Whew! What another fun season it was and congratulations to UST on it's unprecedented 27-0 start that saw them run roughshod through the MIAC regular season and then hold off Bethel in the MIAC Championship Game yesterday to earn the MIAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. While we won't know for sure until Monday afternoon, of course, it seems like a given that the Tommies will be hosting an NCAA 1st/2nd Round Regional pod this next Friday and Saturday night. I've said it before and I'll say it again. If there was ever a year that the Tommies were going to win it all, you would have to think that this would be the year that they do it. The injury to Anna Smith yesterday put a damper on the celebration and it's definitely a damn shame she went down again with an apparent knee injury. I can only wish a full and speedy recovery for her.
Elsewhere, UM-Morris came back late in regulation to send the UMAC Championship Game into overtime and knocked off defending champion Northwestern to claim that conference's automatic bid to the dance. While I only got to catch the last eight minutes of that contest, I was very impressed with the Cougar's man-to-man defense and their guards and forwards can be quite physical. This is not a team you want to take lightly and should they be placed in the UST pod as I anticipate that they will be, they'll be playing as the underdog with nothing to lose and that alone makes them dangerous.
Luther claimed the IIAC Championship Game yesterday afternoon at home in Decorah knocking off Wartburg so the Norse lay claim to the IIAC's automatic bid. Regular season champ Dubuque was knocked off by Wartburg in the semifinals so it's highly unlikely that the IIAC gets two teams in this year.
Earlier this afternoon, UW-Oshkosh as the number three seed upset number one seeded UW-Superior 66-61 in the WIAC Championship Game in ironically, the Yellow Jackets last year in the conference. So while the Titans earn the WIAC's automatic bid, things are not so certain for Don Mulhern's UW-Superior squad.
Out west, George Fox won the NWC Championship Game with a similar 66-61 victory over Puget Sound so while the Bruins get the conference's automatic bid, Puget Sound; along with Whitworth, look to be solidly in the Dance. Claremont Mudd-Scripps predictably won the SCIAC Conference Championship Game to snare that conference's automatic berth and that will likely be their only entry into the Dance.
So this brings us to Bethel. At 21-6 (14-4) in one of the top Division III conferences in the nation, and getting to that conference's championship game SHOULD - in my mind anyway - be more than enough to get them an invite to the Dance. I'm certainly not saying that either UW-Superior or Whitworth aren't. It's just that, when you look at the Royals' overall body of work, they deserve the invite, IMHO. Yes, they did have two "bad" losses to both CSB and St. Kate's but they also had "good" out of conference wins as well against both Redlands and Chapman. They also had that 11-game win streak from early January through late February that was finally snapped by UST which can't be ignored. And finally, they played the Tommies very tough in the MIAC Championship Game. The fact that they were ranked seventh in the West Regional rankings - behind BOTH Buena Vista AND Dubuque - is a complete joke and whoever is in charge of making these rankings that has a direct impact on a team getting in or not is not doing his or her job and needs to be taken to task. At the VERY least, I would expect that person to get a GOOD look at ALL the potential teams involved before just simply scribbling something on a piece of paper and throwing it against the wall to see if it sticks.
Nonetheless, Monday is going to be very interesting for sure and you can catch all the pairings at approximately 1:30 P.M. (Central Time) if you go to www.d3hoops.com and follow the links provided.
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