On Wisconsin On Wisconsin Grand Old "Basketball" State

Not many people think of us around here as a Hoops Dynasty, so lets take a look at this year.................

Exeland Institute/Edgewater Institute at Ojibwa. This years D4 runner up.
UW-Stevens Point. Two time D3 Champs. (aka Stevens Point Invitational winners)
In D2...................... nobody really cares about D2 but I'm sure UW-Parkside did win a game.
Finally we have UW-Milwaukee and Wisconsin in the D1 Sweet 16.

Things have been falling right for the Badgers thus far and the Panthers have been paving their own way. It's not that shocking as they had Notre Dame beat last year until a freak lay up at the end. Not sure of their chances against the Illini but Milwaukee is closer to Chicago than is Champaign, so it could be a home game for them and not Illinois. If they keep it under control and limit the stupid fouls this could be another upset in the making.

I like Wisconsins chances in Syracuse, no wait, lets change things up. I like UW-Madisons chances against NC St. Not just because it's a 6 vs. 10 match up but because Carolina will be playing in the same building and I'm sure they will be Badger fans to spite their in-state rival. Personally I'm a Villanova fan right now. I realize that's looking ahead a bit but I'd rather face them than the Tar Heels. Villanova doesn't need to win, although it would be nice, as long as they wear down Carolina that may be enough.

Looking even further ahead, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison are on opposite sides of the bracket. Could it be an All UW-Somebody Championship.............. Wouldn't the NCAA love that.

In the LNCUTMV, the water is still too high for teams to use Hank Kimball Field but infield practice has begun in Sam Drucker Arena.

LNCUTMV to have womens softball.

It took quite some doing but the Lower North Central Upper Tennessee Middle Valley Conference will have varsity competition in Women's Softball this year. The idea had been on the table for a few years but only recently has a suitable location been obtained. Hank Kimball Field was recently completed as Hank is letting a few acres go fallow this year. No word yet on official D4 recognition as it is uncertain if the UCWI will be following suit with women's sports.

Bodine Military Academy, a charter member of the LNCUTMV, will not be participating as their student body does not have a sufficient number of female cadets to field a team this year. It will still be an 8 team league however as the "Hotscakes" of Lisa Douglas Culinary have been extended an invitation in BMAs absence. The "Hotscakes" have had a Club Team for several seasons and are expected to be very competitive at the varsity level.

Scheduling and Divisional alignments have yet to be determined but a 40 game season is expected. The season will start as soon as the flooding recedes and right field is accessible. Until then, the catfish are really biting near the foul pole. Drifting shiners and stink bait into fair territory just after dark has produced the best results.

Do I have to say it ????? Mighty Lakeland...........

That's right. The Mighty Lakeland Muskies of the LMC. What's so special about them you ask ??? They came the closer to UW-Stevens Point than any of the other non-conference opponents have thus far, losing by a respectable 11 points 70-59 at Lakeland earlier this year. Love em or hate em UW-SP is simply that good. Their average margin of victory in non-conference games is 24.7 points and I don't expect that to change much the rest of the way.

Does Trinity stand a chance tonight ??? Yes I think so because they've been there before. What I mean by that is they have played on the road at a D1 school this year, just like they will tonight. So experience is on their side. Go Trinity................. and have a save trip home tomorrow.

In reviewing the other possible contestants in this years UW-SP Invitational.................. I see no good reason to stop calling it the UW-SP Invitational. Kings or York will certainly be a bye as that is a questionable section at best. Then for the repeat it will be Rochester, Potsdam St., Albion or Calvin. I don't understand why Calvin was a #9 this year because they haven't had a game since the first round. Not sure they can do it on the road again though.

Potsdam St. is suspect so I have to go with Rochester in that one. And with Rochester again over Albion. This gives us Rochester vs. UW-SP in the formality. Let's see, is there a common opponent that I can base this on ??? Yes. UW-Superior won at Rochester this year then lost to Point 3 times by an average margin of 26.7 points.

Sorry D3 fans but Trinity is the last best hope to challenge Point in this years tournament. Congratulations to Puget Sound. They came closer this year than last and actually showed up in the second half, for a while. Not bad for a team that only beat Buena Vista by 3 at home.

Only in Wisconsin.........

Time does not permit me to go into detail regarding my opinions of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. WDNR for short. Personally I think it stands for We Defy Normal Reasoning, anyway............

On April 11th the Conservation Congress will be having a vote to determine whether or not feral cats are to be placed on the non-protected species list. If they do so, anyone with a small game license will be able to hunt them. Granted the feral cats kill lots of songbirds and serve no real purpose, but why does Wisconsin think somebody might actually go cat hunting????

