Midweek Blog 1: 'Tis the season...

…And no I don't mean the holidays, Christmastime or anything like that. No, I mean it's time for conference play to start up. All across the nation, teams will be facing off against their conference foes as they begin their push for a conference title.

1 Big Thing

I always found this a weird time in the college basketball schedule when I played. 

First off, we would have just come off about three or four non-conference games and then we'd get thrown right into conference play.

That isn't so bad, but then we would play only three or four conference games before being right back into non-conference games come winter break.

That sandwiching of these conference games always seemed funny to me. Firstly, they didn't seem like conference games, having just come off of the non-conference schedule and secondly, we were still figuring out who we were as a team. As in, our chemistry, our roles, our offensives and defensive systems. 

For that reason, the teams that I was a part of were never that good in those games -- combined 4-6: 1-2 in both 08-09, 09-10 and 2-2 in 10-11 (Freshman year really doesn't matter. I didn't play and I didn't pay attention too much. Sorry, Bunks.)

In two of those years -- 08-09 and 10-11 -- we would take the NAC South division title. But in both instances, those championships were threatened by those loses we took early.

Granted, every other team had to endure the same thing but still. Conference championships could be determined by what would happen during those games.

This is why, when I looked at the schedule for the conferences for the blog, I found it difficult to find intriguing match ups. One, because most of these match ups aren't that great anyway. Two, because even if the match ups are intriguing, the two teams in them won't be nearly the teams that they will be come end of January or February. (Don't worry, I still found some that will be discussed later)

But why not fix this? Why not make it more like DI, where they don't start conference play until January? Here's my solution:

Push back the beginning of the NCAA tournament one week. That gives conferences an extra week to finish up conference play, meaning that they can push those three or four games in December to after Christmas break, much like how DI teams do.

This pushing back the tournament isn't a terrible idea either, especially if the NCAA wants to host all of their men's basketball championship games at Final Four sites on occasion like this year. The DIII tournament is stretched out very badly this year because of that fact. This would compress the tournament a bit if that ever happens again.

This will also give teams a full slate of non-conference games to test themselves before ever playing a conference game, when the stakes are little bit higher.

I understand there may be some NCAA rule or something from the institutions that prohibits this from happening. 

But why not? Makes sense to me.

2 Small Things

- Can Whitewater survive without Chris Davis?

The answer seems to be a resounding yes after the No. 3-ranked Warhawks came back on the road in a hostile environment at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill., to down what will probably be one of the best teams in the CCIW in No. 7-ranked Illinois Wesleyan 71-65.

Now, of course it will still be tough to replace last season's National Player of the Year, but those key returners, such as Luke Knoble, Quardell Young, Eric Bryson and Cody Odegaard, have all stepped up in his absence already this season, taking on the scoring load.

They also seemed to have found a gem in freshman forward Darnell Harris, who dropped in 32 points for the Warhawks against the Titans, including connecting on 6-of-8 from deep as well.

If they can continue the balanced scoring and playing sound defense like they did last year, they should be just fine.

- WIll Grinnell be hurt Jack Taylor's 138-point game?

There was plenty of feedback from Taylor's 138 point barrage last Tuesday night. 

And most of that wasn't of the good kind. A lot of people were upset that coach David Arsenault continued the onslaught and continued feeding Taylor well after the Pioneers were in control against Faith Baptist Bible College.

Even a week later, people are still talking and discussing the record. And now even more so that the Pioneers head into their MWC schedule, where the system is most familiar to everyone.

I feel like their may be more bad that comes out of it for Grinnell as far as teams giving them their best shot when the come up against them, wanting to prove that The System is flawed.

3 Performances of the Weekend

Cody Veleke, Marian

Veleke led the Sabres to a non-conference win over Ripon College by pouring in 21 points and grabbing five rebounds. Veleke will have to be Marian's go-to big man if they are to contend in the NAC.

Ryan DePouw, Lawrence 

DePouw scored 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists to lead the Vikings to a MWC-opening win over Illinois College. DePouw also went 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

Tyler Tillema, UW-Stevens Point

Tillema poured in 22 points and collected six rebounds to lead the Pointers to an 80-68 win over Buena Vista (Iowa). Tillema also dished out four assists in the win.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Whitewater (4-0, 0-0 WIAC) Words: still excellent
2. UW-La Crosse (5-0, 0-0 WIAC) Words: still climbing
3. UW-Stevens Point (4-0, 0-0 WIAC) Words: still Point
4. UW-Platteville (5-1, 0-0 WIAC) Words: still working

