{"id":3696,"date":"2013-03-12T10:47:03","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T14:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=3696"},"modified":"2013-03-13T09:43:21","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T13:43:21","slug":"2013-ctc-the-horizon-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=3696","title":{"rendered":"2013 CTC: The Horizon League (FINAL)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Horizon League – long considered one of the better mid-major conferences in the country – will kick off its conference tournament without one of its flagship programs, Butler, for, literally, the first time in my lifetime.\u00a0 After 33 seasons in the Horizon League, the Bulldogs took a one-year detour to the A-10 this year before they join the Catholic-7 or Big Priest or whatever they are going to call it (I am in denial that they are stealing the “Big East” name before Temple ever even gets there…).<\/p>\n

\"\"So, the Horizon took a bit of a step backwards this year with the loss of Butler and an uncharacteristically down season for <\/span>Cleveland St.<\/strong>, but there was still a nice battle up top between Valpo<\/strong> and Detroit<\/strong> and a decent middle of the conference bolstered by surprisingly not-terrible years from UIC<\/strong> and Loyola (IL)<\/strong> and the emergence of a Youngstown St. <\/strong>program that is on the rise.<\/span><\/p>\n

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 30 points)<\/h1>\n

#1 Valparaiso vs #3 Wright St.<\/strong>
\nAfter two incredibly thrilling, maddening<\/em> semifinals, the whole Horizon community had a couple days to take a breath before Tuesday’s championship.\u00a0 The venue remains the same, as the regular season champ, Crusaders, will host Wright St. tonight for a spot in the Dance.\u00a0 Does Broekhoff have any more Valpo magic in him?\u00a0 We will see.\u00a0 Either way, it is a pretty incredible finals matchup.\u00a0 Valpo was picked in the preseason to win this league, but Wright St. was picked DEAD-LAST.\u00a0 Now, they are 40 minutes from a ticket to the Dance.<\/p>\n

Eleven\u00a0people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) have Valpo here, while the other 13 all had Detroit, so they are hoping for a Wright St. upset here to zero out the final.\u00a0 Regardless of the result tonight, Caleb will win his first ever CTC conference title.<\/p>\n

Valparaiso 62 – Wright St. 54<\/em>
\nIt wasn’t exactly how Coach Drew drew it up, but a win is a win is a win – especially in March.\u00a0 That being said, it’s hard to imagine Valpo playing a worse game than this one.\u00a0 They committed a season-high 25 turnovers and one of the better FT shooting teams in the country missed a ton of key FTs down the stretch.\u00a0 But, still Ryan Broekhoff and company were too good on this night, and avoided a second straight season of blowing\u00a0a big second half lead at home in the conference championship.\u00a0 For people around my age, they were the first real “Cinderella,” so it’s nice to have them back in the Dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eleven people hit this champion.\u00a0 Caleb wins the 2013 Horizon League CTC title.<\/span><\/p>\n

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 20 points each)<\/h1>\n

#2 Detroit vs #3 Wright St.<\/strong>
\nIn the Horizon semifinal opener, the Detroit Titans begin their postseason against a Wright St. team that handled Youngstown St. on Friday in the quarters. \u00a0If you’ve never seen Ray McCallum play – tune in – and not just because he looks like Michael from The Wire<\/em>, but because he’s got serious game. \u00a0The dude turned down a scholarship offer from Michigan St. (among others) to play for his dad in the Horizon League. \u00a0He’s the real deal. \u00a0He almost single-handedly took Temple’s at-large hopes away last week at the Liacouras, but the Owls survived.<\/p>\n

Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters have the minor Wright St. upset here. \u00a0Everyone else has Detroit, including a baker’s dozen of people with the Titans winning this tournament (everyone who doesn’t have Valpo).<\/p>\n

Wright St. 64 – Detroit 62<\/em>
\nMADNESS!!!\u00a0 A baseline jumper by Mike Dixon at the buzzer sent Wright St. to the upset win over Detroit and into the Horizon championship on Tuesday.\u00a0 Detroit’s star, Ray McCallum was incredibly held to 1-for-7 from the floor with 4 turnovers.\u00a0 The two teams played the whole game within 5 points of each other, with 14 ties and 9 lead changes.\u00a0 What a crazy, crazy, March-like game.\u00a0 The Titans, who had high hopes for McCallum’s junior season, are relegated to hoping for an invite to the NIT.\u00a0\u00a0Wow!<\/span><\/p>\n

Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters are the only four that got this game.\u00a0 13 people\u00a0(Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, Gersh, GrossJr,\u00a0J, Lohse, LohseJr, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stumpf, and Teddy) had Detroit winning this tournament.\u00a0 Nobody has Wright St. cutting down the nets.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

#1 Valparaiso vs #4 Green Bay<\/strong>
\nKeifer Sykes’s shot still echoes in the Valpo gym, as the Phoenix will try and use that magic to get through the league’s best team on its home floor. \u00a0As good as Ray McCallum is for Detroit, he might not win the Horizon POY this year because Ryan Broekhoff of Valpo had a phenomenal year for the team that won the league. \u00a0Now, Broekhoff will try and cement this status by carrying his team to the Dance.<\/p>\n

All 24 people have Valpo here, including 11 people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) with Valpo winning this tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

Valparaiso 70 – Green Bay 69<\/em>
\nBryce Who?\u00a0 MORE MADNESS!!!\u00a0 What an amazing double-header the Valparaiso fans got to see on Saturday night.\u00a0 First, they see Wright St. upset the Crusaders biggest threat, Detroit, on a buzzer-beater, and now they get to see one of the most amazing buzzer-beaters you will ever see – in any month (but, of course, it happened in March).\u00a0 Horizon Player of the Year, Ryan Broekhoff hit an off-balance, desperation three as time expired to SHOCK Green Bay and send the Crusaders to the Horizon championship against Wright St. on Tuesday night.\u00a0 Broekhoff had 25 in the game, while Keifer Sykes dropped 31 in a losing effort for the Phoenix.\u00a0 Holy S&$*!!!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All 24 people got this one right, but the 11 people who had the Crusaders winning this tournament are pretty happy with this result, especially as the other 13 people all lost their champions in the early game.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 10 points each)<\/h1>\n

#3 Wright St. vs #6 Youngstown St.<\/strong>
\nThe YSU Penguins survived a tough opening round game at home on Tuesday against Loyola (IL) and now get to join the weekend fun here at Valpo with\u00a0a quarterfinal date with Wright St.\u00a0 These two teams played on the last day of the regular season last Saturday at Wright St. and the Raiders crushed YSU by 27.\u00a0 Now, the Penguins can either get revenge and move on to face #2 Detroit in Saturday’s semifinal or their season will end here.\u00a0 Wright St. – whose win on Saturday, coupled with a Green Bay loss to Valpo, earned them the 3-seed and the first-round bye – has put together a surprisingly good season after being picked in the preseason to finish dead-last in the Horizon.\u00a0 They will get the chance this weekend to validate their 3rd-place conference finish and it starts Friday.<\/p>\n

GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Primm, and Scoot all have YSU in a pretty nice upset pick here, though none of them\u00a0have the Penguins beating Detroit in the semis, so it’s not a whole lot to lose.\u00a0 Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters all have Wright St. winning this game and then again Saturday over Detroit, so this is an important one for them.\u00a0 Alexi and Lohse have already lost this game with Loyola (IL).<\/p>\n

Wright St. 66 – Youngstown St. 59<\/em>
\nFor 30 minutes or so, this game looked like it might be a total blowout, but Youngstown St. made a furious comeback to cut it to 3 with less than three minutes to play, but Wright St. held on and will advance to Saturday’s semifinals against 2nd-seeded Detroit. \u00a0Junior forward Jerran Young filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.<\/span><\/p>\n

17 people got this one right with Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters all keeping a finalist alive here.<\/span><\/p>\n

#4 Green Bay vs #5 Illinois-Chicago
\n<\/span>The first quarterfinal of the night at Valpo pits two teams coming off relatively easy opening round wins on their home floors Tuesday night.\u00a0 Green Bay ended a bad season for UW-Milwaukee, while UIC disproved the doubters a bit by manhandling Cleveland St.\u00a0 The Valpo fans in attendence will be closely tuned into this one, as their team awaits the winner of this one in the semifinal on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dave, Gersh, GrossSr, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have UIC in this minor upset, while J and Lazarow have already lost it thanks to their Cleveland St. pick.\u00a0 All 24 entries have Valparaiso going to the finals, so no one is putting even a finalist at risk here in\u00a0Friday’s nightcap.<\/p>\n

