A new mid-major, the GWAL: An FBCB 2010 dynasty

[collegesportsfanms]

Alright guys, we're gonna try this again as a prestige 4 conference, making us a true mid-major. My goals are simple: championships. Whether it be in-season tournaments or post-season tournaments, I want the GWAL to win lots of trophies and awards. My ultimate goal would be for the GWAL to get all 9 teams into the postseason, but at least if we can get 4 or 5 in consistently every year, that would be great. I'd also like us to compete for some national awards. Basically, I want success. The prestige 2 just wasn't working for me, so we'll try this. Here's a look at the coaches that will be in the game.

GWAL Coaches

Bishop Carroll- Deacon Palmer
Kapaun Mt. Carmel- Shane Kormelink
Wichita East- James Cole
Wichita Heights- Bryan Chadwick
Wichita North- Marty Frankamp
Wichita Northwest- Mitch Linn
Wichita South- Kuji Chagulia
Wichita Southeast- Rudy Arellano
Wichita West- Reggie Taylor

Other Coaches to Focus On

Eddie Tate- N.C. State
Ryan Hujing- Arkansas
Shane Dreiling- Tulsa
Shannon Elliott- Wichita State
Chris Porter- Kansas State

Obviously being a mid-major, the stepladder isn't as high for coaching movement, so I don't know how much of that we'll have. If it becomes an issue, I can always take over another conference with lesser prestige, we'll get a feel for this and see how it works. Taking advantage of a rare day off and will be looking to get this first season done this afternoon.

[collegesportsfanms]

As we begin our new journey as a mid-major school in NCAA division 1, let's take a look at the prestiges of each team.

Wichita Heights- 88
Wichita Southeast- 81
Wichita East- 81
Wichita Northwest- 75
Wichita North- 71
Wichita West- 70
Wichita South- 70
Bishop Carroll- 69
Kapaun Mt. Carmel- 68

As you can tell we have a nice mix here, with only 20 points separating the highest prestige from the lowest prestige. I personally don't look at prestige all the time. I've noticed in FBCB that the roster doesn't always tie in with prestige. For instance, I've seen teams with less than 10 prestige have rosters of nothing but blue and green rated players. Then I've seen 99 prestige teams have nothing but red and orange rated players. so we'll see how it goes.

[ntndeacon]

Lets Go Bishop Carroll!

[collegesportsfanms]

2010 Season Tournaments

Wichita East will be playing in the Alaska Invitational as the 2nd seed, and will take on 7th seed Louisiana Tech in their first round game.

Wichita Southeast is in the Anaheim Invitational as the #2 seed, and will take on 7th seed Green Bay.

Wichita West is in the Coaches Invitational as the #9 seed and will take on 8th seed Nevada in the 1st round.

Bishop Carroll is in the Legends Invitational as the 3rd seed. It's a 4 team tournament and they'll play 2nd seed Utah St. in the 1st round.

Wichita Heights is in the Philadelphia Invitational as the 2nd seed. They'll take on 7th seed Davidson in the 1st round.

Wichita Northwest is the 6th seed in the Preseason NIT, and will take on 11th seeded St. Johns in the first round.

Kapaun Mt. Carmel gets the 3rd seed in the Rainbow Invitational and will take on 6th seed Middle Tennessee first game.

Wichita North is the 2nd seed in the Top of the Globe Invitational and will take on 7th seed Toledo in the first round. Interestingly enough, Eddie Tate and N.C. State are the top seed in this tournament.

Wichita South is in the Travelers Invitational, a 4 team tournament. They are the 3rd seed and will take on 2nd seed USC in the first round.

[collegesportsfanms]

2010 Coaches Invitational

Wichita West lost a tough first round game to Nevada, 59-52.

2010 Travelers Invitational

Wichita South forgot to show up as they were hammered by USC, 87-59. I'm sensing a pattern already. Good news though, as they recovered to win the third place game over Rutgers, 68-55.

2010 Preseason NIT

Wichita Northwest took care of business, beating St. Johns 94-78 in the First Round. The Grizzlies battled in the quarterfinal against (3) #13 Arizona, but fell 93-81.

2010 Legends Invitational

Bishop Carroll 76-53 to 25th ranked Utah State in the first round. Then they dropped the third place game to Bradley, 64-52.

2010 Top of the Globe Invitational

Wichita North opened the season strong, with a 60-36 victory over Toledo. The Redskins then fell in the winners bracket semifinals, losing 61-53 to Baylor. North handled DePaul in the third place game, winning 77-60. N.C. State lost in the championship game to Baylor.

2010 Philadelphia Invitational

A huge upset tonight, as Wichita Heights dropped their first round game to Davidson, 82-71. The Falcons recovered to win their losers bracket semifinal game 79-65 over Memphis. The Falcons then wrapped up fifth place with an 83-53 slaughtering over Indiana.

2010 Alaska Invitational

Wichita East had no trouble with Louisiana Tech in a first round game, winning 79-54. Then they won a hard fought game against UMass 63-62 to advance to the championship game. Unfortunately they weren't quite ready, as Notre Dame blitzed them 79-58 on their way to becoming the #1 ranked team in the nation. A good run for our East Aces though.

2010 Anaheim Invitational

Wichita Southeast won their first round game, beating Green Bay 86-79. In the semifinals, Southeast faltered late, losing to UAB 76-70. The third place game went well, as Southeast took third with a 53-37 victory.

