Ready for anything in CCIW
Kent Raymond sounds like he knows something we don't and doesn't want us to find out. Like maybe Illinois Wesleyan is in for a surprise Friday night.
"There is a 1 through 4 seed, but anybody can beat anybody in those top 4, we know that," said Raymond, a Wheaton College men's basketball co-captain. "So it's just who's going to be able to bring their best 80 minutes of basketball next weekend at Augie."
Yes, Wesleyan beat the Thunder nearly two weeks ago at King Arena, but the Thunder knows it can play better than it did that night. It definitely can shoot a lot better.
"I wish we were first, and we could've been," Wheaton coach Bill Harris said.
The top seed gets to host the tourney, and this year it's Augustana. Wheaton earned the No. 3 seed by defeating Elmhurst last Saturday, and the Thunder will play Illinois Wesleyan just before the Bluejays meet Augustana. The winners play Saturday night with a Division III NCAA Tournament automatic bid at stake.
"I agree with Kent. Anyone of those four teams can win it," Harris said after the win against Elmhurst. "Anyone one of those four teams would represent us well in the Big Dance. I hope we get two, because certainly we've played a national schedule of teams. Our conference has had some huge wins outside of conference, proving our mettle.
"Augie's certainly got the advantage playing at home. Elmhurst could win it. They're going in as the four seed. They beat Hope. Hope's ranked, what, fourth in the country? Elmhurst already beat them."
Maybe that's where the Bluejays get their confidence.
"We'll play Augie, which is a big task," Elmhurst coach Mark Scherer said. "We have a lot of pride and heart, and we're going to come next Friday night and we're going to see what kind of men we are."
Almost as important as who wins, however, is who loses. It could affect whether the CCIW gets a second NCAA bid or not.
"I'm not a proponent of the tournament," Harris said. "If Augie wins the tournament it's going to hurt the conference, because the best that anybody can do is go 1-1. That's why I do not favor a four-team tournament. I think we should either have eight teams or no teams. But that's the way it is, that's the way the ADs vote and we've got to live with it."