MBB: University Athletic Association

deiscanton · December 08, 2021, 04:01:18 AM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on December 08, 2021, 12:17:25 AM

Covenant is a tough team. They're talented and Will Crumly is a handful for anyone down low. Emory should've won, but it's not a terrible loss.

However, we now know that through 7 games, Emory's Romin Williams is nowhere close to the basketball player that he used to be, and that we have come to expect from him. He did not score a point vs Randolph-Macon, and he did not score a point last night. He has only scored 10 or more points in a game once this season so far. All facets of his game are off, and for the first time since his freshman season of his college career, he has been coming off the bench the past few games in an attempt to see if his game would be better as a reserve right now. So far, it does not seem to have worked.

Without him, Emory is not a top 25 team. With Romin Williams in his prime, Emory easily beats Covenant and may have had a shot to win vs Randolph-Macon.

WUPHF · December 08, 2021, 08:13:05 AM

And I don't think I have seen Emory play so poorly overall in years. 58 points even with the OT. Emory will be back.

WUPHF · December 08, 2021, 09:17:31 AM

I should add: credit to Covenant because teams do not play in a vacuum but Emory shot 10% from the perimeter and 50% from the line.

WUPHF · December 08, 2021, 10:08:55 AM

I am not going to do Massey updates multiple times a week, but the latest ratings for the UAA are wild.

The UAA has 6 teams in the Top 50 and 8 teams in the Top 100. The UAA has moved above the CCIW as the second best conference in the nation according to the Ken Massey break down.

This may be the best the UAA has been, top to bottom, in a long time.

At the same time, the UAA does not have a single team in the Top 25. The league looks more and more like the best one-bid league ever. I am not predicting that, but I definitely did not predict this. The UAA is going to be a meat grinder for sure.

By the way, every season, I see references to a tough Chicago team as if that is a given. I may come to regret this, but it is time to be honest about the Maroons. They are a good team, but they have not been among the top UAA teams in a long time.

Washington University No 26
Case Western Reserve No 33
Brandeis No 34
Emory No 44
Rochester No 47
Carnegie Mellon No 50
NYU No 84
Chicago No 87

deiscanton · December 08, 2021, 01:20:59 PM

You can depend on the Chicago men to finish in the top 4 of the UAA standings or no worse than 5th in the UAA most seasons. The Maroons have not really been close to getting a Pool C bid to NCAAs for quite a while, and I don't think that this will be the year that the Chicago men will clinch the AQ either.

The Chicago men are usually good for 7 to 9 UAA wins per season, but not more than that.

Similarly, I can also understand why the coach at CWRU is telling everyone to not jump on the top 25 bandwagon for the Spartans just yet. CWRU has not won more than 6 UAA conference games a season for at least 10 seasons now.

BTW, the Brandeis v Chicago series in the Jean Bain era has been close in 3 of the 4 games played so far. Brandeis is 4-0 vs Chicago so far in Jean Bain's tenure as head coach of the Judges, but only one of the games has been a comfortable 20 point Brandeis win. Both games at the Auerbach Arena went to overtime and double overtime respectively before Brandeis won. Brandeis also had a 3 point win at Chicago in the last season played before the pandemic.

WUPHF · December 08, 2021, 01:50:39 PM

Chicago has won 9 games once since the 2007-2008 season. 7-8 is more the norm. They are at a serious risk of finishing under 7 wins this season.

It is true regarding Case Western Reserve during a normal season, but this season is not normal. This team may well be the best they have every had.

deiscanton · December 08, 2021, 02:11:49 PM

Quote from: WUPHF on December 08, 2021, 01:50:39 PM
Chicago has won 9 games once since the 2007-2008 season. 7-8 is more the norm. They are at a serious risk of finishing under 7 wins this season.

It is true regarding Case Western Reserve during a normal season, but this season is not normal. This team may well be the best they have every had.

I tend to agree with you on that point regarding CWRU. The Spartans are loaded with talent this year. Putting 111 points on the board vs John Carroll screams at me that the Spartans need to be watched, and I made sure to watch their game vs Adrian live on video as it happened. I will have to make sure to watch CWRU every time they play this season.

WUPHF · December 08, 2021, 03:47:11 PM

I do think Case Western Reserve is worth watching though, since you often talk about the announcers, I am not sure that the long time announcer is back. Jance or Jantz. He is very good.

ADL70 · December 08, 2021, 10:36:43 PM

Quote from: WUPHF on December 08, 2021, 03:47:11 PM
I do think Case Western Reserve is worth watching though, since you often talk about the announcers, I am not sure that the long time announcer is back. Jance or Jantz. He is very good.

Jantz is calling the games.

WUPHF · December 08, 2021, 11:29:32 PM

Ron Jantz, yes. Thanks.

Titan Q · December 10, 2021, 01:25:14 PM

On 4/22/21, WashU senior Justin Hardy was diagnosed w/ Stage 4 stomach cancer. On 11/27/21, he had 28 pts & 11 reb.

His incredible and inspiring story is here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRMVYfraa88

WUPHF · December 10, 2021, 01:59:43 PM

Quote from: Titan Q on December 10, 2021, 01:25:14 PM
On 4/22/21, WashU senior Justin Hardy was diagnosed w/ Stage 4 stomach cancer. On 11/27/21, he had 28 pts & 11 reb.

His incredible and inspiring story is here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRMVYfraa88

Thanks Bob!

deiscanton · December 10, 2021, 02:41:18 PM

FYI--

Here are the rankings of the OWPs of all 8 UAA men's basketball teams through games of Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, along with their cumulative OWPs.

Note: OWP measures the winning percentage of the past opponents that each UAA team has played already. Cumulative OWP measures the winning percentage of both the past and future opposition for the season for each UAA team.

OWP is 2/3 of SOS. Ranking is of 416 DIII men's basketball teams.

1.) Carnegie Mellon-- OWP is .688 (ranked #11 in DIII)-- Cumulative OWP is .705

2.) Emory-- OWP is .680 (ranked #16 in DIII)-- Cumulative OWP is .719

3.) Rochester-- OWP is .627 (ranked #38)-- Cumulative OWP is .670

4.) Brandeis-- OWP is .613 (ranked #48)-- Cumulative OWP is .695

5.) CWRU-- OWP is .524 (ranked tied for #146)-- Cumulative OWP is .642

6.) Chicago-- OWP is .500 (ranked tied for #177)-- Cumulative OWP is .650

7.) Wash U-- OWP is .448 (ranked #277)-- Cumulative OWP is .634

8.) NYU-- OWP is .410 (ranked tied for #331)-- Cumulative OWP is .610

On another note: Last Saturday's 5 OT game between Brandeis and Tufts is currently the longest college basketball game this season in any division. (men or women). In D-I, the Nebraska at NC State men's game on December 1 went to 4 OTs before a winner was decided. No D-II men's game has gone more than 2 OTs this season.

deiscanton · December 15, 2021, 04:22:41 PM

This is not good news.

Due to a COVID-19 surge at NYU, the campus is shutting down and finals are going remote.

In addition, as of today, December 15, 2021, all NYU athletic programs have suspended activity until further notice.

This may have a major impact on UAA competition this season.

Greek Tragedy · December 15, 2021, 04:25:59 PM

Sounds like Middlebury. Hopefully with most (all) of the students away for a few weeks, things will return to (some) normal after the break (fingers crossed).