Valpo to play in CollegeInsider.com Tournament

[usc4valpo]

Thanks, Dale.

Where's Ron Burgandy when you need him?

[valpo64]

There was a report today on local media that IPFW will be in the CIT...would they be paired with us?

[mvandersee]

Paul Oren ‏@NWIOren  17m
Lavonte Dority on playing in CIT -- "We want to win this thing. We want to go out the right way." #HLMBB

[talksalot]

NEW YORK – The Columbia University men's basketball program has accepted a bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), Dr. M. Dianne Murphy, Director, Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education announced today.

"We are thrilled to participate in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament," Murphy said.  "We are so proud of the season our men's basketball team had.  I can think of no better way to cap off a wonderful season than by participating in a great postseason tournament."

The Lions will travel to Valparaiso, Indiana to play Valparaiso on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 7:05 p.m. Central Time for Columbia's first post season appearance since the 1967-68 season.

Columbia is 1-1 all-time vs. the Crusaders, earning a 66-64 win in 1957 and losing to Valparaiso 71-55 in 2001.

Columbia enters the CIT at 19-12, 8-6 in the Ivy League, marking the most wins since 1969-70 and the most Ivy League wins since 1992-93.

"We are excited for this opportunity to play in the CIT," head men's basketball coach Kyle Smith said. "It has always been our goal to play in the postseason.  It is fantastic to see our team reach one of their goals."

Here are their stats:

http://www.gocolumbialions.com/fls/9600/Stats/MBB/2013/teamcume.htm#TEAM.IND

[talksalot]

Missouri State will be hosting Murray State
Grand Canyon Antelopes will be in the tournament
VMI will be in the tournament (first post-season in 37 years)

Checking out the pronounciation on the Columbia Lion roster... two things jumped out.   1.  They are typical Ivy League, from all over the country.  2.  No Seniors on the roster.

1      Coby, Jeff            F    6-8    220    Fr.    Pembroke Pines, Fla. (Choate Rosemary Hall/Sagemont)
2      Cohen, Isaac    G    6-4    210    So.    Orlando, Fla. (Orlando Christian Prep)              <<Leading Rebounder
3      Mullins, Grant    G    6-3    175    So.    Burlington, Ontario, Canada (REDA/Notre Dame)
5      Frankoski, Steve    G    6-2    175    Jr.    Florham Park, N.J. (St. Benedict's Prep)
11      En'Wezoh, Zach    F    6-8    220    So.    Kennewick, Wash. (Kamiakin)
12      Lo, Maodo           G    6-3    180    So.    Berlin, Germany (Wilbraham & Monson)           <<Second Leading Scorer
13      Rosenberg, Alex    F    6-7    215    Jr.    Short Hills, N.J. (Millburn)                             <<leading scorer, 213 of 258 Free Throws, 82%
14      Jackson, Kendall    G    5-8    160    Fr.    Union City, Calif. (Suffield Academy/Bishop O'Dowd)
20      Quinn, Paddy    G    6-1    175    So.    Ramsey, N.J. (Don Bosco Prep)
21      Springwater, Noah    G    6-3    175    Jr.    San Francisco, Calif. (University)
22      Lyles, Meiko    G    6-3    190    Jr.    Nashville, Tenn. (University School)
23      Osetkowski, Cory    C    6-11    258    Jr.    Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (Canyon Crest)   <<Leading Blocker (32)
32      McComber, Chris    F    6-8    225    Fr.    Nepean, Ontario (John McCrae Secondary School/REDA)
33      Petrasek, Luke    F    6-10    205    Fr.    East Northport, N.Y. (Northport)
52      Voss, Conor    C    7-1    245    Fr.    St. Cloud, Minn. (St. Cloud Cathedral)  Averages 1.9 minutes/game, scored 1 point for the season

Average Home Crowd:  1,450 (Penn/ Princeton drew 2400; had several December games with 500-600 crowds.) 
Did play at Izzo-land, lost by 9
Road wins over Princeton , Cornell, Colgate and Dartmouth.   

Finished 3rd in the Ivy, tied with Princeton at 8-6.  RPI is 130, 0-4 against top 50

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Did play at Izzo-land, lost by 9

Wow.  You ain't lion--that's impressive, even though MSU has been down this year.

I'm going to show some of my much-vaunted restraint and not make any jokes about any of their names.

