On The Horizon

Jim Squire

The Mid-Majority Chat Block, Episode 612--The Mid-Majority

[Comment From tt: ]
If Butler can run the table in the Horizon, which isnt out of the question, and get the win vs. Siena, where would you guess their seeding would be? That would put them at a 20 game win streak, which I understand would be difficult to get to.

Not out of the question at all, especially since they have the Wisconsin road trip out of the way. I don't know about seeding, especially since they've received unfavorable consideration from the Committee these last few years.

Checking in on… the Horizon League--Rush The Court
Set Your Tivo: 02.06.10--Rush The Court

Wright State @ #15 Butler – 8 pm on ESPN2 (**)

This may not be the most glamorous matchup on a busy Saturday, but this will be one of the only opportunities for fans to watch Butler in the Horizon League all year. Luckily for fans, the conference opponent is a respectable one. Wright State has won four games in a row, and is second in the conference behind the Bulldogs. Butler has a winning streak of their own, as they have won 11 consecutive games by not giving up more than 67 points in any of the contests. Both teams are among the top in defenses in the country as the Raiders surrender 60 points per game and Butler gives up 61.5 points per contest. During WSU’s current win streak, they gave up 48 points in one game and only 43 in another, and if they keep future NBA draft pick Gordon Hayward below 15 points, they will have a chance to win this game. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to Wright State is that the game will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse, where Butler is undefeated on the year and historically tough. Butler has seven games left (including a BracketBuster game against Siena) and if they win out the Bulldogs could sneak into a #4 NCAA seed.

Butler can clinch share of Horizon--The Indy Star
Bulldogs Host Second Place Wright State--ButlerSports.com

Local men's and women's college basketball teams' schedule for today--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland State guard D'Aundray Brown soars where the elbows fly
CSU Stays In Chicago To Face Loyola--csuvikings.com

Vikings Host Loyola for National Girls & Women in Sports Day--csuvikings.com

First Place Titans to Host Milwaukee on Saturday--detroittitans.com

Titans And Crusaders Set For Saturday Matinee--detroittitans.com

Saturday's matchup: Youngstown State at UIC--The Chicago Tribune
Jeremy Buttell Named U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athlete Of The Month--uicflames.com

Women's Basketball Wraps Up Road Trip On Saturday At Youngstown Stateuicflames.com

Saturday's matchup: Cleveland State at Loyola--The Chicago Tribune
Ramblers Seek Second Straight Win, Host Cleveland State Saturday--LoyolaRamblers.com

Women's basketball: Today's UWGB vs. Wright State preview--Green Bay Press Gazette
Time changed for UWGB women at Wright State on Saturday--UWGB Basketball
Green Bay at Wright State Game Time Changed to 1 p.m. (CT)--uwgbathletics.com

Men: UWGB gets back to basics on defense--Green Bay Press Gazette
Phoenix and Panthers Renew Rivalry Saturday Night at Resch--uwgbathletics.com

Panthers in rivalry game vs. Phoenix--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Panthers Ready For In-State Matchup With Phoenix--uwmpanthers.com

WBB Top Moments of the 2000s - Part 5--Panther Blog Zone
Panthers Play At First-Place Detroit Saturday--uwmpanthers.com

Critical time for Crusaders--The Post-Tribune
Valpo men's hoops team looks to regain momentum against Detroit--The NWI Times
Valpo Looks to Rebound Saturday against Detroit--valpoathletics.com

Women's basketball: Butler (13-7, 6-3) at Valparaiso (6-14, 3-6)--The Post-Tribune
Scouting tonight's VU women's basketball game--The NWI Times
Valpo Hosts Instate Rival Butler Saturday Night--valpoathletics.com

Rested Raiders need to beat Butler--Dayton Daily News
Can Raiders make the news in Indy?--Dayton Daily News
Preview: Wright State at Butler--Dayton Daily News
Howards share friendly elevator--Mark Katz's Blog

Wright State women’s game moved to McLin Gym--Dayton Daily News
Women's Basketball Changes Time, Venue for Saturday's Game Versus Green Bay--wsuraiders.com

Penguins Visit UIC Seeking Second Straight Win Over Flames--ysusports.com

YSU Basketball PREVIEW \ Today’s games--Youngstown Vindicator

Guins Entertain Flames in Annual 'Pink Zone' Game on Saturday--ysusports.com

UIC's Buttell, Loyola's Noelliste named U.S. Army Scholar-Athletes of the Month--The Horizon League

Jim Squire

No. 23 Butler holds off Detroit 63-58--MICentralSports.com

The State of the Other 24: Week 8--The Mid-Majority

2. Butler (Horizon League), 142.343, 18-4 (11-0)

While Northern Iowa still has to fight through a tough Valley, it appears that Butler is on cruise control in the Horizon. The Bulldogs survived their four-game road trip with a quartet of wins in Chicago and Wisconsin, and now get to go up against Detroit, Wright State and Loyola with the benefit of their home fans behind them... a luxury not afforded them since all the way back on Jan. 16. With all the talent that Brad Stevens has assembled -- players like Matt "Monsterizer" Howard and Gordon "Spankmaster" Hayward -- he's still had trouble getting everybody to have a good game at once against a quality opponent. That's the missing element right now, and it'd be nice to see all cylinders firing (at least once) before March.

