Midweek Blog 8: It's Wild, It's Wacky, It's Basketball

Some conference upsets are starting to happen in our three blog conferences.

Last weekend, it was Superior knocking off Whitewater. Last night, it was Lake Forest trouncing Carroll. And there is bound to be more coming in the coming weeks.

1 Big Thing

Now many people might be wondering why this is happening. Why are teams that are on paper better losing to those on paper inferior teams?

Now there is any variety of answers.

First, is it conference parity? Are the teams really not that far apart in talent as it seems? Possibly.

Everyone talks about DI college basketball parity. Although there isn't as much of it at DIII level in, my opinion, on a year-to-year basis, that can definitely be true.

Even great programs have to stumble sometimes after they lose a talented class, while other teams may have a majority of upperclassmen, creating that year-to-year parity. So that is definitely a possibility.

Second, are the better teams maybe suffering from the grind? Are they hurting physically from injuries and bumps and bruises that's causing them to play not at 100 percent? Probably.

Every team has to go through stretches like that. Whitewater is playing without Cody Odegaard, one of their top shooters, for example. I'm sure that their are other injuries that are keeping guys out or causing them to play at less than 100 percent.

This in turn makes the team play at less than100 percent. And if you are playing at less than 100 percent and the other team is, it just makes you that much more likely to be beaten.

This happens to every team during this time of the year, when your body starts to deteriorate from entering the fourth month of play.

Third, aren't losses like those bound to happen anyway? Especially in conference play? Absolutely.

That's the beauty of conference play. You see these guys twice a year (mostly). You know the tendencies of the players. You know the style that they are going to be playing. You have generally two days to prepare. You are ready.

This leads to better gameplans, allowing teams to take away the others strengths, changing up personnel to get the matchups right on defense and offense.

And if your gameplan is working correctly, you can easily take down a top team on a good night.

Fourth, and foremost, aren't upsets the name of the game? Isn't that basketball? This is the gospel truth.

It's this fact that really made me fall in love with this beautiful game. It's a fact, more than any other sport (in my opinion), that any given night, any team can beat any other team.

You could take the best DI team and put them up against someone in DIII and if those DI guys are shooting terrible and the other team is shooting hot, it can happen. I don't think you can say that for any other sport other than baseball.

And all it takes is any one of those things mentioned above, whether it be an injury, supreme game plan, parity or simply just a cold/hot shooting night.

It's the nature and beauty of the beast called basketball. It's why I love it and it's why we all love this great game.

2 Small Things

-Who is the second-best team in the WIAC?

The No. 1 team has been clear cut for awhile now and that's UW-Stevens Point.

Going into Wednesday's games there was three teams tied at 5-2 for second place in the conference -- Stout, Whitewater and La Crosse.

On Wednesday, Stout took down La Crosse and Whitewater beat Oshkosh.

But those three teams have been near the top of the conference all season. So which one of those teams is the second best to Stevens Point?

For me, I have to go with La Crosse. I think that they have played the most consistent out of the bunch. They played Point very close on the road and even with the loss to Stout, they have the ability to outscore you or outdefend you to win games.

Whitewater has been struggling getting a consistent offensive rhythm going and Stout is good defensively but can struggle at times scoring, even though they didn't against La Crosse.

If I'm picking one of those three to make a run, it's the Eagles.

-What's going on with Carroll?

The Pioneers are still 7-3 in the Midwest Conference. But there is still a little room for concern as they have been wildly inconsistent since the later part of December, when they dropped two conference contests at home to Ripon and St. Norbert.

They then came back and destroyed Cornell, looked dominant again like the did in the first part of the season against Grinnell, then followed that up by squeaking by a surprising, yet, in my opinion, inferior team in Beloit at home (talent-wise I feel that Carroll should have won by at least 10, but that is just me).

The last two games have been a microcosm of this roller coaster for the Pioneers. They destroyed Knox on the road over the weekend 91-51.

They then turned around on Tuesday and lost to a 3-7 Lake Forest team. Actually, lost is an understatement. They laid an absolute stinker AT HOME to the Foresters, falling 73-54.

This concerns me in the fact that they are probably the most talented team in conference from top to bottom. They have good players and good depth at every position. But the inconsistent play has to stop if they want to stay near the top and pull out another NCAA bid like last year.

3 Performances of the Week

Chris Hortman, UW-Stout (against UW-La Crosse)

The senior guard was on fire for the Blue Devils, knocking in 5-of-8 from deep and scoring 21 points in the big win. Hortman also pulled down 13 rebounds in the game for Stout.

Jeff Beck, Lake Forest (against Carroll)

The Foresters senior went crazy against the Pioneers, racking up 34 points as Lake Forest dominated Carroll in Waukesha. Beck went perfect from behind the arc (4-of-4) and the free throw line (6-of-6) in his big game.

Anthony Keener, Dominican (against Rockford)

The Stars guard recorded a double-double against the Regents, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 boards. His 25 points included a 5-of-6 night from deep in the victory.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (15-2, 8-0) Words: Still victorious

2. UW-Whitewater (13-3, 6-2) Words: Shaky winning

3. UW-Stout (13-3, 6-2) Words: Surprise, surprise

4. UW-La Crosse (12-5, 5-3) Words: Two losses

MWC

1. St. Norbert (11-3, 8-2 MWC) Words: They're streaking!

2. Grinnell (11-3, 8-2 MWC) Words: No Taylor

3. Carroll (11-4, 7-3 MWC) Words: Shaky, shaky

4. Beloit (8-7, 6-4 MWC) Words: Staying surprising

NAC

1. Aurora (12-4, 7-0 NAC) Words: Very impressive

2. Lakeland (15-2, 8-0 NAC) Words: Coasting through

3. Concordia-Wisconsin (9-6, 6-2 NAC) Words: Small hiccup

4. MSOE (11-5, 5-2 NAC) Words: Grinding away

5 Worth the Price of Admission

1. WIAC, UW-Stout at UW-Whitewater, 4 p.m. Price I would pay: $8

This game just became increasingly bigger, as these two teams are tied at 6-2 after Wednesday's games.

One of Stout's two conference losses this season was to Whitewater at the beginning of conference season, so this game starts the second half of conference play.

But Stout looked impressive against UW-La Crosse and got a big night from guard Chris Hortman, who has the ability to go off on a given night or run his team into the ground with how much he shoots. The Blue Devils are also solid on the defensive end and are one of the tops in the nation in those categories.

