MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Quoting Pat Coleman from the WIAC board (where several fans had asked about video of the tournament games this weekend):

Actually, I have good news all around here.

1) We tried to offer our video services at Hope and were told they weren't needed, that Hope will be broadcasting this weekend.
2) We tried to offer our video services at UWRF and this might happen. We're waiting to hear if the IT people can get another line activated. If so, I believe we will have video for all three games at UWRF.

I fully expect serious celebrating in Oregon

[Dutch Touch]

Does that mean Hope is actually broadcasting a video stream or is it the "we're ok we will be broadcasting on the radio"?

[Gregory Sager]

To me the most obvious scheduling casualty is the Trinity game. It is neither local nor of NCAA significance. Swap it for North Park.

Bring it on! As you all know, I've been agitating for NPU and Calvin to start an annual series ever since the NPU men's and women's head coaches made the mistake of declining to have the school participate in the CCIW/MIAA Challenge when it was first created nine years ago. NPU needs to beef up its non-con schedule; Calvin needs the extra in-region game, and the fact that North Park is in a metro area that has a heavy Calvin alumni base makes it all the better a choice for an ongoing contest from Calvin's point of view.

Besides, it'd give me and my nephew who is a Calvin sophomore an opportunity for endless trash-talk.

I realize that Calvin administrators like the idea of maintaining fraternal ties with the school's fellow CRC-affiliated institutions by having Calvin play Trinity Christian in various sports, but it seems as though the NCAA is forcing Calvin's hand with the proposed 70%-regional-games rule.

Like Calvin. Hope will need more in region games though if MIAA tourney does not count. Hope is fortunate that Wheaton counts but I'd love to see Hope ditch HoF for at least one more in-region game. Then rotate with Grace/Cornerstone over two years for the other game.

I think that an ongoing series between NPU and Hope would be fantastic. I've been saying that for years, too.

[NW Hope Fan]

Quoting Pat Coleman from the WIAC board (where several fans had asked about video of the tournament games this weekend):

Actually, I have good news all around here.

1) We tried to offer our video services at Hope and were told they weren't needed, that Hope will be broadcasting this weekend.
2) We tried to offer our video services at UWRF and this might happen. We're waiting to hear if the IT people can get another line activated. If so, I believe we will have video for all three games at UWRF.

I fully expect serious celebrating in Oregon Washington

I'm 10 minutes north of the Columbia River in Washington... But close enough.

And a WOOT WOOT from this fan!!!   

[NW Hope Fan]

I just got confirmation from Tim Schoonveld... there will be video!

[Dutch Touch]

I will be at the game, so it doesn't matter as much to me. But that is great news for all those who can't get tickets and/or live in a far off land

[gohope]

I just got confirmation from Tim Schoonveld... there will be video!

GREAT NEWS for the non-West Michigan folks!!!

I'll wave to you!!

I'll be the one wearing Orange!!        

[hopefan]

I'll have to take my laptop over to the Wash U game !!!!!

[wiz]

I can see it now: a new banner hanging from the rafters for most watched video in D3! 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I can see it now: a new banner hanging from the rafters for most watched video in D3! 

Been awhile since you've seen one of those      

[northb]

I can see it now: a new banner hanging from the rafters for most watched video in D3! 

Been awhile since you've seen one of those      

Yes, we have been seeing two of those for some time

[sac]

Still can't fill it

[oldknight]

I can see it now: a new banner hanging from the rafters for most watched video in D3! 

Been awhile since you've seen one of those      

Actually, just saw a new one unveiled a few months ago--courtesy of the Calvin women's volleyball team of 2010. Prior to that, the most recent new Calvin banner was the one the Dew Crew playfully paraded around at a Rivalry game. Pretty clever . . . he said ruefully.

[sac]

After some deep analysis of the NCAA field, I'm pretty impressed with the committee's brackets.  There really aren't any lopsided brackets and in all but a couple cases they have the better teams hosting and the better team as the higher seed.

When I sat down Sunday to make a list of possible opponents I had difficulty finding a team seeded low enough to play Hope that made sense within the confines of the selection process and taking into account geography.  I had Westminster on the list, I just really didn't think they would send them our direction.  I'm pretty confident Hope is a #1 or #2 seed and Westminster is a #15 or #16.

On the other side of the bracket is Illinois Wesleyan/Stevens Point, by my calculations these are two top half of the bracket teams, probably more like a #5 v #8 seed.  Only two possibilities existed to balance the bracket out a little bit without making another bracket imbalanced.  Rose-Hulman or Wittenberg.  RH was probably out because IWU/NCC couldn't be paired together, trading IWU for NCC would have been a pretty equal trade.  Wittenberg would have made the only sense.

Overall though its just kind of hard to make a fair/balanced bracket in this part of the country and the collection of pods of pairings this year are about as fairly done as I can recall.

[sac]

Masseyratings.com strength of schedule for the Hope pod using the BCS version which takes out scoring margin.

Hope #8
Westminster #299
Stevens Point #2
Ill. Wesleyan #17