MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[bodhi5]

Congrats to Clarke on the victory over Aurora.  I would love to see the game tape.  Holding Welton to 4 points is not an easy task, thier coaching staff (along with defenders) must have had a solid game plan and excellent execution. 

Just a note to all the overvealous Clarke fans: act like your program has won a big game before.  It's a little thing called "class," Mr. Webster and his dictionary have a great definition if your unfamiliar.  Remember, this was an important regular season game and not the national championship.  I'm well aware that this may be Clarke's first NIIC regular season title.  The program and it's fans should be proud that they have an opportunity to leave the NIIC as champs.  But calling out people on the message board, other Dubuque schools, and the CCIW just portrays ignorance. 

I hope the players and coaching staff are not discussing how they "could" beat the Dubuque schools, or CCIW schools, or that "they are so hot they are on fire" because the season isn't over (Rockford and their "poor attitudes" on Saturday) and anything can happen in the tournament.  Be happy for the moment, and try not to let others know that success is a new accomplishment.   

Again, congratulations to the Crusaders on a great victory.  Let's all hope that the top team from the NIIC (which will be decided by the Pool B voters rather than this message board) gets an opportunity to represent the conference in the NCAA tournament. 

[lilphil]

Crusaders -- Great win last night, I do give credit to any team that can hold Welton to 4 points!

However, it may be a little too late for your Crusaders.  I think for Clarke to have any chance of making the tournament they will have to win this weekend against Rockford and then run the table in the conference tourney....even then it is an outside chance

By the way I noticed in the box score Welton had a Technical called on him what happened???

[crusaders]

Thank you to all of you for giving Clarke a little respect, that's all we wanted.  We would never call out Dubuque schools or CCIW schools unless there was a reason, like the person who posted Clarke should play a local elementary school if they want a win in their home town.  or the guy who said that clarke would lose 4 out of 5 at best with the top teams in the CCIW.

The players are focused.  They know that if they were to even have any sniff, they would have to run the table and it would still be an outside chance.  They are not talking about how hot we are because they just know.

Welton's T I thought was pretty weak.  One of the officials walked out on the floor with a plan to keep the game under control.  I'm unaware if something was said, but in the first minute of the game, a fan was thrown out of the game.  Then, all of a sudden, like 5 minutes later Welton got fouled and was on the ground, and the next thing I see is the ref calling a Tech on him.  It is a refs job to keep control of the contest, and they called a nice game, but I thought he was a little T happy

[Big_Uns]

Funny how Mother Nature steals the glory of the LMC when they get a mention in the Daily Dose.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm guessing MBBC isn't driving up from Watertown tonight to the cornfields? 

According to the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel:

Lake Michigan Conference officials, worried about road conditions in the wake of the storm that hit the state Wednesday night and Thursday, have rescheduled the league's tournament quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Lakeland hosts eighth-seeded Maranatha Baptist at 2 p.m. Saturday, and the three other quarterfinal games have been set for Sunday.

Those games are: No. 7 Marian at No. 2 Milwaukee School of Engineering, 2 p.m.; No. 5 Dominican at No. 4 Edgewood, 4 p.m.; and No. 6 Concordia at No. 3 Wisconsin Lutheran, 4:30 p.m.

The times and dates of the semifinals and final are to be determined.

[Gregory Sager]

Even if they win out the rest of the year that puts them at 18-10.  Not a good enough record.

The top two seeds in the NIIC tourney get first-round byes in the six-team tourney, so Clarke's best possible overall record would be 17-10, not 18-10. But that actually doesn't make any difference. Clarke's relevant record is actually their 12-7 regional mark, not their 14-10 overall mark. Thus, if they win out, the record that the selection committee would look at would be 15-7, not 17-10.

The two criteria out of the five that the committee seems to focus upon the most, and the two that are consistently being updated both by Pat Coleman and by the people in the Bumblin' B's room, are regional W-L percentage and QOWI (Quality of Wins Index, which is basically a team's strength of schedule in regional games). This is how the primary contenders for the D3 tourney's four Pool B bids look thus far in those two categories:

REGIONAL W-L PCT.
1. Bethany 17-4 (.810)
2. Villa Julie 15-4 (.789)
3. Lincoln 12-4 (.750)
4. Keuka 11-4 (.733)
5. Maryville (TN) 14-6 (.700)
t6. Fisk 9-4 (.692)
t6. St. Joseph (ME) 9-4 (.692)
8. Chapman 8-4 (.667)
9. Clarke 12-7 (.632)
10. Huntingdon 10-6 (.625)
11. Rust 8-5 (.615)
12. Aurora 11-7 (.611)

QOWI
1. Lincoln 10.563
2. Fisk 9.769
3. Bethany 9.333
4. Maryville (TN) 9.600
5. Villa Julie 8.684
6. Clarke 8.579
7. Aurora 8.444
8. Huntingdon 8.375
9. Chapman 8.250
10. St. Joseph (ME) 8.154
11. Rust 7.920
12. Keuka 7.800

(A few of the QOWI numbers might be off slightly, since I haven't recalibrated to take into consideration opponents who may have climbed or dropped a level through this week's games.)

Even more important than these two categories are the regional rankings. They're official releases by the D3 selection committee that come out every Wednesday in February, and show the current thinking of the regional selection committees (whose chairs make up the national selection committee that'll put the tournament bracket together on Selection Monday) with regard to how the top teams compare in each of the eight regions of D3. Three potential Pool B teams were ranked in yesterday's rankings: Lincoln (#3, Middle Atlantic Region), Fisk (tied #7, South Region), and Maryville of Tennessee (tied #7, South Region). These rankings are very important, because they demonstrate that these three teams are currently the front-runners for three of the four Pool B slots.

