Start bailing Beloit

After two losses in what were very winnable road games this weekend I think the Buccaneer ship is officially sinking. Depth has been a serious issue for them this year and the stats from every game prove this out. They certainly don't have the best starting five in the conference but their line up is good enough to compete with most everyone. Provided there is not a big defensive lapse when starters go out I think bench scoring is a bit overrated but from memory the most their bench has put up this year is 13 points. That simply won't get it done.

I'm not sure what his scoring average is this year but it is sad that Josh Hinz, who is likely to become the schools all time scoring leader, may never play a post season game in his career. On the bright side he is only a junior and has one more year for help to arrive. Is the help going to come from current team members who can step it up next year or will it be from the incoming class. Freshmen typically don't contribute much so the only hope is that the other underclassmen can improve.

At the moment the MWC is the Ripon and Lawrence show. The only question now is whether Ripon goes in the tank as they have a history of doing. I don't like Ripon, so this is hard for me to say, but I hope they keep rolling and go into the MWC Tournament as the #1 or #2 seed. Should they falter that opens the possibility of two, maybe even three, also-rans to get into the tournament. Once in the tournament anything can happen; as this season has proven repeatedly this year.

Nothing against Lawrences accomplishments last year but they benefitted from a favorable seeding in the NCAAs. Should an also-ran win the MWC Tournament they are likely to be rewarded with a first round game at Stevens Point or Illinois Wesleyan. Such a match up will certainly be a one and done for the MWC and that will erase a great deal of respect that the conference has earned in recent years.

The MWC has some wins against those conferences this year but against the top teams in those conferences it has not been pretty. I'm not sure if Stevens Point could beat Utah but Ripon played Utah closer than they played Stevens Point. There are plenty of games left and Beloit is only two back of a spot in the tournament so I will still consider them as a contender until they are mathematically eliminated. Having said that they lost to Illinois Wesleyan by 40 in Beloit. When you lose by 40 to anyone you probably could not win if you were playing 5 on 4.

Next season will prove whether or not Beloits decision to hire a full time Athletic Director was a publicity move or a true commitment to winning. She has the pedigree to make it work and I think Youngblood can win in Beloit if he is allowed to. The question is, will the current administration allow him to. It will never be as good as the Miller Upton or Roger Hull days but even Martha Peterson knew a good thing when she saw it and got out of the way, more or less, and allowed the athletics programs to succeed. The glorious academic standards of Beloit did not suffer just because the basketball team was one of the top programs in the country.