North Central Conference Tournament Predictions

First off the women. The women have been playing great basketball and are playing to play just another game. If they don't win the NCC Tournament then they will surely be sent home by the North Central Region Committee. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be able to get past the first round against USD. USD has too many weapons, especially the big girl that plays post (Ashley Robbinette). It's been a great year girls, I can't wait for next year.

Ok, here it is, clear and cut. My predictions on the NCC Men's Tournament.

First game on the schedule features #3 St. Cloud and #6 Nebraska-Omaha. Omaha hasn't played very good basketball since the beginning of the season. As I said at D2Basketball.com, it's a shame for Omaha's Zac Robinson to go out without any talent surrounding him. St. Cloud should be able to roll past Omaha and book a trip to Vermillion.

Minnesota Duluth has been on a rampage for their last six games. They are on a roll and could completely screw up the whole regional rankings. Personally, I think Duluth could upset everyone on their way to the NCC Tournament title with an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. It's one step at a time, however. They need to take on an average UND team and will advance easily.

For the third time this year the Mavericks will take on a very tough Augustana team. This team had us by the balls twice this season and will do anything to get some sort of home court advantage 1 hour South of their campus. Augustana's Joey Ryan was unstoppable in the two teams last meeting, exposing one of the Mavericks weaknesses, defending the perimeter. Augustana worries me, but with a home game in Mankato, the Mavericks should advance to Vermillion.

So with the first round done with, it's on to the semi-finals. With my predictions, we have Duluth and South Dakota. Duluth was the only team other than our very own Mavericks to beat USD (thus the bullshit coin flip). With their past victory against USD, who's to say they can't do it again? I think they will and create the biggest upset in the NCC Tournament, sending the USD faithful back to their dorms and create another reason why AA is in existance.

The Mavericks got a good end of the draw (the silver lining behind losing the coin flip). The last time the Mavericks and St. Cloud faced each other it was an embarassment for St. Cloud. I don't see anything any different during this game, especially on a neutral court. The Mavericks shouldn't have any problem with the Huskies and advance to the final.

The most unlikely matchup for the final at USD won't feature the Coyotes, but it will feature the Mavericks and the Bulldogs. Duluth has been playing very tough but on a neutral court, I think the Mavericks will be able to take out this team for two reasons. 1) Duluth's luck can't go on for this long to make it into the NCAA Tournament, and 2) the Mavericks have been playing their best basketball all year, nothing will stop them until they reach the Regional.

Note: If you can't see the bracket, click on it to see a larger image.

New Blog Added to Links

Looks like my time at D2Basketball.com is getting me a crowd. Thanks to WSU Hustler for his comments a couple of days ago. He's got a blog hosted by Blogger called Rip City. Obviously it's a Winona State blog, and these are the guys that beat us (or the refs did, depends on whose opinion you base it on) for our chance for the National Title last year.

Short and simple, this guy is good at what he does, better than what I do. He provides in depth analysis on every game the Warriors play and gives his opinions and more. Check there frequently during the NSIC tournament and during the North Central Regional Tournament. But don't forget about little old me.

Maverick Weekend Thoughts

Lots of NCC action this past weekend. The obvious was the basketball games.

Womens Basketball

The women came out strong and finished their regular season with an impressive victory over Nebraska-Omaha. This time, they scored over 80 and won. A great way to wrap up the season heading into the North Central Conference Tournament. My player of the game went out to Jessica Stanek. Yeah, she only played for 4 minutes, posted 7 points (including a 3 point buzzer beater to close out the second half), but this woman has been the heart and soul of the Mavericks. This year's captain has showed more enthusiasm than any other athlete in our athletics program. Thanks for four great years Jessica, our athletics progam will miss you.

Mens Basketball

Honestly, beating UNO over the weekend didn't really satisfy me. It made me feel like I made out with my sister (not that I know how that feels or anything). Yeah, all right, we won the NCC title... Cool. But we lost the coin flip, it kinda put some bitterness in my mind. If the NCC weren't folding, I'd say redo the tie breaking procedure.

But to the actual game. The best part of that game was the "swim to win" guys in the front row, all of them wearing nothing but swimsuits to the game. I don't know about you, but nothing spells out a true fan more than a guy who puts facepaint all over his body then wears a speedo to the game (yeah, that was me).

I thought it was really cool that all four seniors started the game. Granted Terrance hasn't been a player who is capable of starting a game, but he surely has turned on his level of play as of late. The stat sheet doesn't say much to his credit, but the guy can play some good ball. Once again, Luke Anderson continues to impress me. His 22 point game didn't amaze me much as his two of three consecutive 3 pointers made by the team late in the second half.

The coin flip told us that we have to play Augustana on Wednesday night in the Taylor Center at 7 pm.

Mens Hockey

I only made it out to the Friday night game so I don't have too much to report on as far as the games went. The sweep over Colorado College over the weekend opened some doors. What did this mean? We are one point shy of 5th place Colorado College, meaning that we wont be home this year. We'll know more after this weekends games to find out where we travel to (the way it looks right now it's going to be North Dakota).

Womens Hockey

A really great effort in the mid-season didn't produce much in the end. The women went out and, for the second week in a row, got swept by Ohio State. It was a really good year for the women and I hope they can build on their leaders. With 8 juniors on the squad and only 4 seniors leaving, this team should be able to make a huge impact on the WCHA next year. Looks like the season is over for the women, but it wont be official until the selection committee makes their at large bids for the women's frozen four.

Wrestling

As reported last week by this same blog, our wrestling team is good. The team won the regional up in Moorhead, qualified all 10 wrestlers for the National Tournament, and will look for that elusive National Championship at Kearney, Nebraska on March 9-10. I'd go, but the basketball regional starts on the 10th.

Track and Field

USD's homepage had picture of a track athlete being held on people's shoulders with a headline that read, "South Dakota Men's Track and Field Team Rallies to Win NCC Title". In other words, MSU had it won and it slipped right out of their fingers, losing by 1.5 points. The tack and field team will have another chance at nationals. The women too finished 2nd.

