MBB: Centennial Conference

[Gabriel]

noonhooper,

Good guess.  I will counter with my prediction of Swat, F&M, JHU, Ursinus and Dickinson in that order.  Hopefully, Ursinus will recover from the flu bug that has been decimating them for the past 10 days.

[noonhooper]

So your guess is that nothing changes? I think there are too many matchups left that will cause some moving up or down. Dickinson always plays their best ball right now and they can really impact F&M and Ursinus. I don't know how "decimated" the Bears are since every player was suited up for the game on Wednesday. They may have been sluggish during that game if some of them were just recovering (although they looked more shook by good defense than a virus) but going forward I think that would just be an excuse rather than a reason. Ursinus has some of the best players in the conference every year, you'd think they could make some real noise at some point. Let's play the games!

[Gabriel]

So your guess is that nothing changes? I think there are too many matchups left that will cause some moving up or down. Dickinson always plays their best ball right now and they can really impact F&M and Ursinus. I don't know how "decimated" the Bears are since every player was suited up for the game on Wednesday. They may have been sluggish during that game if some of them were just recovering (although they looked more shook by good defense than a virus) but going forward I think that would just be an excuse rather than a reason. Ursinus has some of the best players in the conference every year, you'd think they could make some real noise at some point. Let's play the games!

They dressed 14 of 16.  Two were missing. Several were sluggish on recovering from the flu.  No doubt Swat played a great game and is the better team.  You may have noticed that Coach Small was wearing a surgical face mask as he has been sick in bed all week and foolishly got up for the game. Go Bears!

[njf1003]

JHU takes down F&M and Swat in 1 week both in 2OT games that could have  gone either way.
I have no idea how the tie breakers may work for the CC playoffs, but I'm pretty sure they're are going to be several really good games. The 2/3 might end up being essentially a NCAA play-in game, but all 3 might get in.
Definitely some of the best CC bball in a while.

[DipsWin13]

My understanding is that tiebreakers are first head to head, and then goes record against highest ranked conference opponent for which there isn't a season split. So for example, let's say Swarthmore, F&M, and Johns Hopkins all end up tying (i.e. having gone 1-1 against each other over the course of the season, and all finishing with the same conference record), in that case, the tie breaker would be determined by who went 2-0 agains the 4th place team. If there is still a tie, it would then go down to record against the 5th place team, and so on until the tie is broken.

If memory serves, a few years ago (sometime in the last five years) there was a tie-breaker for a 2-3 seed (which ultimately doesn't matter in the tournament) that went all the way down to record vs. the 7th best team in the league.

The last two games are going to be extremely interesting in determining who will host the conference tournament. Here are the schedules for the three teams remaining that are vying for the top seed:

Johns Hopkins:
@ Washington College
@ Haverford

Franklin & Marshall:
v. Dickinson
@ Swarthmore

Swarthmore:
v. Haverford
v. F&M

With no disrespect intended to the teams not currently in the top five, it would appear that barring surprise, Hopkins will go 2-0 in those two remaining contests. Franklin & Marshall clearly has the most difficult schedule, and will need to bounce back to avenge their loss earlier this season to Dickinson. Though there are a number of scenarios that can play out here, if Hopkins wins out, and then F&M goes 2-0, F&M likely has the tie-breaker because they went 2-0 over Ursinus, while Johns Hopkins went 1-1. If Swarthmore goes 2-0, they would also have the tie-breaker over Johns Hopkins by virtue of their record over Ursinus as well. Much of this assumes that Ursinus finishes as the 4 seed, and Dickinson the 5, though that is also not a given at this point either. I think the playoff picture should clear up after the mid-week games, but there could be more than a few moving pieces going into Saturday that will determine positioning for the final five teams in the CC tournament.

[D.B. Cooper]

Though the same result in tiebreaking, Dips going 2-0 would give them hosting duties because they would be 2-0 against SWAT it would never get to Ursinus. Admittedly there is less than a 40% chance of F&M pulling that herculean feat off. When they will find themselves in their annual Sisyphean task of missing out on an at large bid. The only way CC could  have 3 teams in is if Dips were to win the automatic bid.

[gordonmann]

I know we've had two ranked Centennial teams before, but I don't know if we've ever had three.

Until tonight that is.

http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2017-18/week11

[CCHoopster]

Gburg's coach is retiring:
http://gettysburgsports.com/news/2018/2/1/petrie-to-retire-as-mens-basketball-mens-golf-coach.aspx

Truly a change in guard in the CC going on.

Anyone have any idea or hear rumors of who could be a fit here?

[ronk]

Gburg's coach is retiring:
http://gettysburgsports.com/news/2018/2/1/petrie-to-retire-as-mens-basketball-mens-golf-coach.aspx

Truly a change in guard in the CC going on.

Anyone have any idea or hear rumors of who could be a fit here?

I'll start a rumor with the nomination of Nate Davis, currently the G-burg women's coach. He was formerly a collegiate golf coach, also, to fill that position, too.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Gburg's coach is retiring:
http://gettysburgsports.com/news/2018/2/1/petrie-to-retire-as-mens-basketball-mens-golf-coach.aspx

Truly a change in guard in the CC going on.

Anyone have any idea or hear rumors of who could be a fit here?

