Attacking the Gauntlet Once More

Somehow, someway, I keep coming up with new titles for this annual post.

Like many of the conferences in Division III, the CCIW plays a double round robin in men's and women's basketball. Everyone has played eight games to date: one against every other opponent. So as we make the turn into the second half, this is where I start to write a little bit more on a weekly basis, beginning with this one. The regional rankings don't start coming out for another couple weeks yet, so we still have to wait for that, but this is where we start to look at postseason prospects for everyone, North Central in particular.


Women's Basketball

Well, for what it's worth... I was right on the money with North Central's non-conference record. I was worried as we turned the calendar to 2020; Alanna Newsome has missed ten games this season due to injury, and Lyndsay Brennan missed a few games as well as the Cardinals opened CCIW play at 1-4, with the lone win coming at Elmhurst. They got blown out at home by Illinois Wesleyan to open it up, then dropped one at North Park, which looking at the standings, makes perfect sense. Shorthanded losses to Wheaton (though in a game that was tied going into the fourth) and Millikin hurt, but the team is on a little heater, having won their last three. The way the standings are is actually kind of perfect; the Cardinals have wins over everyone below them, and losses to everyone above them.

The schedule isn't particularly easy the rest of the way, as trips to Bloomington and Wheaton are still on the docket, as well as visits to Kenosha and Waukesha. That leaves home games with North Park, Millikin, Augie, and Elmhurst for the remainder of the way. I haven't done any women's games since November, but I've been able to catch bits and pieces here and there, and I'm thrilled with how this team is playing. I think my preseason prediction is attainable: win one of your road games, and split your home games, and you get to 7-9. Looking at the standings, I think that would be enough to get one of the road games on the Tuesday. Doing one better gets you to .500 with an outside shot at a home game on that Tuesday. I think it's attainable, and the way this team is playing right now... I don't want to count them out.

But I also know that this is a tough conference. Wheaton just beat Illinois Wesleyan, but they seem like they're down this year. They've had some trouble scoring outside of Hannah Frazier, but are in the mix as expected. North Park is a little bit of a surprise in terms of being 7-1, with the lone loss a blowout at the hands of the Titans. I think they're good enough to get a bye and possibly even host, which would be kind of neat for them. But nationally, we'll see if the CCIW will be able to get an at large this year.

Men's Basketball

There was discussion back in November that the CCIW was the best conference in the country. I look here, and it's hard to argue against that. But this year that comes with a cost: the conference has, to some degree, cannibalized itself. North Central has avoided the worst of that though: they lost by two up in Kenosha to open CCIW play. They've since rattled off ten straight victories, seven of them against CCIW opponents, including being responsible for that "1" in Elmhurst's loss column with a comeback victory.

The schedule the rest of the way is definitely not easy. The Cardinals have to travel to Rock Island, Wheaton, and Bloomington in the second half, as well as Waukesha, which is no picnic either. That leaves home games against most of the bottom of the conference and what may end up being the regular season championship game on February 8th when the Blue Jays come calling. The Cardinals obviously haven't clinched a conference tournament berth, but it would take a monumental collapse to miss. The race for the top though is going to be a dogfight in this second half.

Obviously the Blue Jays are the biggest threat, but I don't want to count out Augie or Wheaton. Both lost in Naperville by a single possession. Illinois Wesleyan can't be counted out either, even though road trips to DuPage County ended in double digit losses. It's a five team race for the top of the conference... but we might only see two CCIW teams make The Dance.