Swiming and Diving

A dominate North Dakota swim team scored over 1,000 points in the NCC swim meet this past weekend. The men's team finished third behind St. Cloud with the women finishing fifth.

Baseball

While we were getting 2 feet of snow dumped on us, the baseball team dipped south to Bolivar, MO. The four game series was shortened to two (I couldn't find out why, but I think it was the weather). In those two games, the Mavericks won 6-1, 10-4. Next action will be against West Georgia in Carrollton, GA on Thursday through Saturday in a 5 game series.

Softball

Any chance of seeing the Maverick softball team before they go to Florida for spring break as smashed this weekend. St. Cloud State wisely canceled the Huskie Invitational due to inclimate weather.

Tennis

Also in the cancelation, the Mavericks men and women canceled their duel against St. Cloud on Saturday. Next action for the women will be in Duluth on Friday agaisnt Minnesota State Moorhead.

And by a Fateful Flip of a Coin...

We lose. Get to the Taylor Center on Wednesday night with the tip off at 7PM. A win means we get to goto South Dakota for the North Central Conference Tournament.

The Conference Title Rests on These Young Men

Men's Action:

Everything that we need to know will unfold today. Two big match ups today. UNO visits MSU and USD at SCSU. What's in the balance? Just a conference title, and home court advantage for the Wells Fargo North Central Conference Tournament... yeah, no pressure.

The good news is that MSU is playing a struggling Nebraska-Omaha team and stand a good chance at winning this game. They just have to do some of the cliche's, you know... "Go out and play 110%" "Stay on our A game" "Take it one game at a time", the normal stuff you'd hear a coach or player say.

The last time UNO and MSU faced off was two weeks ago. MSU (the REAL Mavericks) had to overcome a 11 point come from behind victory, something this team has been used to all season long. Since then, UNO's only won 1 game (against North Dakota) but they haven't found their game.

Don't get me wrong though, UNO's got their fair share of talent. Zac Robinson posted 20 points against Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday night and posted the same 20 against us two weeks ago. Robinson needs to be defended all game long for us to handle UNO.

This game will be close up until halftime, after that, it's all Minnesota State. With that, we also win the Conference title and go to the coin flip (pick tails).

Minnesota State wins 86-80

Women's Action:

Who would have guessed that scoring 80 in women's basketball would get you a loss? That's what happened at Omaha a couple of weeks ago. Our women's team is good, but it seems there are two different teams. The first team can't guard down low and can't get into a rhythm. The other team starts on fire and stays on fire, that was the team that upset Augustana.

So the question we have to ask ourselves is what women's team will show up today? I think that the loss down in Omaha is burning these girls and they'll take care of business. Tiffany Moe and Heather Johnson will be unstoppable forces this game and lead their team to a needed victory.

Minnesota State 78-67

Mavericks Hockey Preview

Men's Action:

If you prayed to God everyday this week, said your one hundred Hail Mary’s, and sacrificed a goat all for the sake of home ice for the WCHA playoffs, then this is the weekend for you.

A sweep against Colorado College this weekend, plus a one point weekend for Wisconsin against Michigan Tech, and a sweep from North Dakota, then we are still in the hunt. Oh, the suspense is killing me.

A sweep this weekend is unlikely, but possible. The Mavericks went to Colorado Springs way back in November and got swept 5-2, 7-2. As the announcers said on the radio during the Saturday game against Alaska-Anchorage, this is a more talented, more mature team than what took the ice back in November.

I’m sorry, but I can’t help but to disagree with that statement. How can a team who leads the WCHA in penalty minutes be more mature? Dumb mistakes are what have been killing us this year.

I really don’t think the Mavericks and pull of the sweep and the miracle to get the home ice series. The Mavericks will backtrack and get 1 point off the weekend.

Don’t let my prediction hinder whether or not you will be in attendance for the game. It’s the last series of the season, show MSU that we still support the team.


Women’s Action:

The Mavs go back to Columbus, OH to see if they can’t take two out of three against the Buckeyes in the WCHA first round. After last week’s performance, the women will look to get back on track, advance to the semi finals, and move a little closer to home.

To take two out of three away from home isn’t an easy task, but our women’s team is talented enough to do so.

The women should be able to advance to the WCHA finals in Minneapolis after the rough weekend last weekend.

Here's the Situation...

Well, as usual, Augustana stays constant with program history. They come out very strong, very impressive and fail to finish. So now going into Saturday afternoon the Mavericks and South Dakota are tied for the NCC lead.

So here's the situation:

Minnesota State wins and South Dakota loses:
Conference crown goes to MSU and the NCC tournament is in Mankato.
Minnesota State loses and South Dakota wins:
Conference crown goes to USD and the NCC tournament is in Vermillion, SD.
Minnesota State loses and South Dakota loses:
Conference crown goes to both MSU and USD and the NCC tournament is in Mankato. (we win the tiebreaker)
Minnesota State wins and South Dakota wins:
Conference crown goes to both MSU and USD and the NCC tournament is decided by a coin flip.

The mission is simple, get out and win on Saturday. If we win, we are NCC champions for the second season in a row. Lose, well, we get ready for a first round game next Wednesday and travel to South Dakota for the weekend.

We could still travel to South Dakota even if we do win. The fate of the all mighty quarter is in our hands. Choose tails.

North Central Regional Projections Week 5 (2/21/07)

It's time for my weekly frustration. Predicting the regional top 10 isn't easy, it takes hours of painstaking research, in which I have to sacrifice class time, study time, and even family time. Well, not really, it's just a process that takes about 30 minutes each Tuesday/Wednesday only to be corrected by the North Central Regional Committee at 3:30.

Recent events has led me to assume that the Top 2 will be the same. Other than that, it's fair game.

1. Winona State
2. Minnesota State
3. Nebraska-Kearney
4. Metro State
5. St. Cloud
6. South Dakota
7. Fort Lewis
8. Mesa State
9. Adams State
10. Northern State

That's it, the usual are the top 2, Winona is a machine and MSU rocks. Metro State losing to Nebraska-Kearney this past week will only flip flop the two. Losses by Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul drops them out. USD's loss will drop them a spot and flip flop with St. Cloud. Welcome back Adams State to the Top 10.