Whitewater got a victory over Oshkosh on Wednesday and nothing really jumped out about the Warhawks lately, following a tough loss up in Superior.

The keys for this game: one, how will Hortman play against the Warhawks and two, how will Stout  contain the lightning-quick Quardell Young. Those guys are the two keys to both teams and will very much impact who comes out victorious.

2. NAC, Aurora at Marian, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $5

The NAC South leaders have been playing very impressive basketball of late, playing their up-tempo game to out-athletic teams and will be coming off of wins of Concordia-Wisconsin, Wisconsin Lutheran and, probably, Benedictine (I'm trying to give my Eagles some ammo here for their rivalry game).

Marian, meanwhile, has been playing better, beating Edgewood and Wisconsin Lutheran, then just missing out on coming back against CUW. They will becoming off of a likely win over Maranatha.

For Aurora, this is probably the toughest game that they will have before their matchup in two weeks against Lakeland. It's a similar roadtrip and a chance to get that kind of experience playing on the road in a North gym.

Marian hopes that this can be signature win on a resume that lacks a big one. And with Aurora coming off a rivalry game and having the 3-to-3-and-a-half hour roadtrip, they could very easily pull it off.

3. MWC, Cornell at St. Norbert, 5 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

The Green Knights will be looking for payback against the Rams, who beat them earlier in the season in Iowa.

But St. Norbert is a different team now, as they have rattled off eight straight wins -- 6 in conference -- heading into this matchup and have been looking every bit the conference favorite, getting consistent offensive and defensive efforts every night.

But Cornell had the blueprint to beat them the last time and the Rams have proven that they are no slouches in conference, taking a 4-5 record into the game.

I'm looking for Norbert to really dominate this game in Green Bay. But if the Rams can hang around, they have the offensive weapons to pull it off again.

4. WIAC, UW-Platteville at UW-Superior, 1 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

This is a pretty big game as far as seeding goes for the WIAC tournament.

Both teams are locked into a spot right now. Platteville is a game ahead in the standings at 4-4, while Superior is 3-5.

Platteville has lost it's last two games, and who wouldn't, to Whitewater and Stevens Point, while Superior beat Whitewater over the weekend, but lost to River Falls on Wednesday, who hadn't won a conference game.

Both teams feature big men in Platteville's Chas Cross and the Yellowjackets Bronson Byrne. I think this one comes down to which big man has the better all-around day for his team. As in, who helps his team the most rebounding, passing and scoring, will be the team that comes out on top.

5. NAC, Benedictine at MSOE, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $2

I'm putting this game on here because I'm actually going to go to this game (we'll actually see what I pay on Saturday).

MSOE has been staying right around the top of the North division, still grinding away games with a Bo Ryan-type defensive efforts night in and night out.

For Benedictine, they are just looking for a little momentum. They finally picked up their second conference win in a blowout Tuesday over Concordia-Chicago and they will be coming off a game against Aurora. They have a bunch of new players in the rotation so it will be interesting to see how that goes for the Eagles.

MSOE has had difficulty with teams that are taller in the middle (i.e. Concordia-Wisconsin) and Benedictine will boast two big posts in Tim McGinty and transfer Luke Johnson.

But we as Eagles have never played good at Kern. MSOE just has our number there and again this game will come down to pace, which I think MSOE controls.

But I'm hoping for something different!

Thanks for tuning in again. As always you can follow my basketball thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stay tuned for my weekend analysis blog coming on Sunday.

Weekend Analysis 6: Sorry It Took So Long

Sorry to all of you blog followers. I was drowning in a pool of my tears after my beloved Packers decided not to contain Colin Kaepernick and get bounced from the Divisional Round of the Playoffs once again. 

Its also apparent that I missed a few good basketball games this weekend. So I will piece together my beautiful weekend analysis post as best I can through box scores and other forms analysis for this week.

WIAC

Game I watched: UW-Stevens Point 62, UW-La Crosse 57. Top scorer UWSP: Joe Ritchay (14). Top scorer UWL: Michael Barrett (12).

The Skinny: The Pointers led for the whole game and put up a solid defensive effort against the Eagles, forcing the Eagles into shooting under 35 percent for the game.

But La Crosse hung around enough to make a game of it, as Stevens Point missed free throws down the stretch and the Eagles cut the lead to one point on a Trent Schmidt bucket.

But the Eagles missed two shots to tie or take the lead on two possessions and the Pointers finally knocked down some free throws to collect the victory.

Point 1: Digging Them Out

 

It's what Stevens Point has been doing lately while starter and All-American Tyler Tillema has been out: grinding out wins.

 

It started when UW-Eau Claire gave the Pointers some trouble but Point was able to pull out the win on January 5th.

And even though they have blowout wins over River Falls and Stout in the last two weeks, you just know this team isn't the same without Tillema.

Yet they are finding ways to win. This time it was a supreme defensive effort to hold down a very good (in my book, second-best team in the WIAC) La Crosse team.

They've also got it done by being exceptionally balanced on the offensive end (they had three in double figures again on Saturday).

 

If Tillema is out anymore time, Point will have to keep grinding them out like this. And they've proven that they can do it.

Point 2: It's Freezing at the 3-Point Line

La Crosse is a team that very much lives and dies by the three-pointer. 

 

They've feasted the past three games, shooting right around 40 percent. But as is always the case, that number is always bound to go the other way eventually.

And that is exactly what happened on Saturday in Stevens Point. The Eagles shot an abysmal 4-of-22 (18 percent) from the arc. That's just not going to get the job done.

They can take a lot of solace in the fact that they did hang in the game with some pretty good defense of their own and nearly stole that game right away from the Pointers despite the poor shooting.

I don't have many worries for the Eagles going forward. The numbers will balance themselves out and, as shown on Saturday, they have the defense to stay in games where they aren't shooting well.

Point 3: I'm Scared. I'm Very Scared

 

Stevens Point currently holds a two-game headstart on the rest of the league as they are 7-0 in conference play and then there are three teams at 5-2.

 

But this is without Tillema even hitting the floor the past four and a half conference games for Point. And they are still winning games without him.

The key here is that they are getting everyone else into a rhythm, especially the youngsters Austin Ryf and Joe Ritchay, who have emerged as key players now that Tillema is out.

This means that when Tillema does come back (and that should be sooner rather than later), the Pointers will have undoubtedly have the best lineup in the conference and have players that can step up and take some of the burden off of Tillema, which makes him all the more dangerous, espeically with those other weapons working at peak performance and confidence.

If I'm the rest of the conference, I'm very scared.

