MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Here is where the CCIW teams stack up nationally in terms of strength of schedule per Massey...

Augustana (9)
Illinois Wesleyan (31)
Wheaton (77)
North Central (83)
Carthage (108)
Elmhurst (197)
Millikin (247)
North Park (321)

http://www.mratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&sub=III&mid=1

And here is how Massey rates the league right now...

#4 Augustana
#15 Elmhurst
#22 Wheaton
#109 Illinois Wesleyan
#132 Millikin
#161 Carthage
#168 North Park
#199 North Central

Massey certainly agrees with most here that it's a 3-team race.

[Late nite]

No records, just a few comments:

1.  Augie----Still the team to beat
2.  Wheaton----Top player and coach make them a serious threat
3.  Elmhurst----One more consistent scorer needed
4.  North Central----Can score, defense will tell their story
5.  IWU----Better than expected
6.  Carthage----Always an unknown
7.  North Park----Pygmies in the paint
8.  Millikin----Like the Cubs, wait until next year

[April]

Vegas is Disneyland... Chuck E Cheese... all rolled into one. 

Oh really? So its safe to take my theoretical small children there?

Theoretical children can be taken ANYWHERE... You usually don't hear a thing from them and they're really not as impressionable as one might think...!

AHH! Hi John! Good to see you! How is the extremely awesome wife?

[AndOne]

No records, just a few comments:

1.  Augie----Still the team to beat
2.  Wheaton----Top player and coach make them a serious threat
3.  Elmhurst----One more consistent scorer needed
4.  North Central----Can score, defense will tell their story
5.  IWU----Better than expected
6.  Carthage----Always an unknown
7.  North Park----Pygmies in the paint
8.  Millikin----Like the Cubs, wait until next year

LATE-----

I don't necessarily agree with your rankings, but heck, its anyone's guess at this juncture so why argue?

I must say, that back in October when I thought about the CCIW rankings initially, I had EC #1 as I felt Ruch & Burks were better than Augie's 1-2 punch. However, I didn't know the EC guard play would be so--is "uninspired" a good word?---or that Augie's defense would be as formidable. I also had Wheaton #5 as I was not overly impressed with anyone but Raymond, and I thought if you could hold him down just a little, his supporting cast couldn't beat you. However, I didn't yet know about the development-both physically & talent wise---of Wiele.
I also had NPU #3 due mainly to a ton of great athleticism--run fast, jump high, shoot straight.

As I said, its anyone's guess right now. Rather than rank the teams, I'll just add some additional comments (in italics) from my insights to date. I'll go in the same order as Late did.

1.  Augie----Still the team to beat. How will they fill the gap left by Delp's injury and will Swetalla play up to his potential?
2.  Wheaton----Top player and coach make them a serious threat. What happens when Raymond and Wiele don't both have a good game?
3.  Elmhurst----One more consistent scorer needed. Same as what Late says plus they need a PG who can take care of the ball and get it to the scorers before turning it over.
4.  North Central----Can score, defense will tell their story. Improved defense will certainly be needed, but the main thing that will tell the story is whether or not the Cardinals can avoid being bitten again by the injury bug, and whether any largely unknown qantity can step up and provide some depth.
5.  IWU----Better than expected. So many freshmen in prominent roles. Possibly better than expected, but with their tradition, SO MUCH is expected.
6.  Carthage----Always an unknown. They can set the nets on fire from outside. Will their inside players make any contribution, or just help put out the fires?
7.  North Park----Pygmies in the paint. I would have chosen another word besides "pygmies." Whatever they are, they're awfully talented and athletic. Can they get a quarterback, and can they play together as a cohesive unit?
8.  Millikin----Like the Cubs, wait until next year. An unknown quantity that will probably surprise in at least a few instances.

[Titan Q]

Pantagraph piece on IWU vs North Central...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/01/09/usports/doc47845dd05b855734177924.txt

Monday, the Daily Herald said:

"North Central: The men's basketball team hopes to have injured top scorer and rebounder Chris Drennan back for Wednesday's CCIW opener against Illinois Wesleyan."