2010 Rainbow Invitational

Kapaun Mt. Carmel won their first game easily over Middle Tennessee 81-58. Then they won their semifinal game over American, 70-68. Unfortunately, they ran into a hot New Mexico State team in the championship and lost 77-54.

So no tournament titles, but a couple second place finishes and a couple third place finishes. I'll take it for the first season.

[collegesportsfanms]

As we start the new year, I have to look at the standings and say wow. A far cry from being a mid-major conference, to a low prestige conference.

2010 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL    Pct   W  L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #13 Wichita Heights Falcons     1   0  1.000  13  1  .929   18        88
 Wichita South Titans            1   0  1.000  10  3  .769   97        70
 Wichita North Redskins          1   0  1.000   7  6  .538   59        71
 Wichita East Blue Aces          1   0  1.000   7  3  .700   90        81
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     0   1   .000   9  3  .750   37        68
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     0   0   .000   8  3  .727   51        75
 Wichita West Pioneers           0   1   .000   8  3  .727   74        70
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes     0   1   .000   8  5  .615  121        81
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           0   1   .000   6  6  .500   79        69

Heights is just dominating, winning 13 straight after their loss to open the season. North had big non-conference wins against Arizona and Georgia. Things are looking good, and the expectations are high. I honestly believe that all 9 schools have a chance to play postseason basketball this year. We'll see what happens after the conference schedule.

[collegesportsfanms]

Things are kind of a jumbled mess in the GWAL, and I think it is due to the prestige of teams being only 20 points difference between the highest and lowest prestige teams. Let's take a look at the standings through January.

2010 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #4 Wichita Heights Falcons      8   1  .889  22   2  .917    8        88
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     5   3  .625  14   6  .700   64        75
 Wichita South Titans            5   4  .556  15   7  .682   82        70
 Wichita West Pioneers           5   4  .556  13   6  .684   40        70
 Wichita North Redskins          5   4  .556  12  10  .545   99        71
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes     5   4  .556  13   8  .619   69        81
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     3   6  .333  13   8  .619   94        68
 Wichita East Blue Aces          3   6  .333  10   9  .526  114        81
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           1   8  .111   7  13  .350  113        69

Boy is Heights good or what? They've lost twice all season. Their first game, and then Kapaun beat them in conference. Not good news for Bishop Carroll who looks to be the bottom feeder this year. And I'm really disappointed with the effort of East, who has the second best prestige in the conference but is in a tie for seventh. Those RPI's are looking bight good though. Even Carroll has a good RPI, being 6 games under .500 for the season.

[collegesportsfanms]

The conference season is over, and it really turned into a 1 team race.

2010 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #4 Wichita Heights Falcons     14   2  .875  28   3  .903    8        88
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes     9   7  .563  17  12  .586   54        81
 Wichita West Pioneers           8   8  .500  18  10  .643   64        70
 Wichita North Redskins          8   8  .500  16  14  .533  100        71
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     8   8  .500  19  11  .633   75        68
 Wichita South Titans            7   9  .438  17  12  .586   90        70
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     7   9  .438  16  12  .571   85        75
 Wichita East Blue Aces          6  10  .375  16  13  .552  130        81
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           5  11  .313  12  16  .429  109        69

Heights is the only team at this point that is a lock for the NCAA Tournament. My guess is that the only way we get 2 teams in is if somebody other than Heights wins the tournament. A lot of parity from 2nd through 7th, including 3 teams at 8-8. This is probably the prestige, but I have a feeling eventually it will start to break down somehow.

[collegesportsfanms]

Before I move on, for those reading and those that have coaches, how is the format. I like the reporting I did on in-season tournaments and will continue to do the format for the conference and postseason tourneys.

But what about the rest of the in-season stuff? Obviously we have coaches and teams outside the GWAL that probably should get a little more coverage. Should I include them in every report? Should I include their conference tournaments too? Or just GWAL? And is the month by month working? Or should I go week by week, highlighting key games, bubble watch, poll, stuff like that? I'm enjoying this, but I want to know what you guys think. Should I add some stuff? Is it too tedious already? let me know.

[collegesportsfanms]

Well since I forgot to edit the GWAL in this new dynasty, there will be no postseason tournament this year. I forgot that the default setup was no conference tournament for the GWAL. So congrats to Wichita Heights who earns an NCAA tournament berth for winning the league. The other 8 teams will have to sweat it out till selection sunday to see if they will be dancing or playing postseason at all.

[collegesportsfanms]

Selection Sunday

As expected, Wichita Heights was the only GWAL school to be selected to the field. They are the #2 seed in the East Region and will take on Holy Cross in their first game.

As for the NIT, the GWAL got 6 of the 40 teams in this tournament. Good for us.

Kapaun Mt. Carmel will be the 7th seed in the West Region, taking on 10th seed American in the first round.

Wichita West is the 3rd seed in the West Region, taking on (6) Auburn first round.

Wichita Northwest is the 8th seed in the Midwest Region, taking on (9) Southern Utah in the first round.

Wichita South got the 7th seed in the Midwest Region, and will take on (10) Boston University.

Then we go to the East Region, and something that I'm not 100% happy with. Wichita Southeast and Wichita East will be facing each other in the first round, as the 8th and 9th seeds respectively. Now why couldn't one of those teams get put in the South Region?

We have 1 team in the CBI, as Wichita North snuck in as the 16th seed, taking on Bradley.