Personally I think this would be a good use for the .17HMR or new .204 but since 95% of the feral cats live in town or so close to populated areas that hunting wouldn't be allowed anyway. What's next, an "archery only" cat hunt???? After reading the story in the paper I was amused by this enough to venture out to Gander Mountain, I rarely need an excuse to go there but today I had one, in hopes that they stocked ahead for the opening day of cat season. I had no luck. Specifically I was looking for a Mojo Tabby because we all know how well they lure in feral cats. For you non-hunters Mojo is a company that makes motion decoys. They are as silly as they are expensive. In other words I want some but don't have any.

In lieu of my Mojo Tabby another thought came to mind as I happen know my Siamese likes Blueberry yogurt. Why he likes it I don't know and he won't tell me. In reviewing the Wisconsin Hunting Regulations, which should qualify me for a degree from somewhere, I was reminded that meat or live bait for hunting purposes is illegal. Yogurt is live because of the active yeast cultures and therefore illegal. Damn. Looks like the remaining 5% of the feral cat population is safe from me. I'm guessing that this vote will pass now.

P.S. I wasn't able to locate any "cat calls" during my shopping trip either.

D4 isn't that far fetched

It's all in good fun but I've noticed some similarities to D4 in what has been going on in other tournaments recently. Wisconsin A&M-Springstead upset E.I.E.I.O. after being fouled with no time left on the clock. A week later the Wooster/Albion game experienced a similar phenomenon; albeit not on a 75ft 3 pointer.

Alaska-Adak, a 14-16 National Champion. I don't know if it will happen or not but I discovered a 14-20 Tennessee Wesleyan team that is in the NAIA D2 National Tournament after winning 4 games in their conference tournament to get there. What I don't understand is that they won every game pretty convincingly. How do you go 10-20 and then get hot like that. One thing is for sure, they are definitely on a roll and if they survive the first game it may be theirs to win.

I joke about a sub .500 National Champion and the NAIA is taking me seriously. That makes sense.

The I.V. that saved D IV

Normally roman numerals aren't used on the site as most schools in D4 don't have the academic standards to know how to read them. But in this case it made for a humorous play on words so I did it.

The Roop was down for the count last week and the D4 Tournament in jeopardy. Finally after a second visit treatment was administered, The Roop felt better and the Tournament was saved.



Only a Daisy Moses Medical College alum could have complicated an I.V. to this extent.

Alaska-Adak cut down the nets

If the shoe fits, or in the case, the glass slipper. Wear it.................

In one of the most unlikely championship match ups in history the 13-16, now 14-16 Alaska-Adak Sentries downed the upstart E.I.E.I.O. Feral Hogs 77-74 to win the first ever D4 National Championship. Proving once again that any long shot has a chance as long as they get to play the game on the court.

E.I.E.I.O. had seemingly tied the game and sent it into overtime as Alaska-Adak was called for goal tending at the buzzer. After reviewing the final play (a fan in the audience had a betamax) the officials ruled that the shot had first made contact with one of the ceiling rafters; thereby nullifying the the violation. After last years Bush Hog accident the ceiling at the north end of Sam Drucker Arena is lower than the south end, etc. This secured the Championship for Alaska-Adak and the LNCUTMV Conference.

It was a tale of 3 seasons for Adak this year as they started out strong and were only a game back of first place after three weeks. Then they fell off the map for a while but snuck into the tournament by going 2-1 on the final weekend to edge out Bodine Military Academy for the 6th and final bid from the LNCUTMV. Then in the post season it was all Alaska as they went virtually unchallenged until the final game.

Other results are as follows:

3rd place Bugtussle State 107 Southern NAIA Tech 85
5th place *Southern NAIA Tech-Hooterville 307 Mount Pilot Central State 298 (7ot)
**7th place Wisconsin A&M-Springstead 27 Daisy Moses Medical College 19

*In winning the 5th place game Southern NAIA Tech-Hooterville has become the first 20 game winner in the 2 year history of D4. Finishing the season at 20-13.
**Game stopped at half-time as both teams had fouled out.

Seedings explained. Unlike some organizations D4 is happy to share information about why certain teams were placed where they were. There will always be anomalies but I think this years bracket was as fair as possible given the circumstances.

In the South this year it was DMMC, AK-Adak, MPC St. and SNT. DMMC won the regular season title in their conference and had, at the time, the best record in D4; so you can't move them out of region. SNT, despite their record, won the conference tournament and were guaranteed to stay close to home. MPC St. had the 2nd best regular season record in D4 and stayed in region for that reason. AK-Adak was expected to be a one and done so they didn't get moved in order to balance the brackets.

