Millsaps is back taking their turn at #1 and we're down to just four undefeated teams and nine winless teams.

Last Night
#1 Millsaps 80   #8 Ramapo 64
The first half was pretty close with the visitors taking a 5 point lead into the break.  Millsaps then was able to slowly build on that lead through the second half, eventually pulling away with a double digit lead.  Millsaps and brianxavier were led again led by Clyde Peguero and his 20 points, moving up the top ranking with the win.  Ramapo and pgj took their first loss on the season and dropped a few places in the rankings.

Also considered: #2 Palm Beach Atlantic pulled away from #23 Dallas ending with a 70-53 victory, #4 Piedmont got the big road win over #11 Emory 73-63, and #5 Ursinus clearly manipulated their home arena baskets to disrupt #20 Wooster's shooting skillz leading to a 61-56 home win.  How rude.

Sim blowout watch: Gallaudet is still winless but they had no trouble at all covering the huge spread against #3 Colorado 52-72.  Hard to cover a spread when you score less points than the spread.

GotN
#13 Greensboro (8-1)(tilldog28) at #18 Calvin (7-2)(prc56)
We've got a nice USA South vs Michigan conference meeting here between ranked teams.  tilldog leads the all-time series 8-5 and the odds-makers have this one as an even pick.  Should be a close, exciting game as the Pride travel to visit the Knights.

Also considered: #25 Howard Payne at #10 Willamette, #22 Whittier at #20 Wooster, and #15 Oglethorpe at Occidental

Also also considered: The Great Northeast and University conference are having their first annual cross-conference battle royal tonight.  Nine games to determine the bragging rights and possession of the Shiny Thing trophy:  Newbury at #1 Millsaps, #7 S. Vermont at Southwestern, #9 Louisiana at Emmanuel, Johnson and Wales at #11 Emory, #14 Ozarks at Suffolk, #19 W. New England at Rhodes, #23 Dallas at St. Joseph's, Daniel Webster at Sewanee, and Rivier at Trinity.

Sim blowout watch: Marietta has a winning record but they're still a 48 point road dog as they visit #3 Colorado.

Posted by rednu on 10/20/2013 7:43:00 PM (view original):
The inaugural University-GNE challenge takes place tonight. Surprisingly, there's not a single matchup involving two ranked teams in the lineup. Looks like one game didn't get scheduled last season, so it's a best-of-9 to see who gets the Shiny Thing trophy. Unfortunately, the GNE is struggling this season so I'm not liking our chances of hoisting it aloft.

It was made a best of 9 based on the number of human coaches at the time in GNE....

It also nicely works out to make a tie impossible.

The Great Northeast and University conference are having their first annual cross-conference battle royal tonight.  Nine games to determine the bragging rights and possession of the Shiny Thing trophy:  Newbury at #1 Millsaps, #7 S. Vermont at Southwestern, #9 Louisiana at Emmanuel, Johnson and Wales at #11 Emory, #14 Ozarks at Suffolk, #19 W. New England at Rhodes, #23 Dallas at St. Joseph's, Daniel Webster at Sewanee, and Rivier at Trinity.

Millsaps wins easily over Newbury
S. Vermont holds on for the road victory over Southwestern
Louisiana has a solid win over Emmanuel
Emory, after a tie game at the half, pulls away from Johnson and Wales
Ozarks, down by 2 points with less than 5 minutes to go, wins on the road vs. Suffolk
W. New England dispatches Rhodes without trouble
Dallas beats St. Joseph's in an offensively challenged game
Sewanee cruises at home over Daniel Webster
Trinity wallops rebuilding Rivier to the delight of the home crowd

University wins the first challenge, 7 - 2, winning the shiny thing.

Congrats to Colorado, Millsaps, Palm Beach Atlantic and Ursinus for making it through the non-conference season undefeated.  And condolences to the seven teams that failed to secure their first win yet, they shall remain nameless.

Last Night
#18 Greensboro 76   #15 Calvin 86
The first half of this one was a close, back-and-forth affair with the home team able to finish the half on a run, taking a 6 point lead into the locker room.  Greensboro made a few comeback attempts in the second half but Calvin was able to answer all of them and secure the 10 point home win.  Calvin and prc had four players in double figures and improved three spots in the rankings with the win while Greensboro and tilldog slide to Calvin's previous spot.