 

Box Score

Game I peeked at: UW-Stout 76, UW-Oshkosh 50. Top scorers UWST: Alex Oman, Chris Hortman (18). Top scorer UWO: Cory Nickel (11).

 

The Skinny: The Blue Devils stepped on the pedal the last six or so minutes of the first half against the Titans, taking a 40-26 lead into halftime.

They would continue to dominate out the break, holding UW-Oshkosh to just 6-of-34 shooting in the second half (17.6 percent).

 

Point 1: Recovery Mode

 

This could have easily been a game that Stout came out and had a huge letdown and let this season go to waste. 

 

It's a long road trip after a difficult loss to Stevens Point during the week against a team desperately looking for a victory.

But instead of coming out and looking back, the Blue Devils chose to look forward and came out and dominated from start to finish at Kolf.

This is the kind of win you have to have if you are going to compete for a conference crown. It was win against a team that they should beat. It was a win on the road. It was win to get back on track after a disappointing showing at Point.

It might be exactly what the Blue Devils needed heading into a big week with games against La Crosse and Whitewater.

Box Score

MWC

Game I watched: Beloit 94, Cornell 68. Top scorer BEL: Tyler Butke (31). Top scorer COR: Reggie Greenwood (15).

The Skinny: Beloit controlled this one for almost all of the game, building up a 17-point lead at half.

The Rams would cut it to 10 early in the second half before the Buccaneers would open it back up again in the rout.

Beloit would shoot an unconscious 58 percent from the floor, including going 8-of-14 from deep (57 percent) in the victory.

Point 1: The Butke Did It

A large part of the Buccaneers victory had to do with Tyler Butke's outstanding day. The forward finished with 31 points going on 14-of-21 shooting.

Butke possess a great forwards skill set; he is comfortable knocking in the mid-range jump shot and can also play with his back to the basket as well.

Both he and counterpart James Lazarcik play off of each other very well in the post, too, which makes the combination even that much more potent.

If Beloit wants to keep winning, they will keep getting the ball to these two guys in the post and let them go to work and feed off of the kickouts.

Point 2: Size Is A Problem

If there is one thing that Cornell lacked on Saturday, it was height.

And no, not just height in the post either, height all around.

With Beloit being fairly tall at every position (only on of their starters was listed below 6'0", including three at 6'5"), and with Cornell, frankly, not being all that tall (only one starter topped 6'3", and they started a 6'1" guy in the post), there was plenty of mismatches to be had by the Buccaneers.

Just to show you how unfair that was, Beloit outscored Cornell 28-14 in points in the paint and 15-4 in second-chance points. 

 

The killer is that Cornell couldn't make up for it on turnovers and points off of them, as Beloit outscored them there, too.

Point 3: Still Right There

 

Beloit is still right in the thick of the Midwest Conference race. They are 6-3 and only one game back of a three-way tie at the top with Carroll, St. Norbert and Grinnell.

 

Beloit has been playing solid ball as of late, nearly taking down Carroll at Carroll last week and two blowouts of Illinois College and Cornell.

 

For being picked well back in the preseason conference poll, the Bucs have been playing well above that expectation and have really done it by taking care of business against teams that they can and should beat.

If they can keep playing like they have been and keep beating the teams they are supposed to beat and sneak a few wins out against those top three teams, Beloit will have a very good shot at at least making the conference tournament.

 

Box Score

Game I peeked at: Grinnell 90, Lawrence 74. Top scorer GRIN: Griffin Lentsch (15). Top scorers LAW: Ryan DePouw, Conor Klusendorf, Chris Siebert (18).

The Skinny: Grinnell held control for most of the game, despite Lawrence keeping it close throughout most of the 40 minutes of play.

The Pioneers finally got some breathing room late, going up 19 with 3:45 left to play to collect the home victory over the Vikings.

 

Point 1: Shifting Lines

 

This is a very different team without leading scorer Jack Taylor on the floor.

 

Taylor suffered a broken wrist and will be out the rest of the season. 

 

This undoubtedly forced the brain trust at Grinnell to alter some of the lines on each shift. First and foremost, it looks as though Lentsch will take back the top scorer position on the top line, which was given to Taylor this season.

 

Secondly, it might take awhile for the chemistry of each of the new lines to take hold. I'm sure that the lines had been fairly settled in by now and now without Taylor, players are going to have to get used to playing with some of the other players on the floor.

But most important, Taylor's injury leaves the Pioneers without their best and top scorer. It's a position that someone else has to fill on the bottom end, but it won't nearly be as good as what Taylor was to the Pioneers.

That was evident by the low score (although it could've just been slow game by Grinnell's standards anyway). They just don't have the same punch as they had with Taylor.

It could be a huge blow for a team looking for an NCAA berth from the conference.

Box Score

NAC

Game I watched: Aurora 89, Concordia-Wisconsin 78. Top scorer AUR: Marious Lobdell (18). Top scorer CUW: Brian Jackson (21).

The Skinny: The Spartans really took control of the game midway through the first half, even though Concordia was able to hang around.

Aurora started putting away the Falcons early in the second half, going up by as much as 18 points at one point in the second stanza.

The Spartans were also able to force 20 turnovers, which led to 21 points for Aurora.

Point 1: Balancing Act

 

Another thing that marked the Spartans victory is how balanced they were on the offensive end as they had five guys hit double figures.

 

And they have really done that all season , with five guys averaging at or over nine points a contest, including three (Marious Lobdell, Scott Laskowski and Mike Bumber) that are averaging over double figures.

This is also helped out by how well they defend on the defensive end, as evident by the 20 turnovers and 21 points off of turnovers. It's really a two-faced approach because they are quick enough at every position to force turnovers and get on the run and athletic enough to finish at the rim and grab rebounds.

These runouts lead to a lot of free points for the Spartans and allow the Spartans offense to truly be dangerous by playing to all of their strengths (shooters, drivers and rebounders).

Aurora has really done this all season, especially in conference play and it doesn't look like they will be slowed down.

Point 2: Where Are My Guards?

 

Concordia-Wisconsin has arguably one of the most talented frontcourts in the NAC and it does the brunt of their scoring.

 

The problem with the scoring lies in their guards. They don't have anybody that can go off and score you 20 a night from the guard position.

 

Malcolm Bowers and Bryan Donaldson are solid and can score at times, but not nearly in the numbers that can truly take the burden off of guys like Mark Pace, Steve Zielinski and Brian Jackson.