Morning Five: 02.04.10 Edition--Rush The Court

5. Mike DeCourcy thinks that the three most likely teams to run the conference table will be the MEAC’s Morgan State, the Horizon’s Butler, and the MAAC’s Siena. Cornell in the Ivy is another obvious choice, but they do have to visit Harvard, and of course #1 Kansas has a tough road game coming up at Texas on Monday night.

ATB--Rush The Couort

Other Games of National Interest.
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* #15 Butler 63, Detroit 58. Butler moved to 12-0 in the Horizon League behind a dub-dub from Gordon Hayward (18/10), and Matt Howard added 11/6 before (surprise, surprise) fouling out of the game for the ninth time this season (and second game in a row). With only three road games remaining, and only one of those against a team with a winning conference record (Cleveland State), it’s looking more and more like Butler will run the regular season table in the HL.

Friday's Shootaround--Ballin' is a Habit

Butler 63, Detroit 58: The Bulldogs got 18 points and 10 boards from Gordon Hayward as they held on to beat a scrappy Detroit team that wouldn't go away. Butler has now won 11 straight games.

Around the Top 25--College Hoops Journal

No. 23 Butler 63, Detroit 58. It’s scores like this that just make me hesitant with Butler this season. Detroit’s not garbage, but only a five-point win at home? Gah, I’m overthinking it. I’m going to be wrong about Butler, I just know it.

Nored makes up for fumbles with points--The Indy Star
Hayward's 18 points, 10 rebounds help Bulldogs win 11th straight--The Indy Star
Bulldogs show poise to win 11th straight, remain perfect in league--The Indy Star
Dawgs not dependent on 3 any more--Indy Star Butler Insider
BUTLER 63, DETROIT 58--THE unOFFICIAL BUTLER BULLDOGS MEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
Matt, Howard, Gordon Hayward Named Academic All-District--ButlerSports.com
Poised Group Finds Way to Win Against Detroit--ButlerSports.com

Bulldogs Travel To Valparaiso Saturday Night--ButlerSports.com

Cleveland State men's basketball team runs over lowly Illinois-Chicago--Cleveland Plain Dealer
CSU Pushes Win Streak To Four With 74-63 Win At UIC--csuvikings.com

Klein's Double Double Leads Vikings Past UIC, 62-51--csvikings.com

Detroit falls to No. 23 Butler--The Detroit Free Press
Butler holds off Detroit Mercy--The Detroit News
Titans Drop Tough Battle At No. 23/15 Butler--detroittitans.com

Detroit Mercy women stun No. 23 Wisconsin-Green Bay, 71-55--The Detroit News
Registration is Closed for Girls & Women in Sports Day--detrittitans.com
Titans Are All Alone in First Place After Crushing #23/22 Green Bay, 71-55--detroittitans.com

Loyola and UIC prepared to right the ship--ChicagoNow.com
COLLEGE BASKETBALL HIGHLIGHTS: Flames tumble--The Chicago Sun-Times
Cleveland State overtakes Illinois-Chicago 74-63--Daily Herald
Shakeup can’t end Flames’ slide--Whoosh!Net
Men's Basketball Downed By Cleveland State, 74-63--uicflames.com

Women's Basketball Sees Streak Snapped At Cleveland State, 62-51--uicflames.com

Ramblers work extra hard to take out Penguins--ChicagoNow.com
Photos from Loyola vs. Youngstown State--ChicagoNow.com
Extra, extra: Skid halted--The Chicago Sun-Times
McCammon, Loyola edge Youngstown State 92-85--Daily Herald
Loyola Wins Overtime Shootout Over Youngstown State, 92-85--LoyolaRamblers.com
Post-game Quotes Loyola vs. Youngstown State--LoyolaRamblers.com

Loyola Opens Second Half Of Horizon League Season At Youngstown State--LoyolaRamblers.com
VanBogaert, Loyola Grind Out 63-59 Win At Youngstown State--LoyolaRamblers.com

Women's basketball: Detroit knocks Phoenix from 1st--Green Bay Press Gazette
FINAL: Detroit 71, UWGB 55--UWGB Basketball
Tetschlag Named to Academic All-District Team--uwgbathletics.com
Green Bay Suffers Third Consecutive Road Loss--uwgbathletics.com