Bishop Carroll was the only team in the GWAL with a losing record, and as a result they are the only GWAL team who has seen their season end.

[collegesportsfanms]

We have 5 other schools that we are following, and let's look to see where they ended up.

N.C. State (Eddie Tate) finished the regular season 17-14 and got the 11th seed in the CBI.

Arkansas (Ryan Hujing) finished 19-12 and got the 3rd seed in the NIT Midwest Region.

Tulsa (Shane Dreiling) finished 26-5, but that was only good for the 9th seed in the NCAA Midwest Region.

Kansas State (Chris Porter) went 18-13 and gets the 7th seed in the NIT South Region.

Wichita State (Shannon Elliott) finished 19-12 and got the 6th seed in the NIT South Region.

[collegesportsfanms]

This is where I stop. Later I will wrap up the postseason, and maybe do offseason stuff. I work 2 jobs tomorrow so we'll see what my time looks like. Hopefully I'll have some responses to my questions when I get back on.

[collegesportsfanms]

NIT First Round

Kapaun Mt. Carmel beat American 66-57 to advance.

Wichita South beat Boston University 63-59 to advance.

In the game that I didn't want to see.. Wichita Southeast eliminated Wichita East 77-71.

Wichita Northwest hammered Southern Utah 82-54. Wow, didn't expect that one.

Another game of interest, Kansas State hammered Robert Morris 78-53.

CBI First Round

Wichita North pulled the upset, beating Bradley 73-72.

Providence hammered N.C. State 80-54.

[collegesportsfanms]

NIT Second Round

Georgia Tech defeated Wichita Northwest 75-66, eliminating them.

It took overtime, but Purdue took out Wichita Southeast 74-72.

Miami hammered Kapaun Mt. Carmel 90-73, making it a bad, bad day for the GWAL.

In other games of interest, Kansas State beat Houston 79-72 and Arkansas beat West Virginia 86-84. Both of these were NIT second round games as well.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament First Round

Wichita Heights started their quest for a title by beating Holy Cross 66-49.


NIT Second Round

Seton Hall walked all over Wichita South 68-33. Not good.

Wichita West salvaged the GWAL's appearence in the NIT, for now, as they beat Auburn 69-64 in OT.

Richmond beat Wichita State 71-56.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament First Round

Tulsa knocked off another mid-major, beating Nevada 71-56.

NIT Round of 16

Richmond hung tough and defeated Kansas State 72-70.

[collegesportsfanms]

NCAA Tournament Second Round

Wichita Heights advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a 93-84 victory over Pittsburgh.

Texas was taken to overtime, but finally defeated Tulsa 99-94.

NIT Second Round

Miami beat Wichita West 66-60, ending the GWAL's run in the NIT.

Seton Hall eliminated Arkansas 71-62. The GWAL isn't having a great run right now, nor are former GWAL coaches.

[bbgunn]

Terrible NIT loss for Wichita South. Time for some, uh, character-building offseason camps.

Originally Posted by collegesportsfanms

But what about the rest of the in-season stuff? Obviously we have coaches and teams outside the GWAL that probably should get a little more coverage. Should I include them in every report? Should I include their conference tournaments too? Or just GWAL? And is the month by month working? Or should I go week by week, highlighting key games, bubble watch, poll, stuff like that? I'm enjoying this, but I want to know what you guys think. Should I add some stuff? Is it too tedious already? let me know.

I like the month by month reports. The standings are probably a little too tedious to put into every report (I know that from my experience of dynasty-reporting). But when reporting other teams, is it possible to include something like this: N.C. State, 10-8, 4-4 ACC, 5th place?

I don't need the key games, but I would like to see the poll (maybe just top 10 is okay) and bubble watch, but if that is too much, then don't do it. Whatever keeps the dynasty moving.

[collegesportsfanms]

Thanks for the input bbgunn. So how would you lay out my format then? What kind of format would you include in the month by month reports and how often would showing the standings be necessary? As for the non-GWAL teams, you are saying that I should report on them too, at least give their record and place in their conference every month? I can do that. I'm just looking for a way to make this exciting and draw some interest.

[bbgunn]

This is my idea for a month-to-month format:

GWAL STANDINGS (since most FOFCers are still in the GWAL)
KEY GAMES IN THE PAST MONTH FOR FOFCer TEAMS (limit it to one if you don't have the time)
INTERESTING NEWS, IF ANY (player injuries, etc.)
PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENTS (Nov, Dec)
NON-GWAL TEAMS "CAPSULES": W-L, Conference W-L, Place in Conference, Key Games (wins or losses vs ranked teams and/or rivals, top conference teams, etc.)
NATIONAL POLL (maybe just from January on)
BUBBLE WATCH (February)

In March, report on Conference Tournaments and National Tournaments - same as you've been doing.

After the season, report on any job changes involving FOFCers.

I would be happy with that, if it's not too much work.

[collegesportsfanms]

I don't think it'll be too much work, I'll try it next season. November and December I usually just cover the preseason tournaments, but it sounds like you're saying I might want to focus a little bit more on those schools that are coached by FOFCers. I will always focus on whichever schools are in the GWAL, as well as the FOFC coached schools. These 9 orginal GWAL schools, even if one of them switches conferences, I will focus on them, because they are important to me. What is your feeling on the non-GWAL and non FOFC coached schools that I'm following? I don't want to spread myself too thin, but at the same time I want this to be fairly involved

[collegesportsfanms]

CBI Second Round

Wichita North got ripped by Boston College 89-62, leaving just 1 GWAL school in the postseason.

