Broad Street Believers

It was a great season in the WCC, and it culminated with a fantastic championship game.  Alexi, who only missed one game the entire tournament, wins his first WCC crown here in 2012.  Stri misses out on a perfect WCC bracket.  Bry falls 3.5 points shy of winning his second straight WCC title.

#1 St. Mary’s 78 – #2 Gonzaga 74 (OT)
When you have the ball and a 3-point lead with :07 seconds left, you should not need overtime to win the game.  Then again, if you blow a 3-point lead with the ball and :07 second left, you probably shouldn’t be able to rebound and win in overtime.  Well, both things happened.  The Gaels turned the ball over with :07 seconds left and a 3-point lead and Elias Harris hit a three to tie it.  Dellavedova nearly won it, but his runner went long and we had overtime.  Gonzaga had all the momentum, and SMC looked done.  But, the Gaels (led by the WCC Player of the Year, Dellavedova) showed some real meddle, taking the title from the arch-rivals.   Alexi, Bry, J, Primm, and Teddy take the 42-point victory here in by picking the champion.

FINAL WCC STANDINGS:

1. Alexi – 129.5 (’12)
2. Bry – 126 (’11*)
3. J – 117.5
4. Teddy – 114
5. Stri – 103.5
6. Primm – 101.5
7. Lohse – 100
8. Gersh – 87.5
9. Lil Lohse – 87.5
10. Rikey – 87.5
11. RDoc – 87.5
12. Gross – 75.5
13. Dave – 65
14. RSmith – 63
15. Doogan – 59.5
16. Scoot – 59.5
17. Lynch – 49 (’09)
18. Mac – 49
19. Waters – 49 (’08)
20. KA – 45.5

I have been a pretty loud opponent of the two division, 12-team tournament bracket.  And, the MAC was the poster-child for its injustice, as the Eastern Division is so far superior to the West that it presented a grossly unfair advantage for some and a huge disadvantage to others.  Well, they changed (maybe they read my post about a month ago…or the idiot blogger that wrote that didn’t do his research…), and what they came up with was genius.  They took the double-bye concept employed by 8-team tournaments, such as the OVC, and extrapolated it to their own 12-team tournament.  So, for the first time ever, the MAC will have a six-round tournament, complete with double-byes and triple-byes to accompany a First Round quadruple-header tonight.  The four winners tonight will make up the Second Round on Wednesday, where those winners will be joined on Thursday by the 3- and 4-seeds in the quarters.  The semis will be Friday, when the top two seeds enter the mix, followed by the championship on Saturday.  Awesome!  MAC, I applaud you…

This year’s MAC picks are absolutely all over the place, which should make for a fascinating tournament, from the CTC standpoint.  More people picked the 3-seed to win the tournament (despite having to play an extra round) than the 1- and 2-seeds, combined!  Doogan has won three of the four MAC tournaments on record.  The only one he didn’t was won by Teddy in 2010…see below – it was amazing.

Championship Picks
3 for #1 Akron (Bry, Rikey, Waters)
4 for #2 Buffalo (Gross, J, Lil Lohse, Primm)
8 for #3 Ohio
2 for #3 Kent St. (Dave, KA)
1 for #5 E. Michigan (Teddy)

Biggest Upset
R1 – #12 N. Illinois (Bry, Doogan, Gross, J, Mac, RDoc)
R2 – #10 Miami (OH) (Scoot, Waters)
QF – #7 Toledo (Gross, J)
SF – #6 Bowling Green (KA)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Doogan/J
2010 – Teddy* (in the most unbelievably ridiculous individual CTC bracket ever filled out – do yourself a favor and look at this bracket and marvel at someone picking it perfectly)
2009 – Doogan
2008 – Doogan

#5 Eastern Michigan vs. #12 N. Illinois
NIU is really bad every single year, and I honestly do not know why.  They should be great.  They are a good school with decent facilities in the shadow of one of the best basketball cities in the country.  Oh, and did I mention that the big boys like Northwestern and Illinois often have trouble recruiting Chicago kids?  So, why can’t NIU ever field a competitive team?  I don’t get it.  Their opponent tonight, E. Michigan is always decent, but their conference record this year might be a bit inflated by their unbalanced schedule being so easy (they get to play the Western Division teams twice).  Fortunately for them, though, they get one of those Western teams in the First Round and are guaranteed to get another one in the Second Round if they get there.  6 people (Bry, Doogan, Gross, J, Mac, RDoc) went for the huge upset pick of NIU.  Teddy has everything at stake here, as he has EMU winning 6 games to cut down the nets. 