The North featured SNT-H, E.I.E.I.O., WAMS and Bugtussle St. SNT-H faded at the end of the year and wound up 3rd in their conference, they were also upset in their conference tournament so there was no choice but to move them. Bugtussle State lost in the LNCUTMV play in game and there was simply no way to keep them in region. E.I.E.I.O. and WAMS only had 5 regular season games between them. In short it was too difficult to compare them to other teams in D4 so they had to stay in region by proxy. It has also been speculated that they were kept in the same region to avoid the possibility of an All UCWI Championship. While that rumor cannot be confirmed or denied it is standard procedure, at any level, for first year conferences to not get the respect that they may deserve. At least in D4 they weren't paired together in the first round.

It has been a great year in D4 and next year appears to be equally bright as the UCWI is expanding and will actually have a team from Illinois. Perhaps even two teams from Illinois as the University of Illinois-Nottingham County "Sheriffs" have requested membership for the 2005-2006 season. If anyone knows of other schools that would like to participate in D4 please let "The Roop" know.

Civil War in D4 ??

Will the South rise again ??? Tonight we will see as the South Region Champion Alaska-Adak Sentries from the LNCUTMV will be taking on the North Region Champion Exeland Institute/Edgewater Institute @Ojibwa (E.I.E.I.O.) Feral Hogs from the UCWI.

@Sam Drucker Arena
E.I.E.I.O. obviously took notes during their low scoring regular season battles against defense oriented Wisconsin A&M-Springstead and held serve against an equally stingy Bugtussle State 49-43. If it has been said once it has been said 1000 times. Play defense, make your free throws and you will win. The Beetle defense was not the problem but 1 for 9 shooting from the charity stripe in the final two minutes sealed States fate.

In the other semi-final Alaska-Adak simply had too much for Southern NAIA Tech as they bounced the Engineers 87-67. Southern NAIA Tech appeared to run out of gas in the second half as Alaska-Adak was the fresher of the two teams. Perhaps not qualifying for their own conference tournament is paying dividends for them right now as they had plenty of rest before the National Tournament started.

@Mercer K-12 School
The consolation bracket featured another LNCUTMV-UCWI match up as the Southern NAIA Tech-Hooterville Ziffles squared off against the host team Wisconsin A&M-Springstead Porcupines. The Porcupine philosophy of backing in the lane to get points in the paint was rendered ineffective against SNT-H as the taller more athletic Ziffles (Named after the farmer not the pig. Kind of like the St. Louis Bilikens are named after a former coach) controlled the glass on both ends. WAMS hung around for a while but fell 83-56.

The Mules of Daisy Moses Medical College once again battled toe to toe with "System" originator Mount Pilot Central State for a half but this time the Possums did not get killed on the road as they cruised 197-146. DMMC has now lost 3 straight after clinching the LNCUTMV Regular Season Championship.

Tonights action is as follows:
@Mercer K-12 School
7th place 3-4 Wisconsin A&M-Springstead vs. 19-12 Daisy Moses Medical College
5th place 19-12 Southern NAIA Tech-Hooterville vs. 18-13 Mount Pilot Central State

@Sam Drucker Arena
3rd place 15-15 Bugtussle State vs. 17-15 Southern NAIA Tech
And in the D4 National Championship 13-16 Alaska-Adak vs. 4-2 E.I.E.I.O.

Worth a 1000 words maybe, but no points

It is not often that "The Roop" directly references another source of Hoops information but please check out the photo gallery of the Lawrence vs. Gustavus Adolphus game on D3hoops.com. Use the slide show feature as it better illustrates the point. Correct "The Roop" if "The Roop" is wrong but it seems that based on the number of highlight photos of Gustavus Adolphus players that they won the game 127-38. Yet Lawrence is the one advancing. Hmmmmmm. Could there be a bias at other basketball sites??????

I haven't seen or heard anything so one sided since the broadcast of the John Carroll vs. UW-Stevens Point game last year in the Final Four. What was it, Stevens Point by 25 at half-time???? Yet according to the broadcast John Carroll had them right where they wanted them. Wait, I must add to the list. The ESPN2 crew talking about the virtues of "The System" for 40 minutes. Seems Beloit wasn't that influenced by it.

You can't create a cinderella just because you want it and think that G.A. has a better shot at upsetting Point. Cinderellas must happen on their own and it's usually the least likely that does it. For example, take Wisconsin the year they went to the Final Four. Most people had them losing in the first or second round but "The Roop" had them in the Final Four and won the office pool** that year.

Look back at that regional and who they ended up playing and it really was not that big of a surprise. 1st round they were favored over Fresno State. 2nd round they beat Arizona who is/was a notorious choke artist in the early rounds. In the 3rd round I had them playing Texas but instead it was LSU. LSU was not capable of winning a game if they didn't score 90 points that year so Wisconsin handled them easily. So for a trip to the Final Four they played Purdue for the 18th time that year I think. When teams are that familiar with each other there are no upsets.