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen

Wichita Heights was no match for a hot Wake Forest squad, as Heights fell 82-58, ending the season for the GWAL. Yak!!

[collegesportsfanms]

2011 postseason wrap-up

In the NCAA tournament, Xavier beat Ohio St. 68-49 in the first semifinal, while Illinois beat Texas, the only #1 seed to advance to the final four, 65-41. Then Illinois handled Xavier 71-55 to win the national championship.

In the NIT Final Four, Miami beat Cincinnati 95-78, then UCLA beat Richmond 93-82. Then in the NIT Championship, Miami beat UCLA 77-74 in a thriller of a game.

The CBI championship series featured 9th seed Boston College and 6th seed Providence. Providence won the first game 79-72, then Boston College came back to win the second game 81-73, and the deciding game was a thriller, won by Boston College 57-55.

The CIT Championship was won by Drexel, who defeated South Dakota 60-51. This is the only tournament that held even close to form, as the top 2 seeds met in the championship game. In this case, Drexel was the (2) seed but they won.

[collegesportsfanms]

As far as awards go, congratulations to Burt Shipp from Wichita South, who took home the national freshman of the year trophy. Looks like the Titans have an all-star player on the horizon. That was the only national award for the GWAL, now lets look at the GWAL awards.

2010 GWAL AWARDS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Player of the Year:

SR SF Cole Miguel  Wichita Heights  16.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.0 APG 1.7 SPG, 0.5 BPG

Freshman of the Year:
FR SG Burt Shipp  Wichita South  17.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.9 APG 1.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG

Coach of the Year:
Bryan Chadwick  Wichita Heights  30 - 4 (14 - 2) 

All-league 1st Team:
C  SR Theodore McAllister  Wichita South  4.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.5 SPG, 3.0 BPG
PF JR Adolphe Bourgois  Wichita East  13.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, 1.9 BPG
SF SR Cole Miguel  Wichita Heights  16.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.5 BPG
SG FR Burt Shipp  Wichita South  17.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG SR Matthew Brophy  Kapaun Mt. Carmel  19.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.0 BPG

All-league 2nd Team:
C  SR Elliot Wellman  Wichita East  8.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.5 BPG
PF SR Jamey Gilroy  Wichita Heights  8.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.4 SPG, 1.9 BPG
SF SR Michael Craig  Wichita Northwest  15.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SG JR Renato Blessing  Wichita Northwest  8.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG
PG SR Merle Ferrante  Wichita Northwest  16.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.0 BPG

All-freshman Team:
C  FR Brian Walker  Wichita Heights  3.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PF     
SF FR Mathew Ogden  Wichita North  4.2 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SG FR Burt Shipp  Wichita South  17.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG FR Gerardo Pena  Wichita South  4.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.1 BPG

[collegesportsfanms]

The difference between a prestige 2 GWAL and a prestige 4 GWAL is evidenced in the recruiting rankings.

2010 Recruiting Rankings

      # Team                 Conference        Best Player   Rtg  5*  4*  3*  2*  1*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    78. Wichita Southeast          GWAL      SG Brian Baum  ****   0   1   0   0   0
    83. Wichita East               GWAL  C  Cordell Andrew  ****   0   1   1   0   0
   103. Wichita West               GWAL       PF John Wilk   ***   0   0   3   0   0
   178. Kapaun Mt. Carmel          GWAL  PF Brian Griswold   ***   0   0   1   1   0
   188. Bishop Carroll             GWAL    C  Josue Alessi   ***   0   0   1   1   0
   194. Wichita Northwest          GWAL      SG Sal Keller   ***   0   0   1   2   0
   236. Wichita North              GWAL   PF Herman Arwood   ***   0   0   1   1   0
   255. Wichita South              GWAL    C  Harold Curry   ***   0   0   1   1   0
   277. Wichita Heights            GWAL   PF Steven Torres   ***   0   0   1   0   0

The big difference, every school had a 3 star recruit, and 2 schools had 4 star recruits. Something a prestige 2 conference didn't get.

[collegesportsfanms]

There was no conference movement this season, and no coaches of relevance to this dynasty retired. And this being the first year, no need for coach evaluations, so its time to move to the head coach movement of this offseason.

To my surprise, none of our coaches got offers this season. I would have thought that we did, but maybe its too soon.

We did have movement from one of our non-GWAL, non FOFC coaches. Shane Dreiling was offered the position at Xavier. Since he is no longer a GWAL or an FOFC coach, its out of my control where he goes or doesn't go, so Shane is the new head coach at Xavier.

[bbgunn]

Originally Posted by collegesportsfanms

I don't think it'll be too much work, I'll try it next season. November and December I usually just cover the preseason tournaments, but it sounds like you're saying I might want to focus a little bit more on those schools that are coached by FOFCers. I will always focus on whichever schools are in the GWAL, as well as the FOFC coached schools. These 9 orginal GWAL schools, even if one of them switches conferences, I will focus on them, because they are important to me. What is your feeling on the non-GWAL and non FOFC coached schools that I'm following? I don't want to spread myself too thin, but at the same time I want this to be fairly involved

I say continue to follow them. Include them in the same format as the GWAL and FOFC-coached schools.

