Regional Discussion

[TSU_Mike59]

Since schnautza has moved on to the greener pastures of D1, I thought I would start a discussion about the regionals and how they are starting to shape up on the men’s and women’s sides.

My knowledge of all teams in the region is definitely limited. I do look at Inkblot’s regional page for an idea, so that’s where I’m starting the conversations here.

On the men’s side, Indianapolis, Hillsdale and UMSL are probably what I would call “feeling good” about their tournament outlooks. From there, Ferris, Parkside and Cedarville all seem to control their own destiny. Others on the radar at this point: Southwest Baptist, UIS, Walsh, Malone, Northern Michigan.

For the women, there’s probably already four “locks” in Ashland, Drury, Michigan Tech and Grand Valley, with Ashland having the inside track to host. Kentucky Wesleyan is probably in that “feeling good” category, but from there, I’m not sure any teams control their own destiny. Truman, Malone and Trevecca appear best poised, but Ferris, Parkside, Northern Michigan and Lewis are all viable contenders to qualify for the regional.

[WKYDave]

For what it's worth here is D2SIDA Women's Regional Rankings

MIDWEST
Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	W-L	Pts.	Prev.	Last Week's Results
1	Ashland (6)	20-0	60	1	WH Findlay 84-42, WA Tiffin 79-63
2	Drury	18-1	54	T2	WA Quincy 87-49, WH William Jewell 84-54, WH Truman State 80-63
3	Michigan Tech	16-3	48	4	WH Davenport 76-58, WH Grand Valley State 57-56
4	Grand Valley State	17-2	42	T2	WA Northern Michigan 45-38, LA Michigan Tech 57-56
5	Kentucky Wesleyan	14-4	34	5	WH Hillsdale 70-57, WH Northwood 71-41
6	Truman State	13-6	28	T6	WH Southern Baptist 70-64, WA Missouri S&T 86-63, LA Drury 80-63
7	Trevecca Nazarene	13-6	21	8	WH Northwood 80-69, WH Hillsdale 56-54
8	Parkside	12-7	17	NR	WH Cardinal Stritch 70-54, WA Purdue Northwest 86-82 (OT)
9	Malone	14-5	12	10	WA Tiffin 62-52, WA Findlay 76-68
10	Northern Michigan	11-7	7	NR	LH Grand Valley State 45-38, WH Davenport 57-46
RV: Lewis, Maryville To your point: Ashland, Drury, Michigan Tech and Grand Valley are unanimous 1-4. KWC was probably 5th on 4 ballots and 6th on 2 ballots (could be 5th on 5 ballots and 7th on one)

[WKYDave]

On men's side

Midwest				LW
1	Indianapolis (4)	16-2	49	2
2	Hillsdale (1)	17-2	46	1
3	Missouri-St. Louis	16-3	40	3
4	Northern Michigan	15-4	35	4
5	Ferris State	15-5	30	5
6	Parkside	13-6	23	6
7	Ashland	12-6	20	7
8	Cedarville	13-5	17	8
9	Walsh	11-7	9	RV
10	Southwest Baptist	13-6	4	10
RV	Grand Valley State - 1; Quincy - 1

[TSU_Mike59]

Thanks WKY. I think the GLVC is looking at 2, tops, in both brackets on at-large bids alone. Drury women, UIndy men and UMSL men should all be in barring a crazy collapse. Truman women actually probably control their own destiny to an at-large if they just keep winning.

SBU men need to figure out playing away from home (what did them in last year too) to feel confident about their odds, and the rest of the league is killing itself in the middle.

[WKYDave]

Inkblot for Women:

Team	Record	SOS	In-region	RPI	Rk	PI	Rk
Ashland	21-0	0.55	21-0	0.662	1	36.143	1
Drury	19-1	0.527	17-1	0.619	2	34.25	2
Grand Valley	18-2	0.495	17-2	0.603	4	32.5	3
Michigan Tech	16-4	0.546	16-4	0.615	3	31.65	4
KY Wesleyan	15-4	0.51	15-4	0.576	5	30	5
Malone	13-6	0.513	13-6	0.556	7	27.737	7
Trevecca Naz.	14-7	0.522	14-7	0.558	6	27.524	8
Truman	15-6	0.513	14-5	0.555	8	28.619	6
Lewis	11-8	0.53	11-8	0.545	10	26.737	9
WI–Parkside	12-8	0.52	12-8	0.546	9	26.45	11
Ferris State	12-7	0.51	12-7	0.542	12	26.526	10
Saginaw Valley	11-9	0.53	11-7	0.544	11	25.45	13

[WKYDave]