MWC

1. Carroll (4-1, 1-0 MWC) Words: very balanced

2. Grinnell (4-1, 1-0 MWC) Words: The System

3. St. Norbert (2-1, 1-0 MWC) Words: tough, gritty

4. Ripon (2-2, 1-0 MWC) Words: surprise team?

NAC

1. Lakeland (3-0, 1-0 NAC) Words: scoring barrage
2. Aurora (2-3, 1-0 NAC) Words: experienced, deep
3. Benedictine (2-3, 1-0 NAC) Words: finding identity
4. Concordia-Wisconsin (1-2, 1-0 NAC) Words: long, versatile

5 Worth the Price of Admission

(all games Saturday, unless noted (for future reference))

1. WIAC, UW-La Crosse at UW-Eau Claire, 3 p.m.  Price I would pay: $7

This is a nice early season match up against two WIAC teams that are trying to make some noise outside of Whitewater and Point. La Crosse has gotten off to a 5-0 start behind Lucas Morrisey and Jeff Heiden, both of whom are averaging over double figures

Eau Claire has had a more of a shaky start, going 3-2 with close loses to Goshen (Ind.) and Hamline (Minn.). They did just pick up a solid win over Loras on Monday and are led by guard Jordan Petersen, who is fourth in the WIAC with 15.8 points a game.

This is a chance for both teams to get a WIAC win under their belt and a step up on each other in position.

2. NAC, Aurora at Edgewood, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $6

This matchup should be a good one against cross division competitors. Aurora played a tough non-conference schedule that included Augustana (Ill.) and North Central (Ill.) from the CCIW and Whitewater that should prepare them for conference. They will be coming off a 80-54 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Tuesday.

Edgewood meanwhile has had a rough go in the non-conference schedule, going 1-3. But they were picked second in the North division this year, even though they lost to Lakeland 79-65 on Tuesday.

This could end up being for a seed in the NAC tournament the end of February when we look back on it if both teams finish what they were picked to at the beginning of the year.

3. WIAC, UW-Platteville at UW-River Falls, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $4

One team that is looking to be on the way up and another appears to be coming from the top back down to the middle.

Platteville is looking to be that team on the upswing and they played as such in the non-conference part of their schedule, going 5-1.

River Falls could be coming back towards the middle after two seasons at the top of the WIAC. The struggled a bit in their non-conference games, going 3-2.

Both teams are still gunning for making the WIAC tournament this year and this game could be important as to who gets home court in the first round.

4. NAC, Lakeland at Benedictine, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

Ah yes, my first semi-entry about the good ole Alma Mater. They should be in for a good one with Lakeland coming into town.

The Muskies appear to be the class of the NAC this season, starting out 3-0 and 1-0 in conference with a win over Edgewood on Tuesday.

The Eagles had a rough go in the non-conference, going 1-3 in two tournaments. They did, however, beat Concordia-Chicago 51-47 on the road Tuesday, a good confidence booster going into the game.

The reason this one is worth it is that the Eagles were picked second in the South this year and also knocked off Concordia-Wisconsin at home last year when they weren't expected to early in the season. The Eagles will be looking to do that once again.

5. MWC, RIpon at Grinnell, 3 p.m. Price I would play: $2

This will be each teams second Midwest game of the week. Ripon took down a solid Lawrence team behind a 27-point outburst from Taylor Koth, who eclipsed 1,000 points on his career.

The System in Grinnell dispatched another opponent in Knox on Wednesday by the tune of 113-76.

Better teams, including those in the MWC, are able to beat The System and take down the Pioneers. This could be a big step for Ripon if they are to do that in Grinnell's home gym. Could be a big statement game for the Redhawks.

The Triumphant Arrival of Terry's Preseason (in this case, early season) Pick-5

Ah yes, the true beginning of this blog. Something with some actual substance. Something with some actual kick.

It's the first (of hopefully many) preseason looks at the three conferences that I will be covering in the blog.

The three conferences of mention, if you didn't read my first post (which you really should, because it's kind of good) are the WIAC, the Midwest Conference and the NAC. 

Now, I know that at the publishing of this post, most teams have played probably two or three games, although none in conference, which is a good thing. 

This actually has given me maybe a bit more insight for these conference previews as I kind of got a feel for the team lineups, rotations and those newcomers that are making an impact.

Now I've decided that previewing all of the teams for the conference previews would be very difficult for me to accomplish and write adequately enough for this blog, being as I have a full-time job and having writing to do for that as well and my appropriation of time kind of has to be there (or otherwise I have no job at all, unless you all are willing to compensate me for my salary. In that, case I would be more than happy to).

So taking that into consideration I've decided to do a Pick-5 in each of the conferences. The Pick-5 consists of the consensus top four in each conference based on each of the conference's preseason polls. The last pick will be of my choosing. That is the team that I feel could make the most noise outside of the top four.

So with the ground rules established for this thing, here are the three conference Pick-5's

WIAC

1. UW-Whitewater (last season 29-4, 13-3 WIAC)

What do you say about a team that returns four starters that played for a National Championship team last season?