[bbgunn]

Freshman of the Year? I'll take that!

[collegesportsfanms]

2011 Season Tournaments

Wichita East is the 3rd seed in the Alaska Invitational. They are the third seed and will take on Northwestern in the first round.

Wichita Northwest is the 4th seed in the GDS classic. They'll take on Holy Cross in the first round.

Wichita Heights is the 2nd seed in the Las Vegas Shootout, and they'll take on Long Beach St. in the first round.

Wichita West is the 3rd seed in the 4 team Legends Invitational. They'll play Butler in the first round.

Wichita Southeast is the 4th seed in the Maui Shootout. They'll take on Kent St. in the first round.

Kapaun Mt. Carmel is the 6th seed in the Paradise Shootout, taking on BYU in the first round.

Bishop Carroll is the 11th seed in the Preseason NIT, and they draw New Mexico first round.

Wichita North gets the 4th seed in the San Juan Classic and gets UTEP in the first round.

Wichita South is the 3rd seed in the 4 team Youth Invitational, drawing USC first round.


Now let's take a look at our other teams of interest.

N.C. State is the 4th seed in the Las Vegas Shootout and they draw Pennsylvania in the first round.

Wichita State is the top seed in the Rainbow Invitational and will play Arkansas-Little Rock in the first round.

Kansas State is the 7th seed in the Preseason NIT and will take on George Mason in the first round.

Xavier is the 2nd seed in the Preseason NIT and will take on Iona in the first round. Xavier and Kansas State could meet in the second round.

Arkansas is not playing in a tournament from the best that I can tell.

[collegesportsfanms]

If anybody else has anything to contribute to this dynasty, feel free too. I'm always looking for more interaction and more readers. My motto is, the more people involved, the better.

And for those FOFCers that are involved (Rudy, Shane, Deacon, Kuji), if you guys would be willing to add another coach to the mix, I would take him. You can start another coach in the GWAL if you want, or go a different route and have a coach outside the GWAL. Maybe you have a favorite school that you've always dreamed about coaching, or maybe you want to start with a prestige 1 school and see if you can make it to the top of the coaching ladder. I know this dynasty is focusing on GWAL schools, but... I think it's just as important to focus on the FOFCers that are participating, that way they can stay involved.

[collegesportsfanms]

Nov. 2011 Wrap-up

The 2011-2012 season started with no GWAL teams ranked or receiving votes. We had 7 of our 9 teams that had tournaments in November. Only Wichita Heights and Wichita North did not play their tournaments this month.

2011 Alaska Invitational

Wichita East won their first game against Northwestern 49-40, then in the semifinals, they handled Missouri easily, 78-56. In the championship game, they faced 4th seeded Virginia. It was a dogfight, but East prevailed 57-55, bringing home the first trophy for the GWAL!!

2011 GDS Classic

Wichita Northwest won their first round game against Holy Cross, 68-34. Then they kept rolling, beating Virginia Tech 72-52. Their run came to an end in the semifinals, as Ohio St. hammered them 79-36.

2011 Legends Invitational

In the semifinals of this 4 team tournament, Wichita West lost to Butler 83-67. They rebounded to take third place, beating Bradley 68-65.

2011 Maui Shootout

Wichita Southeast struggled in this tournament, losing their first game to Kent St. 81-65. Then they rebounded to beat Marshall 60-50 in a consolation game. Seton Hall beat them 61-53 in the 5th place game, giving Southeast 6th place.

2011 Paradise Shootout

Kapaun Mt. Carmel was hammered by BYU 92-55, then won a consolation matchup against Oral Roberts, 69-48. In the 5th place game, Utah St. was all over Kapaun, beating them 85-45.

2011 Preseason NIT

Bishop Carroll had a short stay in this tournament, losing 78-61 to New Mexico in the first round.

2011 Youth Invitational

Wichita South beat USC 47-42 in the first round of the 4 team tournament, then took a top 5 team to the wire, before losing to Georgetown 66-57.

Xavier and Kansas St. also played in the preseason NIT, as Xavier won their first round game against Iona 80-59, and Kansas St. beat George Mason 61-40. Then Kansas St. beat Xavier 60-55 in the quarterfinals before losing to Kentucky 63-55 in the semifinals.

All other tournaments will be played next month.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here are the standings through the month of November. I decided to include standings in the month by month report so that everybody knows where we stand. It doesn't really take a lot of work, just copying and pasting.

2011 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL   Pct  W  L    Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #12 Wichita Heights Falcons     0   0  .000  6  0  1.000   30        89
 #19 Wichita North Redskins      0   0  .000  6  0  1.000  217        68
 Wichita East Blue Aces          0   0  .000  4  0  1.000   32        74
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     0   0  .000  4  1   .800   79        71
 Wichita West Pioneers           0   0  .000  3  2   .600   78        70
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     0   0  .000  3  3   .500  187        67
 Wichita South Titans            0   0  .000  2  3   .400   73        66
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes     0   0  .000  2  3   .400  267        79
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           0   0  .000  1  1   .500  343        63

North's ranking is a bit skeptical at this point, they've played 6 games and all have been against teams ranked 150 or lower in the RPI. East is also receiving a few votes in the polls.

At this point I have to stop here. I'm about ready to go to work. Next report will be December, where I will focus on the rest of the tournaments, and some key games and news for our GWAL and FOFC teams, as well as the other 5 teams that I am keeping track of.

