PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I sort of like it as it is. Hosting a game or two gives teams that haven't clinched first place an extra incentive (although who knows what happens in the East this year). I understand the argument against rotating the sites, but if you get a top two spot you do get a bye and a home quarterfinal game in any case, which is not an inconsiderable advantage. Also, if you go to a neutral site you're never going to host a conference final four. Going to a neutral site for a week would mean sites such as IUP, East Stroudsburg, and certainly not the Erie schools would likely get a final four in their vicinity as they're far from centrally located.

Also attendance at IUP, with the excellent facility they have there, is not typical in the PSAC. I don't know what kind of attendance you'd get at a neutral site. What I'd actually like to do is play a game or two off-campus during the regular season, perhaps when students are on break to work up some interest in surrounding communities.

I've always thought scrapping the East/West thing in the PSAC Tournament would be really cool -- i.e. the PSAC gets seeded for the tournament regardless of East/West association. We've seen numerous years where one side is far superior to the other (both ways). But, obviously with that comes the travel headache as our teams are so spaced out geographically.

The other pro (my opinion) is you avoid some 'Round 3' games. For instance, I'd find it much more interesting as a fan to watch IUP play Millersville next Wednesday night instead of playing Seton Hill for the third time.

I guess these are just some of the headaches with having 670 teams in the PSAC. LOL.

I don't dislike the current format ... just talking out loud.

I've often heard people question why the final -- since we love this East / West format -- isn't actually East vs. West. So many years we see a West vs West or East vs East final. But, in theory, that puts the two hottest teams up against each other. I remember 6-7 years ago when Ship beat IUP in OT at the KCAC on Final Four Saturday. Everybody in the league knew that was the actual final -- it just got played a day early.

[Chuck Norris]

The only thing that’s really ever bugged me about the current format is when you have the top seed in the hosting division get upset in the quarterfinals and the 2 or 3 seed ends up as the host of the weekend. Then, because the top seed of the other division is bracketed to play that team in the semis they now have to do so on that team’s home floor. I always thought they should re-seed the semifinals in those situations so that the highest remaining in each division played the lowest remaining seed in the other.

Is that still the way things go or have I been in a coma and they’ve changed it?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Not a great Wednesday in the gambling world. The house went a solid 6-2 in straight winners but just 4-4 giving the points.

One day remains in the regular season. While the West is decided, the East is in chaos. Several teams also needs wins tomorrow for NCAA purposes.

Note: Gambling problem call 1-800-Gambler


Mansfield at Millersville - The Marauders are at home. They have a ton on the line. They also blew out the Mounties a month ago. Mansfield is 40 minutes away from the off-season. On paper, this appears to be an easy one. The interesting item -- and this could be a reach -- is the Mounties have played several good teams fairly tough in the past several weeks. Vegas says the Lou Holtz spin ends there. Mansfield has underachieved with the best of them this year. This shouldn't be close and it likely won't be. These teams are just in different places. Marauders win. Big. 'Ville -17.5

Shepherd at Kutztown - What could have been the main event tomorrow is now an afterthought. Shepherd is locked in to the No. 6 seed. Kutztown, despite being on a 5-game winning streak, is done after this game. Hard to say what version of the Golden Bears we'll see tomorrow. Shepherd star Jon Preston missed the Shippensburg game due to an injury. With nothing on the line, he may sit out again tomorrow. Vegas says despite the records, right now, Kutztown is the better team. Bears win their finale. Kutztown -3.5

Mercyhurst at Gannon - Will this be the swan song for Gannon coach Kelvin Jefferson? Most tend to think so. The Golden Knights enter the game with a 3-23 record. Mercyhurst is 21-4. The only possible build-up is the crosstown rivalry factor. Gannon put up a pretty good opening half in the first meeting, but the Lakers slowly pulled away in the second half -- ultimately winning, 72-58. Vegas says expect another similar game tomorrow. The Knights just don't have the horses to hang with the Lakers for 40 minutes. Mercyhurst -12.5

West Chester at Bloomsburg - On a day the Rams have to get a win, well, they have the perfect opponent lined up. Bloomsburg enters the game with a 1-24 record. Forty more painful minutes and it's all over. Vegas says this won't be close. WCU, winners of four straight, has too much on the line. Rams -15.5

Lock Haven at Shippensburg - The Bald Eagles are locked in to the No. 5 spot regardless of what happens in this game. However, they really need a win. Lock Haven has lost its past four outings -- three of them by double digits. Both teams have some injury issues -- Eli Washington for LHU and Dom Sleva for Shippensburg. Washington played in Wednesday's loss to East Stroudsburg, but was a shell of himself in 18 unproductive minutes. Sleva will again not play tomorrow. Vegas says take the Raiders at home. LHU's offense -- or its defense -- isn't nearly the same without a healthy Washington. Shippensburg isn't nearly the same without Sleva, but should have just enough. Raiders -3.5