Well you'd probably say that they'd want their one starter that they lost back.

That starter was National and WIAC Player of the Year Chris Davis. Davis led the WIAC and Warhawks in scoring last season, pouring in 22.2 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. 

That doesn't mean that Whitewater won't pack plenty of punch again this season.

This starts with senior Luke Knoble in the middle. Knoble, a forward, averaged 9.7 points per game and 4.8 rebounds a game, while shooting at a 63 percent clip last season, tops in the conference. He will be looked to be one of the main scorers again for coach Pat Miller's bunch.

Also in the fold is starting guard Eric Bryson, who shot 40 percent from behind the arc last season to average 8.6 points per game.

Rounding out the Warhawk backcourt will be Alex Merg, Cody Odegaard and Quardell Young. Merg is the sure handed guard who dished out 129 assists last season. Odegaard was a the Warhawk' marksman, dropping in 48 3's at a 32 percent clip. Young was the teams sixth man last season and averaged 6.6 points. He's looked to do a little more on the offensive end, as showcased by his 17 point game against Beloit in the first contest of the season.

Whitewater does have a few holes to fill but have brought in some talent to fill those such as D1 transfer Pat Souter from UW-Milwaukee and freshman Darnell Harris.

If the Warhawks continue to play anything like they did last season, where they led the WIAC in scoring margin (+13.5), scoring defense (58.2), assists (14.4) and field goal percentage (50 percent) and with the talent they have, they should be primed for another WIAC title and deep NCAA tournament run.

2. UW-Stevens Point (last season 20-8, 12-4 WIAC)

For such a storied program as the Pointers are, last season could be considered a slight disappointment. 

If you consider a tie for second place in the premiere DIII conference in the country and a first round exit in the NCAA tournament a disappointment.

This season, the expectations will be the same as they've always been around Stevens Point and deservedly so.

They return one of the top players in conference in Tyler Tillema, who averaged 17.3 points a game last season.

He will lead the guard-oriented Pointer attack that features Jordan Giordana and Trevor Hass. Hass averaged 9.1 points per game last season and shot 40 percent from behind the arc, while Giordana average 8.6 points per game and a 45 percent clip from deep.

That doesn't mean the Pointers will be bad on the inside. For that they have 6'8" UW-Green Bay transfer Clayton Heuer, who has already proven his worth in the first two games of the Pointers season, with a 12 and 9 game against St. Olaf and a 14 and 4 game against Lawrence.

They will also have a solid bench with some sophomores in Austin Ryf and Joe Ritchay. Both have some experience from last years team and have proven their worth this season, combining to go 9-of-11 from deep in the first two games.

Their guard play will determine how far they go. If they can shoot 38 percent from behind the arc like they did last year and Heuer can give them a solid inside presence that they need, it will be a toss up between them and Whitewater for the title.

3. UW-La Crosse (last season 17-10, 8-8 WIAC)

La Crosse was poised last season to challenge near the top of the WIAC. But down went their leading scorer Jeff Heiden to injury just six games into the season.

Even with out him they went to the WIAC tournament semifinals and finished in a tie for fourth during the regular season.

Well Heiden returns this season, but gone are three top scorers from last season in Al Chery, Cory Degner and Jack Taylor.

But their is still plenty returning with Heiden.

Three starters in Luke Tweed, Braden Tice and Lucas Collom all return for the Eagles. 

Collom is the leading scorer returning from that bunch, having averaged 6 points per game as an inside-out option, drilling 35 percent of the threes he took when he stepped out.

Tweed and Tice will round out the backcourt with Heiden and both played solid for the Eagles last season.

One of the better developments for the Eagles comes form the pickup of DI transfer Cale Zuiker from Youngstown State.

The 6'8" Zuiker is adept at both inside and out, picking up eight points off the bench in La Crosse's opener against Edgewood College, although it remains to be seen what he can do against WIAC opposition.

The Eagles also have all-utility man Lucas Morrissey at one of the forward positions.

La Crosse hangs it's hat on it's defense, as they were second to Whitewater in scoring defense. If they can do that and get Heiden back to full strength, which he appears to be, they can take an outside shot at a title and possible NCAA berth as the third team out of the WIAC.

4. UW-Platteville (last season 14-12, 8-8 WIAC)

To say that the Pioneers will be an inside team might be an understatement.

Their top three returning scorers will be at the forward or center position for Platteville.

It will all start with center Chas Cross and Jake Manning. Both averaged 9.5 points per game last season, although Cross only played in 15 games.

Also returning is Rob Stallion, who averaged 8.4 points per game last year.

The Pioneers also have some returning depth at guard as well in Eric Gerber and Jim Stocki. Gerber is a sure handed guard who topped Platteville in assists last season with 77 and averaged 5.9 points per game.

