WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Any other speculation or info regarding Carroll's immediate future?
Any lament regarding the CCIW not appearing in the final top 25?

I think the CCIW hasn't been as strong at the top as it has been in past years and thus it is taking a hit in the Top 25.

That said, I also think the great teams has gotten far deeper and thus good teams has gotten deeper as well. In other words for the first time in a long time, the women's Top 25 is not as "easy" to get into as a CCIW team as it has been in the past. There are far more teams around the country that have proven themselves. Not getting out of the first weekend hurt the CCIW - though, I saw that coming from how the bracket was set-up for the CCIW this year. It just isn't a given anymore.

[GoPerry]

Any other speculation or info regarding Carroll's immediate future?
Any lament regarding the CCIW not appearing in the final top 25?

I think the CCIW hasn't been as strong at the top as it has been in past years and thus it is taking a hit in the Top 25.

That said, I also think the great teams has gotten far deeper and thus good teams has gotten deeper as well. In other words for the first time in a long time, the women's Top 25 is not as "easy" to get into as a CCIW team as it has been in the past. There are far more teams around the country that have proven themselves. Not getting out of the first weekend hurt the CCIW - though, I saw that coming from how the bracket was set-up for the CCIW this year. It just isn't a given anymore.

I'm not sure it really matters that Wheaton didn't end up in the final top 25 poll.  I'm not one to complain much about polls because there are so many variables and it's probably unreasonable to think that voters will do too much weekly in depth analysis of SOS 1/2 way through the season.  All year I thought Wheaton's rank hovering around 20 – 25 was about right. 

Having said that, I wasn't sure why Trine got ranked 25th in week 6 ahead of WC ( after receiving 4 votes in week 5) and basically remained ahead of Wheaton the rest of the way – not just because Wheaton beat Trine early in the year, but also because I thought Trine had played a very weak schedule - 1-1 vs Hope and Calvin had played an even weaker schedule .   Wheaton had 2 road losses to top 10 teams, Hope and Oshkosh and then a road loss to IWU.  Granted, Wheaton's loss to Carthage was a bad one but Trine leapfrogging was before that happened.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Trine I think proved themselves a bit in the tournament, don't you think? Win over IWU. Gave ONU a heck of a game. Represented themselves pretty well. I let's not pretend beating Hope and Calvin is easy. That is pretty significant, especially considering Trine beat Calvin twice this season (once in the conference title game). Their win over Hope was at Hope in the regular season finale.

From what I was watching, Trine looked better than Wheaton.

[thunder38]

It's hard to give credence to a head to head win in November once you have a total body of work to evaluate. Wheaton was playing its home-opening tournament and the game was a mid-afternoon contest. Hardly a determining factor in ranking one ahead of the other five months later. Watching Trine down the stretch, they are very worthy of where they ended up in the rankings in comparison to Wheaton.

[Mr. Ypsi]

With Ehresman, McGraw, and Merritt returning to IWU, it hardly seems relevant for next year anyway.  After a few year's absence, I think the conference is Titan Nation next year.

[GoPerry]

Trine I think proved themselves a bit in the tournament, don't you think? Win over IWU. Gave ONU a heck of a game. Represented themselves pretty well. I let's not pretend beating Hope and Calvin is easy. That is pretty significant, especially considering Trine beat Calvin twice this season (once in the conference title game). Their win over Hope was at Hope in the regular season finale.

From what I was watching, Trine looked better than Wheaton.

Yes Dave.  Both Thunder teams won a game in the tourney.  And like I said, I have no real problem with where Wheaton ended up in the final poll so who's ahead of them doesn't matter.  My comment had more to do with my surprise at the mid-season poll where Trine rose pretty rapidly based on , I assume, one win at home vs Calvin.  Having said that, do I expect you and the other voters to drill down analyze SOS + quality wins, quality losses in a week 6 poll?  Not at all.  I appreciate all the effort you guys do put into producing a weekly poll.     

It's hard to give credence to a head to head win in November once you have a total body of work to evaluate. Wheaton was playing its home-opening tournament and the game was a mid-afternoon contest. Hardly a determining factor in ranking one ahead of the other five months later. Watching Trine down the stretch, they are very worthy of where they ended up in the rankings in comparison to Wheaton.

The poll to which I was referring was week 6, Jan 8.  So games in November/December were all you had to go on.  If you don't give credence to that h/h win, then do you ignore the opening game loss @ Hope in OT?  Of course not.  In any case, it's all subjective by the voters and one man's trash is another's treasure.  I'm fine with that.

