Wasn't too keen on the idea of venturing out in the bitter cold yesterday to get to any games but did follow everything closely online from both yesterday afternoon and Wednesday evening so I've certainly been keeping a close eye on things from the comfort of my own pad. And, of course, it figures that there'd be some unexpected results taking place which would inevitably shuffle up things in this morning's Power Rankings so here we go:
1. GAC
2. Concordia
3. St. Kate's
4. Bethel
5. CSB
6. Augsburg
7. Hamline
8. St. Scholastica
9. Macalester
10. St. Olaf
11. SMU
Again, no real surprise with the top two spots this AM. GAC applied beatdowns in Winona against SMU on Wednesday night and yesterday over at venerable Hutton Arena here in town so they did what everybody expected them to do. Aside from a trip up to St. Joe tomorrow night to take on an unpredictable CSB team, they'll be back home in Lund Arena come next Saturday afternoon to host Augsburg and it's difficult to see anything getting in their way........It was much the same for the Cobbers this last week too as they remain firmly entrenched in the second spot as they applied drubbings at both St. Olaf last Wednesday night and then yesterday on the shores of Gitche Gumee against St. Scholastica. Concordia has a full and bit more challenging week ahead though but the good news is that all three games will be in cavernous Memorial Auditorium where they normally take care of business without too much fuss - Augsburg on Monday night, St. Kate's on Wednesday night and then Bethel next Saturday afternoon.
Below the top two is where things get much more complicated. First off, how about those cardiac kids from St. Kate's? After thumping Augsburg over at Si Melby Hall last Wednesday night, they got down double-digits to CSB at home yesterday and although they got the gap tightened in the third and fourth periods, things still looked dire with a few short seconds left. That didn't faze freshman guard Hattie Fox as she likely put herself in Wildcat lore for years to come with her beyond half-court Hail Mary shot that found its mark that forced overtime where the 'Cats would prevail in double OT. Here's the thing with St. Kates: They've never really been in this position before and it'll be interesting to see how they handle it. IMHO, this is precisely where, if you're St. Kate's, you have to double-down and do everything you can do to keep getting better AND staying healthy. Because now you no longer have the luxury of sneaking up on teams. Now everybody below you is going to be gunning for you and you have to adopt a different mindset than what you had before. Never any easy thing to do. The good news for the Wildcats is that they have only one game this week. The bad news? It involves making the trip up US Highway 10 and the BNSF Staples Sub mainline up to Moorhead to take on Concordia Wednesday night. But let's remember, the 'Cats were the team that shocked everyone by dough-popping the Cobbers in their own crib last season..........It was a bit unexpected perhaps but it was a solid week for Bethel as the Royals shut down a potent CSB team up in St. Joe last Wednesday night before yesterday's somewhat predictable and routine win over St. Olaf at Robertson Center and because of that I had to shove the Royals up to the fourth spot this morning and they're more than deserving of it. But this will be a challenging week for Bethel as they have to run down Snelling Avenue on Wednesday evening to take on Hamline before making the dreaded trip up to Moorhead to face said Concordia team on Saturday.
Below this group, perhaps complicated isn't a strong enough word. Convoluted would be much more appropriate. When you consider this CSB team and how things turned out for them this last week, could you chalk that up to bad luck? Maybe. Could it possibly be attributed to some of their own misdeeds? Can't completely discount that. Could it be perhaps a little bit of both? That might be the most accurate. I personally didn't forsee the Bennies getting shut down by said Bethel team last Wednesday night but that normally potent offensive attack just wasn't there. And then yesterday; blowing a double-digit lead against St. Kate's and subsequently faltering in double OT. If you're CSB, yesterday's debacle over at St. Kate's hurts in more ways than one because (1) you've got GAC rolling into St. Joe on Monday night and (2) you're suddenly looking up at other teams that you didn't necessarily expect to be looking up to. On paper, things get considerably more manageable with SMU coming to St. Joe on Wednesday night but then you have another trek down to the Cities on Saturday to take on Hamline. Bottom line here for the Bennies: If you want to have one of those top four playoff spots, you may have some serious fence-mending to attend to.......At least it wasn't a total disaster for Augsburg this last week as they managed a split - dropping one to St. Kate's last Wednesday night and then holding off a pesky Macalester team yesterday. But that momentum thing I talked about last week for the Auggies could easily vaporize into the cold January air outside as this is what this coming week looks like for them: At Concordia on Monday night, at a vastly improved St. Scholastica team Wednesday night and then at GAC next Saturday. Ouch.
And, of course, we have to talk about Hamline which is dropping harder and faster than the obligatory anvil in the Road Runner/Wile Coyote cartoons. This is a team that dropped a 58-55 decision up at St. Scholastica last Wednesday night and then got humbled by #7 GAC yesterday at venerable Hutton Arena. I don't want to be the one saying that the Pipers are circling the drain here but when you consider the fact that they've lost five out of their last six games and in the fashion that they've lost them, it sure seems like it sometimes, doesn't it? And consider, the tasks ahead this coming week are no less daunting - going down Snelling Avenue to Macalester on Monday night, hosting Bethel on Wednesday night and then hosting CSB next Saturday. I'll just say that if you're Hamline, I think you've got some serious soul-searching to do here because if you intend to get this thing turned around, you've got to find a way here very soon because you're in a position where you can no longer count on the misfortunes of other teams to help you. From what I've seen lately, I just really don't know right now.......I think I'd be amiss not to mention St. Scholastica on this day. This team, this program is slowly but surely coming along under Head Coach Jason Schmitz to the point where they're now competing with their MIAC peers. I don't think the Saints are in a position - yet anyway - where they can threaten to be in the MIAC Playoff mix just yet but as we've seen with other teams before, it's usually a series of steps. But this team plays hard and competes and that showed last Wednesday night when they upended Hamline at home in Reif Center. Two road games this coming week - at St. Olaf on Monday night and at Macalester next Saturday sandwich a home game on Wednesday night against Augsburg and this might be the chance that Schmitz and his Saints squad have been looking for to get on something of a roll here.
So there you go. As always, please feel free to fire away with thoughts.
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