IUP at California - Amazingly, IUP has won 19 straight in this series. Amazingly, not only because of the storied history of the rivalry, but because the Vulcans have had IUP dead in the water on several occasions during that span. Over the past 2-3 years, Cal has blown several double digit leads. The first meeting this season was a back-and-forth battle for about 25 minutes before IUP slowly pulled away down the stretch. The Crimson Hawks got the win, 87-70. That was in mid-January, however. The Vulcans are now perhaps the hottest team in the PSAC, winners of 6 straight (including wins at Mercyhurst and at UPJ). IUP, conversely, now has a much-healthier Ethan Porterfield. These two play very different styles. The Vulcans play exclusively with 4 guards on the floor. That approach can help or hurt against the very large IUP lineup. California will want to turn this game in to a track meet. IUP will want to play slow and pound the ball inside. Vegas says expect a very heated, tight game. Cal is famous for fast starts. IUP is famous for slow starts. IUP has had a week to prepare, and that should make the difference. IUP -3.5

Clarion at Edinboro - To the credit of both teams (and coaches), each squad got better as the season progressed. Their records don't show it, but both were a tough out down the stretch. Vegas likes the Golden Eagles in this game. In the past two weeks, Clarion has had IUP and Mercyhurst both on the ropes late in each game. They are also deeper. Golden Eagles win what should be a highly entertaining affair. Clarion -5.5

Pitt-Johnstown at Slippery Rock - This is an odd one. Odd, of course, because the teams will play again -- on a much larger stage -- 48 hours later (in Johnstown). The pressure tomorrow is all on the Mountain Cats. This game is close to irrelevant for Slippery Rock. UPJ was (mildly) upset at home Wednesday night by California -- finding itself now nearing (or, perhaps, on) the NCAA bubble. The first meeting was a thriller. UPJ won, 72-68. Slippery Rock has been a major thorn to UPJ over the years. UPJ holds an 11-7 lead in the series over the past 18 meetings. The Mountains Cats have won four straight against SRU -- by 4, 3, 4 and 7 points. That's four wins by a combined 18 points. Vegas likes a split in this doubleheader. Question is who wins the first meeting? It's hard to not take UPJ. SRU has hit a funk -- and is just 2-4 in its past 6 games. They are also sporadic -- something you cannot be against the ultra-disciplined Mountain Cats. Bet the safe money. UPJ -3.5

[IUPNation]

Since the Centre County Community College is a succubus on PSSHE funding, they should offer the Jordan Center for free to the Pee Sack for a Pee Sack tournament. It’s not like any championship basketball ever gets played in there….

[bballfan03]

Portal Season starts Monday. Teams that don't make the conference tournament typically get blasted on Portal Monday.

Specifically to the West, the two biggest questions looming are will the head coaches in Clarion and Gannon still be employed by Tuesday. If not, I could see mass departures from both programs.

Personally, I think Jefferson losing at Edinboro wasn't the 'final nail' but, well, it slammed the coffin shut.

I can tell you this, teams would be lining up to get a shot at a couple of Clarion's freshmen.

I believe Gannon will lose a good number of players whether KJ stays or not. Didn't realize that Mims wasn't using his extra year and is done after this season...gonna take quite a bit to replace him.

[bballfan03]

We'll get an answer on Gannon & Jefferson once KR's season is done. I'll put a Levity or Noble Stein draft on it.

I'd be shocked if Gannon hired Reynolds since Gannon administration have publicly blasted him in his years at Rock.

[IUPHawks24]

Did Mercyhurst really put 105 on Gannon? 17 3's?

Long way from the 50-48 games of 5-10 years ago.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Did Mercyhurst really put 105 on Gannon? 17 3's?

Long way from the 50-48 games of 5-10 years ago.

Gary dropped the hammer

[EyeoftheHawk]

Gary dropped the hammer

Clearly Gannon didn’t want to be there. They just wanted the misery to end. What a disaster of a season.

[Fightingscot82]

I'd be shocked if Gannon hired Reynolds since Gannon administration have publicly blasted him in his years at Rock.

Completely different administration now.

[ctrabs74]

The only reason the MEC's neutral site format works is that they've always chosen a "neutral" site within reach of multiple schools. Wheeling is in the backyard of WU & WLU. Charleston (former home of the MEC tourney) has UC and WVSU right there. That's the only thing that saves it from being an empty arena. If it were played in, say, Morgantown with no actual MEC school in reach, it would be pretty empty most of the weekend.

Fairmont State is about a 25 minute drive up 79 to Hillbilly High in Morgantown.

The problem for the PSAC is that the state is so dang big that anywhere other than Hershey would end up being unfair to the other corners of the state. If it were held in, say, Pittsburgh, teams like IUP, Rock, etc. would have stronger showings. If it were played in Philly, same for WCU et. al. State is too big for a middle-ground neutral site event I would guess. MEC pulls it off because no one is coming more than 3 hours anywhere you put it. And as you say, CIAA pulls it off because it's been a significant cultural event for generations, so it draws for reasons both relating to and unrelated to basketball.