Stocki came of the bench and averaged only 11.5 minutes a game. But he has gone off the first two games this season, averaging 13.5 points per game and starting out 6-of-12 from behind the arc.

Coming of the bench for some more guard depth will be sophomore Trevor Wittwer, who has averaged 10.5 points in the first two contests of the season and has started out 4-of-9 from deep. Freshman Cory Vaassen also comes of the bench for the Pioneers.

Where Platteville will really have to beat teams is on the boards. They had the third best rebounding margin in the WIAC last year and had the 3rd most offensive rebounds. With all of those big bodies they will hope to own teams in rebounds once again and make a push at NCAA berth.

5. Terry's Pick-5 pick UW-Eau Claire (last season 15-10, 7-9 WIAC)

My Pick-5 pick might have the best 1-2, inside-out punch in the conference in Jordan Petersen and Nick Craggs.

Petersen was one of the best guards in the conference last season, averaging 14.7 points per game and shot 40 percent from 3-point land.

Craggs was a solid inside-out forward for the Blugolds, averaging 10.9 points a contest and shooting 38 percent from deep when he decided to step out to that range.

That doesn't mean they are the only two players returning for Eau Claire. The also return guards Dustin Kalien and Lewis Mau and both are bombers from deep.

Kalien connected on 42 percent from deep and Mau shot 30 percent as a freshman, meaning he will only get better this season. That gives the Blugolds one of the more deadly-from-deep guard trios in the conference.

Also returning for the Blugolds is forward Andy Kleist. Kleist will provide a much needed inside force for the outside-minded Eau Claire. He averaged 5.2 points last season in 17 games before his season was ended by injury.

Their bench will be the weakest part of the squad. Two do return to it in senior Zac Wolmedorf and sophomore Alex Anderson. However, they will be young with everyone else who comes of the bench.

If the Blugolds can stay hot from behind the arc (they led the league in 3-pointers made, second in attempts, fourth in percentage at 35.4 percent) and own the boards like they did last season (second in defensive rebounds last season) they can make a run at an NCAA berth.

If anything, they will be a team that no one wants to see come February.

(Note: With me being only one-and-a-half years removed from college basketball, there will be players that I have played against, most of which are in the NAC. But UW-Eau Claire has the only player that I played against IN HIGH SCHOOL. Yes, I'm talking about Jordan Petersen)

MWC

1. St. Norbert (last season, 16-9, 12-6 MWC)

If you returned your top three scorers from last season, most people would say that you would be set.

If you returned your top four scorers from last season, most people would say that you would be the favorites for conference.

Well, St. Norbert has both of them beat.

The Green Knights return their top eight scorers and all five starters from last year's team that lost to Carroll in the MWC tournament championship, which, no doubt, makes them hungry.

It all starts with junior guard Brandon Gries, the top returning scorer for St. Norbert. He averaged 14.5 points per game and shot 37.5 percent from behind the arc last year. 

Joining him in the backcourt will be Paul Appleton and Andy Fox. Appleton shot nearly 40 percent from deep on his way to averaging 10.6 points a contest, while Fox averaged 5 points and was second on the team in assists with 73.

The Green Knights also return a solid inside crew in Andrew Schwoerer and Garrett Thorn. Schwoerer tallied 12.3 points per game and Thorn averaged 9.4 points per game from the forward and center positions, respectively for St. Norbert.

They also have their top three bench players back in Jack Whalen, Steven Hofacker and Trent Monckton.

Whalen was the team's first guard of the bench and was fifth on the team averaging 7.9 points a game.

Hofacker and Monckton spell Schwoerer and Thorn and provide the inside depth for the Green Knights.

I've had the benefit of seeing the Green Knights in action against UW-Oshkosh on November 15 and they were impressive. Their length on defense is their biggest asset and makes it tough for teams to shoot over them.

And their stats from last season express that as they were second in scoring defense.

They also take care of the ball. They were second in assist to turnover ration and averaged the fewest turnovers in the conference.

If they can do those things once again, the Green Knights will be tough to stop at the top of the MWC.

2. Carroll (last season, 17-9, 10-8 MWC)

If any team can challenge the Green Knights at the top, it's 2011-12 MWC tournament champion Pioneers.

The Pioneers return six of their top seven scorers from last year and all but one starter from a team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

They will pack a solid inside-out punch in center Alec Molter and guards Kevin Hurd and Jake Bast.

The 6'7" Molter was the top scorer for Carroll last season at 14.3 points per game and tacked 8.3 rebounds a game and shot 58 percent from the floor.

Hurd and Bast were the top gunners from deep for the Pioneers. Hurd shot 43 percent from deep and averaged 11.8 points per game, while Bast shot 42.6 percent from deep and averaged 9.5 points per game.