I know it's not a prerequisite for a great team to have a scoring guard. But for when the Falcons go up against teams that can handle their frontcourt talent (i.e. Lakeland) or neutralize it with something else (i.e. Aurora), it would be nice to have a guard that can fill it up from time to time.

Again, not a prerequisite. But it looks like the Falcons need to find one if they want to win conference or the tournament.

Point 3: I Need A Challenge

Aurora has been going through the NAC like the cliched warm knife through butter.

This is especially true against teams in the South, who just can't match up with their size, speed, athleticism and depth that they have. Those teams might match up with one, but can't match up with all four.

I'm going to say that Aurora doesn't face a challenging from a South opponent the rest of the year, except for maybe Benedictine, just because of the rivalry (although, with how my Eagles have been playing, I really can't see them hanging with Aurora).

This leaves one game on the schedule for the Spartans to get really, truly tested: February 2 against Lakeland. I fully expect both teams to be undefeated heading into the matchup and I really give the edge to the Spartans because they can hurt you in a lot of different ways.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: MSOE 64, Rockford 53. Top scorer MSOE: Jaren Singh (20). Top scorers ROCK: Tory Minnifield, Grant Olsen (15).

The Skinny: Rockford held the lead at halftime and the game continued to go back and forth until late in the second half.

MSOE finally went on an 11-0 run late in the second half to take a 60-48 lead with just over a minute left to play and grab a key road victory.

Point 1: Another Grinder

This was another game that was exactly how MSOE wants to win games. Low scoring close games where it comes down to defense more than offense.

And in the end, it was their defense that prevailed. 

They made another team slow down and play their style of ball and they got the stops late, when they needed to, and did just enough on the offensive end to grab the victory.

That is how MSOE is going to win games from here on out. And if you have a chance to put them away early, like Concordia-Wisconsin did last week, you have to do it.

Rockford had that chance in the first half, as they had a five-point lead with two minutes to go in the frame.

Instead of taking advantage and extending it to an eight or 10 point lead (which, in my opinion, is too much for the offensively challenged Raiders to overcome), the Raiders went on a big 4-0 run (four points is big for them) and made it just a one-point lead, which is one where they can still get away with hiding their offensive deficiencies.

It's a blueprint that they follow to a T and you have to take advantage of your opportunities or they will grind you out of a win.

Box Score

Thanks for tuning in. As always, you can follow me on Twitter for my thoughts at all times at @turkdigg40 (My thoughts will definitely be more basketball geared now since the Packers are done).

Sorry again for it being late. Blame the stinking Packers.

Midweek Blog 7: The Grind

It's that time of year. It's the time when you are playing (mostly) two games a week, two practices in between and everybody is familiar with each other.

It's within these next two to three weeks that teams will separate themselves into contenders and pretenders, the good from the middle of the pack.

1 Big Thing

This is THE toughest part of the season for everyone. It's when you are getting into the meat of the conference schedules but you are still far enough away from the end of the season that you can't feed off that final stretch boost.

That means you are going on straight adrenaline as a player. Practices are still long and tough enough to wear you out and the constant traveling to games kind of gets worn down a bit, meaning you recharge the batteries as best as you can. Trust me when I say you are spending your days outside of basketball playing video games or watching TV and not spending much, if any, physical effort outside of the gym.

Getting up for the games may not be the hardest part, but dealing with the aches and pains of a season that is going on to it's fourth month is. This usually means you are playing at less than 100 percent for the games.

It's this time of year that brings two things to teams. One, is injuries. Two, is momentum.

On injuries, every team has to go through them, whether they are the significant (read: Tyler Tillema, Cody Odegaard) or nagging, they all affect the team.

Maybe it means resting a starter one game or bringing him off the bench or just gutting it out at less than 100 percent, but any way, those are things that could possibly negatively affect an outcome of the game.

It's those teams that are able to get through this three week period without injuries and dealing with the injuries that they do have with a few wins that can use it as a springboard heading into the final stretch of the season.

More importantly, it's this grinding time of the season that can give a team the confidence to go on a run or run down a team so much that they can't get back into it. I'll provide three examples that I personally witnessed/were a part of.

In the 08-09 season as an Eagle, we were 4-4 in conference going into the first games after winter break had ended (some time between January 15-20. I'm getting old, I know). We went to rival Aurora and took them down and beat MSOE the next week in overtime (we had lost to them earlier in the year), both of which were a part of a 10-game winning streak at the end of the season, which ended, unfortunately, to Aurora in the conference tournament semis.

In the 09-10 season, at the same time of season, we were 4-3 in conference, lost to Dominican, beat Aurora, but went on to lose our next three to MSOE, Rockford and Concordia-Chicago and ended up missing out on the conference tourney.

Once again, in the 10-11, we dominated, going 5-1 en route to another South division title, and ultimately a conference tournament title and NCAA bid.

If those three examples are any kind of barometer to what this time does to teams, I don't know what is. The two years in which we did well during this time, we won division titles and the one where we played like crap, we missed out on the conference tournament.

That's why during these games coming up in the next couple of weeks, see who is stringing together the wins. These should be the teams that will be around the top of their respective conferences come the end of February.

Those that are losing should be the ones that finish near the middle of the pack or even lower.

I'm telling you right now that it will be these five or six games in the next three weeks that will determine who will be playing for something later in the season.

2 Small Things

-Can UW-La Crosse stay hot enough to win the WIAC title?

The Eagles have been on fire since they lost to the No. 1 team in the country (North Central) in Vegas over the holiday.

In that game they played a solid 30 minutes, but trailed off at the end and lost to the Cardinals. But I think it showed them what they could be if they put it all together.

They have done that since that game, winning their last four games by impressive margins and have done it on the defensive end, really clamping down on that side of the ball.

They get their toughest test since North Central this coming weekend against Stevens Point in Pointer Land. If they can continue their momentum and grab a key win, and keep riding that momentum, they are still in position to take a surprising conference title from favorites Stevens Point and Whitewater.

But they have to keep doing it on the defensive end.

-Does Concordia-Wisconsin have the horses to challenge Lakeland in the NAC North?

I thought Lakeland was going to go run away with the NAC North.

But one team decided to say, we can do it to. That team has been the CUW Falcons, who've really stepped up their game in the new calendar year and have a 5-1 record in conference right now and are coming off an impressive win against defensive-minded MSOE by scoring 74 points.

Their only loss in conference has come to Lakeland, but it was a close loss. I think the Falcons know that they can beat the Muskies and they do have the team to do it.

