MBB: Centennial Conference

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Pick-ems for 1/31/09

Washington     at    Gettysburg
F & M               at    Swarthmore
McDaniel         at     Muhlenberg
Dickinson         at   Havverford
John Hopkins  at    Ursinus

BY tip off please.

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What they said about last night

Washington: http://www.washingtoncollegesports.com/mbasketball/releases/09hopkins1.html

McDaniel http://www.eveningsun.com/localsports/ci_11576305?source=rss

Haverford : http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/01/29/sports/doc49813476bb603625785664.txt


F & M: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/233173

enjoy

[ddm28]

I agree that the CC is slightly underrated; however, I think the league is probably not deserving of 2 NCAA bids in most years. Last year's NCAA splash by Ursinus (and GB) was nice but for several years before that the league has struggled (back to when F&M was stronger and lost to Amherst). After playing in the CC and attending a number of NESCAC games last year it is clear that the Centennial is a good conference but it is a far cry from that league (or the UAA) top to bottom, with the top being significantly stronger and the bottom regularly more competitive against out of league opponents. At this point the out of conference wins that the Centennial has are not overly impressive and thus the teams won't get much exposure.

I am pleased to see a lot of young talent in the league this year. Hopefully it means that the CC is on the upswing!

[Reserved Seat]

After my dismal picks for Wednesday, I tried to polish up my crystal ball for Saturday's picks. Unfortunately, things still look blurry. Nevertheless, here goes.

Pick-ems for 1/31/09

Gettysburg(should have enough at home-time to make a move for the postseason)
F & M (too athletic for the Garnet)
McDaniel(could be close at Muhlenberg)
Haverford(another hard one to pick-but Haverford is having a lot of success at home)
Ursinus(not if Howell doesn't play)

We're going to start needing injury reports to make our picks.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Reserved Seat

I agree. They havent EVER been there and it is all new to them. But even when Ursinus and Gettysburg were dominating the league last year and went through the NCAA tournament to meet for a 4th time they still didnt gain any respect. It took Ursinus to go undefeated in the CC and win like 25 games straight to gain any national recognition. I really think the CC is underrated... I mean Ursinus made it all the way to the Final Four last year with over 20 wins in a row and ended up in the final rankings 7th??? How does that work??? THEY MADE IT TO THE FINAL FOUR! lol. Ursinus, Gettysburg, and F & M have been ranked and have earned respect within the past 10 years. McDaniel, before last year, hasnt had a winning season in 25 years so I understand and I know that I am biased towards my team so I wanted to get some feed back from everyone to see if my bias is logical.

terror30 - for what it is worth, I couldn't have put Ursinus much higher than where they landed in the Top 25 after last season. Yes, they were in the Final Four, but they also probably had the easiest trip through the tournament to get to Salem. And while I know a major injury limited what we expected from Ursinus (who I thought would do better in Salem), they got smoked in the final two games of the season. So while they were in the final four teams remaining in the tournament, there were several teams in other brackets that had to play tough opponents (and were eliminated) I think would have beaten Ursinus in the tournament.

This season, the chaos up top and the inability for Gettysburg to capitalized on the experience they have on their team to take control of the CC is going to cost this conference a chance at a second bid into the NCAA Tournament. That being said, I would love to see F&M and McDaniel get in and I certainly hope Gettyburg will make a run... but I am no longer counting on it.

[Reserved Seat]

Glad to have Dave "d-mac" McHugh's insight into the ranking process.
I agree with everything said, and at this time, the only way a CC team is going to make the tournament is to win the conference play-offs.  F&M might have a chance at an at-large pick if they win the rest of their season's game to finish 23-2.  McDaniel and Gettysburg will have to win the play-offs to get in.

[Pat Coleman]

I mean Ursinus made it all the way to the Final Four last year with over 20 wins in a row and ended up in the final rankings 7th??? How does that work??? THEY MADE IT TO THE FINAL FOUR!

Final Four is merely last four, not the same as top four. In Division III, not all brackets are created equally and some teams have to travel significantly tougher roads than others.

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It is not that the Conference does not get respect...it has yet to earn it.

Not only what Pat and Dave have stated, but Ursinus was one of the rare teams to come out of the Centennial and do well in Tournament play.

Yes true Centennial has had F & M and Washington go as far, but in general usally out by the 2nd round.