Dan Kratz is the teams last returning starter. Kratz is an inside-out forward, who stepped out and made 39 percent from deep when he stepped out there and averaged 9 points a contest last season.

Off the bench the Pioneers will bring off the Andrew's -- Nottling and Rumler. Both are inside players for Carroll. Rumler averaged 8 points a game and pulled down 4 rebounds while Nottling averaged 5.9 points and pulled down 4 rebounds as well.

They will also have guard depth coming off the bench. Sophomore Caleb Zeegers saw time last year and freshman Rudy Bentley has come off the bench the first two games and performed well, scoring 13 against Carthage College.

Since Carroll returns so much of it's team last season, it should be no problem replicating the numbers from last season: first in field goal percentage (50 percent), first in 3-point field goal percentage (40 percent) and first in 3-point field goal percentage defense.

In all honesty, it will be between Carroll and St. Norbert for the MWC and both should be able to grab NCAA postseason berths this season if they live up to their expectations.

3. Grinnell (last season 18-5, 14-4 MWC)

WIth some teams, you just know what you are going to get.

WIth Grinnell you know that you are going to get one of the most interesting systems in college basketball history. Probably the most interesting.

Grinnell boasts an very up tempo system where a shot goes up as quickly as it can, and it's usually a 3-pointer. 

They then press on the ensuing inbounds, trying to get a trap. If they don't get it, they give up the easy basket (This is from first hand accounts. I have yet to see they system in action and I really can't wait to).

This leads to often gaudy numbers being put on the scoreboard on a given night. Such as last season, when the Pioneers scored over 100 points in 16 of their 23 games.

And one of their players, returning top scorer Griffin Lentsch, set the record last year for most points in a DIII college game with 89.

Lentsch averaged 26.2 points per game last year, knocking in over 100 3-pointers at a 34 percent clip last year.

Also returning are Luke Yeager (10.7 points per game, 37 percent 3-point), Patrick Maher (10.6, 37) and Jesse Ney (9.8, 38), to give the Pioneers the most offensively dynamic backcourts in DIII hoops.

The Pioneers also have a new player in Jack Taylor, who eclipsed Lentsch's 89 points from last year by scoring 138 against Faith Baptist Bible College (Check out my reaction here).

Where the success really lies is how well Grinnell can turnover teams with their defense. Last year they were the best in the conference, forcing 27 turnovers a game and they were first in steals. They will need that to continue this year and with all of the returning talent, they could have a shot to knock off Carroll and St. Norbert at the top and get back to the NCAA tournament.

4. Lake Forest (last season 20-4, 16-2 MWC)

The Foresters were the regular season conference champions this year before getting bounced by Carroll in the first round of the conference tournament.

Lake Forest comes into this season having lost it's top three scorers from last season in Travis Clark, James Stack and Nate Bateman.

The Foresters do have one starter coming back, however, in guard Jeff Beck. Beck scored 9.8 points per game this season and shot 34 percent from behind the arc.

Lake Forest also has some players that saw varsity time last year in senior forward Chris Madson and junior guard Jordan Gipson. They will be two big players who will be looked at to do more for the Foresters this season.

Rounding out the starting lineup are sophomore forward Brian Madson and freshman guard Austin Terry. Madson already made a big impact for the Foresters in their first game against Lakeland, scoring 24 points in the overtime loss. Terry played 38 minutes in that game as well.

They will be young in a lot of spots and their success will depend on how well those youngsters can pick up the game this season and mesh with the returners.

5. Terry's Pick-5 Pick Beloit (last season 10-3, 9-9 MWC)

This pick was based off of their first contest against Whitewater, who they took right down to the wire before losing.

And there is plenty to be optimistic about in Buccaneer land.

That's because they return their top two forwards from last season in James Lazarcik and Tyler Butke. Lazarcik shot nearly 64 percent from the field and averaged 11.9 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. Butke averaged 11.7 points a contest last season in the post as well.

What they will lack in is guard play, having graduated their top two scorers from last season in David Bremner and Michael Horton.

For that they will turn to sophomore guard Ahmad Shamsid-Dean, who came off the bench last season for the Buccaneers. He will be looked at to replace those two seniors.

Also providing some help at the guard position will be freshman Steve McAfee, who has already stepped up in their first two games against Whitewater and Lakeland and scored 14 points off the bench in both for Beloit.

Beloit was second in the conference in field goal percentage last season at 46.7 percent and they will need to keep up those stats to play with the big boys up top. The problem is the field goal percentage included a league-worst 3-point field goal percentage at under 30 percent.

The shooting will have to get better from the outside for the Buccaneers to contend in the top-heavy Midwest Conference.

NAC

1. Lakeland (last season 16-9, 12-6 NAC)

The top returning scoring team in the league last year returns all but one of it's top scorers from last year. That's scary.