UWGB blog: Big week for the Horizon League contenders--UWGB Basketball

Panthers Fade In 64-46 Loss At Wright State--uwmpanthers.com

Ailing VU goes cold--The Post-Tribune
Wright State at Valparaiso, Feb. 4, Live Blog--Off The Mark
Another drought costs Crusaders in men's hoops loss to Wright State--The NWI Times
Live from the ARC: Valparaiso vs. Wright State (MBB)--The VU Beat
Crusaders Drop Close Game at Home to Wright State--valpoathletics.com

Valpo's SAAC Helps Haiti Relief Effort--valpoathletics.com

VU Hall of Fame selection not a fluke for Lynda Pinnow--The NWI Times

Win puts Raiders alone in second--Dayton Daily News
Having Evans on floor helps Raiders--Dayton Daily News
Raiders alone in second after victory--Mark Katz's Blog
Raiders hold off scoring run to top Valparaiso--Mark Katz's Blog
Wright State defeats Valpo for series sweep--Fairborn Daily Herald
Raiders Hold On for 75-71 Win at Valparaiso--wsuraiders.com

Women's Basketball Defeats Milwaukee, 64-46, To Sweep Season Series For First Time Since 1996--wsuraiders.com

Penguins get so close--Youngstown Vindicator
Top of the class, bottom of the conference--The Jambar
Valiant Penguin Effort Falls Just Short Against Loyola, 63-59--ysusports.com

Loyola of Chicago edges Youngstown State 92-85--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Six Score in Double Figures in 92-85 Overtime Loss at Loyola--ysusports.com

Men's Basketball Scoreboard - Feb. 4--The Horizon League

Women's Basketball Scoreboard -- Feb. 4--The Horizono League

Jim Squire

Bulldogs' big test: tall, talented Titans--The Indy Star

Women's basketball: Unlikely Detroit challenging Phoenix for first--Green Bay Press Gazette

Men's basketball: Nordgaard brought confidence, fun approach to UWGB--Green Bay Press Gazette

Adams has stepped up as VU's top scorer--The Post-Tribune

Difficult early schedule paying off for Valpo--The Post-Tribune
Patience is paying off for VU men's hoops team--The NWI Times

Defense will be key for Raiders against Valpo--Dayton Daily News
Preview: Wright State at Valparaiso--Dayton Daily News

Jim Squire

The Hoops National: February 2, 2010--The Mid-Majority

Matchups for the 8th annual BracketBusters event were announced yesterday. You can get a full list of all the matchups here, including all the non-televised games. We'll have plenty to say about the event itself later, but the thing to remember is that for most teams, it's a SchedulingBuster -- the home teams have to return the games, which plugs an important hole in the November or December 2010 2011 calendar. Siena at Butler is the big TV game, obviously, since they're the only two sub-Red Liners you don't have to make a complicated at-large case for. Also, in sidenote: it's awful nice that ESPN has put all the games on real TV, and not their pay-per-Pixelvision. That was garbage.

Breaking Down the Bracketbusters…--Rush The Court

Saturday 2/20 (RPI)

Siena (#44) @ Butler (#19) – 11 am on ESPN2/ESPN360

The owner of the nation’s longest winning streak, Siena at thirteen straight, will go into an extremely tough environment at Butler in Saturday’s first Bracketbuster game. The Saints are led by 6’5 senior Edwin Ubiles and his 15.8 points per game as he makes his case for MAAC Player of the Year despite some lingering shoulder issues. Alex Franklin plays bigger than his 6’5 frame to lead the Saints down low with 16.1 points per game. On the other side, Butler’s Gordon Hayward has been a beast for the Bulldogs this year, scoring 16.1 points per game and tying a season-high 25 in Sunday’s comeback win over UW-Milwaukee. Hayward, a sophomore, is already attracting the attention of NBA scouts. Fellow sophomore Shelvin Mack has scored 15 points per game and Matt Howard, when not in foul trouble, scores 11 points per game. Howard has been tough to defend inside, going off for 23 points in Butler’s nine-point loss to Minnesota, but has had issues with foul trouble, getting disqualified in three of the Bulldogs’ four losses. It will be interesting to see how Siena defends Hayward and Howard and how this veteran Saints team led by seniors Ubiles, Franklin and Ronald Moore can contain this explosive offense on the road.

Breaking down the BracketBusters tilts--College Hoops Journal

It’s a worthwhile event, but one that usually falls short of having six or seven must-see matchups. That’s the case again this season. There are two teams currently ranked who will be a part of the made-for-TV event — Butler and Northern Iowa — but they won’t be playing each other. Siena, a team riding the nation’s longest winning streak, gets to go up against Butler. That is a game worth watching. But are the others?

