They Shouldn't Have Let Us In

A week ago, I was looking at CCIW Tournament scenarios, and lamenting how North Central had its fate not in its own hands. I talked a little bit on Thursday about NCAA Tournament scenarios, but for North Central, the formula was simple: win and in. Admittedly, I didn't think it would happen. But, like many members of the Cardinal basketball team expressed on social media Saturday night and Sunday morning, "They shouldn't have let us in."

The Cardinals avenged their two February overtime losses, nearly blowing a 23 point lead against Carthage on Friday before Aiden Chang played hero with a floater at the buzzer to send the Cardinals to the title game. There, they engaged Augustana in a back and forth affair where the Cardinals took control late, had some more free throw trouble, but locked down on defense enough late and did hit enough that they beat the Vikings and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. This Cardinal team is now a very dangerous opponent that I'm sure no one wants to see.

This morning, the NCAA unveiled the bracket for this year's tournament. I knew the CCIW was going to be in some rough water with regards to getting any at large bids. But for the tenth straight season, the CCIW will send multiple representatives to the Big Dance, as Augustana joined the Cardinals. North Central itself had a long wait, as they were the final team to go up on the board, but the drama was just left to seeing who the Cardinals would play this weekend.

So, without further ado, let's take a look at North Central's pod for the weekend and what to expect from the Cardinals' opponents standing in the way of their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2013.

2017 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

In years past, I've done a women's tournament preview as well, and done that first. This year, since North Central didn't make the women's tournament, I'm going to skip that one and instead leave my thoughts on the matter to the regional rankings post and the knowledge that a #4 seed has never won a CCIW Tournament game, and only once has a #2 seed won the tournament. But that's about the women.

Today I'm looking at the tournament North Central did make, so let's preview the CCIW Tournament.

North Central and the NCAA Regional Rankings: Week 3 Edition

I'm a day late on this again. But given that the calculations for the regional rankings were compiled after Sunday's games, then not even posted until yesterday, I think I can be forgiven the delay.

We're taking one final look at the regional rankings in Division III basketball and where North Central ranks both in the men's and women's sports. I also want to look at how the CCIW stands with these.

It's important to bear in mind though that since the rankings only go through Sunday, games have happened since then that may change some things. Click here to read the Week 2 rankings post.

2017 NCC Women's Basketball Recap

This is always one of the more disappointing pieces I end up writing on Confessions of a Sportscaster. It means basketball season is winding down and my work for the year is done. Year Six is in the books, and while it didn't end the way I necessarily would have liked, I'm proud of what this team accomplished this year.

One More To Go: A CCIW Update

I didn't get to watch any of it live, but I'm reveling in the upset pulled off by NCC against Illinois Wesleyan. I guess if you maybe want to get technical, both of them.

The regular season all comes down to Tuesday, and while most of the CCIW Tournament field is filled, the seedings are still very much up for grabs. And so as I like to do on an annual basis going into the final game, here are the scenarios for seedings in next weekend's CCIW Tournament.

I do want to express my thanks to the D3Boards community for working out all of the men's scenarios, which greatly helped my understanding of how Tuesday's stuff was going to work.

North Central and the NCAA Regional Rankings: Week 2 Edition

It took until later on yesterday afternoon, but the NCAA finally dropped its second set of regional rankings. These preceded another round of CCIW games that took place last night, so these rankings are going to be subject to a little bit of change in the aftermath. But at the same time, we need to take a look at how these rankings impact North Central as well as the CCIW as a whole. You can view last week's post here.

Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (2/11/17)

Final Score
NCC 84, Elmhurst 60

Game Summary
This was another good game in the early going as the Cardinals (14-9, 8-6) traded baskets with the Blue Jays (6-17, 2-12) forcing five ties and five lead changes in the first ten minutes. Then the Cardinals went on a mini 7-0 run to break a 16-all tie, though Elmhurst hit some threes to keep it close, but the Cardinals were even more lethal from distance, hitting a barrage of them to take a 44-31 lead into the locker room. They picked up right where they left off to start the second half, bridging a pair of Blue Jay free throws with a pair of threes. North Central would push the lead as high as 31 before calling off the dogs.

Key Stats

• NCC: 12-29 3PT (41-4%). This was easily the best night the Cardinals had from distance (and you know when the men hit more threes than the women, they're on fire). More on that below, but this was a key for giving North Central the edge. The fact that former Heat Check guy Jayme Moten had to watch from Elmhurst's bench... even better.
• Alex Sorenson (NCC): 9-15 FG (4-6 3PT), 4-5 FT; 26 pts, 9 reb (2 off), 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Alex has struggled from deep this season, so it was nice to see him break out of his funk. He was able to establish himself in the post early as Elmhurst, despite the double teams, wasn't really able to stop him. Eventually he started to find himself open beyond the arc, and he made the Blue Jays pay. He checked in from a breather maybe midway through the second half and told me if he hit another to be louder with it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to oblige him, as he would foul out before hitting another.
• Jagger Anderson (NCC): 6-11 FG (2-5 3PT), 2-4 FT; 16 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl. After earning Player of the Week honors for last week, Jagger had a good home finale. He had his obligatory one ridiculous full speed layup for an and-one, and I continue to be impressed by how his jump shooting has improved. The book on him coming into the year was to dare him to shoot, and he's good enough to make teams pay for doing so. The fact that he dished out nine assists only adds to the legend. A good Senior Night for the Cardinals' lone elder statesman.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ Carroll 75 (12-10, 7-6), Augustana 70 (18-5, 11-3)
• @ Wheaton 70 (11-11, 7-6), North Park 67 (15-7, 8-5)
• Illinois Wesleyan 90 (16-6, 8-5), @ Carthage 78 (15-7, 8-5)
• BYE: Millikin (3-19, 1-12)

Final Thoughts 
The Cardinals close their home schedule with a 7-5 record. Not awful, but certainly underwhelming. They took care of business at home early in the season with wins over teams like Aurora and Alma, but there are too many home losses that hurt. North Central should have beaten UW-Platteville, probably should have beaten Robert Morris, and also have home losses to Augustana, Carthage, and North Park... only three of the top four teams in the CCIW. They make sense, but for a team with incredibly high expectations, they still hurt.

North Central has two games left: at Carthage on Wednesday, and at Illinois Wesleyan to close out the regular season on Saturday. The Cardinals will then miss out on next Tuesday, when the rest of the conference closes out the regular season, so North Central will have no real control over its own destiny. But they sit just half a game out of a three way tie for second place in the CCIW, and if they finish 10-6 in conference they should make the CCIW Tournament, especially given their opponents this week.