Also considered: #10 Willamette missed their free throws but still escaped with a 54-52 victory over Howard Payne, #17 Wooster handled Whittier 70-57, and #13 Oglethorpe finished the non-conference schedule with a nice road win over Occidental 62-54.

Also also considered: The University conference had a big night, winning the inaugural GNE/University Challenge 7 games to 2.

Sim blowout watch: Marietta couldn't keep up but still covered against #3 Colorado 48-76.

That's it for the non-conference season, enjoy the break tonight.

First night of the conference season, good luck everyone.

GotN
Trinity (8-2)(bobmeyer) at #14 Ozarks (9-1)(timmytfk)
We kick off the conference slate with a nice little battle in the University conference.  These two are in the highly competitive west division where three losses currently puts you in last place, so every game will be important.  This is the first meeting between these two coaches, the home team is favored by 3.

Also considered: #7 S. Vermont at Newbury, Hendrix at #10 Louisiana, #11 Emory at Sewanee, and #19 W. New England at St. Joseph's

Sim blowout watch: Haverford is a 69 point road dog at they travel to #6 Ursinus and we have a pair of sims getting 49 points: Averett at #4 Piedmont and Middlebury at fellow sim #20 Worcester St.  Ooohhhh, the rare and exciting sim on sim blowout watch!

ITaLRbHAGotN
Skidmore (8-2)(Sim AI) at Chicago (7-3)(joseph77703)
We have an early cross-divisional battle in the Upstate conference between teams with the best non-conference records.  Sim-controlled Skidmore has the best RPI in the conference but Chicago looks to have enough quality to make a run at a post-season bid.  The Thoroughbreds are favored by 2 as they visit the Maroons.

Did you know that David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, graduated from Wooster in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy?  It's true.

Last Night
Trinity 87   #14 Ozarks 100  (3 OT)
Do I know how to pick featured games or what?  Trinity was in front the entire second half of this one until twelve seconds remained when a double-teamed Samuel Carmichael hit a huge 3ptr for Ozarks to tie the game.  After a turnover and a missed shot, we went to overtime.  Trinity again led for a bit until the home team went ahead by 1 with 32 seconds left.  Trinity turned it over again and looked doomed, but they got the ball back after Ozarks went one for two from the line and a layup with one second left sent us to double overtime.  In the second extra session it was Ozarks turn to lead most of the way with more missed free throws leaving the door open for a clutch Trinity 3ptr with one second left to even the score at 80 going into a third overtime.  In this final period Ozarks stopped missing free throws.  In fact, they pretty much stopped missing everything and they ran way from an exhausted Trinity squad for an epic home conference opener victory.  I'm tired just typing about this game.

Also considered: #6 S. Vermont got past Newbury 64-51, #9 Louisiana handled Hendrix at home 67-57, #10 Emory came back to edge Sewanee 59-54, and #18 W. New England cruised past St. Joseph's 69-54.  That triple overtime featured game makes these all look pretty boring.

Sim blowout watch: Haverford covered the big spread by half against #7 Ursinus 54-90, Averett just barely covered at #5 Piedmont 50-90, and Middlebury got just enough pity from fellow sim #21 Worcester St. to cover 43-83.

ITaLRbHAGotN: Visiting Skidmore opend up a lead halfway through the first half and unfortunately for the home fans Chicago just couldn't quite get back into the game.  Skidmore shot over 40% from 3pt and pulled away for a key 75-63 cross-divisional win.

GotN
#5 Piedmont (10-1)(bunkerbuster) at #12 Oglethorpe (10-1)(getiguy)
We move over to the USA South conference for night two with an early divisional clash between ranked teams with identical records.  Both teams' only loss came on the road against quality non-conference foes and now they look for the early edge in the west division standings.  bunker has a big 9-1 advantage in the head-to-head series and his team is favored by two on the road in this one.  I DEMAND FOUR OVERTIMES!!

