Central Region Talk

[Stanger86]

seems very early with lots of moving parts.

regardless Mustangs will need to sweep this weekend to stay in the mix - which won't be easy. I hear Bemidji is pretty good

I keep flashing back to 2006-07 season. We were right on the fringe and had good resume wins, but some key losses to good but not great teams (WSC, MSUM, Augie) had us on the outside looking in on selection day.

[Inkblot]

No guaranty snu wins the conference tournament…so two out of gac is very possible and maybe even likely.

SNU could very well find themselves in the same awkward situation as SEOSU last year where they seemed to be in good position and got forced out by bid thieves.

[Moorhead123]

Southeastern OSU is being buoyed by its non-conference schedule, but they still only won against Wayne. The most likely (and only, IMO) scenario where the GAC gets two teams in is if SNU continues to play well and the Southern Arkansas does as well and wins the league tournament. I guess you could throw Southeastern into that role as well, but I just don't see that happening with how they've played this year. They've been healthy so I don't see a sudden jump in play coming for them.

Meanwhile if SNU ever gets fully healthy, not sure what the ceiling is.

No guaranty snu wins the conference tournament…so two out of gac is very possible and maybe even likely.

[LukeMcConnell1]

Southeastern OSU is being buoyed by its non-conference schedule, but they still only won against Wayne. The most likely (and only, IMO) scenario where the GAC gets two teams in is if SNU continues to play well and the Southern Arkansas does as well and wins the league tournament. I guess you could throw Southeastern into that role as well, but I just don't see that happening with how they've played this year. They've been healthy so I don't see a sudden jump in play coming for them.

Meanwhile if SNU ever gets fully healthy, not sure what the ceiling is.

[MrMustang]

seems very early with lots of moving parts.

regardless Mustangs will need to sweep this weekend to stay in the mix - which won't be easy. I hear Bemidji is pretty good

[NWHoops]

I'm just looking at Inkblot numbers as they currently stand and the NSIC teams have the edge due to a pretty good non conference season as a whole by the conference. SE Ok St probably has the best chance of taking another at large bid. If one of a few MIAA teams get hot (MOSO, Ft Hays, Lincoln) they could perhaps make it 4 MIAA teams as well. If teams keep playing at current levels I would expect USF, SMSU, UMD, and Wayne to all have a better chance at getting in than those 3 MIAA schools. My inclusion of Mankato was more in regards to them always seeming to get an invite if they are close. They have struggled lately, but if they reel off a bunch of wins they could also have a good argument to get in.

Of course if NSU, Moorhead, ESU, or SNU really stumble down the stretch they could fall out as well. But I would agree, there seem to be 6 teams that can plan on playing in March.

Gotcha. A lot will depend on the h2h matchups of those teams competing for the last couple spots also.

[Thunder]

4 NSIC teams doesn't seem likely as of today. 2 clear NSIC teams (NSU 15-5 and Moorhead 17-3), 3 clear MIAA teams (UCO 18-1, NW 17-2, and ESU 16-4), and 1 clear GAC team (SNU 14-3). Then there are a bunch of 14-6, 13-6 (or in that general range) teams from amongst the conferences. Should hopefully be more clear in a month but I think there is going to be some razor thin margins for that 3rd NSIC team.

I'm just looking at Inkblot numbers as they currently stand and the NSIC teams have the edge due to a pretty good non conference season as a whole by the conference. SE Ok St probably has the best chance of taking another at large bid. If one of a few MIAA teams get hot (MOSO, Ft Hays, Lincoln) they could perhaps make it 4 MIAA teams as well. If teams keep playing at current levels I would expect USF, SMSU, UMD, and Wayne to all have a better chance at getting in than those 3 MIAA schools. My inclusion of Mankato was more in regards to them always seeming to get an invite if they are close. They have struggled lately, but if they reel off a bunch of wins they could also have a good argument to get in.

Of course if NSU, Moorhead, ESU, or SNU really stumble down the stretch they could fall out as well. But I would agree, there seem to be 6 teams that can plan on playing in March.

[NWHoops]

The win by SMSU over Duluth last weekend could be huge come regional selection day. The Mustangs are always well coached, but they have exceeded my expectations this season. Duluth on the other hand has been a little disappointing. The NSIC probably has 7 realistic contenders (you can never count Mankato out with the selection committee) for likely 4 (maybe 3) spots in the Regional. These last 5 weeks will be very important for all of those teams.

