MBB: Centennial Conference

[Gabriel]

Congratulations to Swarthmore  and Johns Hopkins for prevailing last night.  Should be an excellent game tonight.  Swat has it going right now.  They are tough on both ends of the floor and both teams should be in the post season win or lose tonight. 

As an aside, both the Dips and the Bears made them work for their wins.  Well done.  Dips have a chance to make the post season.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Congratulations to Swarthmore  and Johns Hopkins for prevailing last night.  Should be an excellent game tonight.  Swat has it going right now.  They are tough on both ends of the floor and both teams should be in the post season win or lose tonight. 

As an aside, both the Dips and the Bears made them work for their wins.  Well done.  Dips have a chance to make the post season.

I don't think F&M's chances are that good, unless you are talking ECAC. Running things in the next 24 hours, but already deep in the MA rankings and didn't help themselves this week.

[GoDiplomats]

DIPS GET A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE!!!!!!

Hopefully, Matt Tate learns from Friday's lost he needs to be a dog and GO GET HIS. Watching that game was beyond upsetting as they continuously deferred to Fed, who threw up weak shots left and right. I'd love to ask him if he would really feel comfortable taking that shot again to end his basketball career. To say it was pathetic would be polite. Igans needs to step up and Mike Rice needs to find his head or a basic skill set. Ignas seems to be stuck in his own head. The kid has some potential to be a heck of a player but for whatever reason, can't seem to get out of his own way. Mike Rice, my goodness, I don't even know where to start. How in the world do you come into the game and get three straight turnovers. JUST HOW!!!! GRob now Justin is the better of the two options. He needs to stop being stupid and play Justin and place Mike and the end of the bench where he rightfully belongs.

[diplomaniac1]

Congrats to the THREE Centennial Conference teams that made the 64-team NCAA Division III Tournament - Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, and Franklin And Marshall. That certainly must be a first! Good luck to all three (especially the Diplomats) - represent the Conference well.

Regards to all.

Eric

[Hank Mardukas]

Besides the birth of my kids, this is one of my proudest days on this beautiful planet you "so-called humans" call earth. I understand I am a controversial figure in the Centennial Conference but not one person here can doubt my commitment and passion to this conference. Today is a historic day, having the Cent get 3 teams into the NCAA Tournament. I am going to completely honest and was somewhat surprised that Swat, Hopkins, and F&M all got in. I remember in 2015, I was almost certain that Hopkins, F&M, and Dickinson would all get an innovation to the "big dance". In the words of my arch nemesis Reservedseat/GoDiplomats "F&M was robbed worse than a bank Jesse James hit." Today restitution has been paid in full to the Dips, as they prepare to make a deep run in the tournament. 2014 was still a great year for the conference as Dickinson made a run to the elite 8, lead by the DIII player of the year, Gerry "Garcia" Wixted. Hopkins also received an innovation but in my opinion, showed up a bit drunk to the big dance. Is everybody as amazed as what Loeffler has been able to do with his team. I want to formally apologize for making the statement that "Hopkins would be better off hiring Ira Goldstein." For those of you who don't know Mr. Goldstein was a banker/ my youngest kids rec basketball coach who served 12 years for insider trading, falsifying documents, and securities fraud. Even though Ira didn't know much about basketball, I thought he would be a better option because he is having a hard time finding a job after that whole debacle. I'm sorry Coach Loeffler and I don't want to get ahead of myself but is this the year the Cent will be represented in the Final Four?

[Pat Coleman]

... is this the year the Cent will be represented in the Final Four?

As opposed to the previous years?

[Swat Fan #1]

Hank: "Hopkins also received an innovation but in my opinion, showed up a bit drunk to the big dance."

You sure it was Hopkins who showed up drunk? =)

Anyways, congrats to all three teams who were picked! Huge honor for the Centennial Conference!

[BleedingGreen]

I think it is ludicrous that all three teams got into the tournament.  I think if you gave Muhlenberg/Gettysburg/Ursinus the same resume as F&M they are not getting in.  Seems like the classic NBA All-Star bid for a guy's past accomplishments, like Carmelo or Kobe getting to play in the game in recent years.  Alas, congrats to Hopkins on winning the conference.

I believe this may be the beginning of a dynasty in JHU. Ursinus, Swat and F&M are all losing key seniors, the Mules will struggle to replace their senior class, and Gettysburg is in the process of finding a new coach.  Dickinson looms as a threat, but I'm really impressed with the Blue Jays.  A coach can make all the difference in the world, just ask MJ about the impact Phil Jackson had on his team, or see how Steve Kerr turned the Warriors into an absolute juggernaut that can realistically only be stopped by superhuman cyborg LeBron James.  Winning the conference in his first year should make it easy for Loeffler to recruit as well.  Will be interesting to see if the future of the cent lies in Baltimore.