[iwu70]

Ypsi, let's wait and see how much the Titans improve by next year -- esp. the big three and better consistency from McGraw.  I have little doubt that Ehresman and Merritt will again be all-conference level players next year again.  McGraw too. So, key may be how much they all improve, and how much the key role players also improve -- Schneider and Shanks, in particular.   What kind of bench play IWU will have next year, with the departure of some key seniors -- esp. Kelly, Lehocky, others.   Titans will surely contend, likely be voted #1 or #2 in the CCIW pre-season poll, but nobody in the league will give it to them, some teams will again be very strong.  Eppard is back, right?  and NCC will again be running at everyone with their "system."  WC will no doubt be good again, even with the many graduations, esp. McDaniels.   I'm sure again a Mia Smith very tough pre-CCIW schedule, as usual.   However, I too hope next season is really a good one for the Titans -- as they have the key players, many pieces of a winning formula and tons of experience.  Always good coaching and preparation.  We'll see.  Gotta be optimistic, but let's not get carried away. 

IWU'70

[lmitzel]

First NCC recruit news dropped this morning, as Kaneland's Kylie Modaff has committed to North Central. She's coming off an ACL/meniscus injury and didn't play this past year, but she can shoot, and she ended up serving as an assistant coach of sorts for Kaneland this past season. At somewhere between 5'10" and 6'0" (sources are conflicting), if healthy I'd guess she pegs in as a 5, though Coach Roof moved people around a little bit this past season, so she could end up in another spot.

[lmitzel]

Chalk up another one for North Central, as Warren Township High School's Bekah Foley officially signed her Celebratory Signing Form to come play for North Central. She's 5'11" and had some success blocking shots, but was very versatile for her high school team and can play the point in a pinch. And of course... she likes to shoot threes.

[Gregory Sager]

Bekah Foley's parents are North Park alumni. Her mom comes from a Covenant background (I've known her since she was a little kid), and Bekah has lots of other NPU alumni kin going back generations on her mom's side of the family; and James Foley, her dad, was a backup forward for the Vikings men's basketball team in the late '80s. So I'm not terribly thrilled that she's going to be wearing red and black in college instead of royal blue and gold. But it's not the first time that a potential NPU legacy has chosen another CCIW school at which to play sports -- heck, Carthage currently has both a men's basketball player and a women's soccer player whose respective fathers played basketball for the Vikings -- and it probably won't be the last time that this happens, either. Given that her older brother Kyle plays basketball for Knox, I knew that there was a pretty good chance that Bekah wouldn't end up at the Park.

At least she didn't choose Wheaton.

[lmitzel]

Bekah Foley's parents are North Park alumni. Her mom comes from a Covenant background (I've known her since she was a little kid), and Bekah has lots of other NPU alumni kin going back generations on her mom's side of the family; and James Foley, her dad, was a backup forward for the Vikings men's basketball team in the late '80s. So I'm not terribly thrilled that she's going to be wearing red and black in college instead of royal blue and gold. But it's not the first time that a potential NPU legacy has chosen another CCIW school at which to play sports -- heck, Carthage currently has both a men's basketball player and a women's soccer player whose respective fathers played basketball for the Vikings -- and it probably won't be the last time that this happens, either. Given that her older brother Kyle plays basketball for Knox, I knew that there was a pretty good chance that Bekah wouldn't end up at the Park.

At least she didn't choose Wheaton.

While he's not an athlete, I've told my younger brother that if he were to go to Wheaton I'd disown him. Instead he's off to U of I in the fall and Wheaton was never on his radar. Smart kid. 

[Gregory Sager]

A friend of mine who is a fellow NPU alumnus told me that his son had asked him what he'd think if the son wanted to go to Wheaton. My friend replied, "Consider the possibility that you could come home for Thanksgiving, only to find that your mother and I had moved without telling you and without leaving a forwarding address."

[iwu70]

Any more recent word on recruits?  Not much news from IWU yet, that I know of.

IWU'70

[lmitzel]

I haven't heard anything further on the North Central front other than the two I mentioned above. I'm sure there are more, but between NCAA rules that you can't announce recruits until deposits are in and the fact that Michelle Roof has me keep recruit news in confidence until they officiallly announce them, there may be more I'm not aware of or at liberty to say. (Though to be honest I don't know if any more yet.)

[Gregory Sager]

North Park announced four recruits today:

Blair Bullock	5'8	Kewanee, IL (Kewanee)
Alex Johnson	5'8	Clinton, IL (Clinton)
Dana Jump	n/a	San Andreas, CA (Calaveras)
Sinead Molloy	5'9	Chicago, IL (Trinity)