Also considered: #2 Palm Beach Atlantic at #19 Greensboro, #20 Dallas at #9 Louisiana, #3 Colorado at Whittier, #13 Texas Lutheran at Howard Payne, and #18 W. New England at Johnson and Wales.

Sim blowout watch: Maryville St. Louis is a 64 point home dog as they get a Gorlok visit from #4 Webster and La Roche is getting 63 points as they go on the road to take on #22 Penn St. Altoona.

ITaLRbHAGotN
West Connecticut St. (5-6)(Sim AI) at East Connecticut St. (7-4)(dickg)
It's a war for Connecticut!  The Colonials make the arduous 85 mile drive to battle their hated rival Warriors in a big cross-divisional game in the Little East conference.  I thought about using the classic "this state isn't big enough for the both of them!" line here but in this case, I'm honestly questioning if the state actually is big enough for them.  Can I get a ruling here?  Anyway, the home team is favored by 4 points, may the best Connecticut state university win.

I was quite sad to miss the Zowie Bowie era at Wooster by a year. I did hear a few stories though.

Little late on today's writeup, another busy day.  No change in the top three in the rankings, Millsaps still holding the one spot.

Last Night
#7 Piedmont 63   #11 Oglethorpe 69
This game didn't even go to a single overtime period.  Weaksauce!  Piedmont opened up a lead late in the first half and went into the break up by 10.  Oglethorpe was able to come back after the break but they didn't take the lead until a go-ahead 3ptr with about seven minutes left in the game.  That shot seemed to stun the visitors and allowed Oglethorpe to build a small lead and hold on for the 6 point victory.  Oglethorpe and getiguy inched closer to the top ten with the big home win while Piedmont and bunker suffered their second loss and slipped two spots.

Also considered: #2 Palm Beach Atlantic held on for the 89-81 road win over #24 Greensboro, #9 Louisiana handled Dallas at home 71-59, #3 Colorado stayed perfect with a 70-58 victory at Whittier, #12 Texas Lutheran cruised past Howard Payne 87-72, and Johnson and Wales upset #22 W. New England 75-64.

Sim blowout watch: Maryville St. Louis fended off the Gorlok enough to cover against #5 Webster 53-92 while La Roche also managed a cover at #23 Penn St. Altoona 36-82.

ITaLRbHAGotN: West side rules!  West Connecticut St rallied late in the first half to take the lead and then clung to that lead for dear life throughout the second half, finishing with a clutch 90-82 cross-divisional victory.  East Connecticut St's 25% from the 3pt line certainly did not help their cause.

GotN
#11 Oglethorpe (11-1)(getigut) at #2 Palm Beach Atlantic (12-0)(osgonlz)
Let's keep it rolling with yet another USA South west divisional battle.  Both teams are 2-0 in conference and top four in the RPI rankings, this should be a very good game with the winner getting the early edge in the standings.  osgonlz leads the series 5-3 and the home team is favored by 4 points.

Also considered: #9 Louisiana at Trinity, #10 Emory at Southwestern, Ohio Wesleyan at #20 Wittenberg, and Suffolk at #22 W. New England

Sim blowout watch: Chapman is getting 56 points as they host #14 Willamette and Sul Ross St. is a 52 point road dog at #12 Texas Lutheran.

ITaLRbHAGotN
Bridgewater (10-1)(Sim AI) at Lynchburg (6-6)(googs04)
An important game in the Old Dominion conference as Lynchburgh is 2-0 in conference play and trying to build their RPI back up after a challenging non-conference slate.  Bridgewater is 1-0 in conference and will probably be fighting Lynchburgh for the division title this year.  The simmies are favored by 1 point in this one.

Sneaking in here with a few midseason story lines to watch as Rupp moves into the back half of the season starting today.

-- A couple traditional powers have soem work to do to avoid some impressive post-season streaks from coming to an end. Hardin-Simmons has been to 13 consecutive national tournaments, but sitting 6-6 this season with a projection report ranking of 72, the perennial contender has some work to do if that streak is going to extend to 14. Sitting in even more dire position is Susquehanna, which has played in 25 consecutive national tournaments. Susquehanna is currently sitting 6-7 overall and at 102 on the projection report.

