Ok, good luck in conference play everyone.  And enjoy Turkey Day tomorrow.

GotN
#3 Bridgewater (10-0)(diamond24) at #6 Lynchburg (9-1)(googs04)
Huge game kicking off the conference season in the Old Dominion conference with two top six teams playing the first of two regular season meetings.  B-Water is still perfect on the season while Lynchburg's only loss was a double-overtime thriller with Palm Beach.  googs has a big 11-1 lead in the series and the odds-makers have this one as an even pick.  Should be a good one.

Also considered: #17 Dallas at #4 Trinity, #14 Earlham at Wittenberg, #18 Webster at Dominican, and #20 Emerson at Suffolk

Sim blowout watch: Three spreads in the 50's but the "winner" tonight is winless Wilmington as a 64 point home dog against undefeated #25 John Carroll.  Yet another sim-on-sim matchup, good times.

Didn't get to the write-up yesterday, was too busy eating and watching several of my real-life favorite teams win.  Good times.

Last Last Night
#5 Bridgewater 70   #3 Lynchburg 76
This was a close one throughout with the home team nursing a 3 point lead at the half.  B-Water stuck around the whole game and were within a possession or two almost the entire second half.  Lynchburg was finally able to put it away with a series of free throws at the end and notched a big home win in their conference opener.

Also considered: #14 Dallas got by #7 Trinity on the road 61-53, Wittenberg upset #19 Earlham at home 66-56, #16 Webster took care of Dominican on the road 85-72, and Suffolk edged Emerson 62-56.

Sim blowout watch: Wilmington was close to getting doubled up but they managed the cover against John Carroll 46-80.

Last Night
#10 Chapman 79   #11 Willamette 80
Chapman was cruising at the half with a 47-35 lead but the home team came roaring back midway through the second with a big 19-3 run to come all the way back and take a 6 point lead.  Willamette lost the lead again a couple times but they were able to take advantage of some missed free throws and made enough shots down the stretch to escape with the exciting 1 point home win.

Also considered: Hendrix stunned #2 Millsaps at home 97-85, #7 Trinity cruised past Stillman 75-55, #14 Dallas took care of Emory 70-52, Emmanuel got a late bucket and a big defensive stop to force overtime where they pulled away from Emerson 68-61, and #19 Earlham got past Hiram 70-60.

Sim blowout watch: Ferrum was a 53 point road dog but they easily covered against #18 Christopher Newport 45-72.

GotN
#23 Howard Payne (10-1)(meandean2) at #6 Hardin-Simmons (10-2)(sublightd)
Big game in the ASC east division between two of the three ranked teams currently leading the division.  It'll be a race to watch to see who comes out with the divisional title here and this is the opening shot of six games between them.  Continuing a season trend, this is the first meeting of these coaches and the home team is favored by 3.

Also considered: #20 Johnson and Wales at #15 Emmanuel, Centre at #7 Trinity, #10 Chapman at E.Oregon, and #22 Kenyon at Hiram

Sim blowout watch: Whitman is getting a hefty 60 points as they host #11 Willamette.

Y'all got room for one more?

Sure, grab a team in Ohio or Western PA and then we can both steal the pseudochamps B level recruits.

Check out USA South too. Good coaches and solid competition, but not so brutal that it's impossible to win.

According to his post in the main thread, corn has reserved Colorado here in Rupp so he'll be stealing recruits from all the crappy D2 schools out west.  And speaking of Colorado, I was traveling back from there this weekend and yesterday was a busy work day so we fell behind again.  Yet another catchup post, I'm the worst.

Last Last Last Last Night   (wow)
Howard Payne 72   #6 Hardin-Simmons 92
H-Sim opened up a 13 point lead at the half and was able to ride that until the end.  Hardin-Simmons is still undefeated in conference play and currently sit tied for their divisional lead while H-Payne is two games back in the loss column.

Also considered: #14 Johnson and Wales made a bunch of free throws to finish off Emmanuel 74-70, #7 Trinity took care of Centre at home 71-57, #25 E. Oregon got the home upset over #17 Chapman 80-70, and Hiram knocked Kenyon from the rankings with a 64-55 win.

Sim blowout watch: Whitman had no issues covering against #11 Willamette 60-86.

Last Last Last Night
#2 Millsaps 81   Centre 64
Much like the previous night's featured game, Millsaps went into the break with a 12 point lead and then were able to finish off the double-digit road win in impressive fashion.  Millsaps lead their division with one loss while Centre is a couple games off the pace with only two wins in conference.

Also considered: #11 Willamette defended the home court against Menlo 70-56, Whitworth got a nice road upset over #17 Chapman 76-66, #10 Dallas won a low-scoring affair at Rhodes 56-34, #14 Johnson and Wales got past Newbury 65-54, #16 Christopher Newport downed Methodist 77-67, and Oberlin won a double-overtime thriller over #19 Earlham 87-84.

