THIRD PLACE / TIEBREAKER THRILLS

So, first and second place are locked up, with HC as the #1 seed and BU as the #2. That may not be statistically correct, but the only way it doesn't pan out that way is HC losing at home to Army. Those odds are about the same as me being named new head coach at Indiana (don't laugh, at least I would beat Northwestern).

So now, three squads that are mired in mediocrity are battling for the right to take on either Lafayette or Navy. We don't really know who. But Lehigh, CU, or AU will end up as the 3-5 seeds.

This Saturday's games were marked by a couple of upsets. Let's deal with Lehigh/Navy first. Navy's victory really wasn't a huge surprise, as the USNA has been playing good basketball for the second half of league play. But beating the Engineers in front of 3,700 is a pretty impressive task nonetheless. Was it 10 cent beer day or something at Stabler Arena? I'm not sure they drew 3,700 for the PL championship last year.

Lehigh's complete inability to make field goals continues to hound them, as they shot 33% from the field. Olivero and Knight are shooting 32% and 33%, respectively, for the year, less than impressive sums.

AU continues its recent skid, having now lost four straight games. Remember last year at this point, when AU won eight (was it eight? I think it was eight) games in a row heading into the PL final? Yeah, neither does anyone else at AU, apparently. AU is now headed for its worst conference record in its 4 years in the Patriot League. I have something to say about AU and their consistent inability to win close games, but that will have to come later. It's worth noting that five AU players fouled out, while LC took 37 free throws compared to AU's 13. AU, however held the rebounding edge by a large margin. Conspiracy? Scam? Home court advantage? Hell, I don't know, I didn't watch the game. But in similar games, it has been suggested...

Also of note is the disappearance of Patrick Okpwae. He played 35 minutes in the Eagles' season opener, but has played 10, 12, and 3 minutes in the last three AU games. Is he hurt? Is he back in Jeff Jones' doghouse? I don't know, but the fact that Craig Weinstein is getting more minutes than Okpawe is baffling.

HC and BU rolled over their respective opponents on Saturday, as expected, setting up a game with

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS

tomorrow. While the game won't change seeding or anything like that, BU can make a statement by beating HC for the second time this year. This could be a preview of the March 11 championship game. I'm going to take Bucknell again, simply because they won last time the two teams played, and I think that HC doesn't have an answer for McNaughton. (I am becoming a McNaughton fanboy, it seems. I realize he ain't Patrick Doctor or Pat Whearty, but don't worry, he will be in a year or two.)

Most of the images on the blog aren't working because I went over my bandwidth allocation for the month. They'll be back in 5 days or so, unless I can figure a way around it. While that's bad news, the good news is that means someone is actually reading this crap.

More later on stats..  @ 10:28 AM