#6 Bowling Green vs. #11 Central Michigan
Bowling Green had a really nice year, but fell victim to the unbalanced schedule and ended up 6th.  C. Michigan is not very good.  J and Primm are the only two with CMU in the big upset here.  KA has the most at stake with Bowling Green, as she has them in the finals.

#7 Toledo vs. #10 Miami (OH)
Miami (OH) is the black sheep of the Eastern Division because they weren’t all that good this year.  Toledo, generally a total doormat in this league, has actually played really well down the stretch and might be a tough out.  This game is rather split and could be somewhat important.  7 people have Miami in the upset (Bry, Dave, Gersh, Lynch, RDoc, Scoot, Waters).  Waters and Scoot have them going to the semis.  Gross and J have Toledo in the semis.

#8 Western Michigan vs. #9 Ball St.
Ball St. started MAC play red-hot, but has cooled off mightily down the stretch and fell to #9.  WMU was supposed to have a terrific, senior-laden team this year, so they put together a ridiculous non-conference schedule and lost most of their non-con games.  I guess losing bred more losing at WMU, as they didn’t turn it around in conference play and now enter as a longshot to even compete in this tournament.  This game is rather split, as well, as 9 people went for the minor upset of Ball St. (Doogan, Gersh, KA, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, Waters).

This ticket was supposed to be Iona’s.  Now, the Gaels have to sweat out Selection Sunday.  But, before they do that, they have to watch one of their rivals lock up a spot in the Dance themselves.  Teddy is the current MAAC leader and has Loyola winning tonight, so he will take the 2012 MAAC crown with a Greyhound victory.  Dave – the only one in the field with Fairfield winning this tournament – will take a well-earned MAAC title if the Stags can pull off another upset.

#2 Loyola (MD) vs. #4 Fairfield
The Stags have been playing really well and hit their peak, thus far, yesterday in upsetting the heavily-favored Gaels of Iona.  Loyola thought they caught a break when #3 Manhattan was upset in the quarters, but they got all they could handle from a game Siena squad, but survived.  Now, the two meet for all the marbles.  Dave will pick up a free and clear 30 points on the rest of the field if Fairfield wins.  5 people (Alexi, KA, Primm, Scoot, Teddy) will pick up 26 points if Loyola comes through.

The SoCon has been confusing this year, but the one thing that has not been confusing all year is who is the best team in this conference.  Davidson will try and head back to the tournament with a win tonight.  Lil Lohse has been very impressive in sifting his way through this difficult tournament, losing just three games along the way, including nailing all four semifinalists.  He has a big lead and had Davidson winning tonight, so, with no one taking WCU to even reach the finals, Lil Lohse has locked up the 2012 SoCon title.

#1 Davidson vs. #6 W. Carolina
Davidson is trying to complete a pretty convincing championship run through the SoCon this year, following 19- and 16-point wins in their first two tournament games.  W. Carolina is trying to complete what would be a shocking route to the Big Dance.  They struggled with #11 The Citadel in the Opening Round, but put it together to drop 82 points on Wofford in the quarters and 82 more on UNC-Greensboro yesterday in the semis.  17 people have Davison winning this one.  KA, Mac, and Waters took Elon, Wofford, and UNC-Greensboro, respectively, so they will be rooting for WCU tonight to zero out this title game.  Otherwise, the other 17 will gain 24 free points on those three.

