Hinkle Fieldhouse has not seen this kind of national recognition since Jimmy Chitwood was draining jumpers for Hickory High in Hoosiers. The Butler Bulldogs have quickly assimilated themselves as the current top mid-major program in the nation, superceding Gonzaga within the last two years. The Bulldogs have had consecutive second round appearances as well as consecutive Horizon titles. Player of the year Mike Green led the bulldogs in scoring with 14.6 PPG, but they were so much more than just Green. First-team performer AJ Graves finished his career with 1,807 career points and a very impressive 303 3-point field goals. Graves was widely regarded as the nation's most feared sniper behind Chris Lofton from Tennessee. Butler will have to replace five seniors next season, but this crew of leaders won 59 games the past two seasons, capped off by a 16-2 conference record this season. Butler has managed to put the Horizon League on the map, and down the line the other teams in the conference will realize what is being accomplished at Hinkle has been magnificient.
The Horizon League featured four 20 win teams: Butler, Wright State, Cleveland State and Valparaiso. Cleveland State received a berth to the NIT after finishing second in the league and highlighting their season with a victory over Butler at home in January. The Vikings capped off their best season of the decade with a 21-12 year, and a highly touted recruiting class coming in for head coach Gary Waters. Wright State was snubbed from a postseason bid as Brad Brownell's Raiders finished third in the league with one of the more dominating home courts. Brownell has really turned this program around, and proved that there is more than just one relevant team in Dayton, Ohio. After dancing a year ago before losing to Pittsburgh, the Raiders went 21-10 with a 12-6 conference mark. Valparaiso returned to the postseason in the first CBI; the Crusaders went 22-14 and reached the Horizon League semis. They featured an explosive offensive attack, led by a Horizon league record 330 3-point field goals this season.2007-2008 Horizon Grade: B-
This league has gone from putred to quite highly respectable in just two short seasons. Give the credit to Butler and the entire organization that just reloads from a mid-major persepective. One of the most historical mid programs in all of the land, the Bulldogs will maintain to be talented, well-coached, and win games. This league is very top-heavy, with the aforementioned 20 win teams dominating much of the league. I really think that things are looking up for this league, even with the graduation of Butler's seniors. Cleveland State has shown signs of resurrection, we all know Brownell will coach Wright State to excellence, and I have faith in Valpo and UW-Milwaukee. I am going to predict, very early I must add, that the Horizon will be the mid-major conference of the year next season. I think that after watching Butler going on the road this season and struggle the way they did gives some real validity to the depth of the league. The real question is whether that was the overrating of Butler, or if it was the talent of the other teams in the league. If these schools that feature young teams (Wright, Valpo) learn how to win on the road, look out. The Horizon will be fun.
Ivy
ZZZ. zzzz. zzzzzzzz. Gone are the days of Pete Carrill's Princeton upsetting 3 seed UCLA (1996); gone are the days of "the other" Michael Jordan making plays for Pennsylvania on a national stage. Arrived are the days of Tommy Amaker, Sydney Johnson, and the Cornell Cinnamon Chewing Gum, er, Big Red. The Ivy League took on the form of its students this season; uninteresting, unassuming, innocent and boring. Look, even the kids can't stay awake for Harvard vs. Yale.