They are led by big man Steve Zielinski, but also have a solid supporting cast in Mark Pace, Malcolm Bowers and Brian Jackson and they are a very deep team off the bench as they proved against MSOE on Wednesday.

They are also tough on the defensive end as well, which is always key down the stretch.

If any team can challenge and stay around to steal the North from the Muskies, it's going to be the Falcons.

3 Performances of the Week

Chas Cross, Platteville (against Superior)

The Pioneer big man put in 22 points and eight boards in a thumping of the Yellowjackets. He went 8-of-14 from the field and even knocked in two three=pointers in the victory.

Taylor Koth, Ripon (against Knox)

Koth went off against Knox, scoring 37 points in the Redhawks victory. He was 13-of-20 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line and also grabbed 10 rebounds for Ripon.

Marious Lobdell, Aurora (against Rockford)

Lobdell led the Spartans in the rout over the Regents with 21 points. He went 8-of-14 from the field and also dished off four assists in the victory.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (13-2, 6-0 WIAC) Words: Keep winning
2. UW-La Crosse (12-3, 5-1 WIAC) Words: Impressively hot
3. UW-Whitewater (12-2, 5-1 WIAC) Words: Grinding wins
4. UW-Stout (11-3, 4-2 WIAC) Words: Tough schedule

MWC

1. St. Norbert (9-3, 6-2 MWC) Words: Riding momentum
2. Carroll (10-3, 6-2 MWC) Words: Winning streak
3. Grinnell (9-3, 6-2 MWC) Words: Hanging around
4. Beloit (7-6, 5-3 MWC) Words: Still dangerous

NAC

1. Lakeland (12-2, 5-0 NAC) Words: Easy wins
2. Aurora (10-4, 5-0 NAC) Words: Looking impressive
3. Concordia-Wisconsin (8-5, 5-1 NAC) Words: Quietly winning
4. Marian (7-7, 3-3 NAC) Words: Getting hot

5 Worth the Price of Admission

1. WIAC, UW-La Crosse at UW-Stevens Point, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $10

This one could end up deciding plenty of things in the WIAC conference title race.

Stevens Point is still undefeated in conference and have been doing it without All-American Tyler Tillema, getting contributions from a variety of players game after game.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have been on fire in the new calendar year and have looked very impressive. But now it is time for them to play the big boys.

I think it comes down to how well the Eagles, who have been great defensively the last four games, shuts down the Pointers potent offense, with or without TIllema.

If the Eagles can hold Stevens Point to 60 or so points, they'll give themselves a dang good chance at taking home a key victory. If Stevens Point can get their offense revved up, they'll take home another victory and deal a big blow to La Crosse.

2. NAC, Concordia-Wisconsin at Aurora, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $7

This one should be a good game against two contrasting styles and will come down to who can control the pace more than the other team.

Aurora likes it up tempo. They like to force turnovers and get out into transition and let their athleticism go to work in the open court and it has worked for them to this point.

Concordia loves to beat you up inside with a pounding, physical game on both ends of the floor. They get after it on the defensive end and they work inside-out on the offensive end to beat teams.

I think Concordia's style is how you beat Aurora. You slow down the game enough and get physical against the Spartans and you give yourself a great chance of winning.

It'll be tough for the Falcons in the Land of Lincoln to pull out the win. But with how they play, they have as good as shot as any.

3. MWC, Cornell at Beloit, 5 p.m. Price I would pay: $4

This is a game between two teams who have been surprising as of late.

Cornell has grabbed a couple of win in the new calendar year and almost pulled out another big victory over Grinnell Wednesday night, falling by two points late in the game.

Beloit has been near the top of the conference for much of the season and nearly pulled out a huge victory over Carroll at Carroll, also falling by two points.

Right now, Beloit is just off the pace at 5-3 in the Midwest conference and Cornell, the conference newcomer, is a game behind them at 4-4, which means that this game is a key game as far as positioning goes and especially for who is going to get that fourth and final spot in the conference tournament.

4. MWC, Lawrence at Grinnell, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

This is a chance for the Vikings to get a signature win and shoot up the standings with a victory over the Pioneers.

Lawrence just won their first conference game on Wednesday over Lake Forest at home in a tight contest, while Grinnell was struggling with Cornell, but didn't have a full team, including losing top scorer Jack Taylor to injury in the game.

Lawrence hasn't played the greatest against the top of the conference to this point and are looking to get back into one of the top four spots. This is a dang good shot for them to do just that.

This is especially true if Taylor, one of the Pioneers' designated gunners from deep, is out or hobbled at all. Taylor has been a big part of the Grinnell success this year and if he is out, it's one less scorer the Vikings have to deal with.

5. NAC, MSOE at Rockford, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $2

This is a game between two teams that are desperately seeking a victory to turn their NAC ships around.

Rockford has lost their last two conference contests and didn't look great in either one.

MSOE got dismantled by CUW on Wednesday and didn't get into their ground-and-pound style of basketball, getting ripped open for 74 points.

So this leaves this game a key one in each of their respective season. Both teams have two losses in conference and need to get back into the win column to keep pace.

Again, this is another pace game. If Rockford can get out and run, they can take down MSOE. If MSOE can keep it slow and in the halfcourt, it's their game to lose.

Thanks again for tuning into the blog. You can always follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40.

Weekend Analysis 5: Go Packers!

Yeah, I figured I had to get that out of the way early. Sorry for those who aren't Packers fans.

But also happening on Saturday was plenty of conference basketball games. So without further ado, lets get to those games.

WIAC

Game I watched: UW-Stevens Point 54, UW-Eau Claire 50. Top scorer UWSP: Joe Ritchay (13). Top scorer UWEC: Lewis Mau (12).

The Skinny: The Blugolds kept the Pointers at bay for much of the first half, finding themselves just down three at half.

Finally, the Pointers got on a roll in the second half, going on a spurt to take a 15-point lead.

But Eau Claire wasn't done, cutting back into that lead but they just ran out of time and couldn't complete the comeback against Stevens Point.

Point 1: Struggling Without Tillema

This was the fourth straight game that Stevens Point played without Tyler Tillema and second conference game. This is the first time it showed in conference.

Where it was really evident was in the second half when Eau Claire made their run back at the Pointers. The offense went awry and there wasn't much semblance of cohesion or confidence in their offensive possessions during this time, which helped the Blugolds back into the game.

This is where having an All-American like Tillema helps out. In certain situations when Tillema is on the floor, Point will just get him the ball and because he is so talented he'll create offense for himself or others.