St. Mary’s – Gonzaga is fast becoming one of the most heated mid-major rivalries in the country, and another chapter is about to be written.  St. Mary’s finally won a regular season title outright this year, but they still have work to do to complete this WCC season.

Stri is currently leading the WCC by himself, and he has Gonzaga in the final, so if the Zags pull it out, Stri will take the 2012 WCC crown.  If St. Mary’s wins, then Alexi will come from behind and steal the title.

#1 St. Mary’s vs. #2 Gonzaga
Both teams only entered the tournament in the semis two nights ago and came through to reach this much-anticipated finale.  Judging by the performances on Saturday night, one would have to favor the Zags, as they absolutely hammered a tournament-destined BYU team, while St. Mary’s trailed for most of their game against middling San Francisco.  18 of the 20 entries have one of these two teams winning this tournament (Gross lost with BYU; Mac lost with LMU).  Of those 18, 13 of them are for the #2-seeded Zags.  There are 5 with St. Mary’s (Alexi, Bry, J, Primm, Teddy).

Webster’s Dictionary defines eye, as “an area in the center of a tropical cyclone marked only by light winds or complete calm.”  That is what this day is every year.  The cyclone of the CTC has been building up with intensity all week, leading to a chaotic weekend of games all over the country.  Now, on this Monday, we have a bit of respite, a bit of calm – an “eye,” in the storm, if you will.  In years past, this day was just for putting the finishing touches on the first week’s tournaments, but the MAC changed their format this year to include four First Round games on this day.  Even so, we still only have 12 games all day, none starting before 7:00.  But, like any tropical storm, it is not wise to assume that the calm in the middle means that the storm has passed you by.  We haven’t yet seen the true intensity of the 2012 CTC tornado…and it’s only a day or two away.

TONIGHT’S TOURNAMENTS:

Championships
Colonial
MAAC
WCC
SoCon

Semifinal Doubleheaders
Sun Belt
Summit

First Round Quadruple-Header
Mid-American

Huge days for Mac and Alexi, put them ahead of Lohse in the top 2 positions.  Both of these guys have been under the radar all week, yet amazingly consistent and made moves on Day Seven.  The always-solid Alexi, despite losing Day Seven by a point, holds a half-point lead over Mac in the overall standings at the one week mark.

Gross had the biggest climb in the standings on Day Seven, moving up 7 spots from 16th to 9th.  Bry jumped 5 spots to 6th; Teddy, who was only 2 points off the day’s leader, climbed 4 spots to 14th.  Gersh, who finished in last for the day, took the biggest hit in the standings as well, falling 7 spots from 8th to 15th.  Dave – who nearly hit big with Illinois St. – fell 4 spots to 11th; Primm dropped 3 spots to 12th.

DAY SEVEN SCORES (days won):

1. Mac – 175 (1)
2. Alexi – 174
3. Teddy – 173
4. Gross – 154
5. Bry – 148
6. RSmith – 144
7. RDoc – 133
8. J – 126
9. Lynch – 118
10. Stri – 106 (1)
11. Rikey – 105 (1)
12. Lohse – 104 (3)
13. Scoot – 98 (1)
14. KA – 97
15. Lil Lohse – 95
16. Doogan – 92
17. Dave – 77
18. Primm – 77
19. Waters – 67
20. Gersh – 60

OVERALL STANDINGS (conference won):

1. Alexi – 811.5
2. Mac – 811 (AS)
3. Lohse – 794 (BS, AS)
4. Stri – 771.5 (OVC, AS)
5. Rikey – 749.5 (OVC, AS)
6. Bry – 721
7. RSmith – 720 (MVC)
8. Scoot – 716.5 (AS)
9. Gross – 702.5 (AS)
10. RDoc – 696.5
11. Dave – 689
12. Primm – 680.5
13. Lynch – 677
14. Teddy – 675 (AS)
15. Gersh – 668.5 (AS)
16. Lil Lohse – 652.5
17. Doogan – 649.5
18. Waters – 584
19. J – 578.5 (BS)
20. KA – 498.5