It starts with Jake Schwarz, who has been an offensive tour de force every since he got into the league and was again last season, averaging 23.4 points a game while shooting 45 percent from behind the arc as a forward. He also grabbed 8.9 rebounds a game.

Their second leading scorer from last year, the 6'9" Justin Ward also returns. He averaged 16.9 points per game and shot very good for such a big man from behind the arc, dropping it in at 40 percent.

I've played against both and both are very skilled in the post.

Returning at guard for the Muskies is James Oshkeshequoam, who is the leader in the clubhouse for the best name of the three conferences. He's also pretty good at basketball, as he dropped in 9.7 points per game, good enough for fourth-best.

Also starting for them is guard Joey Burris. Burris came off the Muskie bench last season and has already shown that he's good enough to be one of the five Lakeland starters this season, as he dropped in 36 points to lead the Muskies over Lake Forest in the season opener, going 5-of-10 from long range.

It's no secret that Lakeland wants to outscore teams. They led the league last year in scoring at 88.5 and were first in scoring margin.

They also led the league in 3-pointers made with 9.8 per game and were first in assists and rebounds. Those stats mean that they are looking to do work on the offensive end and the boards to dominate teams.

This team was just a game away from the NCAA tournament last year, falling to Edgewood in the NAC tournament final. They are no doubt hungry and are looking to reach the NCAA tournament and have a dang good shot to do so.

2. Aurora (last season 13-13, 8-8 NAC)

It pains me so much to put the Spartans here, as they are Benedictine's hated rival. 

But I've promised to stay as unbiased as I can here at this blog. Which means that by pure talent that is returning, the Spartans will be the best team in the South Division of the conference.

They have their top five scorers returning from last year. It starts with Scott Laskowski in the middle. He averaged 15.3 points per game and 8.5 rebounds a game last year.

Next up is Mike Bumber (A BenU transfer and personal friend of mine, even though he went to Aurora), who averaged 10.5 points a contest from one of the guard positions last year. (Although he may be out a while for an injury that he suffered in the first game. He went to get X-rays per his Facebook wall. I know, great source right!?)

Also returning are Jordan Hester (9.1 ppg), Ryan Crow (8.5) and Esteban Vega (8.1).

But even more interesting then that is a pair of transfers who have come in and looked solid for Aurora in the first two games.

Those two are Marius and Marquis Lobdell. 

Marquis has started both games for the Spartans and has played solid, averaging 6 points per game.

Marius on the other hand as been the better scorer of the two, averaging 20.5 points in the first two contests against stout College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) teams in Augustana and North Central.

If these two transfers continue to fill it up and mesh with the returners, Aurora will give Lakeland a run for their money come the NAC tournament.

3. Edgewood (last season 23-7, 12-4 NAC)

Edgewood was the NAC representative in the NCAA tournament last season and picked up the first ever tournament win for the NAC against UW-River Falls.

But a lot of talent is gone from that team, although some do return.

It starts out top with Cashton Craig, who averaged 10.5 points per game last year and shot 3s at a 42 percent clip.

The Eagles also have returning inside players in Justin Williams and Joe Klocek, who both came off the bench last season. Williams averaged 7.7 points and grabbed 4.3 rebounds a game and Klocek averaged 4.7 points per game.

Also returning with Craig at one of the guard spots in Michael Janusek, who played in all 30 games for the Eagles.

But after that the Eagles don't return much punch. 

They do, however, have a UW-Oshkosh transfer in Brett Meinecke, who has averaged 7 points a game in his first two as an Eagle off the bench.

It will be tough for Edgewood to duplicate their stats from last year, when they were best in the league in field goal percentage at 50 percent and the second best 3-point field goal percentage at 37 percent. 

Where they will have to hang their hat if they want to be competitive once again is on defense, where they were the second best scoring defense in the NAC last year. This will be the key for the Eagles.

4. Concordia-Wisconsin (last season 21-6, 14-2 NAC)

Now, I'm not going to lie, I've switched up the last two teams' orders a bit, just to make the Pick-5 more interesting. 

The Falcons were actually picked fourth in the North just for reference but here they are in the fourth spot in the list.

CUW has lost a ton of talent from last season's regular season North Division championship team.

But they still return two key contributors from last season's team down low in Brian Jackson and Steve Zielinski.

Jackson was the team's third leading scorer last season at 9.1 points per game and shot a respectable 35 percent from 3-point land when he chose to step out. He's the squad's only returning starter.

Zielinski was a solid contributor off the bench last year, scoring 4.5 points a game for the Falcons. But he is looking to do more this year, as evidenced by his 22-point game against Carroll and 20-point game against Buena Vista to start the season.