I'll start a rumor with the nomination of Nate Davis, currently the G-burg women's coach. He was formerly a collegiate golf coach, also, to fill that position, too.

I'll be happy to squash that rumor.

I am sure G'burg is going to go national with this search and I am sure it will be a very popular search.

[DipsWin13]

Though the same result in tiebreaking, Dips going 2-0 would give them hosting duties because they would be 2-0 against SWAT it would never get to Ursinus. Admittedly there is less than a 40% chance of F&M pulling that herculean feat off. When they will find themselves in their annual Sisyphean task of missing out on an at large bid. The only way CC could  have 3 teams in is if Dips were to win the automatic bid.

Spot on D.B. The tiebreaker with Swarthmore and F&M would I think only occur if F&M beat Dickinson and then lost to Swarthmore, combined with Swarthmore losing to Haverford. Also, it would mean that Hopkins would have to drop one of two to either Haverford of WAC...

Sisyphean is now my new favorite way of describing F&M's attempts at making the NCAA tournament short of winning the CC. That said, three CC teams in the top 25 doesn't hurt, though I suppose it comes down more to regional rankings than anything else.

[CCHoopster]

Gburg's coach is retiring:
http://gettysburgsports.com/news/2018/2/1/petrie-to-retire-as-mens-basketball-mens-golf-coach.aspx

Truly a change in guard in the CC going on.

Anyone have any idea or hear rumors of who could be a fit here?

I'll start a rumor with the nomination of Nate Davis, currently the G-burg women's coach. He was formerly a collegiate golf coach, also, to fill that position, too.

I'll be happy to squash that rumor.

I am sure G'burg is going to go national with this search and I am sure it will be a very popular search.

A national search sounds good but not necessary IMO. Their rosters over the years are filled with student athletes from PA, MD, VA, NY and NJ. Sprinkle in an international player every few years and there it is. It's fairly similar across sports. I just don't think Gettysburg, AS TERRIFIC AND FANTASTIC the "Battlefield" is as an institution, pulls nationally (specifically athletics) as much as the likes of Haverford, Swat, FnM. I think a younger coach with head coaching experience from the area/region with Centennial experience (recruiting) would be ideal. I just don't think a "re tread" or assistant with no HC experience is the answer whether D1, 2 or 3. Youth and excitement.... someone who knows the MD, VA, PA, NJ, NY recruiting trail. Gettysburg as a town/area is not the most exciting and attractive place to live so pulling someone like Swat did from out of the area may not be as doable. The head coaching experience should be D3 too. As great of a hire as Swat made, he has already been looking for jobs to move on from. D1 guys get that in their blood- bouncing around. Hopkins coach was a D3 guy first at Stevens, same with Dickinson- they will be there 10 years minimum each and have both had success.

I don't know much with this stuff--- just some thoughts. Thanks for the dialogue Dave!

[DipsWin13]

I know we've had two ranked Centennial teams before, but I don't know if we've ever had three.

Until tonight that is.

http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2017-18/week11

Thanks to the D3 Hoops Top 25 Poll Archive (http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/archive) it appears the CC has had 3 teams in the Top 25 for four weeks in the 2014-15 season, in weeks 7, 8, 9 and 12.

Very cool to have the Centennial well represented with three teams once again!

[gordonmann]

Glad people are getting use out of it! +k

[Pat Coleman]

Gburg's coach is retiring:
http://gettysburgsports.com/news/2018/2/1/petrie-to-retire-as-mens-basketball-mens-golf-coach.aspx

Truly a change in guard in the CC going on.

Anyone have any idea or hear rumors of who could be a fit here?

I'll start a rumor with the nomination of Nate Davis, currently the G-burg women's coach. He was formerly a collegiate golf coach, also, to fill that position, too.

I'll be happy to squash that rumor.

I am sure G'burg is going to go national with this search and I am sure it will be a very popular search.

A national search sounds good but not necessary IMO. Their rosters over the years are filled with student athletes from PA, MD, VA, NY and NJ. Sprinkle in an international player every few years and there it is. It's fairly similar across sports. I just don't think Gettysburg, AS TERRIFIC AND FANTASTIC the "Battlefield" is as an institution, pulls nationally (specifically athletics) as much as the likes of Haverford, Swat, FnM. I think a younger coach with head coaching experience from the area/region with Centennial experience (recruiting) would be ideal. I just don't think a "re tread" or assistant with no HC experience is the answer whether D1, 2 or 3. Youth and excitement.... someone who knows the MD, VA, PA, NJ, NY recruiting trail. Gettysburg as a town/area is not the most exciting and attractive place to live so pulling someone like Swat did from out of the area may not be as doable. The head coaching experience should be D3 too. As great of a hire as Swat made, he has already been looking for jobs to move on from. D1 guys get that in their blood- bouncing around. Hopkins coach was a D3 guy first at Stevens, same with Dickinson- they will be there 10 years minimum each and have both had success.

I don't know much with this stuff--- just some thoughts. Thanks for the dialogue Dave!

Nonetheless -- nobody does a "regional search." It's either hire from within, pick a hand-picked successor, or open up the position widely. That's what a national search is. It's not a declaration that the school thinks it's a national instutition.