[bbgunn]

I'll take you up on the offer of having another coach. What kind of information do you need?

[collegesportsfanms]

bbgunn, basically all I need is a school. You tell me if you want to be a head coach at another GWAL school, or if you want to be a head coach at a non-GWAL school. Right now the GWAL is a conference prestige of 4, so if you want to be a coach at a school with a lower prestige that is fine. If you want to be coach at your favorite college, thats fine too. It doesn't matter to me at all where you want to coach. The only schools that are offlimits are Bishop Carroll, Kapaun, South, and Southeast, because they are coached by other FOFCers. Every other school is fair game.

Also, I would need some ratings. the game has ratings for scouting, recruiting, offense, and defense. Or you can just give me a coaching level and I can randomize your stats. The game has coaching levels of 0-15, with 0 having the least points and 15 would be a coach that has 100 in everything. Bascially you give me an idea for a school, and an idea for ratings or coach level, and I can take it from there. Thanks man, hope I didn't confuse you too much.

[bbgunn]

No, that's not too confusing. Thanks.

I want to work my way up from a lower school, and I don't want to be too perfect a coach, so give me a 12 coaching level and put me at Hawaii (they are in the game, right?)

[collegesportsfanms]

Yep, Hawaii is in the game. What is this new coaches name, and I'll get him in the next season.

Anybody else want to sign up, or create another coach? Rudy? Deacon? Korme?

[collegesportsfanms]

Dec. 2011 Wrap-Up

2 of our GWAL schools and 2 of our non-GWAL schools had tournaments this month, so we'll focus on them first.

2011 Las Vegas Shootout

We'll start with this tournament since both Wichita Heights and N.C. State were in it. Heights won their first round game against Long Beach St. 88-47. N.C. State also won their first round game against Penn 89-63. In the quarterfinals, Wichita Heights beat South Alabama 87-80, and N.C. State beat Nebraska 66-61. In the semifinals, Heights lost to Purdue 87-77 and Boise St. upset N.C. State 59-50, ending the tournament for both teams.

2011 San Juan Classic

Wichita North won their first round game against UTEP in convincing fashion, 73-26. Then they lost the semifinals to Oklahoma 99-67. In the third place game, North lost to Cincinnati 77-65, good for 4th place.

2011 Rainbow Invitational

In the first round, Wichita State beat Arkansas-Little Rock 76-64. Then they lost to Saint Marys 66-57 in the semifinals, and in the third place game, they lost to Western Michigan 67-50.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here are the standings through December 2011 for the GWAL

2011 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL    Pct   W  L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     1   0  1.000  10  3  .769  107        71
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     1   0  1.000   9  5  .643  109        67
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes     2   0  1.000   7  7  .500  162        79
 Wichita West Pioneers           1   1   .500  10  4  .714    9        70
 Wichita Heights Falcons         1   1   .500  12  3  .800   71        89
 #22 Wichita East Blue Aces      1   1   .500  11  2  .846   25        74
 Wichita South Titans            1   1   .500   5  9  .357   77        66
 Wichita North Redskins          0   2   .000  10  6  .625   87        68
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           0   2   .000   6  6  .500  189        63

Bishop Carroll had a rough December, losing 5 of 8, but the fact that they were tied with #10 ranked Oklahoma at halftime is an encouraging sign. The 0-2 start in conference play isn't.

Kapaun Mt. Carmel had a nice win against Iowa to start the month, and ended the month by beating Wichita West in their first conference game.

Wichita South lost their first 5 games in December, then ended the slide with a 59-36 win over a solid TCU team. They also defeated Bishop Carroll in their first conference game.

Wichita Southeast didn't have any crucial wins or losses in the non-conference portion of the schedule in December, but started conference play over with a big upset win over Wichita East and followed it with a win over Wichita South.

At this point I'm only doing key games for FOFC coached teams, whether they are in the GWAL or not. If you want me to do key games for all the GWAL teams, even the non-FOFC coached teams, I will. It makes me no difference.

[collegesportsfanms]

To finish off the December wrap-up, lets look at the other 5 teams we are focusing on in this dynasty at this point.

N.C. State (Eddie Tate)- 10-2 overall, 0-0 in the ACC, other than the tournament, there are no key games to report for N.C. State in December.

Arkansas (Ryan Hujing)- 8-4 overall, 0-0 in the SEC, beat Wichita South 78-59, lost to Wichita West 69-65, lost to #12 Wake Forest 90-77.

Xavier (Shane Dreiling)- ranked #15 in the nation, 10-1 overall, 0-0 in the Atlantic Ten, key game in December was a 74-66 win over Arizona.

Kansas State (Chris Porter)- 10-2 overall, 0-0 in the Big Twelve, lost to #22 Wichita East 67-49, beat Wichita North 70-54, beat Wichita Southeast 60-36.

Wichita State (Shannon Elliott)- 7-8 overall, 2-1 in MVC, 4th place, lost to Wichita Heights 91-79, beat Missouri State 68-67 in conference opener.

Hope you all are enjoying, and hope that was a little better monthly report than the others have been. Wasn't too time consuming, and quite enjoyable. Any other questions or suggestions, feel free to chime in anybody.

[collegesportsfanms]

Jan. 2012 Wrap-Up

It was a crazy, wild January for the GWAL. First let's take a look at the standings, then we'll see how our FOFCers did.