[FWalum]

IPFW has also accepted a bid to the CIT, haven't heard an opponent named yet.  Would love to see us get a chance to play and take them to the woodshed.  IPFW played a s#*t Non Conf schedule with a SOS of 307. They really think the we ducked them this year by not continuing our home and home contract with them.  They were the 2 seed in the Summit and led 38 of the 40 minutes of the championship game against RPI 32 North Dakota State.  #32 really??? I know they beat 3 teams in the 51-100 RPI range and only lost to 1 while also beating Notre Dame, but watching them last night I couldn't help but think that a healthy Green Bay would have wiped the floor with them.  No way they only lose 2 conference games in the Horizon.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Of all the people on this board, I like you in FIRED UP MODE the best.

[FWalum]

Of all the people on this board, I like you in FIRED UP MODE the best.

Thank you very much LAA.

[StlVUFan]

Yes, wh, thank you for that impassioned response on Bryce Drew.

My only add: I don't trust anyone except perhaps for recent college athletes like valpotx to accurately interpret body language or accurately discern desire.  Those kinds of arguments get absolutely nowhere with me.  Unless you're that professor character from the recent TV series "Lie to me" (which I loved), it goes in one of my ears and out the other without being processed.

It seems to me athletes have a variety of ways to comport themselves.  You could line up a whole bunch of players who all excelled at every facet of the game, and you could easily draw the hasty conclusion that half of them didn't care very much or were never fired up, which to me invalidates that whole mindset.

[historyman]

it goes in one of my ears and out the other without being processed.

And that is unusual?   

[talksalot]

on the HL facebook page:

For the second straight year, the Wright State men's basketball team will play in a post-season tournament as the Raiders will play at East Carolina in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) Tuesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. ET. WSU ...

[LaPorteAveApostle]

For the second straight year, the Wright State men's basketball team will play in the kind of post-season tournament it's just a little harder to get up for as the Raiders will play at East Carolina in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) Tuesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. ET. WSU ...

fixed it for them

and us / sad face

[oklahomamick]

How does the 2nd round work?  Do they re-seed the teams?  Do they try and find geographical regions? 

[talksalot]

Yes and Yes.  "Geography is king" in the future rounds.   Another First round game...Quinnipiac and Yale (IVY #3)... are only 11 miles apart.   and They are only 102 miles from Providence where Brown is hosting Holy Cross.  Holy Cross is 88 miles from Quinnipiac...   I'm guessing the winners get together in round 2

If IPFW can get past their first game "against an opponent yet to be determined. "... we get them in the second round.... not sure why we would not.

[talksalot]

How to get students to come to the game.

just posted on the Athletics Facebook page

":Students, come to the game against Columbia early on Tuesday and Coach Bryce will buy you pizza! He'll personally ask you to come tomorrow during lunch in Founders'."

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Well that keeps us from having a bracket contest.

Guess we'll just go round by round. 

[govalpogo]

Here's your first round according to the CIT website:

March 17
Holy Cross at Brown

March 18
Columbia at Valparaiso
Chattanooga at East Tennessee State
Wright State at East Carolina
Norfolk State at Eastern Michigan
Alabama State at Sam Houston State
Portland State at San Diego
VMI at Canisius

March 19
Murray State at Missouri State
Pacific at Grand Canyon
Quinnipiac at Yale
Towson at USC Upstate
Cleveland State at Ohio
Akron at IPFW
North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha
Texas A&M Corpus Christi at Northern Colorado

[LaPorteAveApostle]

FWIW, in spite of analysts' exhortations this time of year to "throw the records out the window!", the same thing, but with records, unless you're USD.

FIRST ROUND

Monday, March 17
Holy Cross (19-13) @ Brown (15-13)

Tuesday, March 18
VMI (19-12) @ Canisius (20-12)
Wright State (20-14) @ East Carolina (17-16)
Norfolk State (19-14) @ Eastern Michigan (21-14)
Chattanooga (18-14) @ ETSU (18-15)
Columbia (19-12) @ Valparaiso (18-15)
Alabama State (19-12) @ Sam Houston State (23-10)
Portland State (17-14) @ San Diego

Wednesday, March 19
Quinnipiac (20-11) @ Yale (15-13)
Towson (23-10) @ USC Upstate (19-14)
Cleveland State (21-11) @ Ohio (23-11)
Akron (21-12) @ IPFW (24-10)
Murray State (18-11) @ Missouri State (20-12)
North Dakota (17-16) @ Nebraska-Omaha (16-14)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (17-15) @ Northern Colorado (18-13)
Pacific (15-15) @ Grand Canyon (15-14)

