MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ziggy]

So what would a Wheaton (or even a Hope or Calvin, and likely some other schools) do if the DIII game were on a Sunday?  Play through the semis and then have their Chariots of Fire moment, leaving the team they defeated in the semi-final game to play in the championship?  That would trigger an interesting national news story, and a debate about how far the culture should go to respect cultural and religious diversity.

I had thoughts along the same lines.  It would be quite an opportunity for an institution to show that their deeply-held beliefs matter more than the pursuit of glory, and to do so with the national media's attention.

At the D-I level, there are two institutions that don't play on Sundays, for religious reasons, and the NCAA accommodates them (at least in basketball, I'm not sure about non-revenue sports).  BYU is a well-known case, but can anyone name the other?  A couple of quick hints: This team has advanced to the "big dance" only once; when they did, their first-round opponent was a powerhouse from the same state.  Also, until just four years ago, their home games were played in a gym that seats less than 1000 people, one of the smallest facilities in D-I).

Campbell University   http://www.campbell.edu/


My first guess was Presbyterian, but their gym is too "big".

Well done. Liberty and Belmont were the first to come to my mind but were obviously thrown out since both have made the tourney on multiple occasions.

[KnightSlappy]

So what would a Wheaton (or even a Hope or Calvin, and likely some other schools) do if the DIII game were on a Sunday?  Play through the semis and then have their Chariots of Fire moment, leaving the team they defeated in the semi-final game to play in the championship?  That would trigger an interesting national news story, and a debate about how far the culture should go to respect cultural and religious diversity.

I had thoughts along the same lines.  It would be quite an opportunity for an institution to show that their deeply-held beliefs matter more than the pursuit of glory, and to do so with the national media's attention.

At the D-I level, there are two institutions that don't play on Sundays, for religious reasons, and the NCAA accommodates them (at least in basketball, I'm not sure about non-revenue sports).  BYU is a well-known case, but can anyone name the other?  A couple of quick hints: This team has advanced to the "big dance" only once; when they did, their first-round opponent was a powerhouse from the same state.  Also, until just four years ago, their home games were played in a gym that seats less than 1000 people, one of the smallest facilities in D-I).

Campbell University   http://www.campbell.edu/


My first guess was Presbyterian, but their gym is too "big".

Well done. Liberty and Belmont were the first to come to my mind but were obviously thrown out since both have made the tourney on multiple occasions.

I was thinking perhaps Oral Roberts, but they've probably been to the Tourney more than once.

[ziggy]

So what would a Wheaton (or even a Hope or Calvin, and likely some other schools) do if the DIII game were on a Sunday?  Play through the semis and then have their Chariots of Fire moment, leaving the team they defeated in the semi-final game to play in the championship?  That would trigger an interesting national news story, and a debate about how far the culture should go to respect cultural and religious diversity.

I had thoughts along the same lines.  It would be quite an opportunity for an institution to show that their deeply-held beliefs matter more than the pursuit of glory, and to do so with the national media's attention.

At the D-I level, there are two institutions that don't play on Sundays, for religious reasons, and the NCAA accommodates them (at least in basketball, I'm not sure about non-revenue sports).  BYU is a well-known case, but can anyone name the other?  A couple of quick hints: This team has advanced to the "big dance" only once; when they did, their first-round opponent was a powerhouse from the same state.  Also, until just four years ago, their home games were played in a gym that seats less than 1000 people, one of the smallest facilities in D-I).

Campbell University   http://www.campbell.edu/


My first guess was Presbyterian, but their gym is too "big".

Well done. Liberty and Belmont were the first to come to my mind but were obviously thrown out since both have made the tourney on multiple occasions.

I was thinking perhaps Oral Roberts, but they've probably been to the Tourney more than once.

Yes, I believe so.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

So what would a Wheaton (or even a Hope or Calvin, and likely some other schools) do if the DIII game were on a Sunday?  Play through the semis and then have their Chariots of Fire moment, leaving the team they defeated in the semi-final game to play in the championship?  That would trigger an interesting national news story, and a debate about how far the culture should go to respect cultural and religious diversity.

I had thoughts along the same lines.  It would be quite an opportunity for an institution to show that their deeply-held beliefs matter more than the pursuit of glory, and to do so with the national media's attention.

At the D-I level, there are two institutions that don't play on Sundays, for religious reasons, and the NCAA accommodates them (at least in basketball, I'm not sure about non-revenue sports).  BYU is a well-known case, but can anyone name the other?  A couple of quick hints: This team has advanced to the "big dance" only once; when they did, their first-round opponent was a powerhouse from the same state.  Also, until just four years ago, their home games were played in a gym that seats less than 1000 people, one of the smallest facilities in D-I).