2011 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes     7   2  .778  13   9  .591   87        79
 Wichita West Pioneers           7   3  .700  17   6  .739   26        70
 Wichita South Titans            6   3  .667  11  11  .500   63        66
 Wichita Heights Falcons         6   3  .667  17   6  .739   50        89
 Wichita North Redskins          5   4  .556  16   8  .667   69        68
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     4   5  .444  14   8  .636  114        71
 Wichita East Blue Aces          2   7  .222  12   9  .571   97        74
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     2   7  .222  10  12  .455  128        67
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           2   7  .222   9  12  .429  154        63

Bishop Carroll (Deacon Palmer)- The Eagles won 3 games in January, losing their first 5 conference games. Their biggest win was at home against Wichita West for their first conference win.

Kapaun Mt. Carmel (Shane Kormelink)- The Crusaders started the month strong by beating Wichita East, then proceeded to lose the rest of their games in January. They are currently on a 7 game losing streak, including a 34 point loss at Wichita North.

Wichita South (Kuji Chagulia)- It was a good month for the Titans, who went 6 and 2, including big victories against Wichita Heights, Wichita East, and Wichita North.

Wichita Southeast (Rudy Arellano)- The Buffaloes have turned the corner, also going 6 and 2 in January. Their biggest victories have been 2 victories over Wichita East.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a brief wrap-up for the 5 non-GWAL schools we are following:

N.C State (Eddie Tate)- 15-5, 3-3 ACC, 5th. The Wolfpack play in one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. Their biggest win was against Wake Forest. Their worst loss was to an 8-12 Clemson team that beat them by 21.

Arkansas (Ryan Hujing)- 12-8, 4-3 SEC West, 2nd. Arkansas won their first 4 games of the month and lost their last 3. Their best win was against LSU, and they really haven't had a bad loss.

#5 Xavier (Shane Dreiling)- 18-1, 6-0 Atlantic Ten, T 1st. Xavier hasn't lost since their preseason tournament loss to Kansas St. They have won their 6 conference games by an average of 27 points, but they have not played the best of the A Ten yet.

Kansas State (Chris Porter)- 15-5, 3-3 Big Twelve, 8th. K-State lost their first 3 conference games, all against top 25 teams. Their best win in January was over Nebraska, who is 15-4, and was ranked at the time.

Wichita State (Shannon Elliott)- 12-11, 6-4 MVC, 4th. The Shockers had 2 really bad losses in January. The first was to Creighton, who is currently ranked 4th in the polls. Losing by 34 points to one of your rivals is a bad loss anytime. The second bad loss came against Evansville, who had 1win when they played the Shockers, and came away with a 5 point victory.

Just in case anybody is interested, here are the top 25 polls as we enter February.

Top 25

 #  Team                      FPV  Record  Points  Prv
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1.  Texas                    (69)    19-1    1797    1
   2.  Duke                      (3)    20-1    1731    2
   3.  Florida                          19-1    1656    3
   4.  Creighton                        20-3    1584    4
   5.  Xavier                           18-1    1496   10
   6.  Temple                           20-1    1445    8
   7.  Kansas                           18-3    1376    5
   8.  North Carolina                   18-3    1299    6
   9.  Illinois                         18-4    1194   15
  10.  Kentucky                         18-4    1140    7
  11.  Wisconsin                        17-4    1114   13
  12.  Vanderbilt                       20-3     970   16
  13.  Utah State                       18-2     904    9
  14.  Oklahoma                         17-4     865   11
  15.  Mississippi State                18-3     828   17
  16.  Georgetown                       16-4     761   12
  17.  Villanova                        16-4     639   20
  18.  Syracuse                         18-3     555   25
  19.  Maryland                         16-4     531   14
  20.  San Diego State                  17-2     435   21
  21.  Oklahoma State                   17-5     360   NR
  22.  Michigan                         16-3     223   NR
  23.  Pittsburgh                       15-4     160   23
  24.  West Virginia                    16-4     146   24
  25.  Texas A&M                        16-4     106   NR
                                                         
     Others Receiving Votes:                             
     UCLA                               15-5      54     
     Tennessee                          16-5      16     
     UL-Lafayette                       19-2      15     

[collegesportsfanms]

Here's a look at the Bubble Watch as we enter February.

OVERALL BUBBLE WATCH

 Team              Record        RPI  vs. 1-50  vs. 51-100  vs. 101-200  vs. 200+  SOS  Projected
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Washington          17-7  .625 (22)       2-4         4-2          5-1       6-0   22         In
 Dayton              18-5  .597 (43)       3-2         3-1          8-2       4-0   98         In
 Texas Tech          16-5  .585 (54)       2-4         5-1          2-0       7-0   99         In
 Connecticut         13-8  .613 (29)       4-5         2-2          6-1       1-0   10         In
 Butler              16-7  .614 (28)       3-5         1-1          6-1       6-0   25         In
 Nebraska            15-6  .601 (40)       3-4         1-1          5-1       6-0   69         In
 Kansas State        15-7  .600 (42)       1-6         4-1          4-0       6-0   48         In
 Brigham Young       17-6  .580 (58)       1-5         3-1          8-0       5-0  117         In
 Michigan State      18-9  .605 (37)       3-5         5-2          4-2       6-0   43        Out
 Boston College      14-9  .626 (21)       0-6         4-2          7-1       3-0    7        Out
 Cincinnati          16-7  .585 (55)       3-4         4-1          5-2       4-0  113        Out
 Tulsa               16-6  .569 (70)       2-1         3-5          6-0       5-0  110        Out
 Utah                17-5  .570 (69)       2-3         1-1          6-1       8-0  158        Out
 Louisville          16-6  .579 (60)       2-4         3-0          8-2       3-0  125        Out
 Seton Hall          16-8  .595 (46)       3-5         3-1          6-0       4-2   64        Out

[collegesportsfanms]

Regular Season Wrap-Up

Here are the final standings for the GWAL for the 2011-2012 season.

