I'm running a little behind on this feature, but it's one that I need to run.
Ever since I took over the PA gig at North Central, I've always taken a look at the conference standings at the halfway point of the schedule. It's good to get a look at what's going on and see where everyone stands with seven (or now, eight, with Carroll's return to the conference) games to play.
In a week and a half I'll have a look at where North Central stacks up regionally, but that's only because that's when the NCAA releases its regional rankings. For now, we're going to stick with the conference standings, for both the men and the women. Pictured at the start of each section will be a screenshot of the conference standings pulled from the Confessions of a Sportscaster sidebar as of Monday, January 22nd.
Women's Basketball
I've mentioned over on D3Boards at least once this season that it's been a rough year on the women's side in Naperville. And really, the standings bear this out. North Central's two wins in conference came at home against Millikin, which wasn't a huge surprise, and at home against Carthage back in December, which given the standings now doesn't make a ton of sense; it's arguably the biggest upset in the conference thus far. With the remainder of the schedule, they should have beaten Carroll up in Waukesha, while the remaining five losses were all fairly handy. I remain encouraged by the fact that the Cardinals played Wheaton as tough as they did, while the remaining results were all losses by sizable margins. This past Saturday, Elmhurst led 22-2 after one quarter at their place and sent NCC on the path to its sixth conference loss and a guarantee of the first losing season for this program since 2013-14.
The Cardinals have a fairly balanced schedule the rest of the way, with four games at home and four on the road. They have to head to Illinois Wesleyan, Wheaton, and Carthage, which are all tough, plus a road trip to Millikin, with home dates left against Augustana, Elmhurst, North Park, and Carroll. At this point, I would hope the Cardinals can at least get to four conference wins, and anything beyond that they can get would be gravy with the way this season has gone. If by some miracle they can hit double digit wins for the season as a whole, I'll feel a lot better.
Looking at the rest of the conference, I'd pegged Illinois Wesleyan to win the conference, but I didn't expect them to survive the first run through the Gauntlet unscathed. I know one Titan fan was talking 16-0 earlier this month, and I called such talk premature. Now... I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. Five of their final eight are in Bloomington, though their road games are tough: at Wheaton February 7th (after their bye), then closing at Carthage and at Elmhurst. I'd make a crack about North Central having won three of the last four meetings at the Shirk Center, but those were totally different Cardinal teams. Elsewhere in conference, Wheaton seems like all but a lock to make the conference tournament again, which means it's going to be a thrilling three team race between Carthage, Augie, and Elmhurst for the last two spots. Carthage beat both, while Elmhurst suffered losses to both the first time around, but realistically I think any of the three could make it. North Park started strong, but seems to be coming back down to earth a little bit. Carroll has acquitted itself better this season, which is nice. I hope for Millikin's sake though that they don't go 0-16; not even Carroll did that last year, and I have no ill will towards Lori Kerans or the program.
Men's Basketball
I waited on writing this post until after Saturday's games because I didn't want to have to completely rewrite everything. I'd been thinking out a paragraph about the three headed monster tied for second but didn't want a jinx going up against a good Elmhurst team... who then proceeded to hit a bunch of improbable shots and play excellent defense against the Cardinals to snap their nine game win streak. Instead, we have what amounts to a six team race for the four tournament spots. North Central had a rough conference start; after beating North Park in Chicago to open the slate, they lost back to back tough games at Augustana and a heartbreaker at home to Illinois Wesleyan. After that the Cardinals caught fire and beat most of the rest of the conference, including solid home wins over Carthage and Wheaton. It's enough to put North Central in as the four seed had the season ended today.
The Cardinals have a very beneficial schedule the rest of the way; five of their final eight games will be played in the comforts of Gregory Arena. The problem is that of the three remaining road games, two are against the top two teams in the conference. Overall though, it's a beneficial schedule; getting the three teams at the bottom all at home should hopefully bode well, as will getting Augie at home the second time around, but I'm circling this Saturday's date with Elmhurst on my calendar for a Revenge Game. Ultimately, I think between the schedule and the talent on this North Central team, they're in good shape still for a conference tournament berth.
Looking at the rest of the league, I'm a little surprised by Illinois Wesleyan. I had them pegged to make the conference tournament, but not to have them sitting at 7-1 after one go around. They're for real, having won at Wheaton and North Central, as well as at home against Augie. The return trip won't be easy for them, but it's hard to imagine them falling out of the tournament picture. Wheaton is legit this year as well, as there are some excellent pieces around all world scorer Aston Francis. Augie is Augie, and even though they may be getting a little more love nationally than they arguably should, they're still a threat near the top of the conference. And you still can't sleep on Carthage or Elmhurst; the Jays have a good 1-2 punch in former Cardinal Jeremy Ireland and Jake Rhode, and the Red Men got Kienan Baltimore back from injury to help bolster their ranks that have already gotten a boost from the play of freshman Sean Johnson in relief of Brad Perry. You still can't sleep on those bottom three; Carroll is only a year removed from being decent and still has most of those players, North Park can beat you with Colin Lake when he's on, and Millikin has some good young pieces.
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