Yay I can post on the forums under this id again!  Just in time to comment on JDub's return to the top25.  We've been playing really well recently after that absolutely brutal non-conf stretch where we lost to the top3 RPI teams on consecutive nights. 

By the postseason, nearly everyone on the team will be near or above 600 overall.  We'll come at you like a spider monkey.

I gotta admit, I was a little disappointed to see Emerson go down as i was looking forward to the clash of unbeaten teams tonight. That said, i don't like the matchup of the more-athletic 3-point gunning team on their home floor. I will not be surprised if I log in tomorrow morning and see that I get handed my first 'L' in this contest (it won't be my last...this team is living on borrowed time and I'm just enjoying the ride.

Last Night
#4 W. New England 62   #23 Emerson 60
rednu was justified in being nervous about Emerson's 3pt shooting as the sim-controlled team shot 41% from 3 last night, making ten from behind the arc.  But not enough of them fell in the last couple minutes as W. New England stayed perfect by holding on for the two point victory.  rednu and W. New England continue their climb up the rankings, sliding up one spot while Emerson slides down one spot.

Also considered: #5 Trinity cruised past Ozarks 77-59, Hardin-Simmons surprised #18 Howard Payne 117-83, #11 Willamette handled E. Oregon 84-63, and Rivier proved not to be afraid of spider monkeys by downing #24 Johnson and Wales 65-60.

Sim blowout watch: Worcester St. stayed winless but easily covered against #14 Tufts 49-75, on the hand we had a blowout double feature as Widener failed to cover at #8 Susquehanna 41-115 as did Central hosting #2 Buena Vista 55-118.  It's tough being a sim.

GotN
#6 Elizabethtown (13-2)(mts2) at #8 Susquehanna (15-1)(zeuspole)
We have a major battle in the Commonwealth as two top ten teams meet for their only clash of the season.  Elizabeth town is looking to keep their conference record perfect while Susquehanna needs a win to stay only one game behind Penn St. Altoona for the division lead.  Should be a good one.

Also considered: #15 Texas Lutheran at #18 Howard Payne, #17 Whittier at #22 CSU Eastbay, Rivier at #4 W. New England

Sim blowout watch: Worcester St. tries again for win number one as they get 67 points hosting #20 Connecticut, Bridgewater is getting 60 points when they visit #10 Emory and Henry, and Rochester Tech is a 51 point underdog at home against #19 Utica.

I'm curious, is anyone changing their game planning on nights when they appear in the Sim blowout watch category?  In other words, has anyone deliberately tried to run up the score in an attempt to cover the crazy high spread?  If so, that's awesome.

Haha, I tried. I game planned, went up tempo and only won by 53, 19 points shy of covering

"and Rivier proved not to be afraid of spider monkeys by downing #24 Johnson and Wales 65-60."

Tip of the hat to you for that line.

I probably won't get a chance.  Here in the GNE our Sims are ranked.

Not I.  I tend to play uptempo against all SIMs regardless.  But I do enjoy going for the spread.  :)

Posted by pseudochamp on 5/31/2013 12:01:00 PM (view original):
I'm curious, is anyone changing their game planning on nights when they appear in the Sim blowout watch category?  In other words, has anyone deliberately tried to run up the score in an attempt to cover the crazy high spread?  If so, that's awesome.

Over in the Tark world's ODAC conference they used to (and possibly still do) have an annual Creampuff Challenge (that's not what they call it, but I forgot the name they  use...) where they'll pick out a Sim-controlled team that will have a ton of open scholarships to fill the next year and then schedule that team with the "traveling trophy" going to whoever scores the most abusive margin of victory.

It's not pretty when some poor human picks up said Sim team in the rollover to the new year and gets faced with a non-conference schedule of 10 beatdowns, but they were always good about calling off the challenge the 1 or 2 times it happened and intentionally not running up the score so as to not scare off a potential new addict to the game. (they even went so far as explaining the situation and making offers to mentor to compensate for the bad fortune...)

Posted by rednu on 5/31/2013 5:43:00 PM (view original):

Posted by pseudochamp on 5/31/2013 12:01:00 PM (view original):
I'm curious, is anyone changing their game planning on nights when they appear in the Sim blowout watch category?  In other words, has anyone deliberately tried to run up the score in an attempt to cover the crazy high spread?  If so, that's awesome.

