It was a lite couple of weeks as schools waded through exam season. For these two weeks the MIAA went 9-7 overall and an even 5-5 in those important in-region games. No real marquee wins or even match-ups but the two weeks gave us a nice three-way scores comparison between Olivet/Hope/Alma vs Spring Arbor.
Spring Arbor 71 Olivet 69
Spring Arbor 77 Hope 73 OT
Alma 74 Spring Arbor 69 OT
What it means, I don't know as Spring Arbor is an odd animal playing a mostly 4 guard offense. As we move closer to January though its becoming clearer to me that playing on the road in the league this year could be very tricky.
| Wk 1 | Wk 2/3 | Wk 4/5 | Totals | ||||
| OAC | 1 – 2 | 3 – 2 | 0 – 0 | 4 – 4 | |||
| NCAC | 1 – 1 | 1 – 0 | 2 – 1 | 4 – 2 | |||
| PAC | 0 – 1 | 0 – 0 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 2 | |||
| HCAC | 1 – 1 | 5 – 3 | 0 – 2 | 6 – 6 | |||
| CCIW | 1 – 2 | 2 – 5 | 1 – 0 | 4 – 7 | |||
| other D3 | 0 – 0 | 1 – 1 | 2 – 1 | 3 – 2 | |||
| NAIA | 0 – 0 | 9 – 1 | 4 – 2 | 13 – 3 | |||
| other | 2 – 0 | 0 – 0 | 0 – 0 | 2 – 0 | |||
| D1 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 0 | 0 – 0 | 0 – 1 | |||
| OVERALL | 6 – 8 | 21 – 12 | 9 – 7 | 36 – 27 | |||
| In-region | 4 – 6 | 12 – 8 | 5 – 5 | 21 – 19 |
Still not counting Hope/College of Faith. With a little over 20 games to complete the non-conference portion of the season the league only needs 8 more wins to clinch a .500 record. I don't want to say its in the bag because its not but I feel good we'll get there.. The question is still the in-region record with some very key games coming in the near future, I was confident this finishes above .500 but its not a guarantee anymore.
Adrian 7-0
The most significant thing Adrian did over these two weeks was move up to #14 in the D3hoops.com poll. It will take losses from the teams above them but it seems like there's a small chance they could crack the top 10 by the open of MIAA play. The most serious threat coming is probably 5-5 Defiance which won't help them in the polls.
This Week: vs Northwestern Ohio, @ Lawrence Tech
Next Week: vs Mt. Union at Defiance, vs Finlandia or Defiance at Defiance
Albion 3-4
Kenyon 70 Albion 65
This was really the only disappointing result of the two weeks in the in-region game category. Kenyon seems like they're going to have a middle of the NCAC or better kind of year, this would have been a nice win to have. I considered this one a toss-up and it looks like it was.
Albion's roster changed over the weekend, they get Chris Hutton back but lose 3 others. Not good, this certainly changes my outlook for Albion, a lot. This isn't going to be the easiest stretch of games for this team.
This Week: vs North Park, @ Spring Arbor
Next Week: vs Chicago and vs Case Western @ Case Western
Alma 4-4
Alma 71 Oberlin 57
Alma 74 Spring Arbor 69 OT
Alma's won two now on the season I didn't think they'd win. In the pre-season schedule review I said if they reached 6 wins we should take notice. Just two more to go. I've watched Alma twice on video now and they look like they're going to be a little tricky, most likely at home.
The next two weeks Alma has what looks to me like 3 challenging games for them. So far they've looked a little improved over last year which is really not what most of us were probably expecting.
This Week: @ Cornerstone
Next Week: vs Case Western and vs Chicago @ Case Western
Calvin 7-2
Calvin 103 Finlandia 62
If you're going to make a 10 hour drive in December to Hancock, MI you might as well win by 41. (Bonus Trivia, US-41 runs through Hancock...also Miami) Calvin did what they had to do in what is mostly a meaningless game, except for the in-region stuff which now puts Calvin at 3-0 and in pretty good shape to be considered an at-large provided they don't mess up the MIAA.
Wabash is the next opponent and will give us a nice comparison with Trine and Albion.