Just Pondering...

Apologies for the lack of posts the past two days, I've been swamped with work and studying for a couple of big tests.

So here I am, thinking to myself, what kind of seed would we get in the Region if we won out the rest of the season. My first thought was a #2 seed. Makes sense right? Winona continues to kick ass, Metro lost over the weekend to Nebraska-Kearney (bad last possession, how can you hold the ball until the final seconds when down by 3?), and South Dakota made our resume a little better.

So what do we need to get that elusive #1 spot? Well... first of all, we need South Dakota to host the NCC Tournament, go to the Dome and crush them. Also, we'll need Winona to drop 2 games between this weekend and early druing the NSIC tournament. An impressive win in South Dakota will look great on our resume for the committee.

But I would actually be fine with the #2 spot. A couple of obsticles along the way could hinder us, first is Metro, if they stay at #3, we would meet up with them in the semis. That could set up a great clash between Winona and MSU/Metro. I doubt South Dakota will recieve a #7 or #6 seed which means that we could potentially meet them in the regional final.

If we win this game this weekend and our first game in the NCC tournament, I'm sure we are a lock in the Regional.

Now, in no way are the above seedings and matchups factual or a prediction, just a what if. The seedings are if all things are held constant until Selection Sunday, but knowing the North Central Committee, nothing is held constant.

Weekend Thoughts

Men's Basketball

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. South Dakota dropped their last home game of the season. They dropped it to the hottest team in the NCC. No, the Mavericks didn't sneak in a third game in against USD. It was Minnesota-Duluth that came in and took the 83-75 decision. So, without playing a game, MSU regains the league lead until USD plays this Wednesday at Augustana. There, with a win, USD will be tied with MSU or, with a loss, MSU will be a full game ahead of USD.

At the Augustana game in Sioux Falls, somone asked me what the tie breaker is for the NCC and if USD and MSU were tied at the end of the season, who would take the season title? I got in contact with the NCC office and this is what they said:

"If two teams have the same regular-season record then they are both crowned champions.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the 2005 football season where there was a four-way tie for the NCC championship. In other words there are no tiebreakers for the standings.

"Now turning to the seeding for the tournament. The first tiebreaker there is head-to-head followed by how they fared against the third-place team, if still tied then the forth place team, etc. If still tied all the way through the standings then it would be a coin flip."

So, if USD and MSU win out, this is what happens: Both teams will be crowned North Central Conference champions. Since MSU and USD split the season series, and both lost to the same team (Duluth), we have a coin flip situation. On Wednesday, head on over to USD's website and listen to the live webcast of the game. MSU fans will be the biggest Augie fans in the world.

Women's Hockey

Man, we shot ourselves in the foot in Columbus. All we needed was 2 points, a win gets us home ice for the WCHA post-season tournament at All Seasons. We dropped an overtime decision on Friday, and it stung. The Mavericks were up 3-0 and gave it up. On Saturday, Ohio State scored 6 times to beat the Mavericks and keep the Mavericks in Columbus for another week.

Men's Hockey

For those of you keeping track and praying to God, the Mavericks, although picking up 2 points in Alaska-Anchorage, still have a shot at home ice. Here's the situation, the Mavericks have to sweep Colorado College. Also, over the next two weekends, we need Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan Tech, and Colorado College to all lose. However, there is a very specific situation that needs to pan out, Michigan Tech plays Wisconsin this weekend. If the Mavericks want home ice for the WCHA playoffs, they need Tech to take Wisconsin to a 3 point weekend. Anything other than that, we can pack our bags and head onto the road.

Wrestling

This just in, our team is good. We beat St. Cloud on Thursday to take the NCC crown. The night after, the team didn't allow one point from Southwest Minnesota State. The Mavericks will head to Moorhead next Sunday to compete in the Regional and earn a birth at the National Tournament.

Swimming and Diving

The Maverick men's and women's swim team heads up north to Grand Forks where they will hope to bring home an NCC crown. Recent dominance from North Dakota and South Dakota's rich swimming and diving tradition hinder any chance of an NCC crown.

Indoor Track and Field

Katelin Rains could probably pole vault over Meyer's Field House. The sophomore vaulted to a Division II record 36' 6.5". Wow.

Softball

After winning thier first two games, the Mavericks will head back from Phoenix 2-3 to start the season. The Mavs started strong beating Montana State-Billings and Cal State-Bakersfield but gave up a total of 20 points to Angelo State, Texas A&M Kingsville, and Dixie State. The Mavericks will be a little closer to home next weekend when they head up to St. Cloud to play in the Huskie Dome Invitational.

Augustana Reaction

Women's action:

Why is it that every time I predict the womens game, I'm always wrong? Is our team that inconsistant or am I just an idiot? I wouldn't mind siding with both actually. When this womens team plays ball, they play ball. No screwing around, no nothing. The only proplem is that when they are matched up against a big center, they get owned. Maybe thats what this team needs going into the NCC tournament. Pray to God they don't get matched up agaisnt UND or St. Cloud, both teams with big centers that will drop 30 on us.

I'm impressed by our womens team, they showed on Thrusday what good team play can do. Passing the ball around and waiting for that three point shot helped the Mavericks down Augustana 62-60. Heather Johnson went 3 for 5 from the arch and nabbing 3 steals on her way to a 14 point night. Joanne Noreen posted 13 on the night as well. Those are all impressive, but the stat of the night had to go to Anna Voltmer for 15 rebounds!

Congrats to the Mavs for knocking off the #10 team in the nation.

Men's action:

The first half of this game never really bothered me. In fact, I felt that we were in complete control of the game going into half time. Yeah, I know we were down by 5, I thought we kept the game tempo in our favor. By the time the second half started, it was all Augie. The Vikings enjoyed a 13 point lead with 17 minutes left to go, but slowly but surely, it slid away.

