MBB: Centennial Conference

[D.B. Cooper]

2/2 picks, no where to go but do better

Ursinus: Bears won't hibernate, could be close but no Jay cigar
McDaniel: Terror with home edge & make up for Memorial Hall debacle
Gburg: Though Sho'man potentially tough at Cain
Dickinson: Obvious at home, but Chaz always with chance to take over a contest
F&M: Dips on losing tear, believe SWAT has decent chance for upset but picking Garnet has left me in contest freefall

[Leo]

2/2 picks:

Not a good day for some teams on the road.

McDaniel (Muhlenberg is 1-8 on the road)
Dickenson (Haverford is 0-8 on the road)
F&M (Swarthmore is 0-8 on the road)

Upset pick:  Washington over Gettysburg (Getty is feeling complacent in their standing as #2 team)

Tough pick: Got to pick Ursinus over Hopkins. While the Jays played the Bears tough at Colleageville, they had a couple of trends in their favor ....  they killed the Bears on OFF rebounds where the ball "may have bounced in the right direction" from their 3 pointers ... from 6:51 to 1:45 mark, Bears were outscored 11-2 to make the game close .. and Shema had foul trouble during the whole game. Coach Small will have the team fired up to complete the "revenge factor." They spanked Haverford already because they lost last year in the semi-finals @ Hopkins arena. And, closure will happen when they win @ Hopkins arena to avenge the "site" factor.

If the Bears win this game, we could see them in D3hoops's top 25. Or, maybe I just gave them the kiss of death 

[diplomaniac1]

Folks -

Here are my selections for the 02/02/2008 pick-ems"

Ursinus @ Hopkins:   Hopkins. Blue Jays are due for a big win and are always tough in Baltimore even if the stands aren't filled with students and local fans. No matter how good the Bears are, it is always tough to go undefeated in conference - just ask the Dips' squads that went to the Final Fours in the 1990's! No real reason behind selection except for a gut feeling.

Muhlenberg @ McDaniel:   McDaniel, but not with much conviction here especially since the Terror has had recent trouble holding leads and has been pushed into overtime the last two games! I think that the Mules match-up with the Green Terror pretty well personnel-wise. It is fairly tough call here. However, in the end, I gave the edge to the Terror in light of the Mules' weak road record and the Terror's good home court stats.

Gettysburg @ Washington:   Gettysburg. Not much to say here as the records for Gettysburg and Washington tell the tale. Bullets shoot down the Shoremen, even in their Chestertown bandbox!

Haverford @ Dickinson:   Haverford. I probably should have taken the Red Deveils, especially in light of the Fords' less than stellar road record. Maybe the last game (a win) will start them on a roll with Chazz taking charge again. Just another gut feeling here.  No defensible reason for selection except that the Devils could come out flat after a big tough come-from-behind win against the Dips.

Swarthmore @ Franklin And Marshall:   F&M. Dips due to rebound after three very tough road losses and Mayser Center is a perfect place to do it where the Dips are always tough and have a strong home record this year. Garnet should be better than their record indicates. However, they are misearble in conference and on the road, only slightly better than the Shoremen.

Well, thats it - another set of wild guesses! It looks to me like another prayer to go 5-0 and to try to move up in the overall standings. I haven't seen anything from R. W. yet.

Since the F&M game is a late start - 8:00 P. M., I will probably try to get to Mayser for the action. I saw the Dips in Westmister and Carlisle and will most my thoughts later in a separate entry.

Hope everyone survived the winter weather mix! Good luck to all prognosticators, fans, and the teams. Regards,

Eric

[old ends]

Stats have been updated for the conference;

Ursinus still leads overall scoring/game ave.
Haverford still has the best scoring defense.

Muhlenberg has the best home team attendence.. just to get something different in.

http://www.centennial.org/basketball/Men/2008stats/CONFLDRS.HTM

[Leo]

Muhlenberg has the best home team attendence.. just to get something different in.

For my 2 cents worth just to get something different in, Ursinus has the best looking female students.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Groundhog Day picks:

Dickinson
F&M
Gettysburg
Ursinus
McDaniel


I got lucky the other night when McDaniel and F&M failed to hold onto leads.  Both teams should get back on track today.  Dickinson at home; Gettysburg and Ursinus in tight battles on the road.

[old ends]

Results for 2/2/08 Pick-em's and groundhogs day...

Reserved Seat-------- 5 - 0
Suetonius-------------4 - 1
r.w.mcnickels---------4 - 1
Leo ---------- -----   3 - 2
Old Ends --- --------    3 - 2
Diplomanic1 -----------2 - 3

Overall

Reserved Seat -----  33 - 7  ( .825)
r.w.mcnickels------- 32 - 8 ( .800)
Leo ----------- ---  29 - 11(.725)
Old ends ---------- 28 - 12( .700)
Suetonius ---------- 26 - 14( .650)
Diplomanic1----------15 - 10 (.600)

With 6 sets of games to go anyone's race. One overtime game and two games that 4 points between a win or a loss could have really jumbled things up..

Congrats to Reserved Seat, who use his knowledge and crystal ball to get a perfect 5-0.

One thing I could never figure out, not being from PA. What is the difference, 6 more weeks of winter or 6 more weeks till spring. Groundhogs could never make up thier minds or are great politicians.

[old ends]

Standings CC
Ursinus                  12-0
Gettysburg            10-2 
McDaniel                 7-5 
Johns Hopkins         7-5 
Muhlenberg             7-5 
Franklin & Marshall   6-6 
Dickinson                 6-6 

Can F & M and or Dickinson make the run to get into the conference playoff's?
Can Hopkins, McDaniel, and Muhlenberg keep the above out??

Going to be a good finish.

[old ends]

2/06/08 Pick-em's

F & M               @     John Hopkins
McDaniel           @    Swarthmore
Washington      @    Ursinus
Dickinson          @    Gettysburg
Haverford         @    Muhlenberg

Good luck to all!!!

[Leo]

2/6 Picks:

McDaniel
Ursinus
Gettysburg
Muhlenberg
Hopkins (the Dips will run out of gas)

[Reserved Seat]

Hopefully the crystal ball isn't too foggy.

2/6 picks

F & M--tunnel vision pick
Swarthmore--even though he pouts and whines, Ian needs a win
Ursinus--no one had figured out how to beat them yet.
Gettysburg--should be an interesting game under the basketball, but the Bullets have more bullets in
                   the chambers
Muhlenberg--the Fords continue to stall out

[D.B. Cooper]

2/6 picks

JHU
McDaniel
Ursinus
Gburg
Muhlenberg

No upsets for me, have no faith in Dips on road, often played well at Hopkins when they had better more seasoned teams, not so this year

[old ends]

2/6/08 pick-ems

John Hopkins-- they need the win to stay in the playoff hunt
McDaniel--They too need to win
Ursinus-- They too will win
Gettysburg--They should win--Route 34 battle
Muhlenberg-- They must keep winning to stay in the hunt

therefore the they's technicality thrash those thither.

[old ends]

Stats are posted thru 2/4/ games

http://www.centennial.org/basketball/Men/2008stats/CONFLDRS.HTM

Washington leads in steals and turnover margins.. go figure!
Ursinus in scoring offense and Haverford in scoring defense.
Swarthmore in offensive boards and F & M in defense boards

NCAA Stats:  http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rankings

Haverford 20th in scoring defense, McDaniel 32nd and Dickinson 54th
Ursinus 19th in field goal percentage and Gettysburg 38th.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Ursinus cracks into this week's Top 25 at No. 21.