This Week: No Games
Next Week: vs Wabash and vs Ripon or Elmhurst @ Elmhurst
Hope 3-4
Hope 87 Covenant 73
Spring Arbor 77 Hope 73 OT
Well that weekend certainly provided lots of evidence Hope's still very much a work in progress. The key was getting the in-region win against Covenant which puts Hope at 1-2, this is still salvageable provided they win vs Miss College and Aurora, but honestly NCAA bids should be the last thing Hope worries about right now.
Hope heads to Orlando this week for what should be two challenging games, times running out for Hope to get it together for the MIAA run.
This Week: vs Mississippi College and vs Illinois Wesleyan in Orlando, FL
Next Week: vs Aurora
Kalamazoo 2-6
Bluffton 73 Kalamazoo 65
Case Western 82 Kalamazoo 53
Defiance 72 Kalamazoo 64
The Hornets have dropped 5 in a row now after a promising 2-1 start. They've been in every game but two so far. Mark Ghafari has been putting up All-MIAA type numbers as a bright spot for the Hornets.
This is looking like a pretty tough year in Kalamazoo.
This Week: @ DePauw, vs York, Pa. and vs Knox or Rhodes @ Rhodes
Next Week: No games
Olivet 4-5
Spring Arbor 71 Olivet 69
Olivet 95 Illinois Tech 47
Olivet 73 Lawrence Tech 57
Bethany 63 Olivet 59
Olivet
Garner Small continues to impress and his mere presence has made them a team you have to pay attention to on defense.
This Week: @ Baldwin-Wallace
Next Week: vs Marygrove at The Palace
Trine 6-2
Trine 77 Wabash 69
Trine 70 North Park 57
Trine 82 Mt. Vernon Nazarene 65
The team no one's talking about but maybe should. Trine hasn't played the toughest schedule but they've performed well. Lots of evidence this is a good offensive team if a bit dependent on Ian Jackson. But so far Jackson is living up to his MVP credentials averaging over 26 points and shooting a stellar 53% from the floor.
Trine just doesn't turn the ball over, this may be the only team I've ever seen with 1/2 the total turnovers of their opponents.
This Week: @ Franklin
Next Week: vs Penn State-Behrend and vs MSOE or Otterbein @ Otterbein
Some key games ahead with Hope's two games down in Florida certainly a highlight, but if I picked a couple that are really going to impact the w/l's and in-region records its Alma and Albion's trip to Cleveland to play Chicago and Case Western. Chicago isn't in-region for Alma but 3 of those games that weekend are, a bad weekend here could spell doom for over .500 in-region record push. I kind of see those games as 50/50's or maybe even underdogs for the MIAA schools. I also like Trine's trip to Franklin this week, these two schools have played close games in the recent past.
In something that goes against most years, should Cornerstone beat Alma this week it would double the number of wins for the WHAC over the MIAA to two. Right now the MIAA leads 7-1 and it should get to 10. I attribute this mostly to good scheduling (or bad) as most of these wins are coming against the bottom 3 or 4 teams from the WHAC.
In-Region Analysis
Boy this is going to be close, I count 13 in-region games remaining with the possibility of two more from tournaments. I have most of these games tabbed at 50/50's, the league probably has to win 4 of those. At 21-19 we need to see 6 or 7 wins to assure an above .500 record which would make it much easier to get two teams in the NCAA's. Figuring very conservatively I have 3 or 4 the league should win meaning we need to find 4 more. Albion's roster changes really throw a monkey wrench into things, I don't know how this is going to finish.