When you put all of the data together, it becomes clear just how much of a longshot Clarke (and Aurora, even more so) really is.

[Pat Coleman]

Hmm, I read that in the Daily Dose ...
http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/?p=129#comments

   1.   Pat Coleman Says:
      February 16th, 2006 at 3:48 pm

      FYI:

      Weather moves Lakeland basketball game to Saturday

      Due to Thursday's wintry weather conditions, the Lakeland College men's basketball game scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m. has been postponed.

      Top-seeded Lakeland will host eighth-seeded Maranatha Baptist in the Lake Michigan Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Woltzen Gymnasium.

      The other three tournament quarterfinal games scheduled for Thursday night will be played on Sunday: seventh-seeded Marian plays at second-seeded MSOE at 2 p.m., fifth-seeded Dominican plays at fourth-seeded Edgewood at 4 p.m. and sixth-seeded Concordia plays at third-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran at 4:30 p.m.

      The conference will announce a new schedule for the men's basketball tournament semifinals and championship on Monday.

[Big_Uns]

Hmm, I read that in the Daily Dose ...
http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/?p=129#comments

   1.   Pat Coleman Says:
      February 16th, 2006 at 3:48 pm

      FYI:

      Weather moves Lakeland basketball game to Saturday

      Due to Thursday's wintry weather conditions, the Lakeland College men's basketball game scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m. has been postponed.

      Top-seeded Lakeland will host eighth-seeded Maranatha Baptist in the Lake Michigan Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Woltzen Gymnasium.

      The other three tournament quarterfinal games scheduled for Thursday night will be played on Sunday: seventh-seeded Marian plays at second-seeded MSOE at 2 p.m., fifth-seeded Dominican plays at fourth-seeded Edgewood at 4 p.m. and sixth-seeded Concordia plays at third-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran at 4:30 p.m.

      The conference will announce a new schedule for the men's basketball tournament semifinals and championship on Monday.

Which is actually the release written up by the fine people in the SID office at LC.

[Greek Tragedy]

Hmm, I read that in the Daily Dose ...
http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/?p=129#comments

Pat,

This may surprise you, but I do read other publications aside from d3hoops! Sorry.   

[Pat Coleman]

Which is actually the release written up by the fine people in the SID office at LC.

Right. They released it. We posted it.

[Big_Uns]

Which is actually the release written up by the fine people in the SID office at LC.

Right. They released it. We posted it.

Keep up the good work.

[cardinalpride]

Thank you to all of you for giving Clarke a little respect, that's all we wanted.  We would never call out Dubuque schools or CCIW schools unless there was a reason, like the person who posted Clarke should play a local elementary school if they want a win in their home town.  or the guy who said that clarke would lose 4 out of 5 at best with the top teams in the CCIW.

The players are focused.  They know that if they were to even have any sniff, they would have to run the table and it would still be an outside chance.  They are not talking about how hot we are because they just know.

Welton's T I thought was pretty weak.  One of the officials walked out on the floor with a plan to keep the game under control.  I'm unaware if something was said, but in the first minute of the game, a fan was thrown out of the game.  Then, all of a sudden, like 5 minutes later Welton got fouled and was on the ground, and the next thing I see is the ref calling a Tech on him.  It is a refs job to keep control of the contest, and they called a nice game, but I thought he was a little T happy

I predict Clarke plays Aurora in the conference title game and AU wins at Clarke.  Sorry Crusader.  Oh by the way, Wisconsin will not win the Big Ten.  They will finish 3rd or 4th at best.

[Greek Tragedy]

I would think the easiest way to run the tourney this year with the weather delays would be Saturday/Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday final.  I didn't care for the quarterfinals to be played on a Wednesday, the semis on a Saturday and then waiting a full week to play the final on the following Saturday.  Possibly a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule in the future.  I realize the conference schedule wrapped up last weekend, but I'd rather have a week off to prepare for the conference tourney than to start up right away and then have a week off between the semis and final.  Maybe having a whole week off between those games explains why the LMC has had so many upsets in the conference tourney final (losing their "groove" with a week layoff).

[Big_Uns]

I would think the easiest way to run the tourney this year with the weather delays would be Saturday/Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday final.  I didn't care for the quarterfinals to be played on a Wednesday, the semis on a Saturday and then waiting a full week to play the final on the following Saturday.  Possibly a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule in the future.  I realize the conference schedule wrapped up last weekend, but I'd rather have a week off to prepare for the conference tourney than to start up right away and then have a week off between the semis and final.  Maybe having a whole week off between those games explains why the LMC has had so many upsets in the conference tourney final (losing their "groove" with a week layoff).

I'm right there with you on this one. I'd like to see the tournament knocked out in a weekend, but we know that the championship game will never get played on a Sunday because of the Baptists even though the chances of them making it any year are slim.

[The Way]

The Way I See It,

The reason there are no games during the week this upcoming week is due somewhat because of MSOE's finals week. They are on a tri-mester setup and it so happens that finals are this week. They will not play a game during the week because of this.

But i too agree with the format. I do not at all like the timing of starting the LMC tournament 2 and a half weeks before the actual NCAA tournament. For starters, this is the 3rd go around at each team. There is no need to prepare more than you have all season in that week between games. Just get the games over with. It actually benefits a lower seeded team and maybe that is why the LMC is not always represented by its best team.  Once you get to the NCAA's you need to be able to win 2 games in 2 or 3 days so why not the LMC tournament as well.

I will make the treck out tomorrow to the snowfields of Lakeland. I was hoping to have a better game to watch, but i guess this will do. I will just have to clear the schedule next weekend as well.