WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Hoosier Titan]

The d3hoops projected pairings are up.  They have IWU traveling to Clearview Heights, KY, home of Thomas More College, to play, along with Fontbonne and Chicago.  I confess that in my thinking I'd been looking more north and west for possible opponents, rather than primarily south and east.  Any thoughts from others?

[Mr. Ypsi]

You beat me to it, HT.  I'm hoping their prediction is wrong.  If we're to get to Salem, we obviously have to beat some tough teams, but I was (and so far am) hoping that won't include facing an undefeated team on their home court quite so early!

Oh well, the men did it just two years ago at Lawrence, so if we have to, let's do it!

[Hoosier Titan]

GMTA, Ypsi.  (Well, green-tinted minds, that is.)   I too hope the NCAA sees it differently, but we'll just have to wait and see.  The '06 Titan men's march to Salem is an inspiration, should that be necessary.

[Hoosier Titan]

IWU will host this weekend.  The Titans play Maryville (not Manchester!), while U. Wisconsin Whitewater plays Manchester.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU will host this weekend.  The Titans play Manchester, while U. Wisconsin Whitewater plays Manchester.

Wow!  Manchester got a tough draw!

[buf]

IWU will host this weekend.  The Titans play Manchester, while U. Wisconsin Whitewater plays Manchester.

Wow!  Manchester got a tough draw!

I guess they will have to do split squads, like they do in preseason baseball. 

[Hoosier Titan]

Yikes!  A fool in a hurry....

Sorry 'bout that--hope nobody took me seriously!  Do we have an emoticon for red-faced embarassment?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Yikes!  A fool in a hurry....

Sorry 'bout that--hope nobody took me seriously!  Do we have an emoticon for red-faced embarassment?

  Fifth from the right on the emoticon bar.

[Hoosier Titan]

HT-->

I blushed more than that little guy when I saw it!

Any thoughts on the pairings yet?  I hope to do a little research over lunch.

[Mr. Ypsi]

FWIW, my assessment:

While assuming nothing, the Titans should handle Maryville.  I'd expect they will next face UWW - that scares me, but I'll count on Shirk magic!

If so, who will be in the sectional, and where will it be?  Third round will probably be either Simpson or UWEC (neither of whom I'm familiar with, but neither of whom seems (currently) a likely host due to geography).  On the other side of the bracket, Amherst seems most like to emerge from their pod, but seems an unlikely host due both to geography and because the Amherst men seem likely to be hosting.  From the other pod, who knows?  WashU can never be discounted, OAC teams are always tough, but I'll go with host DePauw.  The sectional would then seem likely to be either in Greencastle or Bloomington, with (IMO) a likely rematch in the Elite Eight on someone's home floor.  Guess where I'm rooting for?!

[RogK]

Hoosier Titan,
It was fun to meet you and your husband at the Shirk over the weekend.
I concur with your compliments (in reply # 612) toward the four CCIW tourney teams. They can all be proud of their '07-'08 accomplishments.
Some major revisions await Carthage and Millikin for next season.
They won't be sending the ball in to Ippel and Gartelos (March 11 correction -- Gartelos will be back in '08-'09) anymore.
Gartelos, by the way, deserves a lot of applause for battling leg/knee trouble throughout her time at Carthage. Her perseverance really shows how much she likes basketball and her teammates.
While the Lady Reds are losing fine players to graduation, Coach Bernero recruits well, so he might be able to keep them up around 11 conference wins. I am sold on Rosie Dorn and Heather Gilmore, two energetic medium-sized players who should play more next season.
Like everyone else, Carthage will have to strive for the standard set by IWU, who are likely to be outstanding next year, too.
A vast amount of playing time will be opened up for Millikin, with four '07-'08 starters moving on.
Elmhurst looks to go 8-6 or better next year, with most everyone coming back a year more experienced.
They had a nice freshman influx this season, topped by Kelsey Monroe, who in CCIW play shot .431 on 3FGs, .563 on 2FGs and .878 FTs. She was 2nd in the league in steals and always maintains a radiant disposition.
The Bluejays will miss Candice Sutton's ability to accelerate the offense. As you pointed out, Claire Gentry was fitting in well at the end of the season.
IWU proves every time out that it helps to have numerous players who can occupy the role of point guard on any given play.

[Hoosier Titan]

Rog, we enjoyed meeting you as well.  I forgot to ask if the B&B was good.

It was really good to see the support for all four teams at the conference tourney.  The Pantagraph story the next day mentioned the "600 Titan faithful," but the attendance of 600 actually was at least half Millikin supporters. 

[RogK]

Yeah, the B&B (Burr House) was very pleasant.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The front page has no listing for the IWU/Maryville game for video, audio, or even live stats.  Anyone know of ANY access?  If not (or even if so!), updates would be greatly appreciated from anyone in the know.

I'm not too worried about tonight's game, but if there is no access to the (presumed) IWU/UWW game, I will be very bummed!

[Hoosier Titan]

Ypsi,

Here's the link for live stats:
http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/live/Basketball/xlive.htm

And the student broadcasters will be on www.wesn.org at least for the IWU game.  I haven't heard them, so I don't know how "professional" they are, but they'll have the call.