If Tillema was on the floor -- and I had this discussion with one of my Twitter followers -- that game wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was at the end because he would have taken over in those late game situations.

But for right now, they just don't have that kind of player. They have a bunch of players that can run the system and play off of a Tillema like player. But they don't have another player that can just take over the offense when it is needed.

If Tillema is out a couple of more games, this could get Stevens Point in trouble. It almost did on Saturday.

Point 2: Finish, Finish, Finish

If you are to pull off an upset. You have to be able to finish plays.

Down the stretch, Eau Claire just didn't finish well enough.

This was especially true when Stevens Point extended their lead back out to seven at one point late in the second half. Eau Claire twice got stops on the defensive end. 

And twice they missed layups on their offensive end that were moderately contested by the Pointers.

If they make those layups, it's a three-point game. Instead, they failed to put any more pressure on Stevens Point and they actually ended up being the difference in the game.

For a team that executed their game plan to perfection, it's tough when you don't finish the plays to get the job done. This is Eau Claire's feeling.

Point 3: Silver Linings Playbook

There is a silver lining to not having Tillema in the lineup. Everybody else is finding their games in his absence.

Joe Ritchay has turned into a bona fide stud. Jordan Giordana has finally found his shot. Trevor Hass has been solid and Austin Ryf has found his game, as well.

This should bode well for the Pointers when they get Tillema back as they have plenty of players that are now capable of hurting the opposing defense

It's just really to scary to think that they are still winning playing at less than 100 percent and not playing the greatest. Just imagine how good that team will be come March.

Box score

Game I peeked at: UW-La Crosse 65, UW-Oshkosh 49. Top scorer UWL: Luke Tweed (19). Top scorer UWO: Dylan Wurtz (12).

The Skinny: UW-La Crosse controlled the game from the end of the first half, when they went on a 10-2 run to close the frame to take a 35-26 lead into the break.

UW-Oshkosh couldn't get closer than nine the whole way as the Eagles held them to just 33 percent fro the field for the game.

Point 1: Hot, Hot, Hot

In my opinion, there isn't a team playing better basketball right now in the WIAC than UW-La Crosse.

And it all started with their loss to No. 1 North Central in Vegas last weekend. Since then they have impressively beaten their last three opponents, including a big win during the week against UW-Platteville.

And they've been doing it with some hot shooting from deep, shooting around 40 percent from the 3-point line in all three of their victories.

They have also been playing exceptional on the defensive end, holding teams to 55 points or under in all three contest, which is very impressive for any team.

It will be important to keep up this kind of play with games against UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout coming up. But if they can keep up this play the rest of the season, there isn't a doubt in my mind they will be near the top of the conference and a very solid bet at a Pool C slot.

Box score

MWC

Game I watched: Carroll 119, Grinnell 109. Top scorer CAR: Jake Bast (27). Top scorer GRIN: Jack Taylor (48).

The Skinny: Carroll did a wonderful job against The System, jumping out to a double digit lead in the first half.

But Grinnell wasn't out of it cutting the lead to one at one point early in the second half. 

However, Carroll was able to halt the momentum and extend their lead back out and take home a key win in the Midwest Conference race.

Point 1: Don't Go Breaking My Press

In all of the teams I have seen play against Grinnell this year, no one has done a better job than Carroll, especially against the halfcourt pressure.

They kept their spacing in the halfcourt, which caused Grinnell's trap to become over extended. Then Carroll would slide someone into the high post  and basically create a 3-on-2 situation between the three Carroll offensive players and the two Grinnell bigs, which Carroll won more often than not as they shot nearly 60 percent from the field.

Another thing that helped Carroll beat the press was their athleticism. They are one of the more athletic teams in the conference and that seemed to help them as far as playing the Grinnell pace.

For seeing that kind of style only twice, maybe three times during the season, Carroll sure seemed at ease with it, which is more than I can say for a lot of teams in the Midwest Conference.

Point 2: Down, but Never Out

The scary thing about Grinnell is that their offense is built in a way that no lead by an opposing team is too big.

I found this out the hard way watching the game. Twice I thought that Carroll was going to go run away and hide with double-digit leads. 

Both times Grinnell got back into the game, however. No lead is safe when a team is jacking three's like Grinnell does. 

This makes The System an almost unbeatable style, because it doesn't afford a comeback to those teams that do get down to them, while leads like the one that Carroll got on Grinnell are never safe.

It didn't quite happen against Carroll, but one can see why playing against The System is so difficult because of this game.

Point 3: Getting Back to It

This was a win that Carroll needed to get back on track in the Midwest Conference.

The win put Carroll into a tie for first place with Grinnell, Beloit and St. Norbert, which means that it makes the rest of the season a race for all three teams to get the conference title.

More importantly, it seems as Carroll has settled back into the groove that they were in when they started the season 3-0 in conference and looked unbeatable.

Confidence is a wonderful thing when it comes to basketball, and now that they have their confidence back, they could go on another run like they had at the beginning of the season.

Box score

Game I peeked at: Beloit 79, Illinois College 61. Top scorer BEL: James Lazarcik (19). Top scorer IC: Isaac Grapperhaus (15).

The Skinny: Beloit and Illinois College were virtually deadlocked at half.

But the Buccaneers came out on fire in the second half, hitting all of their 3-pointers and shooting 65 percent from the field to take home the victory over the Blueboys.

Point 1: It's Just Not Going to Happen

It's one thing to try and beat a team on the road in the first place.

But when that teams is shooting 58 percent for the game and 58 percent from beyond the 3-point line, it's just not going to happen.

This is what Beloit did to Illinois College on Saturday, especially in an impressive second half, where the Buccaneers scored 48 points while shooting a gaudy 65 percent from the field.

Beloit also put the clamps on defense, especially from beyond the arc, where they forced Illinois College into shooting just 2-of-12 in the second half.

For the Buccaneers, this was important game to get back into the win column and go into the four-way tie atop the conference. 

They need to keep winning games like this if they want to stay in one of the four spots for the conference tournament.

Box score

NAC

Game I watched: Marian 65, Rockford 60. Top scorers MAR: Alex Stecker, Sam Koslowski (11). Top scorer ROCK: Scott Suchy (16).

The Skinny: The Sabres jumped out to a 19-9 lead early in the first half.

They would need all of that lead in this one as Rockford, kept within striking distance the rest of the way, cutting the lead to three at one point late in the second half.

But alas, Marian would lead the entire game to take a big game to start the the new year of conference play.

Point 1: Stuck in Neutral

Rockford is a very athletic and quick team and love to play that way.