Luke Anderson was being his usual self, posting 15 points and throwing 5 assists. The game ball had to go to Paris Kyles though. He was on early and he was on often on Thursday night. Kyles cruised to an 18 point game. Another great thing to see on Thrusday night was Atilia Santos playing defense. He looked a little sluggish off the start, but tightened up midway through. His 8 rebounds and 3 blocks is a huge improvement from what he's been at in the past. Keep it up buddy, we are going to need that come NCC tournament time.

Great win by the Mavs (68-64). This win will surely boost up their resume come selection time on March 4 to gain a top seed in the Regional.

The Mavericks return home next Saturday afternoon against UNO to wrap up conference play. Remember everyone, "swim to win" on Saturday, wear your swimming suits.

Mavericks Hockey Preview

Men's Action:

Time to adjust your clocks, pop some no-doze, and take some Dramamine for the plane ride. Putting the “west” in Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the Mavericks head to Alaska-Anchorage for the weekend. Even though MSU has won 9 out of its last 10 against the Seawolves, this weekend’s series won’t be easy.

In the hunt for home ice, the Mavericks need lots of thing to go their way. A sweep this weekend will start everything off. The only problem is, they have to rely on three teams. North Dakota faces Duluth and Wisconsin goes to St. Cloud this week. Both teams are ahead of MSU in the WCHA rankings. Having North Dakota getting swept is highly unlikely, the Fighting Sioux own the Bulldogs at Ralph Engelstad Arena, only allowing 1 win in the past 13 meetings. Wisconsin however is playing a very good St. Cloud team where a sweep is entirely possible.

But enough with the possibilities and the Hail Mary’s of home ice. The fact is, we are up in The Last Frontier, where most likely it’s warmer there than it is here. Actually, at the time of this writing (2:15 on Friday) in Anchorage it’s 25 degrees compared to Mankato’s 17. Life is cold in Minnesota all right. The Mavericks, like I said, have enjoyed winning 9 of their last 10 meetings against the Seawolves, and this team is playing for home ice. The only problem with that is the thing the Mavericks are best at, penalties. Overall this year, the Mavericks have entered the penalty box 292 times this season, and enjoying it for 772 minutes. For those of you keeping track (me!) that’s the most penalized team in the WCHA, if not the nation (that’s a lot of school stats to sift through and research for a later day). The team needs more discipline and more common sense. I think just for the mere fact of penalties this team only takes 2 points from the weekend and ruin any chance for home ice.

Women's action:

The women, however, have a much better chance at home ice. They need 3 points off the weekend and have a legitimate chance of doing it at Columbus, OH. The Ohio State Buckeyes are tied with the Mavericks for that #4 spot in the WCHA. The way the women have been playing, I wouldn’t count out the Mavericks on a sweep on the weekend. In fact, that’s exactly what I think will happen. 4 points and reserve your ticket for the WCHA playoff series at All Seasons.

Late Update

For those of you looking to see a preview of the Mavericks/Alaska game, it's coming, don't worry. That'll be up this afternoon. Also, reaction to Thursday's games is coming on Saturday morning. Check back at around 1:30ish for the weekend's hockey preview.

MSU vs Augustana

Joey Ryan, Marques Blank, and Nick Olson. All three of these guys had big games against the Mavs earlier this season, all three have the potential to have another big game, especially at home.

The Mavericks will travel along I-90 to Sioux Falls, SD to take on Augustana, looking for the season sweep and moving a step closer to hopefully hosting the NCC tournament. The Mavs know that the last two games on the schedule are big, not only for the NCC tournament, but also seeding for the North Central Regional. Augustana has traditionally played well at the Elmen Center, but there's a catch to this game, this will be played at the Sioux Falls Arena. What's the difference? Imagine a small arena (seats about 3,000) filled and loud as hell. Now imagine 3,000 screaming fans in a venue that seats 5,500 to 6,000. There is a difference, luckily, this can favor the Mavericks.

First the women:

The Augustana Vikings are ranked #2 in the North Central Region, behind North Dakota. Augustana's Alison Adamson had a big game against MSU last time posting up 23 points, 4 assists and 5 steals. Adamson has the ablility to hit a jumper anywhere on the court, stick to her because the Vikings lack the big girl in the paint, MSU's big weakness.

MSU needs to keep the perimeter under control, a three ball here and there from Heather Johnson will keep the Mavs in this game.

Prediction: The #2 team is too much for the Mavs, 76-66

Men's action:

Augustana didn't crack the Top 10 yesterday in the regional polls, but they are sitting on the bubble. A win against MSU will grant them a Top 10 spot. This team has the keys to beat MSU but lack the coaching. If Augustana were smart, they'd know that defense isn't MSU's specialty, instead of spreading the ball out consistantly throughout the game, they should focus on one area. USD did it down low and beat us and UMD did it on the perimeter to beat us. Expect Joey Ryan to post up many threes during this game.

MSU needs this win, and they realize it. Although Augie only has one or two true three ballers, MSU has 5. But offense wont win this game for us. A lacking defense, of late anyway, needs to step up. The big men down low need to have a statement game. Control the paint and this is our game.

Prediction: Mavericks, all the way 85-76

Tomorrow, we'll travel up to Alaska, where its most likely that it's warmer up there than in Mankato, and preview the weekend series against the Seawolves. Also, the Buckeyes look to take away home ice from the Mavericks.

North Central Regional Projections Week 4 (2/14/07)

This is the third week when I get to do research for 3 hours and produce 2 minutes of content. But that's ok, I really don't care. So let's get into it.

The North Central Regional Rankings come out today. Remember, the regional committee can only take into account games played from Monday Feb. 5 through Sunday Feb. 11.

