MBB: Northwest Conference

[(509)Rat]

For the visual learners. Current NWC standings at the half way mark (kinda):

1. Whitworth   8-0   
2. George Fox   5-2
3. Lewis & Clark   5-3   
4. Whitman           5-3   
5. Pacific       3-3
6. Willamette   3-4
7. PLU           2-6
8. Linfield           2-6
9. Puget Sound   1-7

[playball]

For the visual learners. Current NWC standings at the half way mark (kinda):

1. Whitworth   8-0   
2. George Fox   5-2
3. Lewis & Clark   5-3   
4. Whitman           5-3   
5. Pacific       3-3
6. Willamette   3-4
7. PLU           2-6
8. Linfield           2-6
9. Puget Sound   1-7

Wow, UPS is terrible. 
Linfield.
PLU has surprised me so far.  I thought they would contend for a tourny spot. (who knows though, they still might.  Screwed up Conference this year)
Willamette goes as Malley goes so far.  Hopefully Dart will get some more touches/shot attempts.  Shooting % is unreal high.
Pacific.  For as good as I thought this team was doing, Im surprised they are only 3-3.
Whitman is tough.  Especially at home, but has shown they are not as tough as many of us thought at the start of the season.
LC has overcome the lack of an inside game completely to be in 3rd.  Hollins has had some good games, Erickson has been consistent, so has their rotation of bigs.... NONE!  Shocking, but the conference is low on bigs and has been for a while.
George Fox, who saw this coming?  I didn't.  Still can't stand those guys.
Whitworth has been the class of the conference.  You know you have it good when we as posters dissect each game closely for every negative we can find and your team is 8-0.  Yeah they have played a little up and down in stretches, but they have made every big play they have needed to.  I think Fox will sink them in the second half though.  HEARD IT HERE FIRST!!

[A Buc Forever]

Fox gave Whitworth a game on their home court.  I don't think it will be close at Whitworth's home court.

St. Thomas lost this weekend.  Now we are faced with the question of both teams having one loss, but team St. Thomas has a win over WW early in the season. Now fresh off a loss will the voters put St. Thomas behind WW?  I think St. Thomas will go to #3 and WW will stay #4.

I'm rooting for Pacific this week.  It would be good for the conference for them to have a good year.

[(509)Rat]

I'm not 100% sure that St. Thomas will stay ahead of Whitworth. That's just how most polls work. Your most recent loss tends to negate much of what you've done throughout the season. I'm the type of person that puts the most stock in head to head results when available, especially when the number of total losses is identical. If it were me, Rochester would bump up to 1 and St. Thomas would stay ahead of Whitworth. Whether that means the Tommies stay ahead of Middlebury, I don't know. Even though Midd may not be as good as their record indicates according to what you read on the NESCAC and National boards/threads, I'd probably reward them for being undefeated in what we know is one of the better conferences (at the top) in the country. So I guess I'd put them at #2, St. Thomas at #3 and leave Whitworth at 4. WPI needs to beat Springfield before I'd jump them over the 5 teams ahead of them (NCC included).

But, none of this really matters. Midd has to play Williams and Amherst. Whitworth has to go down to Whitman, WPI has Springfield next week, NCC has 2 games against Ill Wes, Rochester still has to play Wash U, NYU (x2), Brandeis, and Chicago (all capable of beating the yellowjackets).....

oh and BTW, we have this whole tournament thing at the end of the year that will sort it all out for us.

Here's to hoping Whitworth wins out, or at least doesn't drop more than 1 game, get's the AQ and FINALLY gets to host up to the elite 8. And seeing Whitworth take on championship caliber teams in their own gyms over the years, I'd like the Pirates chances in Spokane. With the distance, the crowd, and the setup of the fieldhouse, it's a solid homecourt advantage. Of course, St. Thomas will tell you that it's not that big of a deal 

in case there are any lurkers from other conferences/regions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjr2VjCCHPE

[A Buc Forever]

Question of the day.  Mack Larkin and Wade Gebbers have 94 wins under their belt at Whitworth.  How many do they have when the season is over? Games left: 8 Regular season games. 2 probable conference tournament games. Up to 6 games in the national tournament. Win all for a total of 110. Good number to shoot for.

[Bearcat Press]

Typical Willamette/Linfield slugfest last night.  From the very start, it looked like WU's game plan was to shut down Batiuk and make the rest of the team beat them; and to Linfield's credit, they had a bunch of guys step up and carry the load, particularly in the first half.

Willamette also did a nice job defending on Linfield's last possession.  The last shot was a wide - I mean WIDE - open look, but of all the guys on the floor, I'm pretty sure Cody Jurgens was the last one Doty wanted to take that shot.

And if anybody needed more evidence that Willamette's success this year is firmly hitched to the Malley wagon, I give you this box score excerpt:

FG: 9-16, 3PT: 5-9, FT: 7-8, 30 points.

To be fair, he also had five assists, including a gorgeous one-handed feed to Noah Ripley down low, and on a night when EBK had to sit because of foul trouble, the Bearcats needed him to take over.  Pacific on Friday night should be a very interesting game.

