With Oral Roberts gone to the Southland, the coronation of the South Dakota St. Jackrabbits and their star with the cult-like following, Nate Wolters, may have begun far too early. SDSU did not put in the dominant performance in the Summit that most people thought they would without ORU to chase. In fact, most of the computer numbers say that North Dakota St. was, in fact, the better team – and it wasn’t all that close. That being said, SDSU did go 13-3 in a true round-robin, a game ahead of the Bison of NDSU. And SDSU 
wasn’t the only Summit team that outperformed the Bison in the round-robin format, as Western Illinois was also 13-3, including a sweep of NDSU. Those three teams dominated this league for most of the season, but the always-overlooked Oakland Golden Grizzlies made a strong run at the end to make things interesting. But, none of these 4 teams are the Summit team with the longest winning streak entering the tournament, as that belongs to IPFW, who has won 5 in a row, including taking two games in 10 days from their opening-round opponent, Oakland. The bottom of this league looked really, really bad at different times during the year – UMKC in the early going, South Dakota down the stretch, and IUPUI all season.
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 24 points)
#1 South Dakota St. vs #3 North Dakota St.
Blood rivals. Border war. Arch-enemies. These two teams plain don’t like each other and now they will add the most important chapter to the rivalry yet, as they will play a rubber match for a spot in the Big Dance. They split the regular season series – both in hotly contested games – with the home teams winning each. They both looked good against game opponents in the semifinals on Monday, so this should be a good one. If there is an advantage to be had, it would be that NDSU is playing their third game in 3 nights, while SDSU is playing their third game in 4 nights. But, when the ball is tipped, that probably won’t matter with these two.
This is also a huge game for the CTC. Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters all have SDSU winning this tournament. Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, and RDoc all have NDSU winning it. If the Jackrabbits win, Lohse will hang another CTC conference banner. If NDSU wins, Bry, Doogan, and J will all share the 2013 Summit title.
South Dakota St. 73 – North Dakota St. 67
The Jackrabbits spent the first half showing the world that they are more than just Nate Wolters (particularly Jordan Dykstra), but used the second half to show the world just how good Mr. Wolters is. In a hard-fought game, SDSU proved to be the class of the Summit again this year and will be everyone’s upset pick next week again this year.
Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters took home the 24 points that go with this win. Lohse takes home the his 3rd Summit League CTC title in the last 4 years.
SEMIFINALS (March 11th – 16 points each)
#1 South Dakota St. vs #5 IPFW
This should be really interesting. It’s the league’s best team against the league’s hottest team. The Jackrabbits muddled through a 17-point win over a bad IUPUI team on Saturday, while IPFW trounced a pretty good Oakland team on Sunday. Has IPFW just been beating the lower-division teams and Oakland (three straight times) against which they matchup well or are they rolling? We will see Monday night.
No one has IPFW here, while Twenty people have SDSU. Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Teddy have all lost this game already, having picked Oakland. Seven people (Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, LohseJr, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters) have the Jackrabbits winning this tournament.
South Dakota St. 72 – IPFW 56
IPFW scored the first 10 points of the game and led 23-11 during at the under-11 timeout in the first half. But, the Nate Wolters and the Jackrabbits turned it on from there, ultimately grasping a 20-point second half lead and winning going away. SDSU will advance to the Summit Championship on Tuesday night.
20 people got this right – 7 of whom kept alive their Summit champ.
#2 Western Illinois vs #3 North Dakota St.
The Leathernecks of WIU survived by a single point against lowly South Dakota on Saturday, while NDSU struggled through an 11-point win over lowly UMKC on Sunday. Now, they can go at each other in what should be a really good semifinal on Monday. NDSU is one of the nation’s best defensive teams, while WIU can really struggle to score at times. However, the Leathernecks seem to matchup well against the Bison, having swept the season series from NDSU.
This is almost as big of a semifinal – from a CTC standpoint – as is possible. The two most popular championship picks in the Summit League are going head-to-head here. If WIU loses, eight people (Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf) will lose their champion. If NDSU loses, nine people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, and RDoc) will lose their champion. Pretty gigantic.
North Dakota St. 55 – Western Illinois 43
TrayVaughn Wright dropped 19, and the NDSU defense was – as usual – stifling, and the Bison are moving on to the Summit League championship game against their arch-rivals, South Dakota St.
Half the field got this right; half got it wrong. Eight people lost their champion here, while nine others kept theirs alive.
QUARTERFINALS (March 9th & 10th – 8 points each)
#1 South Dakota St. vs #8 IUPUI
The Jackrabbits won the league regular season title and the top-seed and get to face an IUPUI team that went 1-15 in league play this year and only qualified for the 8-team tournament because NE-Omaha was not eligible in their D-I transitional year. Nate Wolters and company can probably use this former league top dog as a bit of a tune-up for the gauntlet of Summit teams that await them after this weekend’s quarters.
