WBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[BUBeaverFan]

http://www.heartlandconf.org/press_releases/2009-10/10_15_earlham

Welcome to the HCAC Earlham!

[overlooked]

mcbballfan:  I realize your post was for last season, but I will reply for this upcoming season (2010-11).  Franklin College is getting last season's (Indiana) #1 ranked and  3A State Runner-Up Rushville's 5'10" PG Krista Beaman.    Highly Recruited?  Somewhat.   

[mcbballfan]

overlooked:  Beaman is a nice addition to an already strong team.  Manchester has 5 freshmen, but time will tell if they make an impact this season.  The Spartans lose one senior from last year's team which was filled with injuries, so there is a lot of experience coming back.  Manchester starts the season with a tough week:  at Calvin then at Hope.

[mcbballfan]

Below is the link to the HCAC preseason poll.  Franklin is favored to repeat with Hanover a close second.

http://www.heartlandconf.org/sports/wbkb/2010-11/releases/10_26_wbb_preseason

[overlooked]

Franklin headed north to scrimmage NAIA Honorable Mention (#34) ranked Taylor.   The first half looked like the first half of the first scrimmage game.   Not real sharp or crisp.  Franklin loses the first half.   Regrouped and played much better the second half.  Winning the second half. 

Let's hear about some other teams.  HCAC only has 6 pages of topics in how many years?   What's that phrase they use on the NFL preview show.  "C'mon Man"!

[zander]

any reason why hanover is not getting any votes for top 25?

[mcbballfan]

Hanover may get some votes now that they are 8-0.  Strength of schedule may be part of it as well as they seem to have less games in than many schools at this point.  Hanover's opponents have a record of 29-45 with OH Northern at 9-1 being a good quality win.  Manchester was beaten by undefeated Bridgewater last weekend in Florida, and Bridgewater got a vote in the polls for the first time this week.       

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First Regional Rankings: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/category/ncaa-stuff/regional-rankings/

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Preseason poll has been released http://www.heartlandconf.org/sports/wbkb/2011-12/releases/10_25_preseason_poll

Franklin (6)     96
Hanover (3)      82
Transylvania (1) 82
Manchester       77
Defiance         50
Rose-Hulman      47
Bluffton         45
Mt St Joseph     33
Anderson         25
Earlham          13

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Franklin is up to #19 in the rankings and beat previously unbeaten Hanover last night. Rest of the conference seems to be struggling as only Manchester at 4-3 has more than 2 wins so far.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Here's the standings at the end of 2011...

Franklin       4-0    11-0   
Hanover        3-1     7-3   
Manchester     3-1     7-4   
Anderson       2-2     5-6   
Defiance       2-2     4-7   
Transylvania   2-2     4-7   
Mt St Joseph   2-2     2-9 
Earlham        1-3     3-8 
Rose-Hulman    1-3     3-8 
Bluffton       0-4     2-9   

Franklin was ranked 15th in the latest poll (Dec 18th) while Hanover was tied for 36th with 2 votes.
Grizzlies have 5 of their next 6 at home and 7 of 9. Will anyone be able to stop their bid for an unbeaten season?
Unlike the men, all the women's teams have at least 2 wins so far but only 3 teams have winning records.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

The Lady Grizzlies have fallen for the first time this season losing at home 39-36 to Manchester... looks more like a score from football season.
The teams combined for 18 of 87 shooting, 1 of 13 behind the arc, and 40 turnovers. 38 of the 75 points (just over 50%) came from the free throw line.

This means there's a 3 way tie atop the HCAC standings with Franklin, Manchester, and Hanover all 7-1 in conference.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Final standings for 2011-12...

Franklin        16-2    23-2
Hanover         16-2    20-4
Manchester      13-5    17-8
Transylvania    11-7    13-12
Defiance         9-9    11-14
Bluffton         6-12    8-17
Rose-Hulman      6-12    8-17
Mount St. Joseph 6-12    6-19
Anderson         5-13    8-17
Earlham          2-16    4-21

Pretty close to the preseason poll.

Here's the conference tourney schedule, all games at Franklin

Friday, Feb. 24
Game 1: #5 Defiance vs. #4 Transylvania 6:00 PM
Game 2:  #6 Rose-Hulman vs. #3 Manchester 8:00 PM
Saturday, Feb. 25
Game 3: #4/5 winner at #1 Franklin 3:00 PM
Game 4: #3/6 winner vs. #2 Hanover 5:00 PM
Sunday, Feb. 26
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Using percentages from Massey and considering Franklin is at home, the chances of each team winning in each round are:

First Round
4 Transy     56.4%
5 Defiance   43.6%
3 Manchester 90.8%
6 Rose        9.2%

Semi-Finals
1 Franklin   96.4%
4 Transy      2.4%
5 Defiance    1.3%
2 Hanover    84.6%
3 Manchester 15.3%
6 Rose        0.2%

Finals
1 Franklin   57.7%
2 Hanover    39.8%
3 Manchester  2.3%
4 Transy      0.2%
5 Defiance    0.1%
6 Rose        0.0%

There is an 81.5% chance that the championship game will be Franklin vs Hanover

Interestingly, if the tourney was at a neutral site the odds for winning the tourney favor the Panthers...
1 Franklin   41.0% (-16.7%)
2 Hanover    54.2% (+14.4%)
3 Manchester  4.2%  (+1.9%)
4 Transy      0.4%  (+0.2%)
5 Defiance    0.2%  (+0.1%)
6 Rose        0.0%

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Franklin will play WIAC champs UW-Stevens Point in the first round. Their pod will be hosted by Calvin.

Good luck Grizzlies.