WOTS is that if one of the no playing on Sunday schools is in the finals, it would be moved to Monday afternoon.  The "good" thing is that they will have 1 or 2 weeks to deal with it based on their stupid schedule. (sorry to be so vague about my opinion of this)

[sac]

We already knew this but Hope led D3 in attendance......Calvin 4th, MIAA 1st as a conference.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/may/mens+basketball+attendance+still+strong

the blurb about Hope

In Division III, Hope ran away with its 10th straight attendance title by averaging 3,259 per game, which was more than double the runner-up. The rest of the top five were Wooster (1,607), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1,474), Calvin (1,397), and Franklin & Marshall (1,311). Hope's total attendance of 52,151 was the second highest in Division III history. The record of 52,719 was set by Hope in 2006.

also a blurb about the D3 tournament

The Division III tournament had 59,492 fans for a 1,352 average in 44 sessions.

[Chief]

Van Dyke to Hope

[sac]

I ran across this site this past winter when it first came online.  They've added a little bit to it and its probably worth bookmarking.  Lots of good stuff about all of the colleges and universities in Michigan, I particularly enjoyed their look back at some of Michigan's Mr. Basketball classes.

www.ballinmichigan.com


all the "signings" they are aware of:    http://www.ballinmichigan.com/2012/04/13/class-of-2012-signings-tracker/

Matt Van Dyk's Imlay City teammates  Ben Rodak and Zach Darnell are both reportedly attending Adrian.

Jared Weeks from Ann Arbor Huron, a 6-7 mountain of a kid is supposedly going to Kalamazoo.  He played left tackle for the River Rats.



...and a really nice article on Albion's Chris Hutton and his progress from last summer's injury that held him out this year.

http://www.ballinmichigan.com/2012/04/18/albions-chris-hutton-nearing-full-recovery-from-scary-injury/

[Flying Dutch Fan]

We already knew this but Hope led D3 in attendance......Calvin 4th, MIAA 1st as a conference.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/may/mens+basketball+attendance+still+strong

the blurb about Hope

In Division III, Hope ran away with its 10th straight attendance title by averaging 3,259 per game, which was more than double the runner-up. The rest of the top five were Wooster (1,607), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1,474), Calvin (1,397), and Franklin & Marshall (1,311). Hope's total attendance of 52,151 was the second highest in Division III history. The record of 52,719 was set by Hope in 2006.

also a blurb about the D3 tournament

The Division III tournament had 59,492 fans for a 1,352 average in 44 sessions.

I took a quick look at the numbers - Hope would have ranked 2nd amond DII schools in attendance, and 153rd (out of 338) in DI.  Only MSU (14797), U of M (11436), and Oakland (3346) ranked ahead of Hope in the state of Michigan.  Calvin's 1397 average out performed both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.

[pointlem]

If you're looking for some wonderfull off-season basketball reading, may I suggest the following:

http://scottsbbblog.blogspot.com/

Well done sac!!!!!  Can't wait for the next installment, and I'm looking forward to reading your insights in-season as well.

Amen, FDF . . . this is excellent (you should put the blogsport URL at the end of your e-mails, as KnightSlappy does, Sac).  And I agree:  the Hope-IWU game was, even as a loss, perhaps the most memorable game in my history of watching Hope BB--at least from the crowd frenzy standpoint.  I've enjoyed revisiting the scene near the game's end at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEuAYQ3q7kw

[sac]

If you're looking for some wonderfull off-season basketball reading, may I suggest the following:

http://scottsbbblog.blogspot.com/

Well done sac!!!!!  Can't wait for the next installment, and I'm looking forward to reading your insights in-season as well.

Amen, FDF . . . this is excellent (you should put the blogsport URL at the end of your e-mails, as KnightSlappy does, Sac).  And I agree:  the Hope-IWU game was, even as a loss, perhaps the most memorable game in my history of watching Hope BB--at least from the crowd frenzy standpoint.  I've enjoyed revisiting the scene near the game's end at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEuAYQ3q7kw

It continues to amaze me the number of people who have watched and been around Hope basketball a lot longer than I have express the same thoughts.

[sac]

buried deep inside that website I posted earlier was a blurb about Olivet hiring Bay City Western head coach Chris Watz as an assistant.

This was actually reported a couple weeks ago by mlive.com
http://www.mlive.com/sports/bay-city/index.ssf/2012/04/chris_watz_turns_unprecedented/4961/comments-newest.html

With now 2 members of Olivet's staff from that area of that state, I think its safe to say Olivet will probably spend some time recruiting that area.

[John Gleich]

We already knew this but Hope led D3 in attendance......Calvin 4th, MIAA 1st as a conference.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/may/mens+basketball+attendance+still+strong

the blurb about Hope

In Division III, Hope ran away with its 10th straight attendance title by averaging 3,259 per game, which was more than double the runner-up. The rest of the top five were Wooster (1,607), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1,474), Calvin (1,397), and Franklin & Marshall (1,311). Hope's total attendance of 52,151 was the second highest in Division III history. The record of 52,719 was set by Hope in 2006.

also a blurb about the D3 tournament

The Division III tournament had 59,492 fans for a 1,352 average in 44 sessions.

I'm not sure how much you guys have looked at this in years past in terms of trends (other than just your individual schools) but it seems like the top attendance-getters aren't as high as in past years. Many years, there have been 3 schools with 2000+ and 6 or 7 with 1400+. This year, UWSP was #3 at 1474. That was with only one WIAC tournament game and no NCAA games, so that would certainly have an impact (these would drive the average up, probably 2k+ for those games on average).

