WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GoPerry]

Interesting that UW Oshkosh flips back to #1 and Chicago down to #2 which is how it was in the first RR.  But in any case, even if Chicago loses @ WashU on Saturday and Wheaton beats IWU, it looks to me that the Titans and Maroons will still finish 1-2 in the final central ranking and will host the first round. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Interesting that UW Oshkosh flips back to #1 and Chicago down to #2 which is how it was in the first RR.  But in any case, even if Chicago loses @ WashU on Saturday and Wheaton beats IWU, it looks to me that the Titans and Maroons will still finish 1-2 in the final central ranking and will host the first round.

It took me a few to realize you were talking Oshkosh, not IWU!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Certainly I think both Wheaton and IWU are 'locks' for the NCAAs if they both make it to Saturday, and are pretty solid even if one or both fall in the semis.  Where it might get dicey would be if another team gets hot and wins the AQ, AND there are more 'bid thieves' around the country than usual.

[Pat Coleman]

If npbaseball40's point is a good one, we should also say : of course Wheaton ended up in 1st place -- they had the easiest schedule : they're the only team who didn't have to play against Wheaton.
My formula does not preclude a last place team from getting a player or two on all-conf. It does prevent a fairly decent team from being snubbed. A fairly decent team necessarily has a good player or two, counting offense and defense.
Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Ypsi.

Here's something fun in line with this discussion:

In 2009, Elmhurst College baseball finished dead last in the league race, but sophomore infielder Zach Hofer finished as the co-player of the year. His .431 CCIW batting average was 11 points higher than the second place finisher, but he did not lead the league in any other category.

I know this is a hoops board, but I was curious to see how other sports have voted over the years.

Anyone have other examples of this type of situation where a team finishes at or near the bottom and gets the player of the year honor? Specifically: in hoops?

The classic example hereabouts doesn't involve hoops; it involves the Cubs. In 1987 Andre Dawson hit 47 homers and drove in 139 RBI for the North Siders, leading the NL in both categories as well as total bases and ending the season with a slash line of .287/.328/.568. He won the NL MVP that season, in spite of the fact that the Cubs finished sixth -- dead last -- in the NL East, 18 1/2 games out of first.

I remember it being said that without Dawson that year, the Cubs would have finished in the American Association.

[RogK]

One young Cub pitcher that year had a 5.61 ERA over 155 2/3 innings, a fellow named Greg Maddux. This was before he began using telepathy to instruct home plate umps to widen the strike zone while he was on the mound.

[Mr. Ypsi]

If npbaseball40's point is a good one, we should also say : of course Wheaton ended up in 1st place -- they had the easiest schedule : they're the only team who didn't have to play against Wheaton.
My formula does not preclude a last place team from getting a player or two on all-conf. It does prevent a fairly decent team from being snubbed. A fairly decent team necessarily has a good player or two, counting offense and defense.
Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Ypsi.

Here's something fun in line with this discussion:

In 2009, Elmhurst College baseball finished dead last in the league race, but sophomore infielder Zach Hofer finished as the co-player of the year. His .431 CCIW batting average was 11 points higher than the second place finisher, but he did not lead the league in any other category.

I know this is a hoops board, but I was curious to see how other sports have voted over the years.

Anyone have other examples of this type of situation where a team finishes at or near the bottom and gets the player of the year honor? Specifically: in hoops?

The classic example hereabouts doesn't involve hoops; it involves the Cubs. In 1987 Andre Dawson hit 47 homers and drove in 139 RBI for the North Siders, leading the NL in both categories as well as total bases and ending the season with a slash line of .287/.328/.568. He won the NL MVP that season, in spite of the fact that the Cubs finished sixth -- dead last -- in the NL East, 18 1/2 games out of first.

I remember it being said that without Dawson that year, the Cubs would have finished in the American Association.

At least a couple of writers suggested Double A (NOT meaning American Association, which is Triple A).  Aside from Dawson, they were BAD.  (And with the current state of the Tigers, I can identify and commiserate.   Spring training reports are that Miguel Cabrera is the healthiest he's been in years; I would LOVE it if Miggy could pull a Dawson! )

[Pat Coleman]

Totally down for Miguel Cabrera hitting 47 homers for a last-place team.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Totally down for Miguel Cabrera hitting 47 homers for a last-place team.

Miggy has never hit 47, even in his triple crown year, but I'm UP for it!   While I have no delusions of Detroit challenging for the post-season (and Detroit sportswriters are warning that they will probably be WORSE than last year), I don't foresee last place.  The central (with the likely exception of Cleveland) is a total flaming pile of garbage!  I see anywhere from 2 to 5.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I would appreciate not talking about that particular season for the Cubs ... thank you. (And thank you, Mr. Dawson.)

Though ... no knocking Maddux.

[Gregory Sager]

The 1987 season sucked, but as right-field bleacher bums who were out there for most of the homers that he hit at Wrigley that summer, my college friends and I had a glorious time salaaming the Hawk every time that he jogged out to RF after putting yet another one over the brick and ivy the previous half-inning.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The 1987 season sucked, but as right-field bleacher bums who were out there for most of the homers that he hit at Wrigley that summer, my college friends and I had a glorious time salaaming the Hawk every time that he jogged out to RF after putting yet another one over the brick and ivy the previous half-inning.

BTW - I blame my parents. We lived less than a mile from Wrigley ... before moving to Down East Maine in December/January of '86/'87.

[Gregory Sager]

At least you have the excuse of being born into it. I showed up with a bunch of other North Park newbies for a freshman orientation outing to Wrigley Field, took one look at the inside of the park as I came out of the bleacher runway and into the sunshine, and thought to myself, with mouth agape, "So ... this is where I am going to spend every summer for the rest of my life."

Taken in, just like a tourist suckered into a shell game by a con artist on the Red Line.

All worth it for this, though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Z4mamvBHg

[lmitzel]

At least you have the excuse of being born into it. I showed up with a bunch of other North Park newbies for a freshman orientation outing to Wrigley Field, took one look at the inside of the park as I came out of the bleacher runway and into the sunshine, and thought to myself, with mouth agape, "So ... this is where I am going to spend every summer for the rest of my life."

Taken in, just like a tourist suckered into a shell game by a con artist on the Red Line.

I think I can top that by proxy. My parents are both originally from North Dakota (so my dad grew up a Twins fan), and both moved to suburban Chicago in 1984... conveniently when they made that playoff push. Since interleague play wasn't a thing yet, my dad at least was fine pulling for the Cubs because there wouldn't be a conflict of interest (he's said on more than one occasion he didn't think either would ever make the World Series, much less in the same year). But in the summer of '87 he and my mom went to either the Saturday or Sunday game every weekend the Cubs were home and sat in those same bleachers as you, Greg. Makes me wonder if you ever would have crossed paths.

Needless to say, I got suckered in too, so I do have the born into it excuse, just with a little relocation before the fact.

[RogK]

You deranged Cub fans may enjoy this shot I took from the bleachers in 2015 :
https://www.flickr.com/photos/148978073@N04/35940536780/in/album-72157680111303920/
the end of this game :
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201508240.shtml
-

[duckfan41]

You deranged Cub fans may enjoy this shot I took from the bleachers in 2015 :
https://www.flickr.com/photos/148978073@N04/35940536780/in/album-72157680111303920/
the end of this game :
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201508240.shtml
-

Lost in the fold there was a Hector Rondon blown save lol