Here are the remaining in-region games: bold = wins, italic = 50/50, normal is either a loss or a game I'm just not sure about
Trine @ Franklin
Olivet @ Baldwin-Wallace
North Park @ Albion
Kalamazoo @ DePauw
Miss. College vs Hope
Kalamazoo @ Rhodes * If its played
PSU-Behrend vs Trine
Albion vs Chicago
Alma @ Case Western
Calvin vs Wabash
Trine @ Otterbein *If its played
Mt. Union vs Adrian
Albion vs Case Western
Aurora @ Hope
Adrian vs Defiance or Finlandia
The Neighbors
Ohio Athletic Conference
The OAC played only 3 non-conference games these last two weeks going a perfect 3-0. The highlight being Otterbein beating Wittenberg 3 days after Witt had been clobbered by Wooster. The wins take the league to 25-28 with 15 more non-conference games to play, a quick glance shows the match-ups might be a little more in the OAC's favor.| Wk 1 | Wk 2/3 | Wk 4/5 | Totals | |||||
| NCAC | 0 – 2 | 1 – 8 | 2 – 0 | 3 – 10 | ||||
| PAC | 2 – 4 | 1 – 3 | 0 – 0 | 3 – 7 | ||||
| MIAA | 2 – 1 | 2 – 3 | 0 – 0 | 4 – 4 | ||||
| Overall | 10 – 9 | 12 – 19 | 3 – 0 | 25 – 28 | ||||
| In-region | 5 – 8 | 10 – 16 | 3 – 0 | 18 – 24 |
League play is well under way now and Capital probably took an early seat at the wheel with two key wins over John Carroll and Baldwin-Wallace. Both of those teams already have two losses so its an uphill climb for them already. Marietta won its first three games and its looking they and Capital could probably have at least a two game lead when they meet on Jan. 16.
Early Standings
Capital 4-0
Marietta 3-0
Mt. Union 3-1
Ohio No. 2-1
North Coast Athletic Conference
The NCAC went 6-5 over these two weeks with Wittenberg losing to Otterbein probably the highlight (lowlight?). Given a couple of other wins by Oberlin and Allegheny the league probably came out ahead. With a little over 20 non-conference games remaining it would take a mini-disaster for the league to fall under .500 and their in-region record looks solid.| Wk 1 | Wk 2/3 | Wk 4/5 | Totals | ||||
| OAC | 2 – 0 | 8 – 1 | 0 – 2 | 10 – 3 | |||
| PAC | 1 – 1 | 2 – 0 | 3 – 0 | 6 – 1 | |||
| MIAA | 1 – 1 | 0 – 1 | 1 – 2 | 2 – 4 | |||
| Overall | 12 – 7 | 14 – 10 | 6 – 5 | 32 – 22 | |||
| In-region | 8 – 6 | 13 – 8 | 5 – 4 | 26 – 18 |
League play is also underway and a lot like the OAC it might already be shaping into a two horse race with everyone but Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan taking a loss. There are a lot of near .500 teams in this league and it will sort itself out over the course of the league season but right now Wooster and OWU are head and shoulders the best two in this league. They meet Jan 19., by then there could also be a two game gap back to the next group of teams.
Early Standings
Wooster 4-0
Ohio Wes. 3-0
Oberlin 3-1
Wittenberg 1-1
Presidents Athletic Conference
Like everyone else there wasn't much going on these last two weeks with the league logging a 3-5 record out of conference. This puts this league at an even 23-23 on the year. Looking ahead a bit, they might take some lumps the next couple weeks but overall it looks like they have a real chance to finish over .500.
| Wk 1 | Wk 2/3 | Wk 4/5 | Totals | ||||
| OAC | 4 – 2 | 3 – 1 | 0 – 0 | 7 – 3 | |||
| NCAC | 1 – 1 | 0 – 2 | 0 – 3 | 1 – 6 | |||
| MIAA | 1 – 0 | 0 – 0 | 1 – 0 | 2 – 0 | |||
| Overall | 10 – 10 | 10 – 8 | 3 – 5 | 23 – 13 | |||
| In-region | 8 – 8 | 8 – 6 | 3 – 4 | 19 – 18 |
Another two rounds of league play took place with Bethany knocking off Thiel a convincing 64-43. Thomas More took an early loss to Washington and Jefferson while St. Vincent rolled off a couple more league wins.
Early Standings
Bethany 4-0
St. Vincent 3-0
Thiel 3-1
Thomas More 2-1
Regional Ranking
Well nothing really happened since the last time I attempted this so it stays the same. All 5 of these won every game they played.1. Adrian
2. Wooster
3. Ohio Wesleyan
4. Calvin
5. Bethany
For five more to watch I'm only picking four this week and going with Marietta, St. Vincent, Thomas More, and Trine.
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