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=108736&src=289

Having Drennan back would certainly be big for NCC.

[cardinalfanrochelle]

 

Well it looks like the Cardinals may have been bitten by the injury bug again, maybe not a bite but a nibble. We will see how it plays out tonight @ IWU  

[sac]

2.  Wheaton----Top player and coach make them a serious threat. What happens when Raymond and Wiele don't both have a good game?

Hope 83 Wheaton 53

[armywife]

Greg, are you planning on attending the Augustana at North Park game this evening, or is that a silly question? I will be checking the in-game update board to follow that game. I am anxious to see how Augie plays in their conference games,especially after losing a key starter.

My daughter, now a freshman at UMHB, called me and woke me up to tell me that she had just come from the double overtime win that UMHB had last night over Concordia Texas. I think she is hooked on D3 basketball already. She had a great fall cheering the Cru's football team on as they ended up 3rd in the nation.

With Augie ranked 6th and UMHB ranked 7th, it should be an interesting basketball season.

[augiefan]

I do not think the ranking services have taken into account the loss of Jordan Delp in assessing Augie's chances. With Jordan out for the season, Elmhurst is the prohibitive favorite going into conference play. Too bad an injury put a damper on what would be a great matchup going into Saturday's game at Rock Island.

Augie will be pretty rusty tonight going into conference play at NPU. I hope they are ready for the challenge that a good NPU will present for them. The other Vikings on the road are not be my first choice to open Augie's conference drive.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg, are you planning on attending the Augustana at North Park game this evening, or is that a silly question?

Yes and yes.

I do not think the ranking services have taken into account the loss of Jordan Delp in assessing Augie's chances.

Massey doesn't take such things into consideration, because it's simply a computer abstract that's based upon game results to date. But I would agree that the d3hoops.com Top 25 currently has Augustana too high in light of the loss of Delp.

With Jordan out for the season, Elmhurst is the prohibitive favorite going into conference play.

I don't agree with this. I don't see a prohibitive favorite in the CCIW this season, because every team in the league is flawed in some way -- Elmhurst included. Many of us have spoken at length about the backcourt woes of the Bluejays; while the 'jays are one of the favorites, a team with a suspect backcourt isn't really fit to be the favorite. It's a wide-open race, as far as I'm concerned.

Augie will be pretty rusty tonight going into conference play at NPU. I hope they are ready for the challenge that a good NPU will present for them. The other Vikings on the road are not be my first choice to open Augie's conference drive.

I'm not buying the "pretty rusty" excuse. Are you surprised by that? I'd rather be coming off of a long rest than coming off of a horrific performance at home last Saturday against a bad team. NPU is not in a good place right now with regard to starting the conference season, and this is a particularly bad matchup with which to start things off for the Park. The other Vikings, either at home or in Rock Island, are not my first choice to open North Park's conference drive.

[augiefan]

Martie (and others),

You should be able to listen to the Augie game on line tonight with our own Dansand as the color commentator, unless he's out camaigning for Ron Paul. Try to link up to:

http://www.audiosportsline.net/Augustana/Basketball.htm

Hope this works for you Martie.

Augie

[Viking Blue]

Consider me even more blue--I was really looking forward to calling the game tonight at the Crackerbox, but my voice has mysteriously disappeared.  Hope it's a good one and look forward to checking the in-game updates.

I know it's only game one, but the general feeling swirling around North Park seems to be very grim these days.  I have a sense that the way the Chicago squad comes out tonight may have a very big effect on their overall confidence and, in the long run, their ability to either be a player in this race, or fade away quickly.

And again, I KNOW it's only one game.  But it should be interesting to see how things play out...

[tjcummingsfan]

augieffan,

The link doesn't lead anywhere.

[Viking Blue]

 I checked out the Augustana radio site, and got linked to NPR.

[armywife]

Thanks for the info Augiefan, I don't think I'll be able to listen in, but I will check the updates.  Go Vikings!! The Augie Vikings of coarse.