MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[WLCALUM83]

NAthCon South head to head advantages:

Aurora beat MSOE twice
CUC beat Dominican twice

No other head to head advantages in
south at this time.

[WLCALUM83]

Can any one tell me who the best team in this league is?  At various times this season I think I could have made arguments for MSOE, CUC, CUW, EC, LC, WLC, AU, BU and maybe a couple of others.

I think that we won't know the best team in the league until February 27, the date of the league tournament championship game.  I get the feeling that while many teams have several good players, no one team has three or four dominant players so as to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league. There's just a lot of parity in the league this year. Another way to show the parity in the league is that there is probably no team in the league that will finish with less than 5 losses! (CUC has only four losses right now, but finish up by playing the next three teams behind them in the South -  two of them on the road.)

The great equalizer, is of course, that with the way that the 3 point shooting goes, whoever gets hot on a given night can beat almost anyone else in this league. (Witness CUW's performance vs. Seward or Aurora's 18 3's vs. Marian.)

I do think that the south division is a little stonger overall than the north, but of the teams you mentioned, I think that five can legitimately be in the running for the AQ.

Regarding 3's-per in-conference stats at this point ironically CUC's attempted the fewest 3s while the opposition has launched a total among the most in the NAthCon. Cougars highly ranked in terms of rebounding and D as well. With D Young and Morgan providing a consistent chunk of scoring, the losses they've had haven't caused them to slip.   

[RFMichigan]

With D Young and Morgan providing a consistent chunk of scoring, the losses they've had haven't caused them to slip.  

One factor that I didn't mention that I think is a huge factor in team success in this league (and probably throughout college athletics) is upperclassmen. I'll speak to CUC's very recent success in football and now basketball. (And by very recent I mean this year.) People say to me, "What happened to their football team? They set a school record for wins." or "This is the best record the basketball team has had in about 10-15 years. What's the deal?"
    I just tell them that for the first time in about, oh, 15-20 years, they aren't relying on freshman and sophomores for the bulk of the playing time.  I would be curious to look back at the teams that have dominated the NAC (and the previous conferences) and check the ratio of upperclassmen to underclassmen they had as contributors. CUC starts a senior, three juniors, and a sophomore, and almost every sub that plays is a junior except for a couple of freshmen who see a few minutes a game. I know that talent is great, but experience is underrated, I think.

[Gregory Sager]

From here on out it looks like inter-(or is that "intra"?-I always get those confused.)

"Inter-" means between two separate things. "Intra-" means within one discrete thing. Inter-divisional play in the NAthCon takes place between North and South Division teams, while intra-divisional play takes place within each division.

A good way to keep track of which prefix is which is to remember that the U.S. interstate highway system connects the various states, or that an intercom allows voice communication between two separate locations. Or, conversely, that intramurals are games played between students who attend the same school. (Or you could use the R-rated version, which is that sexual intercourse involves two people. )

[Just Bill]

Wow.  How do you know when your message board is suffering from lack of participation?

When it resorts to English lessons from Professor Sager in mid-February. (And that's the most interesting thing on there.) 

I'm kidding, actually it was just getting good after being kept alive on WLCALUM83's score update defibrillator for three months.

P.S.  I passed on a rather obvious "intracourse" joke.  I do have standards.

[Gregory Sager]

P.S.  I passed on a rather obvious "intracourse" joke.  I do have standards.

Boo, hiss. Given the lack of activity in this room, Bill, dragging the discussion down into the gutter might be just what the doctor ordered.

But you're right about the fact that WLCALUM83 has done yeoman work in at least keeping the room on life support with his updates. Kudos, WLCA.

It's a shame that this room has been so quiet, since the NAthCon is a pretty exciting free-for-all this season.