Concordia will also be counting on some transfers to pick up some of the scoring load. Those two transfers are Mark Pace (Shamelessly, another Benedictine transfer. Played with him, too, and another personal friend) and Steven Brodie (A Moorpark College transfer and thankfully, not a personal friend). Both have shown flashes in their first two games as Falcons.

Pace has dropped in 11 and 9 in the first two contest, while Brodie scored 11 and 6 off the bench for CUW.

The Falcons will be a lengthy team once again on the defensive end and will look to continue to shut teams down, as they were third in the league in scoring defense last year. They will have to if they want to compete near the top of the conference.

5. Terry's Pick-5 Pick Marian (last season 10-16, 7-9 NAC)

If ever there was a dark horse pick in conference this season, it would be the Sabres.

They return 3 of their top 4 scorers from last years squad.

It starts down low with Cody Veleke. He averaged 15.6 points per game and grabbed 6.4 rebounds per game last year for Marian. He can also go inside out, as he hit on 45 percent of his three points shots.

He also has returning outside threat Sam Koslowski back as well. Koslowski averaged 11.7 points a contest and shot the 3-ball at an impressive 49 percent clip last year. He will be looked to shoulder the brunt of the outside scoring for the Sabres this year.

Also returning are the Keller brothers in Mike and Mark. Mike averaged 9.7 points per game out of the forward position last year and was named NAC Freshman of the Year for his efforts.

Mark put in 4.5 points a contest for the Sabres. All four were starters for Marian last season, as well.

The question then becomes how much guard depth do they have. They have depth but its not experienced.

First of all, they started freshman Alex Stecker with this group of four. Secondly, the two guards with the most returning experience are coming off the bench in Alex Gomez and Jake Coenen, although Coenen played solidly in the opener against William Penn.

Their other best prospect at the guard position is junior Elan Solvik, who put in 13 points against William Penn and was the teams leading scorer.

The Sabres know that they are going to rely heavily on their post play for much of the season. But they will have to clean up the turnovers, as they were a league worst in turnover margin last year, even with having the third most assists in conference. If they can do that, they have a shot at this thing.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the first-ever Preseason Pick-5. I know I did. Stay tuned as the season is just getting warmed up. And so am I.

And if you want to take a look at the conference outlooks themselves, here are the links.

WIAC

Midwest

NAC

An Instant Reaction to Grinnell's Jack Taylor

I was going to hold off on another blog until my conference previews.

But that was until Grinnell's Jack Taylor blew up for a college basketball record 138 points against Faith Baptist Bible College on Tuesday night and subsequently blew up my phone from my friends that I played in college with while I was typing a high school basketball gamer.

So I feel compelled, like it seems the rest of America seems to on Twitter and Facebook, to give my reaction to Taylor's spectacular night.

I'm going start out by saying that people should still be in awe of the accomplishment. Scoring 138 points isn't easy. Heck, I probably couldn't go into an empty gym right now and score 138 points in 36 minutes against nothing but the air around me.

That being said, there needs to be some context to this record.

Firstly, Taylor's record is more about the system that he plays in than his actual skills. Grinnell plays a system where their is extensive trapping in the backcourt on defense and if it gets broken, they concede the layup to the opposing team. 

On offense they chuck up the first opportunity from 3-point land that they have and are often not on offense longer than 15 seconds, or even 10 seconds for that matter.

Now, I have not seen this personally, but this information comes from first hand accounts from coaches and ex-players who have seen it in action. 

This allows Grinnell to score a high volume of points, while giving up a lot of points (they gave up 104 to Faith Baptist on Tuesday) on every night.

Taylor was the recipient of that system tonight.

Secondly, this record comes nearly to the day that Taylor's teammate, Griffin Lentsch, broke the DIII college record against Principia. He had 89 points that night. So lets compare box scores.

Lentsch (last year against Principia)  27-55 FGs, 15-33 3pt FGs, 20-22 FTs, 89 pts.

Taylor (this year against Faith Baptist) 52-108 FGs, 27-71 3pt FGs, 7-10 FTs, 138pts.

Taylor's output is basically double of Lentsch's in field goals and 3-pointers and about 50 percent more in points.

In both, however, only two other players combined for 20 points. For Lentsch, two players hit double figures with ten while for Taylor, one player had 13 points (Aaron Levin) and one had seven points (Ironically, Lentsch). 

Also interesting is the neither garnered a single assist for the night and each played for 36 minutes, while no other teammate played for 20+ minutes and only a few played for just over 15 minutes, as per the normal subbing patterns for Grinnell.

So, what do these box score's tell us? They tell us that Grinnell was purposefully feeding these players to grab the records and they've now done it two years in a row.

Thirdly, let's look at the competition that these record-breaking feats happened against.

During Lentsch's scoring barrage last year, Grinnell was playing against Principia, who finished 0-25 and didn't win a game in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, statistically one of the weaker conferences in the nation.

