MBB: Centennial Conference

[CCHoopster]

Was the last CC tourney not held at F&M in 08, at Ursinus?

Yes. Since 2004, when the #1 seed began hosting both semifinals and the semis and championship were played back-to-back days, the hosts have been as follows:
Source: http://www.centennial.org/sports/mbkb/2011-12/Guide/43-48-Honors-Standings.pdf

2004 F&M
2005 F&M
2006 Ursinus
2007 Johns Hopkins
2008 Ursinus
2009 F&M
2010 F&M
2011 F&M

Oddly, the three years that F&M didn't host (06-08), the Diplomats did not make the playoffs. The last Centennial Conference Tournament game F&M has played on the road was the 2003 Championship Game at Ursinus. That is one of only three Centennial Tournament games the Diplomats have ever played - (1998 semifinal @ Muhlenberg and 1995 championship at Muhlenberg). F&M is 0-3 all-time on the road in the Centennial Tournament ... and 17-5 at home.

Good stuff, thanks Sunny!

[d3hoopsfan]

Here is an article that I thought you guys may like to read about Louis Sarris-Grau from McDaniel. 

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/sports/colleges/mcdaniel/men-s-basketball-mcdaniel-s-sarris-grau-a-terror-on/article_f00cc97b-ebb9-5a54-9376-d1569a0a0c21.html

[Gabriel]

was anyone at the ursinus vs haverford game? any reports?

Centfan,

Sorry for the late post---I am still recovering from the Patriots loss on Sunday and Ursinus'
Brutal performance on Wednesday.  Not a good week. Ursinus played with no heart and Haverford did.  The Bears were horrible on both ends of the court.  They had no answer for Goldberg who was terrific. He had 20 points at the half and 32 for the game.  Haverford played extremely well on both ends of the court. Haverford shot 54 percent from the floor including 54 percent from 3
(12/22).  That coupled with 25 turnovers by the Bears kinda says it all.  The only Bear who showed any fight at all was Kamara with a couple of monster dunks.

[ddm1027]

Would someone mind describing what goes into the Regional Rankings and their importance to NCAA selection?  I am only vaguely familiar with them.

[sunny]

Would someone mind describing what goes into the Regional Rankings and their importance to NCAA selection?  I am only vaguely familiar with them.

Try this http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/02/playoff-primer-pool-b-pool-c/

And this http://www.d3hoops.com/interactive/faq/ncaatournament

[gordonmann]

The second link that Sunny provided addresses how regional rankings are determined.  The last two questions in that FAQ provide the criteria that the NCAA selection committees use to rank teams and the formula that underlies the strength-of-schedule calculation.

[diplomaniac1]

Folks -

Here are my predictions for tomorrow's (Saturday, February 11) "Pick-Ems" games, assuming that the forecasted bad weather permits them to be played:

Dickinson over Haverford (might be close but edge to the stronger team)
Washington over Gettysburg (Shoremen rebound from tough loss)
Johns Hopkins over Ursinus (home court edge)
Muhlenberg over McDaniel (game is at the Mule Barn where home officiating rules)
Franklin And Marshall over Swarthmore (Senior Day)

Travel safely in the weather. Enjoy the games. Regards to all.

Eric

[diplomaniac1]

Folks -

The following is the listing of the remaining regular season "Pick-Ems" games in the Centennial Conference:

Wednesday, February 15, 2011:

Swarthmore @ McDaniel
Franklin And Marshall @ Johns Hopkins
Ursinus @ Washington College
Muhlenberg @ Haverford
Dickinson @ Gettysburg

Saturday, February 18, 2011:

Gettysburg @ McDaniel
Muhlenberg @ Ursinus
Johns Hopkins @ Washington College
Haverford @ Swarthmore
Franklin And Marshall @ Dickinson

Please remember that all predictions are due by tip-off time on the days of the games. Good luck!

I will post updated standings later on today or sometime tomorrow. Enjoy the games. Regards to all.

Eric

[fritzdis]

Out of curiosity, I looked at what F&M's WP and SOS numbers would be (as of the latest ranking) if they could choose to ignore certain wins.  From a SOS perspective, I believe their most damaging wins are the Oneonta games, at Swarthmore, and McDaniel at home.  Without those games, I think their SOS would rise from .449 to .502, while their WP would drop from .905 to .882.  These new numbers would stack up favorably against Mary Washington (.506 SOS, .778 WP) and Lycoming (.508 SOS, .789 WP).  Of course, if those teams could also ignore wins, each could raise their SOS a decent amount, but the cost to their WP would be greater than F&M's cost.  Even ignoring just 2 wins would lower their WP more than F&M ignoring 4 wins.

[Gusthegoose]

Dickinson over Haverford
Washington College over Gettysburg
Johns Hopkins over Ursinus
Muhlenberg over McDaniel
Franklin and Marshall over Swarthmore

[mulefreak02]

big game for the mules today after the tough loss at dickinson. go mules! uc hooligan, what the heck is going on in collegeville?

[centfan]

thanks, gabriel, for your take on ursinus/haverford. big day today for the conference.

[Dips75]

What do people think about F&M being only 5th in the regional rankings?  Looks like their strength of schedule hurt them but the CC sure isn't getting much respect.

I'm not surprised at all. It seems an annual rite of passage. F&M does need to improve its out-of-conference schedule, do a bit of traveling and take on some better teams than St. Mary's of Maryland. They have to know that until they do that, they will find themselves regionally ranked behind teams that are unranked nationally. It seems to be the trend every year these past several.

[Reserved Seat]

Despite a physical defense by Swarthmore, F&M eased to victory on Senior Day. Number 22 for Swarthmore must be a lover, because he was hugging everyone he covered. With McNally, Baker, and Tolliver in the house, the current team showed them what they are capable of doing.  Even though F&M covered Gates tightly, he lead all scores hitting some tough 3-point shots.  Porter played good defense on Gates until he got into foul trouble.  Milligan lead F&M's scoring with 20 points, followed by Gyokchyan with 15.  Early, Brewer, and Lee provided some key minutes.  Swarthmore closed the gap somewhat in the last minutes as Robinson tried to get all the seniors some extended playing time.

[diplomaniac1]

Folks -

I have updated the "Pick-Ems Games" standings. The standings now include this week's (Wednesday and today) games. They are as follows:

NAME                RECENT GAMES   TO DATE           PERCENTAGE         
Gusthegoose          7 – 3     34 – 13                  .723
centfan                       6 – 4     46 – 19                  .708
Diplomaniac1          8 – 2     50 – 22                  .694
Reserved Seat          7 – 3     48 – 23                  .676
D. B. Cooper          7 – 3     36 – 23                  .610
Gabriel                       7 – 3     38 – 27                  .585
UCHooligan98          0 – 0     37 – 28                  .569
oldends                       0 – 0       0 – 0                  .000
Wild10                       0 – 0       0 – 0                  .000

Standings through Saturday, February 11, 2012. (Includes the games of Wednesday, February 8 and Saturday, February 11).

As you can see, everyone had a pretty good week with similar results. So, not too much changed other than the spread at the top tightening a bit! UC - please send me your results and I will revise. Everyone else, please double check for errors or omissions on my part. If you find anything let me know and I will gladly correct.

Congrats to the Diplomats! See you all in Mayser Center in about two weeks!

Regards to all.

Eric