MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage, who has the bye tomorrow, won easily on the road tonight at Maranatha Baptist, 87-62. AJ Johnson scored 30 and had 5 steals to lead the way for the Firebirds, who also got solid outings from Antuan Nesbitt (12), Fillip Bulatovic (11 and 9), and Julian Campbell (11 and 7). Carthage is now 14-6 on the season.

[markerickson]

OT:  Seeing my parents' decline physically and observing others of the older generation, I all too frequently these days tell people that "stairs are the enemy of the elderly."  'Twas extremely difficult for Dad to accept that moving out of the house in Mpls was in his best interest.

Shine on, Mr. Ypsi!

[Gregory Sager]

Since it's game day, we can turn to a more reputable source than Massey for game predictions, and that's Matt Snyder:

Wheaton 74, Augustana 68	(WC 72%, AC 28%)
North Central 73, Carroll 65	(NCC 77%, CU 23%)
Elmhurst 72, Illinois Wesleyan 72	(EU 52%, IWU 48%)
North Park 76, Millikin 64	(NPU 87%, MU 13%)

[WUPHF]

Massey and Snyder are very close on three of the four games.

[kiko]

Elmhurst 72, Illinois Wesleyan 72

(EU 52%, IWU 48%)

... as Illinois Wesleyan is once again done in by highly questionable officiating calls. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

OT:  Seeing my parents' decline physically and observing others of the older generation, I all too frequently these days tell people that "stairs are the enemy of the elderly."  'Twas extremely difficult for Dad to accept that moving out of the house in Mpls was in his best interest.

Shine on, Mr. Ypsi!

I haven't felt the need to move, but did have a chairlift installed a few months ago - going up was not a problem, but going down had gotten rather scary!

[BobbyO]

Well, I see now that I am not the only old one with problems.  Due to mobility, I haven't been traveling to any games the last few years, but still pay attention to the CCIW.  Any thoughts as to how many wins will be needed for the CCIW tournament and then for the at large in the D3?

[Gregory Sager]

Massey and Snyder are very close on three of the four games.

Yes, but it's the fourth that is at the root of my animus towards Massey: the inexplicable, doggedly determined manner in which Ken's algorithm has refused to acknowledge that the 2022-23 North Park men's basketball team is anything beyond minimally competent.

I mean, just look at how Massey is still projecting NPU's last four games of the regular season. It has the Vikings losing them all, regardless of the fact that North Park beat three of those teams the first time around. Heck, Massey has Illinois Wesleyan (which Massey rates #46, while NPU is #38), which lost at home to North Park by four, beating the Vikings by three a couple of weeks from tonight ... in the crackerbox.

Massey started out the year forecasting a 5-20 record for the Vikings, and has refused to waver on its prediction of NPU's incompetence in 2022-23. It didn't push NPU's prediction upwards until the Vikings got to 4-1. When North Park was 9-1, 3-0 the Vikings were still being projected by Massey to finish at 14-11, 6-8. I've never seen anything like it. The persistence with which the Massey algorithm has refused to acknowledge North Park's objective performance is remarkable.

[BobbyO]

OT:  Seeing my parents' decline physically and observing others of the older generation, I all too frequently these days tell people that "stairs are the enemy of the elderly."  'Twas extremely difficult for Dad to accept that moving out of the house in Mpls was in his best interest.

Shine on, Mr. Ypsi!

I haven't felt the need to move, but did have a chairlift installed a few months ago - going up was not a problem, but going down had gotten rather scary!

Mine goes faster down then up.  You will get use to it.

[WUPHF]

Yes, but it's the fourth that is at the root of my animus towards Massey: the inexplicable, doggedly determined manner in which Ken's algorithm has refused to acknowledge that the 2022-23 North Park men's basketball team is anything beyond minimally competent.

I get it.  I like using them both.  I only mention that because as you said, North Park is being penalized for the UW-Milwaukee loss and possibly prior season data.

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, but it's the fourth that is at the root of my animus towards Massey: the inexplicable, doggedly determined manner in which Ken's algorithm has refused to acknowledge that the 2022-23 North Park men's basketball team is anything beyond minimally competent.

I get it.  I like using them both.  I only mention that because as you said, North Park is being penalized for the UW-Milwaukee loss and possibly prior season data.

Yeah, I was musing here the other day about the possibility that NPU is being penalized for the UW-Milwaukee loss, but I'm not even convinced that that's the problem. As I said, the Vikings were still being projected as a 5-20 team by Massey when they were 4-1, which was prior to the UWM exhibition. And, because the Panthers are doing so well at the D1 level this season, a 29-point loss in Brewtown to the Panthers shouldn't be hurting North Park that much, if at all.

It's almost as if Massey is prioritizing 2021-22 data rather than the current season as far as North Park is concerned. It's truly bizarre, and I can't remember any other program having this sort of thing happen to it on Massey before.

[WUPHF]

Thanks Greg!  I said possibly, but I was pretty sure the prior year data was a problem weeks ago when Massey had the WIAC ahead of the CCIW in the conference rankings at a time when that was surely not the case.

Very interesting.

Also, where in the heck is the season going?  Hard to believe how close we are to the end.

[Pat Coleman]

You should email Ken Massey and point this out. I bet he'd be interested.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks Greg!  I said possibly, but I was pretty sure the prior year data was a problem weeks ago when Massey had the WIAC ahead of the CCIW in the conference rankings at a time when that was surely not the case.

Very interesting.

Also, where in the heck is the season going?  Hard to believe how close we are to the end.

Looks like your team and mine each have shots at adding on a few games once we get to the end.

You should email Ken Massey and point this out. I bet he'd be interested.

Maybe I'll do that. Couldn't hurt, right? And if he does have an explanation, I'd sure love to hear it.

[WUPHF]

Looks like your team and mine each have shots at adding on a few games once we get to the end.

I am trying not to get ahead of myself on this.  If the Bears can go 1-1 against Rochester and Emory this weekend and move to 6-2 overall, I think the rest will work out.