Green Bay 64 – Illinois-Chicago 63<\/em>
\nMADNESS! \u00a0What an ending to a great season for the UIC Flames (though, they will probably be invited to some postseason tournament). \u00a0UIC’s Gary Talton hit two clutch free throws with the game tied and :07 seconds to go. \u00a0Green Bay inbounds the ball and, with his coach SCREAMING for a timeout, Keifer Sykes decides to make a stutter-step and put up a contested three, which he nails – Green Bay wins! \u00a0Bring on Valpo! \u00a0God, I love this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

15 people got this one right and picked up the 10 points.<\/span> <\/em><\/p>\n

OPENING ROUND (March 5th – 5 points each)<\/h1>\n

#4 Green Bay vs #9 UW-Milwaukee<\/strong>
\nTwo bitter rivals will face off in spots that are rather disappointing for each. \u00a0UWM was the biggest surprise in the league this year with just how bad they were, and GB has too much talent to have missed out on a bye, but a 19-point home loss to Valpo on Saturday pushed them into the opening round. \u00a0The good news for the Phoenix is that they will host the Panthers in this opening round on individual campuses.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, PapaCim is the only one who took the\u00a0shot at\u00a0a nice\u00a0upset pick here in the rivalry game with UW-Milwaukee.\u00a0 He does not have them going any further, and most people who picked Green Bay here also picked them in the quarters.\u00a0 No one has Green Bay beating Valparaison in the semis, so unless PapaCim can grab the big upset points, this game won’t have much affect on the CTC.<\/p>\n

Green Bay 62 – UW-Milwaukee 46<\/em>
\nThe Phoenix takes care of their in-state rivals, ending an incredibly disappointing season for UWM. <\/span><\/p>\n

PapaCim misses on the upset pick.<\/span> <\/em><\/p>\n

#5 Illinois-Chicago vs #8 Cleveland St.
\n<\/strong>UIC versus Cleveland St. in the 5-8 would not have been that far out of the question in the preseason, but the location of the game would be. \u00a0Cleveland St. was supposed to be rebuilding this year, but they were even worse than expected. \u00a0UIC was picked for dead-last in the conference and, without a late-season slide, may have contended for a top 3 finish. \u00a0But, they did earn a home game against the Vikings. \u00a0The winner will face the winner of the GB-UWM game in the quarters for the right to take on #1 Valpo in the semis.<\/p>\n

Eight people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, J, Lohse, LohseJr, and Waters)\u00a0went for the road team, CSU, here in an upset.\u00a0 J has the most at stake, though, as he has the Vikings winning again in the quarters.\u00a0 Gersh, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have UIC advancing to the semis, though none of them have\u00a0the Flames beating Valpo to reach the finals.<\/p>\n

Illinois-Chicago 82 – Cleveland St. 59<\/em>
\nThe surprisingly solid season for UIC will at least last until the weekend, as they pretty much dominated Cleveland St. from the opening tip. \u00a0They are now set up to meet 4th-seeded Green Bay in the quartefinals in Valparaiso on Friday. <\/span><\/p>\n

J took the biggest hit here, as he loses a semifinalist. \u00a0Five others have UIC in the semis, which looks like a decent pick if you judge by tonight’s performance.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

#6 Youngstown St. vs #7 Loyola (IL)<\/strong>
\nYoungstown St. has been building their D-I program for a couple years now and, after a promising 2011-12, they took that momentum into this season and acquitted themselves rather well, despite falling to a 6th place finish in the end. \u00a0Loyola (IL) was supposed to beat out only UIC (maybe), but they actually looked solid for most of the season, including giving Michigan St. a run in the non-conference. \u00a0The winner of this game will take on #3 Wright St.in the quarters.<\/p>\n

Seven people (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Lohse, RDoc, Stumpf, and Waters) went for the minor upset pick of Loyola here, with Alexi and Lohse picking the Ramblers to beat Wright St. in the quarters, as well.\u00a0 GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Primm, and Scoot all have Youngstown St. beating Wright St. in the quarters.\u00a0 No one has either of these teams reaching the finals.<\/p>\n

Youngstown St. 62 – Loyola (IL) 60<\/em>
\nA back-and-forth game that was played within 2 possessions almost the entire way ends with a game-winning jumper by Youngstown’s sophomore point guard D.J. Cole, pushing the Penguins into the quarters against Wright St. <\/span><\/p>\n

Alexi and Lohse took the biggest hit here, while 5 people kept alive their semifinalist in YSU.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

CTC UPDATE<\/h1>\n

Championship Picks<\/strong><\/p>\n