[A Buc Forever]

The weekend games are coming up.  Predictions:

Friday

         Lewis & Clark over George Fox
         
    Whitman over Pacific Lutheran      
   
    Whitworth over Puget Sound      
   
    Pacific over Willamette      

Saturday

    Whitman over Puget Sound      

    Whitworth over Pacific Lutheran      
   
    Lewis & Clark over Linfield      

    Pacific over George Fox

I heard something about the DIII tournament not having 4 team pods this year.  Sounds like they are just having two teams at each site. Not sure how this works.  Any info?

[playball]

Buc, jumping on that L&C bandwagon real quick I see!   

Fox beats LC Saturday.  Not a fan of either of these schools, lesser of two evils I guess.
Whitman.  PLU's implosion has happened early this year.
Whitworth.  UPS is awful this year, WW isn't.
Willamette topples Pacific.  EBK and Dart still combine for 15 total shots, but they still find ways to win.

Whitman. See above.
Whitworth.  Again, see above.
Linfield over L&C, again....Depending if both teams have all their starters/bigs. 
Fox.  Not a Pacific believer.  I hate picking Fox and try not to whenever possible.

As for the tournament question, I doubt the NCAA will change much.  Look for WW to get hosed YET AGAIN.   

[(509)Rat]

From PC in the national tourney board:

"First round: Saturday, March 2nd at host institutions
Second round: Saturday, March 9th at host institutions
Third round: Saturday, March 16th at host institutions
Quarterfinals: Friday, March 22 at Salem
Semifinals: Saturday, March 23 at Salem
National championship: Sunday, April 7 (two weeks later) in Atlanta

The selection date doesn't change.  There won't be any four team pods the first weekend of the tournament.  Eight teams will go to Salem instead of four."


So...Whitworth can't get hosed. With cost not being an issue, it looks like the highest seed will host (assuming there are no issues with the facility). As long as Whitworth wins out, there is no way they could play a higher ranked foe until the elite 8.

[playball]

So...Whitworth can't get hosed. With cost not being an issue, it looks like the highest seed will host (assuming there are no issues with the facility). As long as Whitworth wins out, there is no way they could play a higher ranked foe until the elite 8.

They will find a way!!

[A Buc Forever]

I like this playoff system.  In addition to letting the higher seeds play at home, they avoid the problem of having the host team lose the first night and then no one showing up for the second night.

As long as a team ends up ranked 8th or higher they shouldn't face a higher ranked team until Salem. This gives a team like WW the inside track. 

Playball, I'm betting Whitman will be 2nd and LC and Pacific will be 3rd and 4th this year.    Willamette looked bad against WW and Fox seem inconsistent.  This weekend will answer a lot of questions.

[Keandre]

UPS and PLU win both this weekend!!!!! They both are due to shock the WORLD of D3 hoops lol.
Wil gets Pac
LC gets Fox

Fox over Pac
Linfield gets LC

[TryMeTeam]

Gotta go with Buc down the line with his predictions.  The only one I debated over is LC over Fox.  LC never plays well there, and Fox is coming off a tough loss.

Playball and Keandre:

Letting your emotions for other teams and allegiance to your teams is not the best way to make picks!  Makes upsets more fun, but makes Buc look smarter than he is. LOL

[(509)Rat]

Keandre will look like a savant if UPS or PLU manage to win even one game between the two of em. I don't know what exactly is wrong with UPS, but there is definitely something off about that team...

picks
Fox over LC: Fox is athletic enough on the perimeter to slow down the Pios. The difference will be Atkins. Kid plays bigger than he is (only 6'4), tough to guard around the rim, especially when you don't have any bigs to slow him down. Fox is really playing above their talent level so far in conference play. I expect them to bounce back from the Pacific game.
Whitman beats PLU: PLU doesn't turn the ball over, but they also haven't played well enough to make me think they can beat Whitman, even at home.
Whitworth beats UPS: Every time I look at this matchup I get a little nervous. I see UPS and I think of a very talented basketball team. However, that's not this year's loggers. At all. Whitworth would have to play a terrible game to not win this...but anything is possible I guess.
Pacific over Willamette: Willamette looked terrible in eastern WA (plenty of teams do) and then escaped against Linfield. Let me repeat, Linfield, at home. Nobody has been consistent outside of Whitworth this year, so this is a guess, but I don't have a lot of faith in the Bearcats winning a meaningful game.

Whitman gets its turn to beat UPS
Whitworth over PLU: PLU played them tough in Spokane, but Whitworth's bigs are playing much better basketball this time around.
LC beats Linfield: This is a great matchup for Batiuk and no one else for the Wildcats. LC is more talented in 4 out of the 5 positions on the court.
Pacific knocks of Fox: again. With LC and Fox splitting and Pacific winning both this weekend we have 3 teams fighting for 3rd and 4th with Willamette on the outside looking in. Basically I'm picking Pacific because nobody in the NWC wants to lock up a playoff spot so it only makes sense that Fox loses here.

[Keandre]

Playball and Keandre:

Letting your emotions for other teams and allegiance to your teams is not the best way to make picks!  Makes upsets more fun, but makes Buc look smarter than he is. LOL
[/quote]

TMT, I have to find a way to get some good mojo in Tacoma!!!!! Whether that makes Buc look smarter, I am willing to do it.