Over in the Tark world's ODAC conference they used to (and possibly still do) have an annual Creampuff Challenge (that's not what they call it, but I forgot the name they  use...) where they'll pick out a Sim-controlled team that will have a ton of open scholarships to fill the next year and then schedule that team with the "traveling trophy" going to whoever scores the most abusive margin of victory.

It's not pretty when some poor human picks up said Sim team in the rollover to the new year and gets faced with a non-conference schedule of 10 beatdowns, but they were always good about calling off the challenge the 1 or 2 times it happened and intentionally not running up the score so as to not scare off a potential new addict to the game. (they even went so far as explaining the situation and making offers to mentor to compensate for the bad fortune...)

That is absolutely awesome, love it.

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted, busy day with projects around the house today...

Last Night
#4 Elizabethtown 55   #11 Susquehanna 51
Quite the exciting game last night as both teams went back and forth the whole way.  Elizabethtown was able to build a small lead at the end and then made several clutch shots to stay in front.  Susquehanna missed a tying three with nine seconds left and Elizabethtown pulled down the rebound to clinch the big win.  Elizabethtown and mts were led by Adam Webb's 17 points and moved up into #4 in the rankings.  Susquehanna and zeuspole had two players in double figures and slip down to #11.

Also considered: #12 Howard Payne handled #23 Texas Lutheran 93-71, #18 CSU Eastbay stayed perfect by beating #22 Whittier 84-73, and #7 W. New England finally falls to Rivier 63-55.  I blame rednu's pessimism.

Sim blowout watch: Worcester St. covered again against #19 Connecticut 58-77, as did Bridgewater at #10 Emory and Henry 54-91, and Rochester Tech took #20 Utica to OT before falling 73-80.

GotN
#17 Colorado (15-2)(bdpoor) at #18 CSU Eastbay (17-0)(cstruck23)
CSU Eastbay looks to stay undefeated and extend their lead in the SoCal conference while Colorado looks to bring them back into a possible three-way tie for the division.  The home team is only favored by a single point so it should be a another close featured game.

Also considered: Sewanee at #5 Trinity and Suffolk at #7 W. New England

Sim blowout watch: Averett is getting an impressive 74 points while hosting #2 Greensboro, Penn St. Berks is getting 46 at home against #16 Ursinus, and Amherst is a 43 point underdog at #19 Connecticut.

Better late than never...

Last Night
#15 Colorado 82   #24 CSU Eastbay 77
Colorado took the lead eight minutes into the game and then held on the rest of the way to finish off the five point victory.  Both teams had four players in double digits and both teams had one starter foul out.  They both also have school names that start with C.  So many things the same.  Except for the score, Colorado and bdpoor had more points and pull into a tie for the division lead.  CSU Eastbay and cstruck get their first conference loss and slip down six spots in the rankings.

Also considered: Sewanee upset #7 Trinity 70-67 and #6 W. New England got back to their winning ways, topping Suffolk 60-49.

Sim blowout watch: Averett just barely covered the big spread, only losing by 70 to #3 Greensboro 57-127, Penn St. Berks got within 13 of #17 Ursinus 70-83, and Amherst also covered at #19 Connecticut 51-85.

GotN
#20 Hardin-Simmons (14-3)(sublightd) at #23 Texas Lutheran (14-3)(blapo21)
Hardin-Simmons puts their perfect conference record on the line on the road at Texas Lutheran who is getting one point by the odd-makers. 

Also considered: #1 Millsaps at Centre, St. Joseph's at #6 W. New England, #21 Johnson and Wales at Daniel Webster

Sim blowout watch: Winless Juniata is getting 76 at #8 Penn St. Altoona, Pomona-Pitzer is a 44 point underdog at #15 Colorado, the same spread that Alfred is getting at #18 Utica.

Last Night
#19 Hardin-Simmons 89   Texas Lutheran 85
It was a very close game throughout and a very tiring one thanks to both teams running uptempo fcp/fb.  The game was tied at 84 with just over two minutes left when Texas Lutheran went cold and couldn't buy a basket in the last couple minutes.  Hardin-Simmons made a couple clutch shots and closed out the game with defense.  Hardin-Simmons and sublightd were led by Kevin Bell's 27 points and kept a place in the rankings.  Texas Lutheran and blapo had two starting forwards with 19 points but the loss knocks them out of the top 25.