[WLCALUM83]

2/10/10 finals:

Dominican 63, Benedictine 54 (M Turley 23 pts, Mandic a double double, Stars outshot IL Eagles from field 48% to 32%  per Dominican stats)

MSOE 66, WLC 54

CUW 82, Lakeland 48 

[WLCALUM83]

More 2/10 results:

Aurora 83, CUC 81 (Spartans hit 13 threes on the night-a potential last-second game-winning 3 by Cougars' Morgan was off the mark-per CUC box score/PBP acct)

Rockford 85, Marian 82 (2 Malone FT's with 1:13 left put Regents ahead to stay on the road-Marian PBP acct).

[WLCALUM83]

NAthCon North standings indicate that CUW has clinched a playoff spot:

Edgewood:  2/11@ Maranatha; 2/13 vs. Rockford; 2/16 @ CUW
Rockford:   2/13 @ Edgewood; 2/16 vs. Lakeland
Lakeland:   2/13 vs. Marian; 2/16 @ Rockford
Marian:  2/13 @ Lakeland; 2/16 vs. Maranatha

(Should the Sabres lose their last 2 games they'd be eliminated from NAthCon playoff contention).

NAthCon North head to head advantages so far: (in event of a 2-team tie)

Lakeland beat Edgewood twice
Rockford beat Marian twice

[WLCALUM83]

More South tie-breaker advantages: (2 way ties)

MSOE beat WLC twice
Dominican beat Benedictine twice

(Warriors are in a bit of a slump right now.)

[Just Bill]

Emphatic win for CUW.  I declare them the best team in the league....until the next game when everything will change again.  At least we know we have one team in the tournament for sure.

With a win over MBBC tonight, EC will be just one win or one MU loss away from clinching a berth.  Of course MBBC beat EC in Madison earlier this year so nothing is given in this league.

I don't have an advanced degree high enough to sort out the South Division.

[WLCALUM83]

WI Eagles club was bound and determined not to let history repeat itself--

Edgewood 81, Maranatha 50 (WI Eagles take advantage of poor Crusader D and shoot 76% in first half--per Maranatha press release)

[RFMichigan]

The South Division just tightens up. I tried to figure if either Aurora or CUC had clinched a spot in the tournament, but after looking at the tournament seeding criteria and realizing that I don't have the time to figure out all the scenarios, I though I'd just let the weekend play out. Suffice it to say, Dominican would have to win out (and that's three wins, not two, for them.) and both Aurora or CUC would have to lose their last two games to even throw them in to the tie breaker formula.

As for everyone else, I guess it's possible that everyone still has a chance, even Benedictine, but then there's that tie-breaking criteria again. My picks for the weekend in the South:

MSOE @ CUC - I don't think that CUC has beaten MSOE in awhile, and it seems that they're just not a good matchup for CUC. (Off has dominated them in the past.) But CUC has played pretty well at home despite not getting alot of fan support CUC in a nailbiter.

AU @ DU - Dominican answered the bell against Bennie, and they did nip Aurora in Aurora, but Aurora seems to have more of a swagger and experience in "playing for something" in tournament play; plus they're playing for a 1st place seed. The Turleys combine for 50, but Aurora hits more than 15 3's to win and clinch a spot for them and CUC in the tournament. (How's that for a prediction?)

WLC @ BU - Benedictine wasn't the preseason pick to win the division for nothing - they do have some talent, and WLC is stumbling a little. BU playing for their life - Benedictine.

[WLCALUM83]

2/13 updates:

Marian 35, Lakeland 30  half

Aurora 47, Dominican 35  2:45 left in 1st half

[WLCALUM83]

2/13 finals:

Lakeland 84, Marian 73 (Regal's 27 pts paced 4 Muskie players in double figures to offset Sabre's Rankin's double-double. Muskies hit their FTs late to seal this one at home-per Lakeland stats)

Aurora 86, Dominican 71 (Stars had 22 turnovers to Spartans' 11 and Aurora outshot Dominican 49% to 42% from floor, per Dominican stats)

Benedictine 91, WLC 84