Midweek Blog 5: It's Tourney Time!!

Just kidding! But not really. It IS tourney time, just not the one most think about when someone says "Tourney Time."

It's the time for the holiday tournament time. This coming weekend features plenty of the blog's teams playing in holiday tournaments around the country.

1 Big Thing

Holiday tournaments can be a blessing and a curse. 

They are a blessing in many ways. Most notably in the level of competition at the tournaments. More often than not you are going to get at least one great game when you play, and maybe two, depending on the tournament and the team hosting.

You want examples? Okay, my freshman year at Benedictine, we went to the Bahamas for our holiday tournament and played St. Mary's (Md.) (a tournament team that year, this would be 2007-08. Man I'm getting old.) and Wooster (Perennial tournament team, didn't get our revenge three years later), two very good teams that season.

The next year, we played in the Elmhurst College tourney and played against Elmhurst (ranked that year, Brent Ruch's senior season) and Eureka College (not the greatest of competition, but it was the third place game). That tourney also saw No. 1 Wash U. come up. So if we would have beaten the Bluejays (played them to a five-point game) we would've gotten to face off against the No. 1 team in the country.

Those were easily BenU's two toughest holiday tourneys that I was a part of. And there are plenty of those types of matchups awaiting our teams this coming weekend.

One of which pits three teams -- UW-Whitewater, St. Norbert and Marian -- in the same tournament in Green Bay. St. Norbert will get to face off against Marian in one game, and the Sabres are not a pushover. Whitewater gets Northwestern (Minn.), a team that knocked off a ranked Wheaton club not too long ago. So those are two very solid matchups, with the winners (probably Norbert and Whitewater) getting another quality matchup.

These types of tourneys give each team a good barometer of where they are at heading into the stretch run of conference play after the new year, which is perfect.

The only downside to these holiday tournaments is the hurting of in-region record, which is key for in-region rankings, which is key for Pool C bids into the NCAA tournament. I'll explain.

These tournaments sometimes have at least one or two teams that you play that are out of region games and don't count towards your in region total. I'll use another great BenU story to explain further.

My senior year, we played Calvin (Mich.) at the Elmhurst tournament. We beat them but it didn't count in our in-region total. (We were Midwest and I believe that Calvin is in the Great Lakes, plus were in different NCAA administrative regions as well) So what was our signature win up to that point in the season didn't even really count towards our regional rankings when they first came out. If it would have, we probably would've been a decent bet for a Pool C bid.

This situation doesn't affect too many teams in the WIAC, MWC or NAC this year (maybe one or two), but that doesn't mean it hasn't hurt someone before or crop up and hurt someone at some point again.

So, in theory, these games are good and potentially bad for all involved.

2 Small Things

-Is St. Norbert again the team to beat in the Midwest Conference?

It's hard to argue otherwise with how the Green Knights have been playing as of late.

Their last two victories have come against solid Lawrence and who was the conference front runner in Carroll. The most impressive part? These were double-digit victories (Norbert was in control all the way in both of them) and they both came on the road.

Much of that has to do with the emergence of Andrew Schwoerer the past two contest. Schwoerer poured in 23 against the Vikings two weekends ago and put in 21 against the Pioneers last Wednesday. He seems to be getting himself and the Green Knights' offense revved up.

They will get another test this weekend at their own tourney with a game against Marian (still dangerous) and a probably matchup with UW-Whitewater. If they can come out of that tourney having played a tight game against the Warhawks and keep their confidence up, they will be tough to beat as we flip the calendar.

-Can MSOE continue to surprise in the NAC?

The Raiders have probably been the surprise team in the Northern Athletics Conference to this point. They were picked near the bottom of the North division, but are 3-1 in conference before the new year and just picked up a win over Beloit.

How do they do it? They muck up the game as much as they can. Meaning they play a version of Wisconsin basketball. They pack it in defensively, they make you work the clock and they make you take the outside shot as much as they possibly can.

They are also very deliberate on offense, working down the clock. They need to since they are shooting less than 40 percent from the field. But this tactic keeps the games close and low scoring -- they are only giving up 60 points per game.

If the Raiders can continue to uses these two tactics and use them well, they can continue to win in the less than stellar NAC this year.

3 Performances of the Week

Zach Peterson, UW-River Falls (against Pacific Lutheran)

Peterson tallied a double-double for the Falcons in the win, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 boards. He nearly had a perfect game, going 9-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line for UWRF.

Reggie Greenwood, Cornell (against Monmouth)

Greenwood had 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds from his guard position in Cornell's victory over Monmouth. He also tallied five assists in the victory.