Taylor and the Pioneers faced Faith Baptist, a team that doesn't play in the NCAA, but the National Christian College Athletic Association, traditionally made up of smaller private Christian colleges.

This team also lost 12 of the 15 players from their varsity squad this year.

So both of these feats happened against inferior talent, coupled with the whole team feeding them the ball in a system that is notorious for putting up ridiculous numbers of points. Think about that when you look at the record.

I'm not saying it's wrong. But I'm not saying it's right, either.

The beginning (I hope)...

It was one of the worst moments in my life.

I had spotted my parents about 20 rows up at Timken Gymnasium on the campus of the College of Wooster as I was about to walk towards the end of the handshake line, one of my post game rituals, something I had done a hundred times before.

Only this time I did it with a tear in my eye. And seeing my parents made it only that much more real. This would be the last game of college basketball I would ever play.

I, Terry Licht, as a member of the Benedictine University Eagles men's basketball team had just lost to the Wooster Fighting Scots in an NCAA Division III Tournament first-round matchup in March of 2011, falling 74-68 to a team that would go on to the National Championship game.

Not only was it that we lost, we shot an abysmal 31 percent from the floor, even worse from behind the arc (20 percent), missed free throws down the stretch and we still had three shots to cut Wooster's lead to 1 in the waning moments. if ever there was a rewind button to life, that would've been the time to use it. We had it in our grasp.

So needless to say my college career still ended on a good note. We made the tournament for the first time since 2004 and took one of the best teams in the country right down to the wire.

But having basketball ripped away from me like that was a terrible feeling. Like it didn't feel real for the longest time that I wouldn't play another game.

Then came another one of the worst moments in my life.

Fast forward about six months after that day in Wooster, Ohio. I had recently started my job as a sports reporter for The Northwestern, a newspaper in Oshkosh, Wis., a job that I still currently hold.

It was November 15. It was the first game of the new DIII season and I was tabbed to go watch and report on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans take on then No. 2-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) Vikings.

This was the first college basketball game I had attended since I had stopped playing basketball and mind you I still hadn't fully realized that my playing career was done.

It wasn't hard on me until the National Anthem started playing. The Anthem had always been my way of focusing in on games since my high school playing days at Cadott, Wis., and especially true when I played at Benedictine.

The tears started coming again like they did that day in Ohio, knowing that I wasn't out on that floor playing, I was watching. Watching helplessly from the sidelines while guys my own age were still out there playing and doing the things that they loved the most. I almost couldn't handle it.

Ever since that day I've been itching to get back into the fold someway, whether it be coaching or scouting. Just something to get me back to Division III basketball.

Even though I've made my peace with not playing anymore, basketball is still one of the most important things in my life. It has always been God, family and basketball and in that order.

That is why covering basketball is the most exciting thing at my job. Problem is I don't get to cover UW-Oshkosh much due to our lack of resources at the newspaper. Most of the time I'm out covering high schools, while still fulfilling to a certain degree, still misses the spot.

This is probably due to my affinity for college basketball. I've always loved taking in college games on the TV and is one of the big reasons March is my favorite month of the year.

And playing DIII basketball opened my eyes to a whole new level of college that I hadn't really known existed until I played.

This has led to a great appreciation for the players, coaches and fans of that level of basketball. You realize that people at that level are really doing it for the love of the game. There are no fancy TV deals for these colleges. No multimillion dollar contracts for the coaches. No athletic scholarships for the players. And, yet, the basketball is still very good and played at a high level. It's truly one of the purest forms of the sport that I so dearly love.

But it's sad to see that this group of basketball players goes largely unnoticed. D3hoops.com does their very best to try and put DIII basketball on a bigger stage but other media outlets do mediocre to poor jobs at covering their local small colleges, especially those in big cities like Chicago or Minneapolis or New York.

Which is why, when a friend from college who is currently an assistant coach at the DIII level (and you know who you are) came to me with idea of blogging about DIII hoops, I jumped at the idea.

His concept was a simple one and one that I could facilitate easily with my availability on weekends and with only a small financial hit -- take the DIII conferences around you and blog about them.

So that's what I've decided to do. I will take the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Midwest Conference and the Northern Athletics Conference and blog about them. I will do a mid-week blog talking about DIII basketball, upcoming big games in those conferences and other things that I deem worthy to grace my blog, while on weekends I will go/watch as many of the biggest games in the aforementioned conferences, analyzing and breaking down the games and what they mean for those teams and the conferences.

In the upcoming weeks I will be blogging about the three conferences and my predictions for them and also announcing the schedule of games that I plan on attending/watching, which will begin on December 1.

It's a novel concept that I'm going to try my best to uphold throughout this season. So sit back, follow me and enjoy the best that Division III has to offer.

P.S. And, yes, I will accept criticism and comments.