Wanted to provide a bit of an update on things going on with not only the MIAC Women's Basketball scene but the larger picture as well as we head into the final weekend of the regular season.
So, with GAC holding off a determined effort from St. Scholastica last night, we now have a three-way tie for second place in the MIAC between SMU, Bethel and GAC. Just as important, it sets up tomorrow's (Saturday 2-21) clash between SMU and GAC down in St. Peter not only as a decider on second place in the conference and the number-two seed in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs but also as a de facto NCAA Tournament play-in game as well (which I'll show you in a moment). I don't think I need to go into too much detail in emphasizing the importance of this particular game tomorrow. The loser of this game will essentially have one path - and one path only - to the Big Dance and that will be via winning the whole ball of wax in the MIAC Playoffs and that's just going to be the reality of the situation. When you look at the current standings in the MIAC right now, it's easy to see what an incredibly tough conference this truly is and it simply does not get the attention or respect it should. My hope right now is that the MIAC can at least get three teams into the Dance and I don't think that's being unrealistic at all when you look at the NPI rankings. But as you well know, we have to see how everything plays out first and after tomorrow's action, we'll at least have a clear idea of the seeding for the upcoming MIAC Playoffs.
So this pic gives you an idea of what things are looking like for teams that are currently on the "bubble" and it clearly demonstrates how important it is for each of these teams to win to maintain a reasonably strong NPI number. I'll provide another update on things Sunday to see how things look after Saturday's action.
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