Mike Bumber, Aurora (against UW-Oshkosh)

Bumber dropped in 22 points in the Spartans win over the Titans in Vegas last weekend. The senior guard went 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from deep in the victory.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (9-1, 3-0 WIAC) Words: Finally lost
2. UW-Whitewater (8-1, 3-1 WIAC) Words: Norbert weekend
3. UW-Stout (9-1, 3-1 WIAC) Words: Long layoff
4. UW-Platteville (8-3, 3-1 WIAC) Words: Holding serve

MWC

1. St. Norbert (5-3, 4-2 MWC) Words: Hot, hot
2. Grinnell (7-2, 4-1 MWC) Words: Long break
3. Beloit (5-4, 4-1 MWC) Words: Faux contender?
4. Carroll (7-3, 3-2 MWC) Words: Cold streak

NAC

1. Aurora (9-3, 4-0 NAC) Words: Better schedule
2. Lakeland (8-2, 4-0 NAC) Words: Struggling lately
3. MSOE (6-4, 3-1 NAC) Words: Methodical, slow
4. Concordia-Wisconsin (5-3, 2-1) Words: Staying close

5 Worth the Price of Admission

1. Non-conference, championship game of St. Norbert tournament, Sunday, 7 p.m. Price I would pay: $10

I'm plugging this one first because I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be St. Norbert against UW-Whitewater (although stranger things have happened) in the championship game in what could be a really solid matchup.

Whitewater will be looking for it's first signature win since losing to Point two weeks ago. And the key here is that they have played a game since then against Edgewood, in which they handled the Eagles handily.

Norbert has been hot coming into this weekend, winning its past two MWC games handily against two solid teams. They will be looking for another feather in their cap in this one.

Two things I'm looking for in this one: 1, which team's bigs control the floor. 2, how well will Norbert's guards contain Whitewater's guards on defense. Those two things will decide who comes out victorious on Sunday.

2. Non-conference, UW-La Crosse vs. North Central in Las Vegas, 6 p.m. Price I would pay: $8

For the Eagles, this could be one of those statement games.

North Central comes into the contest ranked in the top-5 in the nation and have looked the part all season long with their big three inside in Aaron Tiknis, Landon Gamble and Derek Raridon.

But La Crosse has the talent to beat the Cardinals. And coming off a disappointing loss to North Park (Ill.) last weekend, my bet is that the Eagles come out really fired up to show the country and more importantly the rest of the WIAC, that they are to be reckoned with.

It's one of those games that could provide a boost for the rest of the season.

3. Non-conference, Marian at St. Norbert, 7 p.m. Price I would pay: $6

Look up a definition of "trap game" and you'll find a picture of this matchup.

Norbert has been riding in hot to their own tournament and with a date with Whitewater the next night with a win over an opponent they should beat, the Green Knights could be looking ahead in this one.

But they better not. Marian is a capable team, with capable scorers, capable of knocking off St. Norbert before their own championship game. And for Marian it's a chance to get back on a role and to show people why they were the NAC darkhorse before the season started.

4. Non-conference, Northwestern (Minn.) vs. UW-Whitewater at St. Norbert tourney, 5 p.m. Price I would pay: $5

Again, read: trap game. Only not quite as much as the last one.

The reason. Northwestern has already pulled off one of the upsets of the year in their takedown of Wheaton (Ill.) earlier this month.

For that reason, it's not as much of a trap game. I'm sure the Whitewater staff is pounding it into the Warhawks' heads that Northwestern has done this before and they will be ready for it.

But if they aren't or get off to a slow start or aren't connecting on shots, look for Northwestern to at least make this one interesting.

5. Non-conference, UW-Stout vs. Concordia-Wisconsin at Wisconsin Dells, Sunday, 3:30 p.m. Price I would pay: $4

Time to see if the Blue Devils can shake off the rust. They will have had a game before this one on Saturday against Loras (Iowa) but it still applies.

Stout hasn't played a game in almost three weeks and it most definitely could show in these two games. But more notably in their second game. I'm wondering how well with the Blue Devils legs hold up after being rested for that long and having to play a back-to-back.

Especially against a team like CUW, who has knocked off WIAC teams in the past and could do it again if the Blue Devils can't get back up for the second game. It will be interesting if Stout will be able to do that.

Thanks for tuning in once again. As always, you can follow me on Twitter at @turkdigg40 for all my basketball (and other) thoughts and we'll be seeing the triumphant return of the Weekend Blog this weekend.