Sim blowout watch: Bethany was a massive 84 point underdog against #5 Bridgewater.  They almost got doubled up but they still covered 56-101.

Last Last Night
Howard Payne 51   #8 Austin 71
Each of these days I found time to make notes on which games I wanted to pick for featured games and obviously I didn't do a good job picking close games.  Austin was another double-digit halftime leader who extended the lead in the second half.  Like Hardin-Simmons, Austin is undefeated in conference play and tied with them atop the division.

Also considered: #2 Millsaps took care of Sewanee on the road 89-78, #7 Trinity got past Hendrix 91-81, #13 S.Vermont nailed a game-winner in the last few seconds to edge Emerson 70-68, and #17 Chapman got the road win at Menlo 83-73.

Sim blowout watch: We had two spreads in the 60's and both sims covered.  LeTourneau fell to #8 Hardin-Simmons 68-100 while Otterbein was downed by #12 Capital 54-75.

Last Night
#12 Capital 49   #4 Baldwin-Wallace 64
See, no close games.  B-Wall only had a 4 point lead at the break in this one but they were able to pull away in the second half for the solid home win.  They remain undefeated in conference play and one game ahead of Capital in the divisional race.

Also considered: #2 Millsaps coasted past Louisiana 105-73, #7 Trinity got past Sewanee 73-54, #9 Allegheny got a clutch home win over Denison 51-41, and #16 Christopher Newport beat Greensboro 78-68.

GotN  (finally)
#8 Austin (13-2)(ricosuave21) at #6 Hardin-Simmons (14-2)(sublightd)
As mentioned above, these two teams are tied atop the ASC east division with two perfect records.  sublightd has a big advantage in the all-time series but the road team is favored by a point.  Should be a good one, hopefully.

Also considered: #10 Dallas at Hendrix, Whitworth at #11 Willamette, #13 S. Vermont at Suffolk, and Dominican at #15 Webster

Sim blowout watch: Poor winless Wilmington is getting a deserved 76 points as they host #12 Capital.

Its awfully quiet in here!

The huge showdown last night between #2 Millsaps and #3 Dallas didn't disappoint, with Dallas pulling out the W in OT.

Sorry I disappeared this season and the segment I promised, things haven't slowed down for me as I expect, and I will do my best to do the write-up in timely fashions the following season.

Tournament Odds:

