Here's my final MIAC Power Rankings as we conclude the regular season and look forward to the upcoming MIAC Playoffs:
1. UST
2. GAC
3. SMU
4. Concordia
5. Bethel
6. CSB
7. Augsburg
8. St. Kate's
9. St. Olaf
10. Macalester
11. Carleton
12. Hamline
No doubt about who takes the top spot in the final week - it's the Tommies as UST rolled to convincing wins; most notably over SMU yesterday to keep the regular season crown all to themselves. UST not only appears to be peaking at just the right time, they're healthy, too. They just appear to be (once again) head and shoulders above everyone else.
Where I really struggled was with my number two spot. You can easily make the argument that SMU, by virtue of its 20-5 overall record (14-4 in conference play), shouldn't have been knocked out of the number two spot in my power rankings. And yes, I'm well aware that they'll be the number two seed this next week in the MIAC Playoffs. After yesterday's blowout loss to UST, some of my fears and uneasiness with this team came into full view and it's entirely possible that this squad may have peaked too early and the fact that they've dropped two out of their last four contests would certainly suggest that. That's why I shoved GAC into the number two spot this morning. The Gusties; who have won their last five contests by comfortable margins (save for the nail-biter at CSB on Wednesday night), look like they are playing their best basketball at precisely the right time and are looking pretty good in doing it. Trust me, this wasn't any easy decision and I'm perfectly open to hear and respond to any arguments from Cardinal land.
Concordia settles into the number four spot this morning pretty much by default but even though they closed out the regular season yesterday with a convincing win at home against Macalester, they didn't help their cause when they got dough-popped at St. Kate's on Wednesday night. Bethel managed to get the bad taste of the heartbreaking loss to UST at home last week Saturday out of its mouth as they grabbed road wins at both Carleton on Wednesday night and at Hamline yesterday and got locked into the number five spot. CSB, after dropping a 52-51 heartbreaker to GAC on Wednesday night, managed to eek out a 42-37 win against Augsburg yesterday with that coveted sixth spot in the MIAC Playoffs at stake for both squads.
Speaking of Augsburg, it all came crumbling down yesterday up in St. Joe with that 42-37 heartbreaking loss yesterday. The Auggie faithful will be left wondering for a while how different things might have been had senior guard Maria Loughlin not been injured. Arguably, the hottest team down the stretch this regular season may very well have been St. Kate's who finished up the season with five straight wins which easily could have been ten straight wins had it not been for heartbreaking losses to UST, SMU and Augsburg. It was an Oh, So Close proposition for the Wildcats this year as they keep improving but can't quite yet get over the hump. Meanwhile, over on the west side of Northfield, it was an entirely different story altogether for St. Olaf which dropped eight of its last ten contests; some by rather large margins and you have to wonder what the future holds for the Oles.
Despite dropping its last three contests, Macalester took a step forward under second-year Head Coach Kelly Roysland and, depending on who she's able to bring in during the off-season, there's no reason to think that they can't take it a step forward next year. Carleton, beset with injuries to its best players this year, limped along as best they could but the Knights were simply a victim of some rather rotten luck this year. Hamline was much better than its record suggests and this young squad will be better next year although finding another star player in the Jordan Sammons mold might be a tough one.
Tomorrow, I'll handicap the upcoming MIAC Playoffs and give my thoughts on each team's chances to win the big ball of wax and get the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. This is definitely an exciting time of the year!
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