1. Winona State
2. Metro State
3. Minnesota State
4. Nebraska-Kearney
5. Fort Lewis
6. Mesa State
7. Concordia-St. Paul
8. St. Cloud
9. South Dakota
10. Northern State

Dropped: Colorado-Colorado Springs
On the bubble: Colorado-Colorado Springs, Augustana, Southwest Minnesota State, CSU-Pueblo (WAY out on the bubble)

It's a given, Winona won both games, they take the top spot. A couple of 15-20 point wins gives Metro State the #2 spot. Since MSU lost to USD over the weekend, they'll move down a spot. Nebraska-Kearney also pocketed a couple of wins to stay at #4. This is where it gets confusing, Concordia-St. Paul and St. Cloud both had a decent win this weekend, but got absolutely blown out on their second game. Since Mesa State and Fort Lewis both won, I flopped the four. South Dakota once again gets the biggest shaft and will stay at #9. It's just how the committee's been working this year. It wouldn't surprise me if St. Cloud takes #9 and South Dakota up to #8. But I'm going off my inclination and the regional committee's trends.

The toughest spot to fill was #10, since Colorado-Colorado Springs couldn't get out of the weekend with a win, they drop out. Northern State is the only team I could put in at #10. Colorado-Colorado Springs is still on the bubble, but needs to finish strong to make it into the Top 8. Augustana has two key games against South Dakota and Minnesota State coming up. And way out there, still breathing, CSU-Pueblo.

Random Maverick Thoughts

Mavericks in Sports Illustrated
Division II and Sports Illustrated don't usually mix, neither do MSU athletes and SI. Well, for the third time in MSU athletics history, a Maverick will be featured in the magazine. Senior Jim Dilling will be featured in Faces in the Crowd in this weeks issue. The high jumper from Fond du Lac, Wisc. cleared 7' 6.5" at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational. Great PR for an already great Track and Field program.

Expected Drop Down
After the loss at USD this past weekend, the Men's basketball team fell three spots in the Coaches Poll from #9 to #12. While the Coaches Poll is useful in figuring out "who's the best" it's a moot subject when it comes to the Eliet Eight Tournament. The only ranking that matters is the Regional Rankings, those are due out tomorrow afternoon. Last time they were released late afternoon, not the Noon hour like I said. Projections on the rankings tomorrow morning.

Home Ice All but Decided
Even though the men are 4 points away from tying for 5th and a home ice series in the WCHA Final Five first round, we've played 24 conference games so far. What does that matter? North Dakota and Wisconsin (#5 and 6 in the standings respectively) have both played 22. This means that they have two full games to play in which MSU needs losses from both in order to move up in the standings. It's possible, but it seems out of reach.

Better Chance at Home Ice
This weekend's mission is simple for the women, travel to Columbus, Ohio and take 2 points from the weekend. 2 points gives the Mavericks the tie breaker against Ohio State and a home ice series for the WCHA playoffs. It can happen and it probably will.

Another NCC Title Approaching
The Mavericks have a chance on posting another NCC title in the Taylor Center, all they need is a win over St. Cloud. The wrestiling team beat out Augie and Nebraska-Omaha in the past two weeks and all they need is a victory over St. Cloud to solidify the NCC crown. The match can be seen via webcast on the MSU website.

Weekend review (2/8 - 2/10)

The weekend could have been worse, I'll tell you that much.

The game against USD was a little frustrating. USD's Steve Smith came out to play against Atilia. Smith, a Creighton University transfer, posted up 21 points against the Mavs while primarily playing against Santos the entire game. Santos, a Northern Iowa transfer, couldn't find a defensive grove against Smith and it really hurt us in the long run. Posting up 75-80 points offensively should win most of your games. In the Mavs case, however, there's no defense to be played. Watching Santos play defense reminds me of watching Tommie King play defense (USD alum); stand and watch the opponent make a move but TRY to make up for it down court. Margenthaler's got to get it into not only Santos' head, but the rest of the team's heads as well: if we want to make a legitimate run for the National Championship, we've got to play some defense and be physical in the post. Without it, we might as well book 1 night at the regional.

The Mavericks also shot the three ball 20 times in the second half! Geez, you didn't have to incorporate what I said into the gameplan, I'm just a student. With only 7 successful tries out of the 20, that too hurt us. That stat can be misleading though. The Mavs had to post up some threes toward the end of the game when they were down by 5 with less than two minutes to go. The stat sheet says 5 missed threes since the 1:03 mark. Live and die by the three... End result: 85-75 Coyotes

The team got their groove back, sorta, on Saturday afternoon though. The Mavericks (not the Posers from UNO) came back from being down by 11 to win the game. Again though, the Mavs got out rebounded by UNO 43 to 34. The only stat that matters is the score at the end of the game: 62-59 Mavericks.

The Women's basketball team went to USD with their heads held high, seeking to get out of their current rutt... didn't happen. The Coyotes were just too consistent from three land and buried the Mavs early. The Mavs did start their comeback midway through the second half, but still came up short: 77-59

Who would have guessed that a women's basketball team can score 80 and still get blown out? That was the case against UNO on Saturday. UNO's guard Karen Thies posted 7 three pointers and ended the game with 36 points. Kudos to Heather Johnson for her 11 point day and scoring half the teams three balls. It wasn't enough though. UNO 102 MSU 80.

MSU's Alex Andrews had the team's weekend scoring title at 29 points.

The women's game was the only good news on the weekend for UNO. Their Men's team got swept on the weekend, their hockey team only gets 1 standings point against the #1 team in the nation, and their #3 wrestling team lost to the better Mavericks. MSU's only downfall was in the marquee match of the night. The 145 pound Jason Rhoten lost to UNO's Todd Meneely (both men are top ranked). Andy Pickar (165) upset UNO's top ranked Ross Taplin 7-3. MSU pulled out a HUGE duel victory over UNO: 27-9

The Men's hockey team skated tough against the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota (at least I still recognize them as their REAL nickname). The Mavericks, though, only walked away with 1 point on the weekend, tying the Sioux on Saturday night. Friday night: 8-4 ND

The Women's hockey team did what I said they would do: sweep the Huskies. They did it in stylish fashion too; scoring Friday night's game winning goal with only 20 seconds left in overtime and shutting out St. Cloud on Saturday 2-0. That's 4 points in the right direction.