This is the highest Point has "placed" in attendance, but it's 500 fans per game fewer than the next highest, in 05 (Championship #2) when Point averaged over 1900 and was 4th in the country.

[Gregory Sager]

We already knew this but Hope led D3 in attendance......Calvin 4th, MIAA 1st as a conference.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/may/mens+basketball+attendance+still+strong

the blurb about Hope

In Division III, Hope ran away with its 10th straight attendance title by averaging 3,259 per game, which was more than double the runner-up. The rest of the top five were Wooster (1,607), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1,474), Calvin (1,397), and Franklin & Marshall (1,311). Hope's total attendance of 52,151 was the second highest in Division III history. The record of 52,719 was set by Hope in 2006.

also a blurb about the D3 tournament

The Division III tournament had 59,492 fans for a 1,352 average in 44 sessions.

I'm not sure how much you guys have looked at this in years past in terms of trends (other than just your individual schools) but it seems like the top attendance-getters aren't as high as in past years. Many years, there have been 3 schools with 2000+ and 6 or 7 with 1400+. This year, UWSP was #3 at 1474. That was with only one WIAC tournament game and no NCAA games, so that would certainly have an impact (these would drive the average up, probably 2k+ for those games on average).

This is the highest Point has "placed" in attendance, but it's 500 fans per game fewer than the next highest, in 05 (Championship #2) when Point averaged over 1900 and was 4th in the country.

Blame Wii, Guitar Hero, and Netflix.

[Mr. Ypsi]

We already knew this but Hope led D3 in attendance......Calvin 4th, MIAA 1st as a conference.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/may/mens+basketball+attendance+still+strong

the blurb about Hope

In Division III, Hope ran away with its 10th straight attendance title by averaging 3,259 per game, which was more than double the runner-up. The rest of the top five were Wooster (1,607), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1,474), Calvin (1,397), and Franklin & Marshall (1,311). Hope's total attendance of 52,151 was the second highest in Division III history. The record of 52,719 was set by Hope in 2006.

also a blurb about the D3 tournament

The Division III tournament had 59,492 fans for a 1,352 average in 44 sessions.

I'm not sure how much you guys have looked at this in years past in terms of trends (other than just your individual schools) but it seems like the top attendance-getters aren't as high as in past years. Many years, there have been 3 schools with 2000+ and 6 or 7 with 1400+. This year, UWSP was #3 at 1474. That was with only one WIAC tournament game and no NCAA games, so that would certainly have an impact (these would drive the average up, probably 2k+ for those games on average).

This is the highest Point has "placed" in attendance, but it's 500 fans per game fewer than the next highest, in 05 (Championship #2) when Point averaged over 1900 and was 4th in the country.

Blame Wii, Guitar Hero, and Netflix.

But, Greg, have any of those reached B'town yet?!

I have no clue why Titan attendance has fallen so dramatically (they were generally always top 3, with 2400+).  They were pretty bad for a few years after that 2006 team, but that no longer seems an excuse unless the 'magic' simply wore off and never returned.  Perhaps the jokes about the 'geriatric' fans were true, and deaths have exceeded new fans?

Q (or anyone), any thoughts?

[Gregory Sager]

We already knew this but Hope led D3 in attendance......Calvin 4th, MIAA 1st as a conference.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/may/mens+basketball+attendance+still+strong

the blurb about Hope

In Division III, Hope ran away with its 10th straight attendance title by averaging 3,259 per game, which was more than double the runner-up. The rest of the top five were Wooster (1,607), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1,474), Calvin (1,397), and Franklin & Marshall (1,311). Hope's total attendance of 52,151 was the second highest in Division III history. The record of 52,719 was set by Hope in 2006.

also a blurb about the D3 tournament

The Division III tournament had 59,492 fans for a 1,352 average in 44 sessions.

I'm not sure how much you guys have looked at this in years past in terms of trends (other than just your individual schools) but it seems like the top attendance-getters aren't as high as in past years. Many years, there have been 3 schools with 2000+ and 6 or 7 with 1400+. This year, UWSP was #3 at 1474. That was with only one WIAC tournament game and no NCAA games, so that would certainly have an impact (these would drive the average up, probably 2k+ for those games on average).

This is the highest Point has "placed" in attendance, but it's 500 fans per game fewer than the next highest, in 05 (Championship #2) when Point averaged over 1900 and was 4th in the country.

Blame Wii, Guitar Hero, and Netflix.

But, Greg, have any of those reached B'town yet?!

I have no clue why Titan attendance has fallen so dramatically (they were generally always top 3, with 2400+).  They were pretty bad for a few years after that 2006 team, but that no longer seems an excuse unless the 'magic' simply wore off and never returned.  Perhaps the jokes about the 'geriatric' fans were true, and deaths have exceeded new fans?

Blame Bingo, Cialis, and those swimming-pool pods from Cocoon.