And then you have Hershey which is about an hour away from Kutztown and Shippensburg, and about 40 minutes away from Millersville, so you're going to get a lot of the same gripes about Hershey than you would for Philly or Pittsburgh. And considering the B1G regular season ends on the same weekend as the PSAC final four, there's no way that State Penn could (or would let) Bryce Jordan Arena host the PSAC (Rec Hall, maybe, if it still exists).

[ctrabs74]

I've always thought scrapping the East/West thing in the PSAC Tournament would be really cool -- i.e. the PSAC gets seeded for the tournament regardless of East/West association. We've seen numerous years where one side is far superior to the other (both ways). But, obviously with that comes the travel headache as our teams are so spaced out geographically.

The other pro (my opinion) is you avoid some 'Round 3' games. For instance, I'd find it much more interesting as a fan to watch IUP play Millersville next Wednesday night instead of playing Seton Hill for the third time.

I guess these are just some of the headaches with having 670 teams in the PSAC. LOL.

I don't dislike the current format ... just talking out loud.

I've often heard people question why the final -- since we love this East / West format -- isn't actually East vs. West. So many years we see a West vs West or East vs East final. But, in theory, that puts the two hottest teams up against each other. I remember 6-7 years ago when Ship beat IUP in OT at the KCAC on Final Four Saturday. Everybody in the league knew that was the actual final -- it just got played a day early.

You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. I can't help but think that it's time for the PSAC to ditch the divisions bit and follow the lead of, well, pretty much every Power Five basketball conference and get rid of divisions (each Big 12 team plays home-and-home, though that ends next season with the addition of four schools; ACC, SEC, B1G play 3-4 set opponents home-and-home then everyone else once; PAC-12 teams play nine home-and-home sets with single games against the remaining two schools).

When the PSAC originally expanded to 18 teams, there was talk for going to a three-division format with home-and-home divisional games (10) and single games against the other two divisions (6 games x 2 divisions = 12) to keep the 22 game format in place. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the current scheme for god knows how long, but it's long overdue for an overhaul, even if the coaches have to buy into it kicking and screaming.

You can keep the three-division scheme, but as "pods" rather than fixed divisions:

West: Cal, Edinboro, Gannon, Mercyhurst, Seton Hill, Slippery Rock
Central-ish: Clarion, IUP, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Shepherd, UPJ
East: Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Millersville, Shippensburg, West Chester

Use the same 10-6-6 format as proposed in the three-division format and put everyone in a single division, take the 12 best teams overall and seed the damn thing. This way, the 7th best team in the West wouldn't be left out of the playoffs in favor of a dreadful 6th seed from the East. That way, an East team whose PSAC record would place them third in the West wouldn't host while a deserving top seed from the West misses out on hosting rights for the semis and finals (not that it bothered IUP much when they'd win the PSAC in an East gym in the past, but still...)

And, yes, I'm sick of seeing the "third-time" showdowns in the early rounds. Seems way too bland and predictable at times.

[IUPalum]

I'd be shocked if Gannon hired Reynolds since Gannon administration have publicly blasted him in his years at Rock.

I agree, that ***** AD wouldn’t mesh with KR’s demeanor.

[IUPNation]

Why is there a tournament? At most there should only be 4 teams left playing...the top two teams in each division.

Then the top team overall with the best record should be hosting the whole thing.

It should be IUP vs Walk On U in Game One
It should be Shippensburg vs The Lake Show in Game Two.

At IUP...

[Ship69]

You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. I can't help but think that it's time for the PSAC to ditch the divisions bit and follow the lead of, well, pretty much every Power Five basketball conference and get rid of divisions (each Big 12 team plays home-and-home, though that ends next season with the addition of four schools; ACC, SEC, B1G play 3-4 set opponents home-and-home then everyone else once; PAC-12 teams play nine home-and-home sets with single games against the remaining two schools).

When the PSAC originally expanded to 18 teams, there was talk for going to a three-division format with home-and-home divisional games (10) and single games against the other two divisions (6 games x 2 divisions = 12) to keep the 22 game format in place. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the current scheme for god knows how long, but it's long overdue for an overhaul, even if the coaches have to buy into it kicking and screaming.

You can keep the three-division scheme, but as "pods" rather than fixed divisions:

West: Cal, Edinboro, Gannon, Mercyhurst, Seton Hill, Slippery Rock
Central-ish: Clarion, IUP, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Shepherd, UPJ
East: Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Millersville, Shippensburg, West Chester

Use the same 10-6-6 format as proposed in the three-division format and put everyone in a single division, take the 12 best teams overall and seed the damn thing. This way, the 7th best team in the West wouldn't be left out of the playoffs in favor of a dreadful 6th seed from the East. That way, an East team whose PSAC record would place them third in the West wouldn't host while a deserving top seed from the West misses out on hosting rights for the semis and finals (not that it bothered IUP much when they'd win the PSAC in an East gym in the past, but still...)

And, yes, I'm sick of seeing the "third-time" showdowns in the early rounds. Seems way too bland and predictable at times.

Well, no way would Ship go along with a "pod" where IUP draws Clarion, Lock Haven, Mansfield and Shepherd while the Raiders get East Stroud, Kutztown, Millersville, and West Chester. Just sayin'.