Hoopsville: The 8th Season

[David Collinge]

We will also talk with some of those making headlines in Division III. Cal Lutheran Coach Rich Rider - Poets beat UW-Stevens Point and are 10-1; [...] Wittenberg Coach Bill Brown - the Tigers started off 1-5, but have now six straight and are 3-0 NCAC;

The Poets are from Whittier; Cal Lu's men are called the Kingsmen.

Wittenberg has recovered well from their slow start, but (as we NCAC fans know all too well) not all 3-0 records are alike.  Witt's 3-0 conference record consists of victories over Hiram (3-8 overall, 1-2 NCAC), Denison (0-12/0-3) and Oberlin (2-9/1-2).  Both Hiram and Oberlin beat Earlham, which appears on Witt's schedule next week.  However, aside from Earlham, Witt's next 5 conference games are against the other top teams in the conference (not including themselves): Allegheny, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Kenyon, and Wabash, and three of them are on the road. 

Witt recorded a non-conference record of 4-5, which means they must do no worse than 9-7 in the NCAC to have a good shot at extending their streak of non-losing seasons to an incredible 52.  Witt was 8-12 in 1955-56, and except for a 13-13 in 1967-68, they have had a winning record in every season since.  They haven't even lost 10 games in a season since 1981-82.  The conference slate doesn't favor them, as the NCAC doesn't play a full round-robin.  They only play Oberlin and Denison once each (already in the books), which means their remaining slate consists of three all-but-guaranteed wins (Earlham x 2 and Hiram), and 10 could-go-either-way games against the five teams mentioned above.  We'll have a much better sense of where they stand at the end of this month, after they've played these five tough opponents for the first time.

For more on Witt's incredible basketball history, click here.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Thanks David - got confused with some of the scoring updates I was doing for the past few days - lots of scores from the Whittier tournament!

And agreed with Wittenberg... one thing on paper, another on the court!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Last minute addition to the show tonight.

Imagine pointing up 37 points in a game - not bad, right!

Now imagine grabbing 33 rebounds as well! Now that is good!

We will chat with a guy who did that TODAY. Southern Vermont's Nick Harrington pulled the feat at the Williams Tournament. We will chat with him near the beginning of the show... so join us!

[Ralph Turner]

I enjoyed Hoopsville last night.  I re-considered the South Region report. (Man, it is nice to have a dedicated reporter).  I guess the thing that slipped past me last night was how hard the road trips are between the ASC-East and the ASC-West. 

The Schreiner game (in Kerrville, TX which is west of San Antonio on I-10) is one half of the Texas Lutheran/Schreiner travel pair.  Schreiner is just a tough place to play regardless of the opponent.  That gym has hits own quirks.  The fans can be "brutal".  The officiating always seems to be "local".  The trip to Schreiner has all of the classic home court advantages built into that trip.  Miss College traveled 608 miles (9 hrs 17 mins by google maps) to Texas Lutheran (Seguin TX, 40 miles east of San Antonio) for the Thursday night game.  They then rode another 101 miles (1 hr 41 mins) to Kerrville TX.  If Miss College left on Wednesday to go to Seguin, then they were playing Schreiner after 3 nights on the road!  It is 705 miles back to Clinton, MS 10 hrs 44 mins.  If you leave after the post-game meal about 8 pm on Saturday night, that means you are crawling back onto Miss College campus at 6 am on Sunday morning and 1416 miles).   The Mississippi College trip to Sul Ross State and Howard Payne is (887 miles + 351 + 575 =  1713 miles.) Granted this is between semesters, but this drags on a team over the season.  In the ASC, the average road trip is about 700 miles and 2-3 nights on the road.

Comparable trips would be the Millsaps to DePauw/Centre (640 mis + 238 + 619 = 1497 miles).  I guess that Trinity (Current Endowment $800 Million) and Southwestern (Current Endowment $400 Million) fly to these locations.

The ASC, the UAA and the SCAC all have brutal road trips that cannot be compared to any other conferences in the country.  Each is different.  The UAA and the SCAC are better known.  I think that with time and the familiarity that Hoopsville gives us to the diverse nature of D-III, fans will come to know the challenges that we have in the ASC.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Ralph - I got tired thinking about the travel you described. Thanks for giving that perspective.