No one has IUPUI in the upset here, so the people with SDSU losing in the quarters (Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Stumpf) will be fans of IUPUI here. Only seven people (Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, LohseJr, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters) took the #1 seed here to win this tournament, so they all are big Jackrabbit fans.
South Dakota St. 66 – IUPUI 49
After an unimpressive first half, the Jackrabbits took control and won going away in the second half. The cult figure, Nate Wolters had an easy 20 in this one.
Everyone got this one right, including Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, LohseJr, Rikey, and Waters, who keep alive their champ.
#2 Western Illinois vs #7 South Dakota
The Leathernecks of WIU completed an under-the-radar 13-3 regular season co-champion campaign and will open the tournament on this first day of quarterfinals before getting a day off before their semifinal. South Dakota looked like they were making major strides in the early going, but comlpetely fell apart down the stretch, losing 7 of their last 8.
Seven people (Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J, Lohse, RDoc, and Waters) took a shot at the South Dakota upset here. Eight people (Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf) have WIU cutting down the nets.
Western Illinois 54 – South Dakota 53
WIU survives a gutty South Dakota team that was in it all the way. A USD three at the buzzer made it a one-point game, but they never actually had a chance to win in the final minute, though they were within 5 or 6 points pretty much the entire way, including a long stretch early in the second half with the lead. But, the Leathernecks do enough to make it through and will move on to Monday’s semifinals against the N.D. State – UMKC winner.
Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J, Lohse, RDoc, and Waters all just missed a big upset pick here, while eight people (Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf) keep alive their champion).
#4 Oakland vs #5 IPFW
The first Sunday quarterfinal pits two teams that are very familiar with each other – having played twice in the past two weeks. Interestingly, IPFW – who showed next to no signs of life – won both of them over an Oakland team that looked like a legit title contender. Maybe it’s just a matchup issue or maybe it says something about one or both of these teams. Either way, I am sure that the Golden Griffins of Oakland are not happy to see IPFW across the court again in a win-or-go-home setting.
Bry, J, Lohse, and PapaCim all went for IPFW in this one, with none of them picking them to reach the finals. Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Stumpf all have Oakland reaching the finals, so they need them to come through here in the quarters.
IPFW 91 – Oakland 72
In a 19-game that wasn’t even that close, IPFW cruises past Oakland and into the semis, where the league’s hottest team will take on the league’s best team, SDSU. The Mastadons were up 32-14 midway through the first half. Oakland made a bit of a run to cut it to 8 in the middle of the second half, but they were just overmatched all day. I’m not sure what has gotten into this IPFW team, but the unknown is probably scary to the rest of the league.
Bry, J, Lohse, and PapaCim hit this mild upset. Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Stumpf all lost finalists here.
#3 North Dakota St. vs #6 UMKC
The UMKC Roadrunners were doormats for most of the Summit season, but started to show signs of life down the stretch. North Dakota St. had a real opportunity to take the Summit crown this year, but a sweep by WIU and a split with SDSU made the 3-point loss at Oakland a death nail to their title hopes. Now, they have a shot to take care of business themselves, but they will most likely have to go through the two teams ahead of them to do it…though they shouldn’t overlook the Roadrunners.
PapaCim and Primm are the only two on the Roadrunners here, while nine people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, and RDoc) all have the Bison cutting down the Summit League nets.
North Dakota St. 69 – UMKC 58
It was nip and tuck for a long while, but the Bison finally pulled away late and will advance to a really good semifinal on Monday against Western Illinois. Bison’s junior star, Taylor Braun had 27 for the victors.
PapaCim and Primm missed a nice upset pick here, while the most popular champion pick stays alive.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 South Dakota St. (7)
- #2 Western Illinois (8)
- #3 North Dakota St. (9)
Biggest Upsets
- QF – #7 South Dakota (Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J, Lohse, RDoc & Waters)
- SF – #4 Oakland (Alex, GrossSr, Primm & Stumpf)
- Champ – #3 North Dakota St. (Alex, Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J & RDoc)
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – Waters (perfect)
- 2009 – Doogan & Stri
- 2010 – Alexi, Bry & Lohse
- 2011 – Bry, GrossJr, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Stri & Teddy
- 2012 – GrossJr
FINAL 2013 SCORES
- Lohse (’10, ’11, ’13) – 90
- Gersh – 86
- Waters (’08*) – 78
- Bry (’10, ’11) – 66
- Doogan (’09) – 66
- J – 66
- Cheryl – 64
- LohseJr – 64
- Rikey – 64
- Lazarow – 62
- Teddy (’11) – 56
- Alexi (’10) – 54
- GrossJr (’11, ’12) – 54
- Lynch (’11) – 54
- RDoc – 54
- Alex – 46
- PapaCim – 44
- Caleb – 40
- Dave – 40
- Mac (’11) – 40
- Scoot – 40
- GrossSr – 24
- Stumpf – 24
- Primm – 16
