WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Backseat Driver]

For anyone who is not aware of what Mia Smith has been dealing with off the court...

http://wjbc.com/cancer-doesnt-slow-illinois-wesleyan-coach-mia-smith/

Thanks for the info. My prayers are with Coach Smith.

[iwu70]

My support goes out to Coach Smith as well.  This was going to be a very different season for the Titans with all that amazing class of seniors graduating, but now this for Coach Smith will really make the season different and put into a whole another context and perspective.  I've heard her on several interviews now and she's talkiing very openly about her illness, using it as an educational and inspirational moment for her team, herself and for the community at large, especially for women.  I admire her greatly. 

IWU70

[iwu70]

D3hoops poll out.  IWU 17th, Wheaton and Carthage getting some votes, mention.  Seems too high for IWU and not showing enough respect to Carthage.  IMHO.  Of course, these pre-season polls don't mean awfully much.  Time and actual play will tell.  IWU has a tremendously tough pre-CCIW schedule with 8 out of 11 games on the road.  Would be amazed if they came out of that run better than about 7-4 or 8-3.  CCIW race looks much tighter at the top this year, with more teams contending. 

[iwu70]

IWU's pre-CCIW schedule potentially includes five teams ranked in the DIIIhoops, pre-season top 25 . . . and a few more from the "receiving votes" category!  A tough road.  Talk about being "road tested" before the CCIW season begins!

[Titan Q]

More on Mia Smith...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/women/article_8f5b62e4-0374-11e1-a878-001cc4c03286.html

[Titan Q]

IWU @ Blue Demons Tuesday...

http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/103011aak.html

[iwu70]

Sure seems like the D3hoops pre-season poll is not giving much respect to the Carthage program.  IMHO.  Looking forward to the season getting started, now only about two weeks away.

Good helpful review of the top 25 programs in the D3 hoops.com feature piece today.

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

More on Mia Smith...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/women/article_8f5b62e4-0374-11e1-a878-001cc4c03286.html

Thanks for the link, Q.  It must be a comfort to Coach Smith that if (God forbid!) any complications arise, her emergency backup is nearly as familiar with the personnel and system as she is, and has 667 wins!   (And, regardless of success, would have no interest in stealing her job! )

[Backseat Driver]

WBCA preseason poll: http://www.wbca.org/blog/index.cfm/2011/11/1/20112012-PreSeason-DIII-Poll/

Illinois Wesleyan #13
Wheaton #25
Carthage RV (14)

There's a few differences, but overall pretty similar to the D3hoops.com poll.

[iwu70]

Seems the WBCA poll has a bit more respect for, perhaps more knowledge of the Carthage program and they received more votes.  Wheaton too. 

Titans play a pre-season exhibition tonight at DePaul.  Could be a tough night for our women.  Part of the "road tested" process I mentioned earlier.

IWU70

[Backseat Driver]

Just took a look at the livestats for the IWU/DePaul exhibition. IWU trails at the half, 54-32. Not too shabby for playing the #19 D1 team. From the looks of it, IWU's 15 turnovers are responsible for the deficit, as the Titans are shooting 45% (9-20) from the field and 60% (6-10) from three-point range.

Starters for IWU:
Britt Hasselbring
Melissa Gardner
Olivia Lett
Michelle Bilek
Shelby Jackson

[iwu70]

Yup, final on the exhibition with DePaul, Titans come up short, as expected, 59-92.  Olivia Lett has a nice game with 22 points.  But, surely trouble with the size of the DP team, and large number of Titan TOs, stopping points in the paint.  Good shooting percentages for the Titans, except for FTs.   A rather rude initiation, but one that will pay dividends down the road in the DIII season very likely.  Good experience under games conditions for some of the new starters, new players in the '11-12 rotation.  Better nights to come, no doubt. 

IWU men have their first scrimmage tomorrow night at The Shirk.

IWU70

[Pat Coleman]

Seems the WBCA poll has a bit more respect for, perhaps more knowledge of the Carthage program and they received more votes.  Wheaton too. 

There's only eight voters in the WBCA poll. It only takes two people voting to get a team in the Top 25 in that poll if the No. 25 team gets 26 points. But yes, usually they follow us, especially because we share a couple of voters in common.

[RogK]

My best wishes to Mia Smith, too. Life sure makes us deal with some rotten stuff now and then -- yesterday a 53 year old neighbor of mine died, less than a month after another neighbor in his 50s passed away.
It sounds like Mia is going to be alright, which is excellent.
It is nice to read how superbly supportive her team is.
I'm certain she has received great amounts of encouragement from the other seven coaches in the league, too. They will still be competitors on the basketball court, of course. Mia certainly will be.

[gordonmann]

Seems the WBCA poll has a bit more respect for, perhaps more knowledge of the Carthage program and they received more votes.  Wheaton too. 

That's an interesting observation.  Why do you think the WBCA polsters have more knowledge of Carthage and Wheaton?  I can't draw that conclusion from the list of voting coaches.

As Pat points out, it's a smaller pool of voters -- 25 versus 8 since Williams' coach doesn't vote.  It's harder, though not impossible, to gather more knowledge for a national poll when you have fewer participants. 

It's particularly hard when some of those participants see such a limited number of Division III opponents.  Coach Fulks of Lewis & Clark is on the panel, but the Pioneers only played teams from four conferences last year.  L&C played their NWC mates, a sub-.500 SCAC team (Oglethorpe), a couple SCIAC teams and Howard Payne.  If Fulks watched Coe play IWU at the regional final where L&C played last year, then she saw a couple more teams.  But I assume it's hard for her to see a large variety of Division III teams given L&C's geographic isolation.  Our poll tries to address problem by using multiple people in the same region.

Also none of the coaches on this year's panel played Carthage or Wheaton (Ill.) last year.  Coach Fahey of Wash U. is on the panel and she probably has some familiarity with the programs.  But why would the coaches of Scranton, TCNJ, St. Joseph's (Conn.), Allegheny, Guilford and Rochester have special knowledge of Carthage and Wheaton?

Carthage and Wheaton aren't unusual in this regard.  None of the voting coaches on the panel played Babson, Calvin, Lebanon Valley, UW-Stevens Point, Mount Union or Bowdoin last year.  Certainly or two may have seen one or two of these schools at tournaments, playing other teams on tape, etc.  But I think we've got a better chance at getting that kind of indirect information with 25 voters, some of whom have a lot of freedom to see different teams from different conferences throughout the season.