I think Marcus brought up a good point last night, which in combination with what you wrote, certainly makes me think more about it. Maybe conferences like the ASC and others need to think about thier size. There could be a very good arguement made that these conferences are too big numbers wise... and maybe too spread out travel wise (though, that is hard to avoid in regions like the South and West).

[David Collinge]

So, no Bill Brown, huh?  Any chance for a reschedule?  I'd gladly nominate Wittenberg for the Provident Pride Team of the (last) Century, if that is of any help in getting him on the air.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph - I got tired thinking about the travel you described. Thanks for giving that perspective.

I think Marcus brought up a good point last night, which in combination with what you wrote, certainly makes me think more about it. Maybe conferences like the ASC and others need to think about their size. There could be a very good argument made that these conferences are too big numbers wise... and maybe too spread out travel wise (though, that is hard to avoid in regions like the South and West).

Dave, as hard as I have tried, I cannot divide the ASC into two or three smaller versions and include all 16 sports that the conference sponsors (M&W Soccer, XC, Hoops, Golf, Tennis, Outdoor T&F, FB, VB, Baseball/Softball).  T&F is just barely there for the men and has required both ASC-East and ASC-West schools to make the 4-team requirement.  Adding M&W Indoor Track and M&W Swimming might take 2-3 years and the efforts of schools from both sides of the conference.  I just don't see the number of prospective student-athletes to start Lacrosse on that scale for at least another decade. (UDallas, Southwestern, Trinity, Hendrix, Millsaps  and Austin College could absorb all of the Lacrosse players in the meantime.)

I can imagine the ASC splitting into two conferences if about 5 schools are added across the ASC.  There is also a question in some of us as to what UT-Tyler and UT-Dallas might do.  UT-Tyler is the new 800-lb gorilla in the conference.  The school is adding high-quality, new facilities and is projected to have 7,000 students by 2010. Tuition is $2600 per semester, in-state, full load.  I don't think that too many would miss UT-Dallas and UT-Tyler if they moved to D-I or D-II.  That would throw the conference back to 13 teams.  Mississippi College, UOzarks and LaCollege are at least 150 miles from anyone in the ASC, and not close to any other conference.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

So, no Bill Brown, huh?  Any chance for a reschedule?  I'd gladly nominate Wittenberg for the Provident Pride Team of the (last) Century, if that is of any help in getting him on the air.

Yes... we are working to get Coach Brown back on the show, hopefully this week. I will let you know when he gets booked.

Ralph - You do point out a problem with some of these large conferences, they can't split up very easily. They pretty much grew so large for so many different reasons, and especially in D3 with not all schools having all sports, it makes it difficult!

[old ends]

Thanks for the Coachs Corner this week on F & M's Coach Robinson. I seem to have pick that conference but have no ties to any of the schools,except business. So as I learn more about the Centennial teams it help me understand the Conference.  Again Thanks for the info.

Also the ATN on both coaches very good.

[David Collinge]

Dave,
In the Hoopsville section of this week's Around the Nation, you make this remark in a somewhat off-hand way:

[...]Wooster isn't nearly as tough as they usually are[...]

I'm not quite sure what the basis for this is, and it's something that's puzzled me as of late. 

Posters kiltedbryan and wooscotsfan give me a good starting point with their comments regarding this weekend's Wooster/Wittenberg game, borrowed from the NCAC board:

Overall record of Wooster's last 10 opponents:   72-76 (.486)
Overall record of Wittenberg's last 8 opponents: 31-82 (.274)

Wittenberg's win over Allegheny is its only win over an above .500 team this season.  Wooster counters that with wins over above .500 teams Farmingdale St., St. Thomas, Ohio Wesleyan, Walsh, Wesley and Wabash, and St. Mary's is at .500 currently.

KB - nice analysis (k+) on the statistical comparison of opponents vs. Witt. 

IMO, Wooster's two best "W's" this year are Walsh and St. Thomas. 

Walsh is now 14-2 and ranked #2 nationally in NAIA-2

St. Thomas is now 11-3, first place in the MIAC and they were ranked #23 in the D3Hoops poll last week before falling to #32 this week due to their 3rd loss.

Farmingdale is now 9-4 and tied for first in the Skyline which is a weaker conference.

GO SCOTS!