Men's basketball: 1-2
Women's basketball: 1-2
Men's hockey: 0.5-1
Women's hockey: 1-1
Overall on the weekend: 3.5-6

Noteworthy: MSU baseball team started the season against Mary University splitting a doubleheader in the Metrodome.

Lots of banter going on at the D2Basketball.com North Central Regional message boards including myself and some North Central regional contender fans. These guys know what they are talking about and make me look like a chump from time to time. It's OK though, they'll see that I might be right about some things afterall...

A quick disclaimer and apology: If I missed anything or accidentally misrepresented anything in today's post, let me know. I was boozed up for a good portion of the weekend at USD and tired as hell working my overnight job. I also apologize for getting Friday and Saturday's posts up late, I'll try not to get into that habit especially with the hockey and basketball seasons coming to a wrap.

Preview of the Aftermath

As much as the game on Thrusday night pissed me off, I do have to admit, we beat ourselves. Hopefully that will not be the case tonight against UNO. From now on, I will refer to UNO as the Fucking Posers, we all know who the real Mavericks of the NCC are.

Women's action:

Tonight's women's game will feature two teams coming off losses. After the Mavericks tried to come back against USD on Thursday night, this game will get the women back on the right track and some momentum for the last two games of the NCC season. Much like the game against St. Cloud, this game will be the battle for last place in the NCC. The Fucking Posers lost to St. Cloud, putting them a half game ahead of the Mavericks.

The Posers feature two great starters in forward Ashley Freerksen and guard Alyssa Green. These girls have the potential to combine for 30 points. The good news for the Mavericks in this game, the Posers have no big person to go to, unlike against USD, UND, and St. Cloud.

Prediction: This game will be close for the women, but I think they can pull it off, 67-63

Men's action:

The Mavericks are coming off a disappointing loss against USD on Thrusday night. The Posers feature forward Denny Johnston and guard Michael Jenkins. The good news about Jenkins is that since the game against Duluth the Mavericks have not allowed a big game from the perimeter. The bad news, the Mavericks couldn't stop USD's Steve Smith, that opens the door for Johnston.

The Mavericks need to have a big game from Atilia Santos defensively. If he stops Johnston, the Mavericks will blow out UNO. If not, this game will be close.

Prediction: Mavericks win by 10, 80-70

Maverick-Sioux Hockey Preview

Ediotrs Note: Sorry for getting this out so late in the day, I was a little pissed last night about the basketball game and decided to get hammered. But here we go.

I like the fact that although we have a 7-11-4 record, we're still in the hunt for home ice in the WCHA playoffs. This weekend we skate against the Fighting Sioux.

Chris off in a tangent: I really don't give a shit about North Dakota's nickname, in fact, I like it. If MSU wants to officially recognize them as North Dakota and not by the Fighting Sioux, then they are hypocrites. Mankato was the host of the largest mass killing of Sioux Indians in American history. If we are "righting the wrong" by not recognizing a school, we are gravely mistaken.

Back to the topic at hand: We head up to The Ralph in Grand Forks, ND. Ironically, the Mavericks have uncharacteristically played well up in North Dakota. I don't know what it is, but it certainly helps now that we are in the home ice hunt and are behind UND by 2 points.

Coming off a good three point weekend against Michigan Tech, the Mavericks have momentum to gain some ground against the Sioux. Bring these two variables together and you get an equation that can equal a sweep.

Prediction: But let's be realistic here, can we REALLY pull off TWO wins up at UND? It's certainly possible, but I think it's a bit far. The Mavericks will have a tough time against a national powerhouse but we'll hang tough. 2 points and a split this weekend.

Women will stay in Mankato and take on St. Cloud. After a 3 point weekend against Bemidji the Mavs will look to gain some ground against Ohio State to take the 4th spot in the rankings. The women should be able to pull off the sweep for the weekend.

Prediction time: And they've got better odds in pulling off the sweep. Weekend sweep and 4 points in the right direction.

MSU at USD Preview

First the women. Note: this is what they call a teaser in the media, to keep you hooked and read this before we get to the main event. The Mavericks are coming off a disappointing showing against St. Cloud last Saturday. They will be taking on a potential regional contender and looking to get on the right track.

The women have been cold as of late, but that can be expected since conference play started up. The NCC is so balanced that three or four teams could potentially get the shaft once the at-large bids go out. The Mavs need to keep playing a perimeter game, if we are successful in that aspect, we'll come away with a win. But, if we keep allowing teams to post up and make the easy two every time we are down court, then it'll be a long night, just ask Erika Quigley from St. Cloud.

Prediction time: Keep USD's Ashley Robinette at bay, shut her down and we win. Too bad she's too damn good. Sorry ladies, 63-55 Coyotes.

Yesterday's regional rankings stirred up some pissed off people at D2Basketball's message boards. There's some really good content there (including myself), check it out. Also, quite the interesting trend I found out today, since North Central Conference play started, the home teams are 18-8.

Ok, here we go.

This is THE game. This game will show what champions are made of. This game will show who's THE go to player. This game will define the team's season. A spot in the National Coaches Poll is up for grabs. A spot in the North Central Regional Rankings is up for grabs. A season sweep is up for grabs. The NCC conference championship is up for grabs. Home court for the NCC tournament is up for grabs. Hell, possibly the North Central Regional is up for grabs. And it's all played out in 40 minutes, on a hard wood court, in the always hostile Dakota Dome. Yeah, this game is big.

If there is any team in the NCC that I know as well as MSU, it's USD. It comes with the territory of being the son of two USD grads and the grandson of a USD professor.

The second place USD Coyotes (16-5, 5-1 NCC) will host the Mavericks (21-2, 7-1 NCC) on Thursday night at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, SD. Since losing in Overtime on Jan, 27 to MSU, USD has gone on to easily handle Nebraska-Omaha 86-67. One game in two weeks, and they look hot. The Coyotes went 11 for 20 for three in that game. Much like Duluth, USD will live and thrive on the three ball. That's why the Mavs need to play better perimeter defense. If the Mavs find a way to shut down USD's long ball, they'll be forced to go inside and play against Santos, Marrow, and even Mitch Gosson. Those are some big mother fuckers that can shut down any post play.