This year’s 22 BracketBusters teams represent 10 conferences and:

• Nineteen teams in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) top 100.
• Seven 2009 NCAA Tournament participants: Northern Iowa; Siena; Butler; Morgan Sate; Akron; Virginia Commonwealth; Utah State
• Sixteen teams with 15 or more wins overall: Old Dominion; Northern Iowa; William & Mary; Iona; Siena; Butler; Morgan State; Murray State; La. Tech; Missouri State; Akron; Virginia Commonwealth; George Mason; Western Carolina; Wichita State; Utah State
• Four teams undefeated in conference play: Butler; Siena; Morgan State and Murray State

Here are the games and quick evaluations:
...
Feb. 2o

• Siena at Butler; 11 ET (ESPN2). The marquee game at 11 a.m.? So be it. Siena is for sure out of at-large talk if it can’t win against the Bulldogs. The Saints have fallen against every “name” team they’ve played this season. Butler has some wiggle room, but that’s primarily because it’s undefeated so far in the Horizon. This game is out of league, of course, so Butler’s unblemished Horizon mark won’t be threatened.

Of BracketBuster, RPI and other things--Indy Star Butler Insider
Bulldogs Begin Homestand Against Detroit--ButlerSports.com
LIVE BLOG: Men's Basketball vs. Detroit--ButlerSports.com

Is it time to expand the NCAA Basketball Tournament?--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Waters: Vikings face make-or-break week with road games vs. Illinois-Chicago and Loyola--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Preview of Vikings Trip to Chi-Town--The Fan Home of the Cleveland State Vikings

Vikings Return Home to Host UIC--csuvikings.com

Detroit Hits The Road To Face No. 23/15 Butler On FOX Sports Detroit--detroittitans.com

Thursday = WBB Showdown in Motown--detroittitans.com

Thursday's matchup: Cleveland State at UIC--The Chicago Tribune
UIC's Buttell: Sick of just playing. I want to win.--Players Only
Men's Basketball Hosts Cleveland State This Thursday Night--uicflames.com

Women's Basketball Heads To Cleveland State On Thursday--uicflames.com

Loyola's Andy Polka: A rough month, but hope on the Horizon--Players Only
Horizon League inks deal with ESPN--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola stuck in midseason funk--Loyola Phoenix
Back Home, Loyola Seeks Strong Start To Final Month Of Regular Season--LoyolaRamblers.com

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down--Loyola Phoenix

Rob Demovsky column: Being Butler is only a dream--Green Bay Press Gazette
Bulldogs too much for Phoenix men, despite foul trouble--UWGB Fourth Estate

Phoenix women beat down dogs--UWGB Fourth Estate

Panthers Kick Off Road Trip At Wright State--uwmpanthers.com

The current state of Valpo Basketball--Dave's Thoughts and Rants
Valpo Returns Home for Three Games in Five Days--valpoathletics.com

WSU hoops positioning for postseason--Dayton Daily News
Wright State women’s basketball to play this Weekend’s games at Sinclair--Fairborn Daily Herald

Women's Basketball Weekly Release #12--The Horizon League
Winning year after year in Horizon League women's hoops--The Horizon League

Now Walk It By Yourself...--Horizon League Network

Jim Squire

Complete list of the Bracket Buster matchups--Ballin' is a Habit

Games with Bubble implications
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* 2/20 - 11:00 am: Siena @ Butler (ESPNU): I feel like I could just retype the previous preview, exchange Butler with Northern Iowa and Siena with Old Dominion, and nothing would change. Butler should be in. They are 18-4, they have a top 20 RPI, and if the regular season has shown us anything, they shouldn't have a problem cruising to a win in their conference tournament. Siena, on the other hand, whiffed on all of their chances for a signature win. But they have no bad losses (at Temple, at Georgia Tech, at Northern Iowa, only vs. St. John's is questionable), an RPI in the 40's, and a 13 game winning streak. There is a shot that they could still get in even with a loss, and will definitely be the favorites to win the MAAC Tournament, but I'm sure every Saints fan will like to see them pad that resume a little bit.

Big BracketBuster: Butler to host Siena--The Indy Star
BracketBuster big for Siena, too--Indy Star Butler Insider
Butler To Host Siena In Feature BracketBusters Game--ButlerSports.com

Ugh, Cleveland State Draws Toledo--Cleveland Plain Dealer

But it's not real pretty for Cleveland State.

Last season Cleveland State played up getting Wichita State as its BracketBuster opponent. This season it appears the Horizon League Vikings will be playing down. Way down.

Cleveland State (10-12) drew woeful Toledo (3-18) from the Mid-American Conference, one of the worst teams in the nation. UT, MAC Champions as recently as 2007 under successful former head coach Stan Joplin, is currently on an 11-game losing streak and scoring less than 50 points per game.

Basketball Update--The Cauldron
UIC Up Next For Streaking Vikings--csuvikings.com

UDM's Simon Named HL Player Of The Week--detroittitans.com
BracketBusters Will Bring Eastern Michigan To Calihan Hall--detroittitans.com