The Conference hurts itself, take the McDaniel loss at Dickinson, Gettysburg loss to McDaniel and Gettysburg loss to Haverford.

Do not complain about the system and boasting the why or why nots but when a Centennial team gets into the dance cheer them on for the good of the Conference.

[r.w. mcnickels]

It is not that the Conference does not get respect...it has yet to earn it.

Not only what Pat and Dave have stated, but Ursinus was one of the rare teams to come out of the Centennial and do well in Tournament play.

Yes true Centennial has had F & M and Washington go as far, but in general usally out by the 2nd round.

The Conference hurts itself, take the McDaniel loss at Dickinson, Gettysburg loss to McDaniel and Gettysburg loss to Haverford.

Do not complain about the system and boasting the why or why nots but when a Centennial team gets into the dance cheer them on for the good of the Conference.

I think we have yet to see whether last year was an exception, or the beginning of a new trend for the conference.  I'm really hoping for two NCAA bids this year, and for at least one team to advance deep -- just so the conference can continue to build on any respect it may have earned last season.  It's still way too early to tell if the CC deserves two bids, but obviously Pool C contenders shouldn't be losing to Haverford and Dickinson.

[terror 30]

I cannot agree more that the teams on top of the conference are just shooting themselves in the foot with losses to these teams that are below .500. I'd just like to see the conference get a little more respect I guess in particularly McDaniel. They strung together 8 wins in a row including defeating an Ursinus team that was ranked #21 at the time, then defeating F & M who was also ranked #21 at the time. No doubt that there losses to Dickinson and Haverford are killing them in the rankings right now.

No disrespect to anyone, but ANY road you take to the final four is a tough road! Especially beating the National Champs (VA Wesleyan) from two years prior, even if it was at home. I'll agree that it probably turned out to be the easiest bracket to get there but as all of us know the NCAA tournament can be crazy on all levels. And I was incredibly happy for our two teams that made it to the Sweet 16. Ursinus got flat out beat by Amherst, who again was the National Champ from the year before. And I think we all know that the final game they played would have been a lot different if Shattuck would have played more than 30 seconds.

Thanks Old Ends, Pat Coleman, D-Mac, Reserved Seat, DDM28. You can plan on me getting more involved in the future!

[D.B. Cooper]

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When Washington finished 3d in the Final Four in 1990 the Centennial was but a glimmer in some unknown college President's eyes. Oddly enough the precursor to the CC, the MAC South, had three NCAA participants that year (JHU & the youthful Dip team that made a second round exit). So I'm not sure how much a pre-CC success that long ago helps now.

[D.B. Cooper]

1/31 picks (pretty challenging slate of games)

G-burg
F&M
Muhlenberg (flip of a coin, came up Muhl Cave)
Dickinson (tough call)
Ursinus (very tough call)

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks Old Ends, Pat Coleman, D-Mac, Reserved Seat, DDM28. You can plan on me getting more involved in the future!

Great -- the board needs more posters and there's not much McDaniel representation anywhere around here since the football team has been taking such a beating of late. Welcome and spread the word!

[ronk]

Glad to have Dave "d-mac" McHugh's insight into the ranking process.
I agree with everything said, and at this time, the only way a CC team is going to make the tournament is to win the conference play-offs.  F&M might have a chance at an at-large pick if they win the rest of their season's game to finish 23-2.  McDaniel and Gettysburg will have to win the play-offs to get in.

  I think you're too pessimistic at this point; Rochester and Middlebury got Pool C bids last year with 5 regional losses.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Yeah - Rochester got in... but their OWP and OOWP was certainly stronger than anyone in the Mid-Atlantic tends to have... and that is thanks to a very strong UAA conference and other regionally good teams. The Mid-Atlantic has too many weak teams, especially at the bottom of conferences that hurt many teams' OWPs and OOWPs. So regional losses are more "hurtful". It also depends on the opponents a team loses to. Rochester lost to Wash U., Chicago, Brandies, Emory, and NYU. The "worst" loss there was the OT loss on the road to Emory. Compared to teams like Gettysburg this season where they have lost to Haverford... Rochester's resume looks better.

My point is the conference and the region are not strong enough, especially at the bottom, to allow teams to take too many losses, especially bad ones.