away from school for several days. 
Schools should be able to govern themselves and be mindful that these trips are great ways of exposing their school to new students, recruits as well as giving many athletes an opportunity to travel when they would not usually be able too.
I know people will rip me apart for this (keep in mind, I'm not a student and know much more than most students and alums about the infrastructure of small schools), but knowing how simple it is to make up work and also  work out special accomidations with professors, the way D3 decides its tournaments needs to be revisited.

Would I be arguing this as heated if EC weren't on the hot seat, that is unknown, but being an extremely passionate person. I'd venture to say Yes.
PS: I would love to know who is on this board that decides these rules.  Additional response will follow based on said individuals.

You're welcome for the info. As for your rant about students missing class time under special circumstances ... well said. I agree 100%.