I hope wherever the Dips travel to has the worst parking situation of all DIII schools in the land.   

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

If any of the schools you mentioned or any other school you want to pick had F&M's resume... they would be in the tournament as well.

We spent quite a bit of time on Hoopsville doing selections on Sunday... F&M was one of our easiest picks. Surprised me initially when I was doing it, but their numbers were quite strong. In fact, their numbers were similar to Albright's and they got in as well ahead of F&M.

You can try and pretend there is an old boys network who gave Robinson a nod, but I can assure you they did it on the up and up using the criteria. There is no need to slap Robinson's back for past accomplishments (for the record, it has been awhile since F&M did anything significant in the tournament)... but it is a futile attempt at trying to create controversy. They weren't even close to not making it.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think it is ludicrous that all three teams got into the tournament.  I think if you gave Muhlenberg/Gettysburg/Ursinus the same resume as F&M they are not getting in.  Seems like the classic NBA All-Star bid for a guy's past accomplishments, like Carmelo or Kobe getting to play in the game in recent years.  Alas, congrats to Hopkins on winning the conference.

Albright has, essentially, the same resume as F&M and they got in.  Names have nothing to do with it.  Those numbers were clearly better than other options at the table.  It wasn't even likely a bubble choice.  Even though I've been down on F&M a bit this year, even with the eye test it's pretty clear they're better than some of the other at-large selections (of course, they're also worse than some who got left out, so there's the numbers game again).

[GoDiplomats]

I think it is ludicrous that all three teams got into the tournament.  I think if you gave Muhlenberg/Gettysburg/Ursinus the same resume as F&M they are not getting in.  Seems like the classic NBA All-Star bid for a guy's past accomplishments, like Carmelo or Kobe getting to play in the game in recent years.  Alas, congrats to Hopkins on winning the conference.

I believe this may be the beginning of a dynasty in JHU. Ursinus, Swat and F&M are all losing key seniors, the Mules will struggle to replace their senior class, and Gettysburg is in the process of finding a new coach.  Dickinson looms as a threat, but I'm really impressed with the Blue Jays.  A coach can make all the difference in the world, just ask MJ about the impact Phil Jackson had on his team, or see how Steve Kerr turned the Warriors into an absolute juggernaut that can realistically only be stopped by superhuman cyborg LeBron James.  Winning the conference in his first year should make it easy for Loeffler to recruit as well.  Will be interesting to see if the future of the cent lies in Baltimore.

I hope wherever the Dips travel to has the worst parking situation of all DIII schools in the land.   

I'm guessing that a shot at me since your team didn't even make it to the conference playoff?!?!? I don't think you're allowed to talk trash until your team is at least somewhat relevant. 

[BleedingGreen]

With all due respect Dave, you yourself posted earlier that you didn't like their chances.  I just felt like the three big teams (F&M, Dickinson, and JHU) were better during 2014-15, and they didn't get all three in.  Not sure what changed, but you didn't seem to think they were getting in. I trust your stuff, which is kind of why I had assumed they wouldn't get in.  (I did not listen to the podcast).

@GoDiplomats you complained about parking at Swarthmore like a 17 year old teenager before prom night.  Sorry parking is scarce near the school since there is actually life around the main line, as opposed to Lancaster.  Has nothing to do with the team or school, just you buddy.  As I said to Hank, you just came on here and tore Federici apart, leave the kids alone. 

How does everybody feel about the all-conference selections?  I think they got it mostly right, although I may have had Tate on 2nd team.

[Pat Coleman]

I think once one sits down and goes through the full process of putting a bracket together, you get a different perspective on how MANY at-large bids 21 really is!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

With all due respect Dave, you yourself posted earlier that you didn't like their chances.  I just felt like the three big teams (F&M, Dickinson, and JHU) were better during 2014-15, and they didn't get all three in.  Not sure what changed, but you didn't seem to think they were getting in. I trust your stuff, which is kind of why I had assumed they wouldn't get in.  (I did not listen to the podcast).

What changed: their numbers ended up looking better in comparison to the rest of the country than I realized they would look. Even looking at them early on, some numbers didn't look good... but with so many loses in Division III this year and numbers all over the place, the Centennial ended up with better resumes than expected.

There is a reason I try not to dive into the numbers too deep until the last two weeks of the season... they can sometimes provide false info.

And as Pat said, 21 at-large selections is a lot when you start diving in.

BTW - you should listen to the podcast. Not from a selfish point of view, but from the point of view that there is a lot of good information we provide or discover while talking to coaches and guests around the country.

[Hank Mardukas]

@Dave: How do I access this podcast? Does this have to do with youtube?