There are some days where it is very good to be the lead story on D3hoops.com.
It’s probably a happy occasion if you’re in the headline in the first few days of November. That’s right around the time the Preseason Top 25 comes out. Even better is being in the headline the evening of March 17. That probably means you’re the National Champions.
But February 20 is not such a good time to be the lead story on D3hoops.com, particularly if you’re a ranked team. If you’re leading off the front page come Tuesday night, it’s probably because you’ve just been eliminated from your conference tournament in an upset. “Ranked team pummels eight seed” isn’t much of a headline. But “Eight Seed stuns Ranked Team” is pretty good. Unless, of course, you’re the ranked team.
Here are a few teams who are hoping to stay anonymous through Tuesday night and right into the next round of their tournament.
No. 18 UW-La Crosse: Perhaps more so than any other nationally ranked men’s teams, the Eagles can ill afford a loss to open their conference tournament. The next loss will be Lax’s seventh in region. They were not mentioned in last week’s regional rankings even though UW-Oshkosh (who the Eagles swept) was. The Eagles need to avoid the snare of UW-Stout in the WIAC Quarterfinals.
UW-La Crosse vs. UW-Stout Broadcast – WMEQ
No. 7 UW-Oshkosh: The Titans seem to be a little better position than their conference mates. They have five regional loses and were slotted fifth in the most recent regional rankings. They’ve taken both games from WIAC quarterfinal opponent UW-River Falls this year, though the Falcons made things interesting at their place (69-66 UWO win). My gut tells me UWO is in with two wins and perhaps with just one. But then again my gut also tells me that my Flock of Seagulls t-shirt is a hit with the ladies. Better to win this game and leave my gut out of it.
UW-Oshkosh vs. UW-River Falls – WRST (Audio)
UW-Oshkosh vs. UW-River Falls – Stretchcast (Video)
No. 20 Wilmington: The gap between ranked women’s teams and their first round opponent is usually pretty large. Like 20-30 points large. But No. 20 Wilmington will have to be careful with Muskingum who won three of its last four games entering the OAC tournament. The Quakers beat the Muskies by 13 points on the road and 15 points at home so far this season.
Which is unfortunate, because plenty of good teams play and win games this time of year. But it’s hard to spotlight a team that does what it’s expected to do. The surprise is always what’s news.
It’s a great time of year for lots of teams. Let’s give some love to the Dickinson Lady Red Devils at 21-4 with the #4 defense in the country and #11 ranking in turnovers. They just come off quality road wins at Muhlenberg and Ursinus and avenged an earlier loss by beating Gettysburg at home.
And on that note, UW-Whitewater, a No. 2 seed, on the women’s side, took it on the chin on Monday against No. 7 seed Platteville…
Seems like we get one of those in the WIAC or OAC every year.
Baldwin-Wallace women leave the wish-to-remain-anonymous list tonight, losing in the OAC quarters to Mount Union.
Every thing has been status quo, though RIC needed overtime to beat Southern Maine in the Little East Quarterfinals.
First NCAA bid clinched: La Verne women win SCIAC