The Mavs are coming off a hot win against St. Cloud (who is still regionally ranked, I don't know how) 96-68. Offensively, the team clicked rather well, they went .500 from downtown and .550 from the field. If the the Mavs are as hot as they were against St. Cloud, we may have another classic on our hands.

Keys to beat USD:

• Shut down the perimeter game, we didn't against Duluth and it killed us.



• Control the tempo of the game, use the shot clock to our advantage. Pace offensive possessions, the USD crowd will get tired of yelling.



• Match USD shot for shot on the perimeter, if we give up a 3 point shot (not necessarily a successful try), fire one back.



• Quiet the crowd early by making big plays early.



• Rebound the basketball

What we don't need:

• Getting out rebounded, if we get an offensive board, put the ball back up.



• Turnovers, we gave the ball up too many times against USD last time (14).



• A loud crowd

This will be the first time MSU will see a true home crowd, it will be loud, it will be distracting. Coach Margenthaler and assistant coach Austin Hansen know all about that after coaching/playing up at SDSU (State sucks by the way, my USD blood speaking).

Prediction time: it's going to be a fucking GREAT game. It's always tough to play in the Dakota Dome, and I've been pessimistic all week about the game, but now that I've had a chance to write this, I think we can pull this off. 89-88 in a THRILLER.

For those of you going to the game in Vermillion, I'll see you there. GO MAVERICKS!

Just All Over the Place Today

I was going to do a complete review of the wrestling match yesterday between MSU and Augustana, but since we killed Augustana 33-7, I'm just going to give you Augie's wrestling link instead. You'll find a great synopsis of the evening there. On that wrestling note, who the hell is in charge of the Maverick website? The Augustana Augies? Someone is either stupid or just got hired. Anyone that knows NCC schools knows it's the Vikings. Sorry, that just bugged me.

It's national signing day for football. Obviously Rivals.com wont have any D-II coverage, but if you're interested, head on over to D2Football.com. They may have some coverage. I'll reserve my recruiting opinions until after I get a chance to do some research on the incoming class.

There's a great article here from the Minneapolis Star Tribue. It's got by far the best picture of coach Margenthaler. The guy has as much passion for his program like Tennessee's Men's coach Bruce Pearl.





Speaking of MSU Basketball, North Central Regional rankings come out today, check it out around Noonish.

That's all for today, big post coming tomorrow featuring the HUGE Mavericks Coyotes game.

Projected North Central Region Rankings Week 3

Coaches poll is released today. Check here at around Noon or mid-afternoon. The Mav's should move down but stay in the Top 10, lot's of Top 10 losses this past week.

Here is my North Central Region Rankings prediction due to come out tomorrow (2/7/07).

1. Winona
2. Metro State
3. Minnesota State
4. Southwest Minnesota State
5. Nebraska-Kearney
6. Concordia-St. Paul
7. Fort Lewis
8. St. Cloud
9. South Dakota
10. Colorado-Colorado Springs

Bubble teams:

Mesa State
Augustana
Northern State

Winona cruised again this week and will earn that top spot for another week. They have a tough test coming Friday against Southwest Minnesota State. Metro embarrassed Nebraska-Kearney and with MSU’s loss to Duluth on Thursday, they will claim spot 2. MSU will travel to South Dakota on Thursday for the second match up of conference leaders. Concordia-St. Paul is playing great basketball and is waiting for their match up next week against Winona. After St. Cloud’s lack of performance/competitiveness they are dropped to 8 behind Fort Lewis’ solid weekend. Colorado Springs moves down after being handed two losses.

Not a bad look: 3 NCC teams, 4 RMAC teams, and 3 NSIC teams. 10 teams in the rankings, only 8 move on...

Big weekend ahead, more on Thursday. Tomorrow, wrestling review from Augustana.

Weekend Review

It was a pretty good weekend for the Mavs. Friday night the Men's Hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie against Michigan Tech and the Women went up north to beat the Beavers of Bemidji 4-1.

Saturday was a busy day for Maverick athletics. At 2:00 the Women's Basketball team tipped off against St. Cloud. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep up with the Huskies all game dropping to 2-6 in the NCC. They couldn't stop Erika Quigley like I said they had to. The center from St. Cloud posted 33 against our small team.

The Men's basketball team was pissed and you could tell. They played like champions on Saturday, just creaming St. Cloud 96-68. Luke Anderson and Paris Kyles had big games posting 23 and 20 respectively. LA went 3-5 from downtown while Atila Santos led the game with 7 boards. This team need to keep playing like they did against St. Cloud for the rest of the season, but more on that on Thursday.

Saturday and the weekend kept going when the women skated to a 3-3 tie against Bemidji. The weekend was topped off by Geoff Irwin's game winning overtime goal against Michigan Tech with 1:25 left to go.

Predictions:
Men's Basketball: Correct
Women's Basketball: Wrong
Women's Hockey: Draw (3 points instead of 2)
Men's Hockey: Correct (Good call on the 3 points)

Lots of stuff happening this week: wrestling has an NCC matchup in Sioux Falls against Augustana on Tuesday. Wednesday is National Signing day for NCAA Football. Thursday, I'll be in Vermillion, SD to watch the men and women play the Coyotes. Friday, the Men's Hockey team travels up to Grand Forks, ND to take on UND while the women stay in town to play St. Cloud. Friday also marks the beginning of the Baseball season when the Mavs take on Mary at the Metrodome. Saturday the basketball teams travel to Omaha while the Men's tennis team gets started in Iowa.

It was a good weekend to be a Maverick.

SCSU vs MSU Preview and Predictions

Words cannot describe how big these next five games are for the Mavs. What’s at stake? Hosting the NCC tournament, a Regional tournament bid, and very possibly a chance to host the North Central Regional. From this point out, the senior leadership of Luke Anderson, Tony Thomason, and Paris Kyles need to command this team. We’ve got the experience and the talent, but it’s up to the seniors to bring that talent to the table. Today’s game against St. Cloud is bigger yet. St. Cloud went up to Grand Forks, ND and lost to UND. Folks, St. Cloud is ranked in the region and these two teams will be battling for the number 3 spot in the region. I can faithfully say that this is the biggest home game of the year.