Does D3 have a cinderella this year?? Probably not but if I had to pick one I'd say Lawrence. They're tough enough to go all the way but will depth become an issue for them?? Hard to think of a ranked team as a Cinderella but when you consider the bracket they are in it isn't that much of a stretch. Especially considering that they will never have a home game. Looks like another Sectional Championship witnessed by less than 200 people. I don't think enough of the seedings will hold to save the NCAA.

This is why there is no media coverage at games on the D4 level. It isn't allowed. The official results tell the best story. Nor are there any rankings during the season. After everything is complete the rankings will come out and it will be 100% accurate, whether anybody likes it or not. When 80% of the teams in D4 make the field there is no arguing as to who got left out.

**The office pool was for entertainment purposes only..............

D4 is ready for the semis

I've been sick and they still don't know what it is until I have some tests run. YEAAAAAAA. So this will be a short version of the D4 Tournament for the upcoming weekend. All the lower seeds won so in the Final Four at Sam Drucker Arena it is 12-16 Alaska-Adak vs. 17-14 Southern NAIA Tech and 3-2 EIEIO vs. 15-14 Bugtussle State. It's just like a Pool B bracket only that the Pool B teams actually won some games.

In the Consolation Bracket at the Mercer K-12 School 18-13 Southern NAIA Tech-Hooterville faces 3-3 Wisconsin A&M-Springstead and 19-11 Daisy Moses Medical College takes on 17-13 Mount Pilot Central State. This one looks more like a typical D3 Midwest Regional. Why bother having a consolation bracket????? Somebody might get to 20 wins and that would a be first in D4. That and I felt like it.

I already know who wins so hopefully I will feel up to writing some story lines in the next few days. In the mean time I am struggling to keep water down and haven't eaten in two days. Now they don't even want me to try to eat anything. Bite me, I'm frigging hungry. I'm getting a second opinion but my opinion of the nurse practitioner is likely to be the same as yesterday. She's HOTT. Just to make sure I am taking one for the team and verifying this later today when I go back in.

Such is the luck of "The Roop" that early diagnoses suggest food poisoning, appendix or gall bladder problems. Ain't it great. One thing they can't do anything for and the other two require surgery.

P.S. I still haven't got the car fixed.

Automatic bids ruin the tournament

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa.................. we won our conference tournament and are going to get spanked in the first round.

As much as I dislike the WIAC it is an absolute crime that they don't have 4 or 5 teams in the tournament every year. I don't think a National Champion has been left out of this years field, as usually happens, but how many teams are in that don't belong? Half of them if you ask me.

D1 has all the money so nobody complains about first round mismatches there but in D3 where it isn't always a National Championship teams get screwed because it is inconvenient for the NCAA to invite them. St. Joke Fisher is a good example. Their undefeated run is impressive but I find it hard to believe they would be better than a .500 team if they played in a real conference. 25-0 vs. nobody. 15-10 if they are in the Midwest or Heartland Conference.

Expanding the field next year does not improve anything. I say do away with automatic bids and cut the field in half. Make all games count and put strength of schedule as an important criteria. If you're going to have a National Championship then make it national. Winning conference A should not guarantee an invite if conference B has more teams that would wipe the floor with conference A teams.

"The Roop" plan calls for a state by state ranking. The Top Ten in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania all get automatic (Pool A) bids. That makes 50 so any other teams will have to qualify through Pool C criteria. The only Pool B bids will be if a 3-22 team somehow wins their conference tournament. 6-22 yea, we're in, Git R Done.

I'm sure that Puget Sound has a nice team this year but they don't fit in the WI, IL, OH, NY or PA criteria, therefore, they WILL NOT win a championship. Look at a map and you will see where all the Champions come from. Did Lawrence and Ripon just play the National Championship Game? No. But I guarantee that Ripon would win more games in the tournament than St. John Fisher will. SJF wins a game or two and gets some kind of banner to display in their arena, yet Ripon gets nothing despite being the better team

"The Roop" is almost to the point of saying that maybe the NAIA way of inviting everybody is better. But. The NCAA would seed it wrong anyway. Invite everybody and we would see Illinois Wesleyan at UW-Stevens Point tomorrow. Personally "The Roop" thinks that IWU and UW-SP should play a game. The winner gets a play-in game to the D1 Tournament and the loser gets a bye and hosts a game in the D2 Tournament.

Buena Vista............................... Isn't that mascot degrading to the women on the women's team?????

I suppose the D1 equivalent is South Carolina. The Lady Cocks......... Yeah, that's nice.

When any of you has determined that "The Roop" is wrong about anything, please let me know.................