-- The once-feared Evil Empire of the GNE is struggling. Currently at No. 5 on the conference RPI list, the league has dipped as low as No. 6 in the first half of the season and could drop there again over the latter half of things. That said, the league still projects to send no fewer than four to the national tournament.

-- The Midwest conference has struggles of its own with no teams over 100 in the projection report and with only 3 teams boasting any sort fo winning records, that probabl won't change.

-- Cazenovia, the only school in Rupp not to make the national tournament in its history, has some work to do. The school is currently 7-6 overall with a projection report of 68. That's PIT material, not NT numbers thus far.

-- The University is having an awesome season. 11 of the 12 teams are currently slated for participation in the post-season. We'll see if that pace continues after repeated nightly abuse of each other in league play.

-- The USA South remains incredibly top-heavy. The conference currently boasts three of the top 9 teams in the projection report. Definitely some talent lurking in the USA South ranks.

Another famous-ish Wooster alum is George Fitch who graduated with a degree in economics in 1970.  Who's George Fitch?  He is a successful business consultant, author, and politician.  Oh, and he also co-founded the Jamaican bobsled team that competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Last Night
#14 Oglethorpe 50   #2 Palm Beach Atlantic 55
The visitors had a great first half and at one point extended their lead into double figures, but PBA came climbing back into it.  They held Oglethorpe to just 2 points over the last five plus minutes of the first half and went into the break down just 5 points.  Much to the delight of the home crowd, PBA quickly took the lead in the second half and held off Oglethorpe the rest of the way to secure the key home victory and stay undefeated on the year.  PBA and osgonlz kept right in Millsaps' rear view mirror with the victory while Oglethorpe and getiguy dropped a couple spots in the rankings with the loss.

Also considered: #6 Louisiana ran away from Trinity in the second half for a 75-49 win, #10 Emory got the road win over Southwestern 76-63, Ohio Wesleyan scored a critical upset of Wittenberg 57-54, and #21 W. New England downed Suffolk 63-47.

Sim blowout watch: Chapman made it close but still fell to #13 Willamette 50-65 while Sul Ross St. did not keep it close but still covered at #12 Texas Lutheran 57-97.

ITaLRbHAGotN: Lynchburgh opened up a double digit lead in the second half and then cruised to a key 65-58 home victory over divisional foe Bridgewater.  Lynchburgh and googs had three players in double figures and kept the early division lead with a 3-0 record.  Bridgewater fell to 1-1 and now will have to play catchup in the standings.

GotN
#11 Ozarks (12-1)(timmytfk) at #6 Louisiana (11-2)(discodave)
We move over to the University conference for tonight's game where the two 3-0 west division leaders will battle it out for the early leg up in the standings.  This is the first meeting between these two coaches and the odds-makers have it as an even pick, could be a classic.

Also considered: Whitworth at #13 Willamette, #16 Austin at Hardin-Simmons, and Southwestern at #22 Dallas

Sim blowout watch: Lots to choose from tonight in the blowout category but the biggest is Kean getting a heavy 74 points as they host #7 Ramapo.

ITaLRbHAGotN
John Carroll (7-5)(whit6r) at Mount Union (5-7)(rockrob)
Things look to be pretty interesting this season in the north division of the Ohio conference with four solid teams set to battle out for the division title.  These four are a combined 9-1 in conference play so far so the games between them will be the deciding factor.  This is an early key game as these two teams are 2-0 so far and looking to stay on pace for the standings lead.  rockrob trails the series between these coaches 1-8 and his team is getting 3 points at home tonight.

Thanks pseudochamp. Excellent write-ups. Is there a category for this at the ESPY's?

There certainly should be.

No change in the top three and still four undefeated teams.  Sim-controlled Amherst won their first game last night so we're down to five winless teams.