Also considered: #1 Millsaps handled Centre 69-56, St. Joseph's knocked off #7 W. New England 58-53, and #18 Johnson and Wales topped Daniel Webster 89-70.

Sim blowout watch: Juniata scored a moral victory only losing by 54 at #9 Penn St. Altoona 55-109, and the two 44 point underdogs both covered by similar amounts with Pomona-Pitzer falling at #17 Colorado 59-92 and Alfred losing at #21 Utica 53-83.

GotN
Emory (14-5)(phalla) at #1 Millsaps (18-1)(brianxavier)
We haven't featured the top ranked team in a few days so I figured they were due.  Millsaps looks to open up a two game lead for their division in the University conference when Emory gets their first shot at the #1 team in the nation.

Also considered: #17 Colorado at #25 Whittier, Southwestern at #6 Trinity, Lynchburg at #10 Emory and Henry, St. Joseph's at #18 Johnson and Wales

Sim blowout watch: Blowout watch all-star Juniata is getting a hefty 82 points hosting #3 Elizabethtown, Wisconsin Stout is a 49 point road dog at #11 Wisconsin Superior, and Keuka is getting 45 points at home against #5 Vassar.

Last Night
Emory 49   #1 Millsaps 68
Emory came out ready to play last night and ran out to an early 12 point lead over the top ranked team.  Not surprisingly, Millsaps recovered and rallied back to even the score and then take a 3 point lead at the break.  The game turned in the second half when Emory made an interesting tactical decision and refused to score any more points for the first eight minutes of the second half, mistakenly believing that 26 points was more than enough.  By they time they realized that Millsaps was being super rude and ignoring the no-scoring vow, it was too late and Millsaps cruised to the victory.  Millsaps and brianxavier were led by Christopher Perry's 28 points off the bench and maintained their spot at the top of the rankings.  Emory learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of trusting the opposition.

Also considered: #22 Whitier missed a possible game-winning shot as time expired in regulation but were still able to pull out the win in OT over #23 Colorado 88-79, #6 Trinity held off Southwestern 88-78, #8 Emory and Henry topped Lynchburg by 4 86-82, and #14 W. New England fell once again this time in OT to S. Vermont 91-81.

Sim blowout watch: Juniata showed off their blowout skills once again covering the spread against #4 Elizabethtown 50-115, Wisconsin Stout cut the spread in half at #12 Wisconsin Superior 61-85, and Keuka did the same against #5 Vassar 64-86.

GotN
#24 Chapman (18-2)(coachuk) at #15 Willamette (17-3)(bullman17)
Chapman looks to avenge an earlier home loss to Willamette, a win here would move them back into a tie for first place for the division lead.  On the other hand, a Willamette victory would put them two games clear in the division and in position for a conference title.

Also considered: #3 Greensboro at N. Carolina Wesleyan, #17 Ursinus at Washington, Wittenberg at Wooster

Sim blowout watch: Roanoke is getting 70 points hosting #8 Emory and Henry and California Lutheran is a 63 point road dog at #22 Whittier

Last Night
Chapman 76   #15 Willamette 84
Willamette went on a run at the end of the first half to build a 13 point lead and then were able to hold off a Chapman rally in the second half to complete the season sweep.  Willamette and bullman had two starting guards with 20+ points and hold steady in the rankings.  Chapman and coachuk had four players in double digit scoring but fall out of the rankings with the loss.

Also considered: #2 Greensboro made a late push to get past N. Carolina Wesleyan 71-65, #16 Ursinus handled Washington 77-50, and Wooster avenged an earlier loss against Wittenberg 70-60.  (Hooray!)

Sim blowout watch: Roanoke easily covered the mass spread against #8 Emory and Henry 68-111 as did California Lutheran at #22 Whittier 54-82

GotN
#13 John Carroll (18-2)(whit6r) at Capital (18-3)(buckeye101)
Alright, I'm once again risking the buckeye jinx and featuring Capital as the game of the night.  This time Capital is looking to ruin John Carroll's undefeated run through the conference and stay a game clear in second place in the division.

Also considered: #22 Whittier at #24 Colorado, Sewanee at #1 Millsaps, and Austin at #9 Howard Payne

Sim blowout watch: Widener is getting 56 while hosting #11 Penn St. Altoona and three sims are all getting 40+ points on the road: Keuka +42 at #5 Vassar, Lincoln +41 at #16 Ursinus, and La Roche +40 at #4 Elizabethtown.