Inkblot for Men

Team	Record	SOS	In-region	RPI	Rk	PI	Rk
Indianapolis	16-2	0.483	16-2	0.582	1	31.944	1
Hillsdale	19-2	0.456	17-2	0.553	3	30.81	2
UMSL	16-4	0.513	14-4	0.572	2	30.8	3
Cedarville	11-6	0.521	11-6	0.548	4	27.118	5
Ferris State	13-5	0.489	12-5	0.531	5	27.944	4
WI–Parkside	13-6	0.476	12-5	0.522	7	26.895	6
Southwest Baptist	9-6	0.504	9-6	0.526	6	26.2	8
Malone	11-7	0.492	11-7	0.52	11	25.833	9
UIS	10-8	0.507	9-8	0.52	10	24.944	11
William Jewell	10-10	0.53	10-10	0.521	8	24.75	13
Northern Michigan	13-6	0.457	13-6	0.511	16	26.421	7
Rockhurst	9-8	0.512	9-8	0.515	13	25.118	10
Walsh	11-7	0.488	11-7	0.518	12	24.889	12

[TSU_Mike59]

The first “real” rankings are out (in numerical order)—

MBB
1. Indianapolis
2. Hillsdale
3, Ferris State
4. UMSL
5. Ashland
6. Parkside
7. Southwest Baptist
8. Walsh
—-
9. Illinois Springfield
10. Northern Michigan

WBB
1. Ashland
2. Drury
3. Grand Valley
4. Michigan Tech
5. Kentucky Wesleyan
6. Trevecca Nazarene
7. Lewis
8. Malone
—-
9. Truman State
10. Parkside

[crazznewt]

The first “real” rankings are out (in numerical order)—
MBB
1. Indianapolis
2. Hillsdale
3, Ferris State
4. UMSL
5. Ashland
6. Parkside
7. Southwest Baptist
8. Walsh
—-
9. Illinois Springfield
10. Northern Michigan

WBB
1. Ashland
2. Drury
3. Grand Valley
4. Michigan Tech
5. Kentucky Wesleyan
6. Trevecca Nazarene
7. Lewis
8. Malone
—-
9. Truman State
10. Parkside

Hopefully the Drury Women won't have to play Lewis twice in this post season like they did last year with UMSL.
The Lady Panther's one point loss to Ashland is looming large at this point as no one in the GMAC will challenge the Lady Eagles the rest of the way, ensuring the regional will be held in Ohio.

[unc4life]

Ashland has now beaten Hillsdale 3 times this year. If the committee has them ranked above Ashland again something is wrong.

[WKYDave]

My predictions on Women's side:
#1 Ashland
#2 Drury
#3 Grand Valley/MI Tech winner
#4 Grand Valley/MI Tech loser
#5 Trevecca
#6 KWC
#7 Lewis/Truman winner tonight
#8 Lewis/Truman loser OR Malone...toss up

[KleShreen]

GVSU absolutely blew a golden chance at sneaking in to the men's tournament. They entered the GLIAC tournament as the 5 seed, get GIFTED the 8-seed in the second round after an upset, and then after a 7-point lead in the second half, they blow it and fall to the #8 seed, with the #3 seed waiting in the title game. Brutal.

[Inkblot]

My predictions on Women's side:
#1 Ashland
#2 Drury
#3 Grand Valley/MI Tech winner
#4 Grand Valley/MI Tech loser
#5 Trevecca
#6 KWC
#7 Lewis/Truman winner tonight
#8 Lewis/Truman loser OR Malone...toss up

Truman has zero chance with a loss.

[WKYDave]

Hopefully the Drury Women won't have to play Lewis twice in this post season like they did last year with UMSL.
The Lady Panther's one point loss to Ashland is looming large at this point as no one in the GMAC will challenge the Lady Eagles the rest of the way, ensuring the regional will be held in Ohio.

WIth Drury #2 and Lewis #7 it looks like Drury will have to face Lewis 4 times this year!

[crazznewt]

Lewis is playing much better ball the second semester which has been the norm for them the last couple of seasons. They have five or six very well conditioned , highly skilled players who play most of their minutes. I keep expecting them to run out of energy, but they never seem to. Playing them for a fourth time wouldn't be fun at all.

[TSU_Mike59]

The first rankings of the year are out. Of course, these first ones are in alphabetical order.

MEN:
Ashland
Ferris State
Hillsdale
Kentucky Wesleyan
Lake Superior State
Northern Michigan
UIndy
Upper Iowa
Walsh
William Jewell

WOMEN:
Ashland
Drury
Ferris State
Grand Valley State
Kentucky Wesleyan
Michigan Tech
Northern Michigan
Northwood
Trevecca Nazarene
Wisconsin Parkside