4 NSIC teams doesn't seem likely as of today. 2 clear NSIC teams (NSU 15-5 and Moorhead 17-3), 3 clear MIAA teams (UCO 18-1, NW 17-2, and ESU 16-4), and 1 clear GAC team (SNU 14-3). Then there are a bunch of 14-6, 13-6 (or in that general range) teams from amongst the conferences. Should hopefully be more clear in a month but I think there is going to be some razor thin margins for that 3rd NSIC team.

[Thunder]

The win by SMSU over Duluth last weekend could be huge come regional selection day. The Mustangs are always well coached, but they have exceeded my expectations this season. Duluth on the other hand has been a little disappointing. The NSIC probably has 7 realistic contenders (you can never count Mankato out with the selection committee) for likely 4 (maybe 3) spots in the Regional. These last 5 weeks will be very important for all of those teams.

[Augieholic]

Updated look from Inkblot:

https://twitter.com/InkblotSports/st...Hzyf5qqKw&s=19

[Hornetfan]

NW getting UCO and MSSU twice while only playing UCM, Newman, and Pitt once in that grouping will help their SOS at the end of the year. Those are 3 of the 4 worst teams in the conference right now with only UNK behind them.

That is the weird thing about unbalanced schedules. In one way it can help you win (or lose) a conference regular season championship/seeding for the MIAA Tourney but in another it can help (or hurt) you in SOS come regional time.

[MrMustang]

I would certainly help the Mustangs if they could get 2 big wins this weekend. Not only in the conference race, but also the regional talk.

They played really well against Moorhead and Northern hopefully they can keep that up

[NWFanatic]

UCO has 1 more MIAA game than NW(due to the unbalanced schedule) but NW picked up 1/2 a game after the win last night vs UCM

[NWHoops]

14 teams is an awkward number for scheduling, at least in D2. The MIAA used to use a divisional model (West: UNK, FHSU, Newman, UCO, RSU, NSU, ESU; East: WU, Pitt, MSSU, UCM, LU, MWSU, NW... Pitt and MSSU were in the West when SBU and Lindenwood were in the MIAA) but that resulted in a 19-game conference schedule when the GAC and NSIC both play 22.

Under the current 22-game model, there are just 4 teams that you only play once. Ideally, that would be two pairs of travel partners... but for whatever reason, that's not always what the MIAA does. Here's the breakdown this year by pairing:

UNK/FHSU: play RSU/NSU once and WU/ESU once
Newman/UCO: play UCM/LU once; for the WU/ESU and NW/MWSU pairings, play one once and the other twice
RSU/NSU: play UNK/FHSU once and Pitt/MSSU once
Pitt/MSSU: play RSU/NSU once; for the WU/ESU and NW/MWSU pairings, play one once and the other twice
WU/ESU: play UNK/FHSU once; for the Newman/UCO and Pitt/MSSU pairings, play one once and the other twice
UCM/LU: play Newman/UCO once and NW/MWSU once
NW/MWSU: play UCM/LU once; for the Newman/UCO and Pitt/MSSU pairings, play one once and the other twice

NW getting UCO and MSSU twice while only playing UCM, Newman, and Pitt once in that grouping will help their SOS at the end of the year. Those are 3 of the 4 worst teams in the conference right now with only UNK behind them.

[Inkblot]

14 teams is an awkward number for scheduling, at least in D2. The MIAA used to use a divisional model (West: UNK, FHSU, Newman, UCO, RSU, NSU, ESU; East: WU, Pitt, MSSU, UCM, LU, MWSU, NW... Pitt and MSSU were in the West when SBU and Lindenwood were in the MIAA) but that resulted in a 19-game conference schedule when the GAC and NSIC both play 22.

Under the current 22-game model, there are just 4 teams that you only play once. Ideally, that would be two pairs of travel partners... but for whatever reason, that's not always what the MIAA does. Here's the breakdown this year by pairing:

UNK/FHSU: play RSU/NSU once and WU/ESU once
Newman/UCO: play UCM/LU once; for the WU/ESU and NW/MWSU pairings, play one once and the other twice
RSU/NSU: play UNK/FHSU once and Pitt/MSSU once
Pitt/MSSU: play RSU/NSU once; for the WU/ESU and NW/MWSU pairings, play one once and the other twice
WU/ESU: play UNK/FHSU once; for the Newman/UCO and Pitt/MSSU pairings, play one once and the other twice
UCM/LU: play Newman/UCO once and NW/MWSU once
NW/MWSU: play UCM/LU once; for the Newman/UCO and Pitt/MSSU pairings, play one once and the other twice