Well, it's been a sometimes wild and unpredictable regular season at that's brought changes to my Power Rankings since the first of the year so let me unveil my final version on the eve of the upcoming MIAC Playoffs:
1. (tie) Concordia & GAC
2. St. Kate's
3. Bethel
4. CSB
5. Hamline
6. (tie) Macalester & St. Scholastica
7. Augsburg
8. St. Olaf
9. SMU
Again, I have the Cobbers and Gusties both on top of the mountain to finish the regular season; both giving each other nasty stares with the upcoming MIAC Playoffs looming. I did this a week ago and the reason I did it was primarily because of the "eye test" after the Cobbers big win at Augsburg; along with the home win over GAC a few short days before. Throw in what Concordia did this last week of the regular season as well with convincing home wins over both St. Olaf and St. Scholastica and they've proven to me that they belong on that top spot and they'll handle being the second seed in the MIAC Playoffs just fine. Ditto for the Gusties as they finished off Augsburg and then blew out both SMU and Hamline; all in the comfy confines of Lund Arena and clinched the MIAC regular season title as well as the number-one seed for the MIAC Playoffs that goes with it this coming week.
One could argue that maybe I should have slid St. Kate's down a notch or two after yesterday's abysmal performance up at CSB but they did too much coming down the stretch for me to do that with six straight wins before that and a program-best of 18-7 overall and 14-6 in conference play. Now comes the interesting part for the 'Cats as they get locked into the third seed and a first-ever home playoff game in program history. How will they handle this? We'll see but if Head Coach Don Mulhern doesn't get Coach of the Year honors, something is definitely wrong........Bethel finished the last week of the regular season strong - getting a big home win over CSB last Wednesday night and then flattening St. Olaf down in Northfield yesterday and with the fourth seed in the MIAC Playoffs secured, they'll get to have at least one home game in Robertson Center where they Royals are tough to beat.
The aforementioned CSB team lost that tough one at Bethel this last Wednesday night but finished off the regular season flying high as they raced past St. Kate's up at Claire Lynch yesterday. Being relegated to the fifth seed and having to take their show on the road somehow doesn't seem right and some of this can be chalked up to inconsistency and some if it to pure rotten bad luck but, as someone once told me, it is what it is........Hamline bagged a nice home win this last Wednesday night against St. Scholastica but predictably got blown out yesterday down in St. Peter against GAC. This unpredictable roller-coaster ride of a season has the Pipers relegated to the sixth seed for this coming week.
I have both Macalester and St. Scholastica cuddled up together in the sixth spot of my Power Rankings for today. Neither the Scots nor the Saints could generate enough firepower or consistency that might've got them over that big hurdle and into the MIAC Playoffs yet both competed hard this season and both showed significant improvement. The Scots had the big overtime win over Hamline back in mid-January and finished off their season in grand style by beating Augsburg at home in Leonard Center yesterday. The Saints knocked off UMAC regular season champ UW-Superior back in mid-December and swept St. Olaf this season. Both of these programs have good coaches and it will be interesting to see if both programs can grow on this year's gains.
To me, the real disappointment this season is Augsburg. This is a team that had a lot of talent and potential and although they showed flashes at times (see the win at Hamline right after the first of the year), they never could put it all together for an extended period of time and it'll be hard to replace the three great seniors that this year's team had....... St. Olaf didn't have a lot of wins this season but nobody expected them to have a lot of wins this year after the great trio they had from last season graduated. But the big road win they had at Hamline early this month is one feather they can stick in their cap and I think this team is a better than what its record shows........Tough times down US Highway 61 and the CPKC River Sub mainline in Winona where SMU was winless in conference play and with the incredibly young team that the Cardinals have, it may be a while before we see noticeable improvement.
So there you have it folks. And now, it's time to gear up for the most wonderful time of the year - the upcoming MIAC Playoffs that will culminate with the MIAC Championship Game next Saturday. I'll have my MIAC Playoff Preview as I always do to try and break things down. You know what to do - buckle up and get ready. This is going to be fun. As always, please feel free to fire way with thoughts.
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