Seed	Team	Rating	32	16	8	4	2	1
1	Dallas	57.63	97.70%	63.03%	29.63%	12.29%	3.33%	1.08%
16	U.S. Coast Guard	50.48	2.30%	0.16%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
8	UMass, Dartmouth	53.53	18.47%	2.58%	0.30%	0.03%	0.00%	0.00%
9	Chapman	56.75	81.53%	34.23%	12.99%	4.24%	0.84%	0.20%
4	Nebraska Wesleyan	58.3	79.27%	44.09%	26.98%	13.07%	4.35%	1.69%
13	St. Norbert	55.37	20.73%	5.32%	1.65%	0.34%	0.04%	0.01%
5	Johnson and Wales	57.05	37.86%	16.35%	7.86%	2.80%	0.62%	0.17%
12	Penn St. Altoona	58.2	62.14%	34.24%	20.60%	9.78%	3.17%	1.20%
2	Bridgewater	57.37	79.28%	32.84%	13.08%	6.06%	1.50%	0.45%
15	Wentworth Tech.	54.44	20.72%	3.35%	0.52%	0.10%	0.01%	0.00%
7	Transylvania	58.57	91.47%	62.05%	32.38%	19.08%	6.87%	2.87%
10	Maranatha Baptist Bible	53.69	8.53%	1.77%	0.20%	0.03%	0.00%	0.00%
3	Webster	59.26	87.39%	66.07%	41.74%	27.51%	11.84%	5.80%
14	Bowdoin	55.19	12.61%	4.25%	0.97%	0.24%	0.02%	0.00%
6	Wabash	56.92	53.85%	16.81%	6.58%	2.74%	0.58%	0.15%
11	Howard Payne	56.55	46.15%	12.86%	4.54%	1.71%	0.31%	0.07%
1	Hardin-Simmons	60.75	99.66%	90.20%	69.11%	45.44%	33.93%	21.82%
16	Baptist Bible	50.47	0.34%	0.02%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
8	Ursinus	56.51	76.53%	9.08%	3.04%	0.74%	0.24%	0.05%
9	Wisconsin Lutheran	53.9	23.47%	0.70%	0.09%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
4	Hiram	58.41	47.26%	29.29%	8.91%	3.76%	1.94%	0.78%
13	S. Vermont	58.67	52.74%	34.14%	11.23%	5.04%	2.73%	1.17%
5	Whittier	57.44	53.79%	20.59%	4.54%	1.48%	0.61%	0.19%
12	U.S. Merchant Marines	57.08	46.21%	15.98%	3.09%	0.90%	0.34%	0.09%
2	Willamette	60.19	97.55%	61.95%	51.05%	26.85%	18.66%	10.93%
15	Babson	53.16	2.45%	0.13%	0.02%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
7	Hamline	59.15	55.99%	22.64%	16.74%	7.03%	4.16%	1.99%
10	Kenyon	58.58	44.01%	15.28%	10.51%	3.82%	2.03%	0.85%
3	Baldwin-Wallace	56.49	79.31%	36.05%	6.83%	1.26%	0.40%	0.09%
14	Wilkes	53.56	20.69%	3.76%	0.17%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
6	Palm Beach Atlantic	57.51	71.80%	47.48%	13.16%	3.48%	1.46%	0.46%
11	Louisiana	55.42	28.20%	12.71%	1.52%	0.18%	0.04%	0.01%
1	Millsaps	60.15	98.44%	64.33%	55.51%	35.58%	22.36%	12.53%
16	Millikin	52.38	1.56%	0.08%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
8	Austin	59.17	82.57%	33.45%	26.50%	14.32%	7.59%	3.49%
9	Maryville	55.83	17.43%	2.14%	1.00%	0.21%	0.04%	0.01%
4	Dickinson	56.13	82.09%	40.60%	6.53%	1.53%	0.36%	0.07%
13	Keene St.	52.85	17.91%	3.34%	0.10%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
5	Christopher Newport	56.77	74.06%	46.07%	9.61%	2.82%	0.82%	0.19%
12	Oberlin	54.44	25.94%	9.99%	0.74%	0.09%	0.01%	0.00%
2	Lynchburg	58.57	96.54%	84.47%	38.92%	16.81%	7.88%	3.14%
15	York (NY)	52.13	3.46%	0.92%	0.03%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
7	Vassar	53.58	36.29%	3.61%	0.25%	0.02%	0.00%	0.00%
10	William Paterson	54.9	63.71%	11.00%	1.48%	0.19%	0.03%	0.00%
3	Emmanuel	58.74	93.37%	44.59%	25.60%	11.51%	5.60%	2.32%
14	Emory	53.45	6.63%	0.46%	0.06%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
6	Earlham	59.56	74.05%	45.22%	29.53%	15.68%	8.93%	4.46%
11	Calvin	57.22	25.95%	9.74%	4.13%	1.24%	0.41%	0.11%
1	Buena Vista	60.11	97.23%	78.58%	52.52%	42.14%	24.71%	13.74%
16	Mount St. Mary	53.3	2.77%	0.47%	0.04%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
8	Occidental	57.46	72.63%	18.12%	7.26%	3.98%	1.25%	0.36%
9	Randolph-Macon	55.26	27.37%	2.84%	0.57%	0.18%	0.03%	0.00%
4	Capital	59.11	94.63%	72.22%	33.23%	23.73%	11.44%	5.18%
13	Carroll	53.4	5.37%	1.12%	0.06%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
5	Allegheny	57.02	73.75%	23.07%	5.94%	2.98%	0.81%	0.20%
12	Centre	54.72	26.25%	3.59%	0.38%	0.10%	0.01%	0.00%
2	Susquehanna	56.94	87.88%	55.66%	26.23%	6.81%	1.81%	0.44%
15	Salem St.	52.79	12.12%	2.62%	0.30%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
7	Wisconsin, Platteville	54.74	35.25%	11.48%	2.89%	0.31%	0.03%	0.00%
10	Ramapo	56.16	64.75%	30.25%	11.80%	2.31%	0.46%	0.08%
3	Trinity (TX)	57.49	90.17%	51.50%	31.79%	9.85%	3.12%	0.92%
14	Washington (MO)	52.88	9.83%	1.44%	0.25%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%
6	E. Oregon	57.4	73.82%	39.18%	23.84%	7.20%	2.22%	0.63%
11	Emerson	55.1	26.18%	7.87%	2.90%	0.37%	0.05%	0.01%

The last two remaining unbeaten teams, Buena Vista and Johnson & Wales, both get tripped up in the conference tournament finals.

This will be a hard to predict tournament.  Dallas has been playing great all yr, but even their coach isn't sure why they've done so well.

Millsaps has lost too many times for me to feel like I'm a real contender. 

Interesting to see Hardin-Simmons as the favorite.  I thought they "looked" outstanding when I played them.  

Should be fun.  I think this is the type of year that if we ran the games over 2-3 times we'd get big differences each time. 

Good luck guys and girls.

Probably the best team that I have ever had, but I am not thrilled with my draw.  Hamline looks real tough for a seven seed.

Bullman, I was thinking your team has a great shot at making a huge run.

Well, I am very happy to see some new coaches get to experience the thrill of great runs. It's even better when it's unexpected.... and truth be told, I am sure neither of these coaches thought their team would get this far (I know bobmeyer certainly didn't).

Williamette has to be the favorite.  Maybe I'll try to go with a more in depth review later.

I thought I had about an 18.66% chance of making it to the final.