Wooster's got undeniable quality wins over Walsh, St. Thomas, Wabash, Ohio Wesleyan, the latter two on the loser's home court.  Both the OWU and Wabash games were tight (3 and 2 points, respectively), but everyone who has seen them will attest that these teams are stronger this season than in the recent past.  Last year, Wooster struggled to win on these two courts by 7 and 5 respectively, and still reached the Final Four.

Wooster did play poorly and lose at Lake Erie in the third game of the season, after Lake Erie had lost Earlham, and I think this loss still plagues the Scots in terms of national opinion.  (They also lost by 4 at Cedarville, but the Jackets are now 12-4 and ranked #23 in NAIA-II, so that can't hurt too much).  But as the season has gone on, the Woo/LEC and Earlham/LEC games are looking more and more like anomalies, as Lake Erie is now a respectable 8-5, and Wooster has had the big wins over Walsh, OWU, and Wabash as well as Wesley and St. Mary's as noted above since then. 

Admitting my own bias in the matter, I'd say that Wooster is approximately as tough this year as they have been all of this decade.  Even without a bias, I might settle for "down slightly," but I can't see how "not nearly as tough" is supportable.  Since you are a Top 25 voter and national opinion leader, I'd be interested to know your rationale behind this.  Thanks.

[Ralph Turner]

Big games next week...

McMurry men and women versus Hardin-Simmons at HSU and here,  here, and here.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Hello all Hoopsville fans, or any of you who still haven't tuned in for a show! This week we have a couple of items you should be aware of:

1 - The show will not air from 6-9 PM EST due to the Super Bowl. I know most of my regional reporters and even guests would be interested in coming on the show during the game, so as we have in the past we are moving the show up. It will air from 1-4 PM EST live on D3hoops.com and Goucher College Radio. The archives will then be available at some time during the night - maybe even DURING the Super Bowl, since I am that skilled at multi-tasking.

2 - Because of the Super Bowl, we will have a special segment this week: Super Sunday Showdown. We have invited two players from two schools located near the home stadiums of the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Representing the Patriots, Wheaton Center Brent DiGiovanna; representing the Giants, Baruch Guard Mike Dietz. They will be on at the same time and while we will certainly talk about their teams, their seasons, and their careers, we will not hesitate for a little light smack-talk and find out who wins out Super Sunday Showdown.

3 - I am adding a new segment this week to try and interact a bit more with you the fans of the game and of the show. We are calling it the "Question of the Week". Below you will find our question and we want your responses. Please email them to us at hoopsville@d3hoops.com and we will try and read those answers on the air through out the show. You can leave your responses on this post-up section, but since they are posted up, we may or may not read them on air ;-).

"Question of the Week"
I was watching ESPN's Basketball College Game Day today and there was an interview with the great John Wooden. The first question asked: what rule change would you like to see in the college game. His answer was interesting and insightful: go away with the dunk. He feels it takes away from the team game because the dunk is all about ones self and is only about glory.
So... in the inaugural "Question fo the WeeK", we ask you: would you like to see the dunk banned in college basketball... and why?

Email your answers to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

Remember, the show airs LIVE from 1-4 PM EST this week and we will share your answers through out the show!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Time for this week's "Question of the Week":
Would you want to see Coach Bob Knight coach in Division III?

We will be asking our guests the same question and want to hear what you have to say about it. If Coach Knight wanted to enter Division III, do you think it would be good or bad for the decision?

You may even get to hear my opinion on it... in the Hoopsville Rant!

[old ends]

Would you want to see Coach Bob Knight coach in Division III?

He would bring attention  to DIV III which would the generate revenue and media attention to D3. Sometimes all industry needs is attention. For that aspect if Mr. Knight would join a division III program somewhere down the line, I say good for the cause.

[Ralph Turner]

Would you want to see Coach Bob Knight coach in Division III?

He would bring attention  to DIV III which would the generate revenue and media attention to D3. Sometimes all industry needs is attention. For that aspect if Mr. Knight would join a division III program somewhere down the line, I say good for the cause.

I fear that the attention that Coach Knight would bring would be Barnum-esque or Ripley-esque.

Knight had even nicer travel arrangements during his time at the USMA than in 21st Century D-III.

I think that he needs to call it quits.