However, for much of the day against the Sabres, they just couldn't get out into transition like they wanted to for much of the game.

Marian was able to control the pace by playing very deliberately on offense and getting very solid looks on the offensive end. 

By making a fair amount of those shots, they were able to neutralize at least to a certain degree, Rockford's ability to get out and run, which made Rockford have to play a halfcourt game, in which they aren't quite as effective as they are in the open court.

Point 2: Keeping it Balanced

One thing that marks the Sabres on the offensive end this year is balance.

That was very evident on Saturday against the Regents.

Marian only had two players in double figures (Alex Stecker, Sam Koslowski), but had four players who finished with either nine or eight points. (Cody Veleke and Jake Coenen each had nine points and Drew Binversie and Mark Keller each had eight.)

You can see why they are so balanced because of how their offense is set up. It's high in motion and everyone seems to touch the ball on the offensive end. This give everyone a shot to get theirs throughout the game.

It's also because they have people who can score at all five positions on the floor as well.

If Marian gets on a winning streak, it will be because of their ability to stay balanced on the offensive end of the floor and play their pace.

Point 3: The Start of Something?

Marian had somewhat of a disappointing start to the beginning of their season, starting out only 1-3 in conference.

However, they seemed to have figured it out after their loss to St. Norbert over the holidays, picking up an impressive victory over Northwestern (Minn.) in the third-place game of that tournament and now a win over a pretty solid Rockford team.

And they have winnable games coming up against Edgewood and Wisconsin Lutheran before they start their tough stretch.

If they can gain confidence by getting two more wins before their tough stretch, they have the capability of getting back to where they thought they would be at the start of the season.

Box score

Game I peeked at: Concordia-Wisconsin 61, Benedictine 53. Top scorer CUW: Steve Zielinski (17). Top scorers BEN: Dale Renshaw, Tim McGinty (9). 

The Skinny: The Eagles held the halftime lead 33-28 over the Falcons.

But CUW came out ready to go in the second half, shooting 48 percent from the field while holding BenU to under 20 percent shooting in the second half for only 20 points.

Point 1: Don't Forget About Us

Concordia-Wisconsin has very quietly stayed around the top of the North standings and picked up two wins this week against Concordia-Chicago and BenU.

And they have plenty of talent, especially at the four and five positions to stay up there and make it a close race at the top of the North division.

Steve Zielinski has been a monster down low and Mark Pace has played very solidly at the four position for the Falcons.

They are always tough defensively, too, with their length. This was obvious when they held the Eagles to under 20 percent shooting, which is very disappointing to see for a BenU alumnus like me.

But for the Falcons, if they can keep doing what they did in the second half against BenU, they will keep winning and make things pretty interesting in the North division.

Box score

Thanks for tuning in again. As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stayed tuned for my midweek blog coming up.

And as always Go Pack Go!

Midweek Blog 6: Conference Call

That's right, boys and girls, it's conference play (mostly) from here on out. Every game will be a way to get into position for a conference title or at the very least, making the conference tournament. 

This is when the games count the most. When it comes down to execution over strategy. Mental toughness over physical toughness. It's determination and will. It's when you face teams that are so familiar with each other, you know them better than you know your own momma. It's the grind we all know and love.

It's the grind over these last two months of the season that will separate the contenders and pretenders.

3 Things (1 Big Thing + 2 Small Things)

And with that I've decided to dispense with the "1 Big Thing" and the "2 Small Things" for this week and combine them to just give you 3 Things.

What are those things you might ask? Those things would be my rundowns of the conference races to this point. Since it's kind of the unofficial halfway mark of the season, I figured that this would be a good time to run down each of the conferences and give you my favorites to win.

And with that we'll get going. 

WIAC

UW-Stevens Point heads a bunched up top at 3-0 in conference play with a win over UW-Whitewater under their belt.

Behind them are four teams with just one loss: Whitewater, UW-Stout, UW-Platteville and UW-La Crosse.

Out of these five teams, only one got through the holidays unscathed by a non-conference loss -- UW-Platteville. But while getting wins in their two games against La Verne (Calif.) and Colorado College, they weren't exactly convincing against solid, yet not WIAC-caliber teams.

One could argue that the team playing the best coming out of the break is UW-La Crosse, who played a solid 30 minutes against the new No. 1 team in the country in North Central (Ill.) and took it to a Hardin-Simmons (Texas) squad the next day out in Vegas.

Point played two games (losing one of those) in Texas without leading scorer Tyler Tillema, who after playing a hobbled game against St. Thomas a week earlier, was sat out probably to get healthier before returning to conference play. 

Whitewater and Stout each took losses, too, to St. Norbert and Loras (Iowa), respectively.

Here is how I see it playing out: I feel that Stout will fall off the pace, especially with playing La Crosse, Point and Whitewater within the next two weeks. 

La Crosse and Platteville will go neck and neck for the three spot and hopefully build enough of a resume for a Pool C bid, although La Crosse could get hot and make a run at the top two spots in conference.

I still think it comes down to either Whitewater or Point. I'm going to pick Point because they will get Tillema back sooner than Whitewater will get back sharpshooter Cody Odegaard from a broken hand, which will make all the difference.

My favorite: UW-Stevens Point

My darkhorse: UW-La Crosse 

MWC

The Midwest Conference standings right now are not indicative of how these teams are actually playing.

Grinnell just finished playing their first game back from a over three-week long break from games (last game was 12/11/2012 against Illinois College) against Beloit, but did win to go to 5-1.

Behind them are three teams with 4-2 records in Beloit, St. Norbert and Carroll.

Carroll had been struggling, having lost two games in a row before blowing out Cornell in a rare conference game during the holidays.

Beloit had a nearly two-week long break before playing Grinnell. They lost that game, too, to MSOE, so they haven't been playing the greatest as of late.

But the team playing the best out of arguably anyone that I'm covering in this blog has been St. Norbert. Norbert beat both Lawrence and Carroll before the holiday break and then won their own holiday tournament, destroying Marian and really controlling the whole game in an upset of Whitewater.

That's why they are my favorite to win this thing. They are playing better than anyone and at the right time as they head into the meat of their conference schedule.

After that, it's going to be between Grinnell and Carroll for the next two seeds in conference, in my opinion. And I think Carroll will take the No. 2 spot. They also have shot to reclaim that top spot for me if they can get back on the roll they were before break.

I just think Grinnell will have a couple of losses where they just go cold and lose, but they will stay at No. 3.

