Great Lakes Region

[Titan Q]

This seems as good a place as any to air this small grievance...

How is it that the Great Lakes Invitational does not have a single team in it from anywhere near a Great Lake? Marietta, the host, is a good 2.5 hours from Cleveland... and Lake Erie is definitely the least great of the Great Lakes. Wabash is the closest of the bunch, 2 hours from Lake Michigan, but that's Gary, Indiana, not really a Lake Michigan summer destination. Wilmington and Wittenberg, although both in Ohio, are just as far from Lake Erie as Marietta.

This very cool tournament that I hope continues to succeed either needs a new name or more appropriate representation from teams in the MIAA, CCIW, SUNYAC, and WIAC that are actually near a Great Lake.

"Great Lakes" is in reference to the D3 Great Lakes region.  Tournament creator/host Ryan Whitnable rotates host sites across teams from that region, w/ strong teams from other regions invited (like RMC).  Marietta hosted this year...Wabash just announced as the host next year.

Of course, now, we have new regions.  What was the Great Lakes region is now, generally, Region 7 - https://www.d3hoops.com/teams/region/7-men.  "The Region 7 Invitational" doesn't sound real cool, so not sure what he's gonna do there.

Ryan is the host of "This Week is Great Lakes Basketball" - https://greatlakesbasketball.podbean.com.  He joined me on the Q-cast to talk about his tournament (25:34) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDUCCvTVgPk&t=168s.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

The tournament was previously hosted by Hope College in 2018, maybe 5 miles from Lake Michigan - can't get much more Great Lakes than that

[KnightSlappy]

The tournament was previously hosted by Hope College in 2018, maybe 5 miles from Lake Michigan - can't get much more Great Lakes than that

The Carthage College campus is literally on the Lake Michigan shoreline, so that would be more Great Lakes-y than Hope.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

The tournament was previously hosted by Hope College in 2018, maybe 5 miles from Lake Michigan - can't get much more Great Lakes than that

The Carthage College campus is literally on the Lake Michigan shoreline, so that would be more Great Lakes-y than Hope.

Except not in the Great Lakes region - go figure.  At least we no longer have to debate whether a game with Carthage is "In Region"

[Gregory Sager]

Ah, the glory days of d3boards.com, when we would try to calculate campus-to-campus distances using the Ludington-to-Manitowoc ferry across Lake Michigan. Good times!

[sac]

Ah, the glory days of d3boards.com, when we would try to calculate campus-to-campus distances using the Ludington-to-Manitowoc ferry across Lake Michigan. Good times!

It was magical

[HOPEful]

Ah, the glory days of d3boards.com, when we would try to calculate campus-to-campus distances using the Ludington-to-Manitowoc ferry across Lake Michigan. Good times!

It was magical

Actually, it was the S.S. Badger 

[HOPEful]

My critique is somewhat tongue and cheek. 

And I totally understand where the name came from. But to call a tournament Great Lakes with zero representation from Michigan , Wisconsin, or New York... The three states with the most Great Lakes coastline?

[sac]

Ah, the glory days of d3boards.com, when we would try to calculate campus-to-campus distances using the Ludington-to-Manitowoc ferry across Lake Michigan. Good times!

It was magical

Actually, it was the S.S. Badger 

You had to be here.

[HOPEful]

[Fifth and Putnam]

As Bob mentioned, the "Great Lakes" is 100% a reference to the geographical region of the old "Great Lakes Region (now Region 7) and was meant to be hosted by schools in the MIAA, NCAC, HCAC, AMCC, PAC, and OAC.

I would be lying if I said I've debated at times to include schools outside that basketball "region" to include any school in a state that touches a Great Lake. Would be hard to turn down an offer from a CCIW or a WIAC school that approached me to host the event. But for the time being, it will remain hosted by schools which are now in Region 7 (Wabash will host in 2022, an unannounced school has agreed to host in 2023, and a pitch is being made for 2024).

Beyond that, who knows?

[monsoon]

It’s been a good tournament. Glad to hear it’s continuing.

[HOPEful]

In honor of the late great Prince, I propose the tournament be renamed...



and referred to as "The tournament formerly known as the Great Lake Invitational"

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Week 2 Regional Rankings - which are ranked now: https://d3hoops.com/notables/2022/02/men-regional-rankings-first

[sac]

Region 7 AQ's
OAC    Marietta
NCAC  Wabash
MIAA   Hope
PAC     Washington & Jefferson
AMCC  Medaille





Region 7/Great Lakes Region Pool C's

2008--Capital, Wooster
2009--Capital, Carnegie-Mellon
2010--John Carroll
2011--Wittenberg, PSU-Behrend
2012--Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan
2013--Wooster
2014--Hope, Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan
2015--Marietta, John Carroll, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster
2016--Marietta, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, Hope
2017--Hope
2018--Wooster, Marietta
2019--Wooster, Marietta, Capital
2020--Wittenberg, Marietta
2022--Mt. Union, Case Western, Heidelberg, Calvin

HCAC was in Great Lakes from roughly 2015 to 2021 and did not receive any Pool C bids.

NCAC--14
OAC--12
MIAA--4
UAA--2
AMCC--1
PAC--0