Cornell rolled the entire league, going 14-0, and not being tested the entire season. They won ten games by double figures, but did absolutely nothing in the out of conference other than getting pummeled by Duke, and got stomped in the first round of the tournament. The league managed just two teams over .500, an all-time low. The head-scratcher is how did Cornell get a 14 seed when the league was this terrible. The Ivy League champ belonged in the play-in game with this embarrassing of a season. Perennial league topper Princeton? 6-23. They lost to NAIA Chaminade in the Maui Invitational by four, but it was not that close. Chaminade looked like the superior team physically AND mentally. Princeton was terrible. Sydney Johnson deserves to lose his job after that pathetic material he made Tigers fans watch all season. Fellow over-achiever Pennsylvania? Not so much. The Quakers went 13-18, and finished third in "The League." They had four non conference wins. Four. This is the same team that was in the at-large discussion a couple years ago if they dropped the regular season league title to Columbia.2007-2008 Ivy League Grade: D-
The only reason they don't fail is Cornell. I feel bad not dedicating and praising the Big Red for an amazing unblemished conference mark, but that performance they had against Stanford resembled mine in my math class last semester...lackluster and uninspired. This league is awful, and it seems to be just getting worse. Each of the last four seasons, the amount of over .500 teams has steadily dropped. There is no reason why the Ivy League does not have an automatic bid go to thier conference tournament. It is because they want to dedicate more time to school. Well I got a great idea for the Ivy League, give up your auto bid so we do not have to watch this crap you call college basketball. I have had enough of unathletic, untalented players making their way onto Ivy League teams and being respected because they play and go to class. That is what you are supposed to do, and you certainly cannot perform on the court, so stay in the classroom. Here is one vote for the abdication of the Ivy League to Division II.
MAAC
Four really good teams in the Metro this season. Normally that is not the common thread, where there is a standard one team who runs through the league capturing the regular season title by multiple games and then getting clipped in the tournament. Marist (2007) is the most recent example of this. Rider won the regular season due to a tiebreaker, and captured the top seed in the league tournament only to be defeated by second seed Siena in the title game. Siena went 23-11, identical to Rider, and went to the NCAA for the first time since 2002 when star guard Prosper Kwangra guided them to an opening round win as the first ever under .500 team to win a game in the NCAAs. The Saints defeated Vanderbilt in the first round, absolutely stroking the COmmodores into oblivion.
Siena ended Vandy's solid campaign in a flash, jumping out to a 26-11 lead midway through the first half. Rider was thought to be the best team in the league, led by two-time first teamer and player of the year Jason Thompson. Thompson led the Broncs with 20.4 PPG (second in the MAAC) and 12.1 RPG (tops in the MAAC), and grabbed the Haggarty Award as top player from the New York Metro Area. Rider appeared in the CBI and fell to Old Dominion in the first round. The other two real good teams in this league were Niagra and Loyola. Niagra lost their top two scorers from last season's NCAA team, but this was thought to be their year. They backed into the NCAAs last year when favorite Marist was beaten. The Purple Eagles beat Rider at home and went a respectable 7-3 in the non-con. They were led by absolute superstar forward, senior Charron Fisher; he averaged 27.6 PPG, tops in the MAAC and 9.5 RPG. Watching him and Thompson feud back and forth for top player in the league was the best part about the MAAC this season. Loyola was the real surprise of the conference this season; the Greyhounds won five of their last seven and were thought to be a darkhorse for a MAAC tourney run. At one point Loyola won eight of nine conference games in January, and were tops in the league, but their inexperience outside of scorer Gerald Brown took its toll, and they dropped 11 road games on the year. Disappointing year for Manhattan; the Jaspers managed to only muster up five conference wins and twelve overall. They never seemed to match up well in terms of chemistry and it showed on the floor, dropping 11 out of 12 MAAC games in January.2007-2008 MAAC Grade: B
I think it was a real good year to be a top team in the Metro. I always fall in love with one of the top teams in this league and think they can make some noise in March. This year, I thought it was Rider, not Siena. Go Figure. The Saints were very impressive and exciting to watch in beating Vanderbilt, but then getting handled by Villanova easily. Although that did not fair too well for Siena, I think there is a lot to be proud of in Albany this season. They were not expected to contend for tops in the league, that honor belonged to Rider. The Broncs on the other hand had to be somewhat disappointed, but a regular season title and postseason berth is never a throw-away season. Alot of seniors are graduating out of the MAAC this season however; as Thompson, Brown, and Fisher all sing their swan song. Siena graduates only one senior however, so look for the Saints to keep a stranglehold on the MAAC next year.
Tomorrow: MAC, MEAC, MVC
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