And as for the last spot in the conference tournament, it's probably going to be between these four teams, and these will be in order of who I think is going to get that spot: Lawrence, Beloit, Ripon, Illinois College. It comes down to which of these teams can string together a nice run of wins to take that final spot.

My favorite: St. Norbert

My darkhorse: Carroll

NAC

This really comes down to two teams -- one in each division.

Lakeland leads the North side at 4-0 with MSOE and Concordia-Wisconsin trailing with one loss behind them.

Aurora and Rockford are in a virtual tie for first place in the South, with the Spartans at 4-0 and the Regents at 3-0 and each team behind them has three losses.

But even though both took losses in holiday season, it still Lakeland and Aurora's divisions to lose. Both have more talent than the rest of the conference and have looked comfortable with the targets on their backs to this point, even though both have taken their lumps.

And I don't see that changing in the coming weeks. The only two teams that might have an outside shot at division titles (and I'm talking very outside) are MSOE and Rockford. MSOE because of the style of basketball that they play and Rockford because they got a head start on the rest of the South and do have the ability on offense to put up numbers with anybody.

But it's still Lakeland and Aurora, and I really don't see anybody jumping in to stop them.

My North favorite: Lakeland

My South favorite: Aurora

My North darkhorse: MSOE

My South darkhorse: Rockford

3 Performances of the Week

Jordan Giordana, UW-Stevens Point (against UT-Dallas)

Giordana got out of his shooting funk, scoring 29 points in the Pointers win over UT-Dallas. Giordana knocked in 9-of-12 three-pointers to lead UW-Stevens Point to victory.

Caleb Zeegers, Carroll (against Cornell)

Zeegers came off the bench and dropped in 25 points for the Pioneers. Zeegers went 7-of-8 from deep and tallied 6 assists in the conference win over Cornell.

Anthony Keener, Dominican (against Greenville)

Keener dropped in 33 points as the Stars down Greenville. Keener went 11-of-16 from the field and connected on both of his 3-point attempts in the win.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (10-2, 3-0 WIAC) Words: Tillema time?
2. UW-Whitewater (9-2, 3-1 WIAC) Words: Falling off?
3. UW-La Crosse (9-3, 2-1 WIAC) Words: Playing better
4. UW-Platteville (10-3, 3-1 WIAC) Words: Staying inside

MWC

1. St. Norbert (7-3, 4-2 MWC) Words: Beat Whitewater
2. Grinnell (8-3, 5-1 MWC) Words: Restarting engines
3. Carroll (8-3, 4-2 MWC) Words: Resetting themselves
4. Beloit (5-5, 4-2 MWC) Words: Holding on

NAC

1. Lakeland (9-2, 4-0 NAC) Words: Top dog (North)
2. Aurora (9-4, 4-0 NAC) Words: Top dog (South)
3. MSOE (8-4, 3-1 NAC) Words: Grinding style
4. Rockford (5-7, 3-0 NAC) Words: Rough holiday

5 Worth the Price of Admission

1. MWC, Grinnell at Carroll, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $9

This should be a fun matchup that could be one of the games that decides seeding in the conference tourney.

Grinnell, fresh off of beating Beloit after an over three-week layoff, gets to go to Carroll for another test of the system against the top of the conference. 

Grinnell did it, too, back in December, when they went to St. Norbert and picked up a victory over the Green Knights. They will need to look back on that game and apply it again here against Carroll.

As for the Pioneers from Wisconsin, they have hit a bit of a lull for awhile, losing two straight games to Ripon and St. Norbert, but crushed Cornell last week. 

One thing to look for is how well Carroll attacks the Grinnell press with their guards. Out of the teams that I have seen in the Midwest to this point, Carroll might be the only team that can (sort of) run with Grinnell. If they can beat the press enough times with their guard play, Carroll should take this one.

2. WIAC, UW-Stevens Point at UW-Eau Claire, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $5

It will be interesting to see if Tillema is, in fact, back into the lineup in some way shape or form this week and specifically this game, whether it be off the bench or starting.

Either way, I think it's a game the Pointers can handle, although they showed susceptibility to teams that get out and run when they got beat by Concordia-Texas 96-82.

And even though the Blugolds aren't that particular kind of team, it may behoove them to maybe try and push the pace a little bit more, especially since they start basically four guards and an athletic post. This will also help them with their 3-pointers, too, as Eau Claire does like to chuck it from deep and three's are always more open in transition.

So, what this game really comes down to is who dictates pace. If Stevens Point does, it could be a blowout. If Eau Claire does, another upset could be brewing.

3. NAC, Rockford at Marian, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $4

This is one of those games that could be a jump start either way for either team.

Rockford has remained undefeated in conference play to this point, but hasn't face a real quality opponent in those three games.

Meanwhile, Marian has been in a semi-slump for a team that was picked to be second in the North division. They are only 1-3 in conference, but I think they are better than their record shows and they did beat a very good Northwestern (Minn.) team at the St. Norbert tourney this past weekend.

If Rockford wins, it could be the kind of win that propels them to stay near the top of the conference and pick up the No. 3 or 4 seed in the conference tournament. If Marian wins, maybe it will propel them on the kind of run to get back into the thick of things in the North.

4. MWC, Illinois College at Beloit, 6 p.m. Price I would pay: $2

I'm interested in this game because of the up and down season of the Illinois College Blueboys.

They've come up with some surprising wins to this point, as they've given Grinnell their only loss of conference play and they walloped North Park (Ill.) 100-45.

The problem? They've also had some puzzling losses to Monmouth and Cornell.

Beloit, meanwhile, has hung around the top of the conference but just lost to Grinnell to move their record to 4-2 in conference play. But they haven't beaten any of the top teams of their conference yet.

This game could come down to the wire and will be very vital in who possibly picks up that final spot in the conference tournament.

5. NAC, Benedictine at Concordia-Wisconsin, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $2.

This was supposed to be a game against teams that would be competing towards the top of their respective divisions.

One of them is. Concordia-Wisconsin is 2-1 in their conference and is essentially one game back of Lakeland. They did have a rough go of it during the holidays, losing to two WIAC teams in the Dells.

For Benedictine, their season has been anything but good and they've been having a difficult time getting anything going as far as confidence or winning streaks.

It's a game that Concordia-Wisconsin needs to win if they want to be taken seriously as a contender in the NAC, while for BenU, they are just looking for any kind of spark to get their season going.

Thanks for tuning in to the midweek blog. As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40. 

And I hope you enjoy the conference play. I know I will be.