[talksalot]

Here's the CBI Schedule...(College Basketball Invitational)

3/18/14    Stony Brook @ Siena College    Loudonville, NY    TBD         
3/19/14    Hampton @ Penn State  University Park, Pa.    TBD         
3/19/14    Wyoming @ Texas A&M  College Station, Texas    TBD         
3/19/14    Morehead State @ Illinois State   Normal, Ill.    TBD         
3/19/14    South Dakota State @ Old Dominion   Norfolk, Va.    TBD         
3/19/14    Princeton @ Tulane  New Orleans, La.    TBD         
3/19/14    Radford @ Oregon State   Corvallis, Ore.    TBD         
3/19/14    Fresno State @ UTEP   El Paso, Texas    TBD         


The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a postseason tournament comprised of a 16-team field and hosted at on-campus arenas throughout the country. The CBI is a single-elimination tournament, up until the Championship Series. The Championship Series is a best-of-three series. The CBI provides a meaningful opportunity for teams that are deserving of a postseason experience.

Read more: College Basketball Invitational http://www.gazellegroup.com/events/cbi/index_main.htm#ixzz2wBT11SKG

Read more: Schedule http://www.gazellegroup.com/events/cbi/schedule.htm#ixzz2wBSfbtU7

[LaPorteAveApostle]

5 HL teams in postseason (3 in CIT); probably the most ever for the league (certainly the highest %, 55.5%, of teams).

4 teams from the state of Ohio in the CIT.

Here's the same thing AGAIN but I took the liberty of adding in the RPI numbers from LiveRPI for a bit of context.  Gosh, there are some real dogs in this field.

FIRST ROUND

Monday, March 17
Holy Cross (127) @ Brown (229)

Tuesday, March 18
VMI (211) @ Canisius (96)
Wright State (173) @ East Carolina (216)
Norfolk State (227) @ Eastern Michigan (86)
Chattanooga (243) @ ETSU (206)
Columbia (130) @ Valparaiso (184)
Alabama State (254) @ Sam Houston State (112)
Portland State (252) @ San Diego (156)

Wednesday, March 19
Quinnipiac (105) @ Yale (147)
Towson (95) @ USC Upstate (163)
Cleveland State (91) @ Ohio (87)
Akron (93) @ IPFW (115)
Murray State (142) @ Missouri State (85)
North Dakota (197) @ Nebraska-Omaha (219)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (249) @ Northern Colorado (205)
Pacific (133) @ Grand Canyon (203)

Obviously marquee matchup is CSU-Ohio (avg RPI 89); nothing else really comes close to averaging 100 save Akron-IPFW (104).  Dog of the first round is TA&M-CC @ NCol (227...). 

[talksalot]

OK I'll Start the pool... 16 First-Round Games... here goes:

FIRST ROUND

Monday, March 17
Holy Cross

Tuesday, March 18
Canisius
Wright State 
Eastern Michigan
ETSU
Valparaiso
Sam Houston State
San Diego

Wednesday, March 19
Yale
USC Upstate
Cleveland State  <<But it will take a miracle @ohio>>
Akron
Missouri State
North Dakota 
Northern Colorado
Grand Canyon

Our Second Round matchup will depend on how the MAC (3 teams) and the HL (3 teams) fare.  Wright State has only played BGSU from the MAC; Cleveland State has already played EMU, Akron, Toledo, Ball State and Kent....  so it would appear Akron or EMU might be on the radar... BUT HEY... Let's beat the Lions First!  We've already beaten a LIONS team once this year.

[talksalot]

5 HL teams in postseason (3 in CIT); probably the most ever for the league (certainly the highest %, 55.5%, of teams).

Wow... let's go back about 12 months for this one...

Valpo - Dancing
Detroit - NIT
Wright State - CBI
UIC - CIT
GBay - CIT
YSU - CIT

and YSU Beat Oakland in the CIT... so 7 of this year's 9 HL teams were in post season...Interesting, No Milwaukee (9th seed in the HL last year) and Cleveland State (8th see in the HL last year).  The Times They are a Changin'

[agibson]

With three of them winning games, which somehow I failed to notice until last night.  Hard to jeep following the HL once Valpo's done.

YSU's first postseason win ever, apparently (and first appearance ?).

Is the state of Indiana a little thinly, or weakly, represented in the postseason this year?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Valpo - Dancing
Detroit - NIT
Wright State - CBI
UIC - CIT
GBay - CIT
YSU - CIT

Whoops.