We need Atila Santos to come out with a HUGE game. Santos has the daunting task of defending Matt Schneck, a 6’8 freshman who posted 22 in these two team’s last meeting up in St. Cloud. The Huskie’s guards will pop three’s when given the chance, if we play the perimeter like we did against Duluth, we are absolutely fucked.

Our offensive key’s to victory will be to get the ball to Luke or Tony on swings to the corner. Any open look is better than nothing. Keep getting the ball down low to Jake Marrow or Santos, these guys are posting up for a reason, if they think they can beat their defender or draw a foul, by all means, get into their hands.

If we don’t win this game, we can kiss hosting the NCC tournament goodbye, much less receiving a bid in the regional.

Prediction: 86-80 Mavs

The women proved me wrong on Thursday (any of you women reading this and were pissed?). With a victory against Duluth on Thursday night the Mavs will be looking to make it two straight. They are going up against a very tough St. Cloud team who just knocked of the #1 team in the nation at UND on Thursday night. These two teams are matched at the bottom of the standings in the NCC, but the Mavs should come out on top in this one.

Guarding St. Cloud’s Erika Quigley, the 6’2 senior posted 29 in the last meeting. If the Mavs are successful in shutting down Quigley, they’ll take this game easily. If not, it’s going to be a long afternoon.

Prediction: 64-60 Mavs

Michigan Tech Weekend Preview

I REALLY don’t want to talk about the basketball games last night other than this, congrats to the women for proving me wrong. To the men though, we can’t afford another loss if we want to host the Regional. We need two good showing for the next two games, first against a tough St. Cloud team at home, then away at South Dakota where it is tough to come away with a win no matter what team you play for.

Ok, well lets talk about something that all Minnesotan’s can relate to: Hockey.

We’ve got the Huskies this week… no not those Huskies from St. Cloud (Although we do play them in basketball on Saturday), but the Huskies from Michigan Tech. Since Maverick head coach Troy Jutting took over the program in 2000 he has owned MT with an 11-5-2 record. The two teams have not played yet this year and both programs are in the race to host a playoff series for the WCHA Final Five.

This series will come down to two things, aggressive play and penalties. If the Mavericks work hard, hit hard, and flat out dominate the ice they win the series. But, if the Mavericks do what they do best, which is commit penalties, then it’ll be a LONG weekend.

Goalie Mike Zacharias has been phenomenal since filling in for the injured Dan Tormey with a save percentage of 90%.

Prediction: Mavs come away with 3 points this weekend, a win and a tie.

The women’s hockey team travels to Bemidji after a rough weekend in Madison, WI. From what I’ve read about the match up and the two teams, the women should be able to at least split up north. Remember, the women upset Minnesota two weeks ago at home, this team found a grove, although not being able to score a goal in Madison might hurt a little. The women will be pissed and will play like it.

Prediction: Mavs take 2 points on the weekend.

St. Cloud basketball preview tomorrow, have fun at the hockey game tonight.

What happens if both of my predictions go wrong?

I get drunk...

MSU vs. UMD Preview and Predictions

What’s it like playing in the North Central Conference? Well, we are half way through the conference schedule and we’ve eeked out 6 wins. So you must be sitting there thinking, “Hmmm, there’s 7 teams in the conference and we’ve beat all of them, therefore we should beat them again.” That’s what I would love to think. We swept the season series against UND (by a margin of 7 total points) but still have to play UNO. Here’s the rest of the conference schedule: home and away against UNO, at USD, at Augustana, vs St. Cloud , and at Duluth . Personally, I’m not looking forward to the rest of the conference schedule. Potentially there are 2-3 losses mixed in there (USD, Augustana, and St. Cloud ). BUT, we could possibly run the table on the NCC and put Winona on the spot regionally. Right now, the Mavericks are playing good basketball, but in order to strive for that National Championship, they need to play better, and what better point to do so than right in the middle of conference play?

That brings us to tonight’s game against the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (9-12, 0-6 NCC). This is a team that took us into a double overtime thriller back on Jan. 4 when the Mavericks pulled out the win 86-81. Don’t take the record to heart, this team is tough. They battled USD to a close game a week ago and stayed on St. Clouds heels earlier in January. One of the things about Duluth that MSU will capitalize on is that the Bulldogs are a perimeter team, they’ll fire shots from the three point arch. Since the beginning of conference play, MSU has demonstrated that they can guard the perimeter with ease. UMD guard Jordan Nuness, a transfer from the U of M, must be shut down in order for the Mavs to control the tempo of the game.

Offensively, the Mavs need to keep the ball in Tony Thomason’s hands, the senior has been red hot the past three games, no sense in fixing what’s not broken, right? Atilia Santos, however, needs to step up and make more plays. His lack of rebounds per game is starting to piss me off. The guy is great in the post, but what good is that if he doesn’t box out for the rebound?

At the end of the game, with Tony and Luke Anderson taking care of the perimeter, the Mavs should be fine. The team is different than it was back on Jan. 4, especially since they’ve beaten both UND and USD last weekend. Those are the kind of games that change players, and I think Thomason has changed into a great senior leader.

Prediction: 87-76 Mavericks

The MSU (13-8 1-5 NCC) women’s program will play the early game against UMD (13-7 4-2 NCC). UMD has not lost at home yet this year, however, the women’s only win came from the Bulldogs back on Jan. 4. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see that again. Duluth has been very good as of late and earning the number 5 spot in the Regional Polls. Sorry ladies, but I think Duluth is too much to handle: Mavs 58 Bulldogs 70.

Speaking of the North Central Region, I was pretty close yesterday. Couple of differences though, USD did not make it into the top 10 and Nebraska-Kearney and Metro State traded spots at 3 and 4. Check it out here.