MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[shawn]

Go Calvin beat Albion
i well be  at the game Calvin well win
the game

[Stinger]

britonbacker, I have to call you out on that one.  You and everyone else you were talking with behind albion's bench on saturday were at the Rolla Dome for practice from wed thru friday? It sounds to me that  RP told you  all personally he was going to have  the "hack a shaq" approach against Crawford.  Did I get that right?

Hmmm, RP wanted his starting  4 man and most athletic big man, Matt Kellogg to pick up 2 fouls in 3 minutes, and his 4th, 30 seconds into the second half?  Thats ridiculous.  And it's more ridiculous you and your fellow fans thought that was the case. Crawford gets away with most anything he wants to and gets more than his fair shake of calls.  He camps, he throws elbows, and, according to John Creek and Mike Maisner, he can do whatever the hell he wants to in the lane.

beat olivet

[David Collinge]

The problem I have with Wooster is that they have only played 2 real teams this year.  They lost to BW, who we know is good.  Other than that, the only team they really beat is Wittenberg [...]

Wooster also beat #13 UW-Stout (presently 18-5 and 1/2 game out of first in the WIAC) and New Jersey (17-6, leading the NJAC).  Wooster's schedule

which leads me to...

How good is Witt?  They haven't played anybody this year, other than beating Ohio Northern early in the year.  They have two losses to Wooster, which may or may not mean something.

Witt beat #23 Transylvania (19-4 and leading the HCAC), Tufts (19-5), Rochester (16-6 and 1 game behind CMU in the UAA), Ohio Northern (17-5, 2nd in OAC), and Cedarville (NAIA-II squad that is 16-9). Quite frankly, Wittenberg played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in D3 this year.  Witt's schedule   

And both Witt and Woo have combined to hand OWU three losses; the Bishops are 15-5 in their other games.

[admittedlydutch]

Go Calvin beat Albion
i well be  at the game Calvin well win
the game

Is this how most Calvin students write?

[albinomascot19]

Its called the "edumacation" at its finest 

[pointlem]

Careful, admittedlydutch. . . . we never know the age or anything else about the person we mock.

And a p.s. to the discussion about Derek VS:  I'd heard that the decision to welcome Derek was not imposed on the team by the coach, but was one made after extensive discussion with the team captains and team.  And perhaps no surprise that the team itself would welcome someone who might help contribute that little difference that could help keep them playing into March (when facing games as close as last Wednesday).  

[MIdoubleA]

Go Calvin beat Albion
i well be  at the game Calvin well win
the game

Is this how most Calvin students write?

Read anything by Hope1 and ask yourself the same question about the Dutchmen 

[ziggy]

Go Calvin beat Albion
i well be  at the game Calvin well win
the game

Is this how most Calvin students write?

Not all fans are students

[NW Hope Fan]

Go Calvin beat Albion
i well be  at the game Calvin well win
the game

Is this how most Calvin students write?

Read anything by Hope1 and ask yourself the same question about the Dutchmen 

Go Calvin beat Albion
i well be at the game Calvin well win
the game

Is this how most Calvin students write?

Not all fans are students

I was going to say the same thing about Hope1. Real nice guy, and a huge Hope fan, but never a student.

[Gregory Sager]

I was perfectly aware that this moves us into the Illinois and Wisconsin territory for the tournament. Once you're in the NCAAs, you can plan on every team being quite capable of beating you, so it's nearly impossible to avoid a matchup that isn't scary except for maybe you're first game out of the gate. Sure Lawrence is the only undefeated left, but Augustana, IWU, etc. have seen regular upsets this year and appear to be relatively beatable.

Dude, I triple-dog dare you to post that last sentence in CCIW Chat. 

[Gregory Sager]

While it is true that GL teams going out west have to come back and play the tough GL teams the west can provide an easier route.  Last year Calvin went out west to play Wheaton, Aurora, and Mississippi College in that order before playing Albion.  Wheaton was by far the best of those three teams.  After the close game to the Thunder the Knights ended up with two wins (after overcoming first half struggles at Aurora) that were fairly easy.  Calvin still had to beat Albion but did not have to go through schools like Wooster or John Carrol.

That's hardly an advertisement for the Midwest and West regions being easier pickings, Slap. For one thing, Mississippi College is a South Region team, and Calvin played them in the Great Lakes/South sectional held at Albion. That game had nothing at all to do with Midwest or West teams. In fact, Calvin never left the Great Lakes portion of the bracket. Wheaton and Aurora were moved into the Great Lakes section. Take another look at the 2005 bracket, and you'll see what I mean.

For another, I was at that Calvin @ Wheaton game last March. It was as dead even as a game can get without going into OT. Before Aultman's game-winning putback with two seconds left, Wheaton had led for the final seven minutes of the game. If that's your idea of an "easier route" to Salem, then your blood temperature must be measured in double digits, degrees Kelvin. And let me hasten to point out that Wheaton was the second-best team that the CCIW had to offer last season.

Lost in all this is the fact that undefeated Lawrence is lurking on the other side of the inland sea, as are the WIAC teams. Don't be fooled by the relatively modest records of the WIAC teams; it's pretty typical of that league to cannibalize itself. Think of the WIAC rep as D3's big dog sleeping on the porch. You don't really want to throw a rock at the big dog and make him come down off that porch and chase you, do you? And how much worse is it if there's two big dogs sleeping on the WIAC porch?

This is not meant as a dis of Woo, Witt, and Bald Wally. I think that it's pretty obvious that they're all legit -- as DC has pointed out, the two NCAC teams have made up for being forced to go medieval on the sorry likes of Hiram, Kenyon, Oberlin, etc., twice apiece this season by playing some very good teams in the non-con portion of the slate. And, relatively down year for the circuit or not, you'll never hear me utter a disparaging word about an OAC champion. But all that doesn't necessarily make the other side of Lake Michigan your no-sweat escape hatch from Buckeye hell. This is not Chutes and Ladders we're talking about anywhere west of the Allegheny River. There are no easy ladders up to Salem out here. Don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise.

Or, better yet, ask any of the 2004-05 Knights if they considered that opening round game against Wheaton to be a cakewalk.

[admittedlydutch]

Careful, admittedlydutch. . . . we never know the age or anything else about the person we mock.

My apologies...

[oldknight]

There are no easy ladders up to Salem out here. Don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise.

Or, better yet, ask any of the 2004-05 Knights if they considered that opening round game against Wheaton to be a cakewalk.

You're absolutely right Greg. Wheaton was a terrific team, the second best in their conference, and Calvin, who did play well that night, was fortunate to beat the Thunder. All this speculation about whether a team should go west or go east as the "easier"  route to Salem is just plain silly. If a team gets into the big dance they had better bring their "A" game every night if they want to move on. Can anyone out their spell "Baldwin-Wallace?"

[albinomascot19]

Well how about "there" instead of "their"

[randomthoughts]

Have to chime in on the Albion-Kzoo debate concerning the game Saturday...  Watch the film if you care to, first possession of the game, Crawford travels, contact is made, foul called on Hornets' Mat Kellogg.  It's all right there, everyone in the gym saw it.  Crawford is a good player, but he was creating contact all afternoon and spent it at the free throw line.  NO hack a Shaq strategy was used or intended, trust me on that.  However, if they call a foul on the first possession and pretty much everytime there is contact, what is to stop Albion from just throwing it into the post everytime?  Hence the free throw discrepancy.  If you let someone act like a bull in a china store and reward him for it by sending him to the line, why go away from it.

And anyone who was at the game (any of the Albion fans posting, were you there?) would recognize that the Technical of Herman was a joke.