Last Night
#10 Ozarks 76   #11 Louisiana 74
This game was very close and back-and-forth from start to finish.  It came right down to the wire with Louisiana getting an easy layup for a 3 point lead with just fourteen seconds left in the game.  Ozarks responded with a quick-shot 3ptr to tie the game at 74 with ten seconds remaining.  Then disaster struck for the home team as they threw the ball out of bounds just two seconds later, giving the ball back to Ozarks.  The visitors made a lay up of their own as the buzzer sounded and Ozarks stole a big road conference victory.  Ozarks and timmy crack the top ten in the standings with the win while Louisiana and discodave slip down a few spots with the disappointing loss.

Also considered: #12 Willamette had no trouble with Whitworth 86-49, Hardin-Simmons got the home upset over #23 Austin 86-80, and #20 Dallas got past Southwestern 90-78.

Sim blowout watch: Kean took their lumps but still covered against #7 Ramapo 51-93.

ITaLRbHAGotN: Mount Union only scored 2 points in the last two plus minutes of the game but they held on for dear life to secure the clutch 70-69 home victory over John Carroll.  With the win Mount Union and rockrob stay perfect in conference and just a half game back of the divisional lead.

GotN
#5 S. Vermont (13-1)(funngun10) at #19 W. New England (12-2)(rednu)
It's time to pay a visit to the Great Northeast where the top two teams in the west division face off for the first of two games this season.  S. Vermont is a perfect 4-0 in conference and have a one game lead on 3-1 W. New England.  A win here would put W. New England right back in the division title race and they're getting 3 points at home in this one.

Also considered: #11 Louisiana at #8 Emory, #20 Dallas at #10 Ozarks, and #18 Oglethorpe at Greensboro

Sim blowout watch: Muhlenberg is getting a fat 70 points as they host undefeated #6 Ursinus and George Fox is a 64 point home dog vs #12 Willamette.

ITaLRbHAGotN is taking a restful day off.

I spent most of today doing yard work, cleaning and storing deck furniture, cutting grass, and cleaning the garage.  I would've much rather been writing a few dozen GotN writeups.

Last Night
#4 S. Vermont 64   #19 W. New England 60
The home team opened up a sizable lead late in the first half and went into the break with a 9 point lead.  S. Vermont's offense woke back up around the midway point of the second half and they slowly but surely crept back into the game.  Things tightened up with about five minutes left with the two teams trading the lead several times down the stretch.  The visitors took a 1 point lead with just over a minute left and WNE couldn't score again, missing two shots and unable to get the defensive stop.  S. Vermont and funngun stayed perfect in conference with the win and moved up a spot in the rankings.  W. New England and rednu suffered their second conference loss but held steady in the rankings.

Also considered: #7 Emory made enough free throws down the stretch to get the 78-74 win over #10 Louisiana, #16 Dallas got a huge road win over #11 Ozarks 77-65, and #24 Greensboro got past #22 Oglethorpe 71-65.

Sim blowout watch: Muhlenberg had no trouble covering vs #9 Ursinus 60-85 while George Fox also managed a cover as they fell at home to #13 Willamette 49-78.

GotN
#7 Emory (13-2)(phalla) at #1 Millsaps (14-0)(brianxavier)
Quite the main event over in the University conference tonight as the last two undefeated-in-conference teams do battle for the first of two games this season.  The winner of this one will hold an early edge in the divisional race and of course Millsaps is trying to continue an impressive undefeated run.  brian has a big lead in the all-time series and his team is favored by 4 points at home.

Also considered: #2 Palm Beach Atlantic at #6 Piedmont, Wittenberg at #14 Wooster, Trinity at #16 Dallas, #18 Calvin at Kalamazoo, and Denison at #25 Earlham.  Whoa, two good ranked games in the North Coast, unheard of!

Sim blowout watch: Poor winless Marymount is getting an obese 86 points as they face #20 Hood and Rutgers Camden is a 56 home dog vs #8 Ramapo.

ITaLRbHAGotN
Stevens Tech (11-4)(dbx4j) at US Merchant Marines (10-5)(lynchmob1414)
A good divisional matchup in the Skyline conference as USMM is perfect so far in conference play giving them a one game lead in the standings over Stevens Tech.  The Ducks are looking to close that gap as they travel to face the Mariners.  lynchmob has a huge lead in the overall series and the odds-makers have the visitors as 4 point underdogs.

Ruh-oh!