MIAC Power Rankings For Sunday 2-18-18

Here's the last round of my Power Rankings as another regular season comes to a close:


1.  UST
2.  CSB
3.  GAC
4.  Bethel
5.  SMU
6.  St. Kate's
7.  (tie) Augsburg and Concordia
8.  Carleton
9.  Macalester
10.  Hamline
11.  St. Olaf


Little doubt, really, as to how the first four spots were going to go and I didn't really deviate from the actual final standings either.  Congrats first to the Tommies for their fourth outright MIAC regular season title which is a MIAC record and with it the number-one seed in the upcoming MIAC playoffs as they took a tough one down in Winona against SMU on Wednesday night and then hung on for dear life yesterday against CSB in what could be a preview of the MIAC Championship Game next weekend.  Still, not a terrible week for the Blazers by any stretch as they had to hold on to beat GAC at Claire Lynch on Wednesday night before falling short in yesterday's game with UST.  Given their respective records and their spots in the current West Region rankings, you have to figure that both UST and CSB are "locks" for the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens this next week.  The same cannot be said, however, for GAC which had a bit of a double-whammy; being left in the seventh spot in said West Region rankings and then not doing themselves any favors by digging themselves into a canyon at CSB and then falling short in their comeback attempt.  Though they stabilized things by beating St. Kate's yesterday, I think the Gusties only avenue to the Big Dance now is taking care of business Tuesday night against St. Kate's (again) at home in Lund Arena and then rolling the dice Thursday night in the rematch with CSB to at least get to the MIAC Championship Game - and hope that things fall in line elsewhere.  Bethel finished off the regular season with two wins; including yesterday's 95-59 drubbing of Carleton which may have been done for style points more than anything else.  Still, I see the Royals only path to the Dance is winning the whole ball of wax in the MIAC Playoffs.

Unlike last season when SMU went into a total tailspin down the home stretch, the Cardinals this time around finished relatively strong, winning three of their last five games and polished off the regular season yesterday with a home win against an always-tricky Hamline team to finish with a 10-8 conference record - good enough to snare the fifth spot.  St. Kate's clinched the sixth spot on Wednesday night by virtue of its thrilling win on the road over at Augsburg and despite the fact that the Wildcats dropped yesterday's home game with GAC, I view the 'Cats as the most dangerous team in the MIAC Playoffs.  It was an incredibly disappointing home stretch for Augsburg as they dropped five of their last seven games; including that OT loss at UST and the one on the road at Concordia before that.  Though they held on for an exciting win at home against Macalester yesterday to finish the season, it is likely nothing more than cold comfort since they lost out on the tie-breaker for that sixth spot to said St. Kate's team.  Concordia's hopes for that sixth spot were a long shot at best yet you can't fault the Cobbers and Head Coach Jessica Rahman for finishing the regular season strong; winning six of their last nine games to get themselves into contention and you have to figure that Concordia is ready to make that next step. 

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my mind this season was Carleton as they lost nine out of their last ten games and managed to drop out of playoff contention early.  Staying completely healthy has been a struggle for Head Coach Cassie Kosiba's squad and losing six seniors to graduation won't help their cause for next year.  Macalester, too, I felt was a disappointment this year as well as the Scots didn't fare much better down the stretch; losing eight of their last ten games and Head Coach Kelly Roysland loses four fine seniors herself.  Not much was expected from a very young Hamline team this season and they didn't win a lot of games but from having watched them a couple of times this year I can tell you that they were definitely a lot better than their record and new Head Coach Alex Focke definitely has things pointed in the right direction.  St. Olaf meanwhile was simply a disaster area this season; finishing 3-22 overall and 1-17 in MIAC play and it'll be interesting to see what transpires on the west side of Northfield this off-season. 

Tomorrow I'll handicap the upcoming MIAC Playoffs this next week as we head into the fun time of the year so stay tuned!