2011 Greater Wichita Athletic League Standings

 TEAM                           CW  CL   Pct   W   L   Pct  RPI  Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Wichita Heights Falcons        11   5  .688  23   8  .742   46        89
 Wichita North Redskins         10   6  .625  21  10  .677   64        68
 Wichita Southeast Buffaloes    10   6  .625  17  13  .567  108        79
 Wichita West Pioneers           9   7  .563  19  10  .655   56        70
 Wichita South Titans            9   7  .563  14  15  .483   74        66
 Wichita Northwest Grizzlies     7   9  .438  17  13  .567   90        71
 Wichita East Blue Aces          6  10  .375  18  12  .600   93        74
 Bishop Carroll Eagles           6  10  .375  13  15  .464  118        63
 Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders     4  12  .250  13  17  .433  151        67

Bishop Carroll (Deacon Palmer)- The Eagles had a better February, managing to beat Southeast, West, East, and Northwest in February. They had a bad loss to Kapaun to end the season.

Kapaun (Shane Kormelink)- Kapaun had conference wins against North and Carroll in conference play, and finished the season by beating up on North Carolina Central, one of the worst teams in D1. They also finished with the worst overall season record in the GWAL.

Wichita South (Kuji Chagulia)- The Titans really dropped the ball in February, as they did finish the month with a 3-4 conference record, but their 4 losses were by an average of 21.5 points. Then one of their wins against Kapaun was a 2 point win. Their only really good victory in February was an 87-61 smashing of Wichita Northwest.

Wichita Southeast (Rudy Arellano)- The Buffs had a 4-4 February, ending the season with losses to Northwest, Bishop Carroll, and Heights. They did have a good conference win against West.


And unfortunately, since I forgot to go in and edit the conference between seasons, for the second straight year there will be no GWAL conference tournament. Which means that Wichita Heights, by virtue of winning the GWAL regular season, gets the conferences automatic big to the NCAA Tournament. Congrats to them again.

[collegesportsfanms]

Here is a season wrap-up of the other 5 schools we are following.

N.C. State (Eddie Tate)- 18-12, 6-10 ACC, 9th. The Wolfpack struggled in the ACC this year, and February was bad, as they couldn't handle the ACC schedule. The teams that they did beat in February all had losing records, and they didn't have any quality wins to speak of.

Arkansas (Ryan Hujing)- 14-15, 6-10 SEC, 4th West. It was about as bad for Arkansas, who couldn't keep pace with the grinding SEC East. They did have a nice 33 point victory over Ole Miss, but that was the highlight of their February schedule.

#5 Xavier (Shane Dreiling)- 27-2, 15-1 A-Ten, 1st. What a year it has been for Xavier, whos only losses came against Kansas State and St. Josephs. Their biggest win was the 102-93 victory over Temple, who is ranked 8th.

Kansas St.- Chris Porter- 18-12, 6-10 Big Twelve, 10th. The Wildcats toughest loss was a 4 point defeat at Baylor, who only won 12 games all season. Then to end the season, they went to Nebraska and got hammered 77-48.

Wichita St.- Shannon Elliott- 15-16, 9-9 MVC, 5th. The Shox got a huge win against 10th ranked Creighton to start the month, but played inconsistent ball, losing to sub .500 teams in Northern Iowa and Drake.


2011 Conference Tournaments

MVC

Wichita State faced Bradley in the first round, and ended their season with a 64-58 loss.

ACC

N.C. State faced 8th seed Florida St. in the first round and lost a heartbreaker 78-76, and will have to wait to see if they get a postseason berth.

SEC

Arkansas beat 9th seed Georgia 82-68 in the first round, then got hammered by top seed Florida, 89-57.

Atlantic Ten

Xavier got a bye into the quarterfinals, then beat 8th seed UMass 83-74. In the semifinals, they beat 4th seed Richmond 71-60. And for the championship, in a rematch of a great regular season game, Xavier won the A-10 title over 2nd seed Temple, 74-60. Look for them to be a top seed, at least a 2 or 3 seed.

Big Twelve

Kansas St. lost to 7th seed Texas A&M in the first round 66-59.

[collegesportsfanms]

Selection Sunday

Wichita Heights got the 11th seed in the NCAA South Region and will take on St. Josephs in the first round. They were the only GWAL team which made the NCAA tournament, and I'm not too happy about that.

Wichita West is the 5th seed in the NIT West Region and will go to Richmond in the 2nd round.

Wichita Northwest is the 9th seed in the NIT Midwest Region and will travel to St. Johns for the first round.

Wichita East draws the 8th seed in the NIT South Region and will host California in the first round.

Wichita North has the 2nd seed in the NIT South Region and gets a bye into the second round, where they will host the Purdue/IUPUI winner.

Wichita Southeast is the 2nd seed in the CBI and will host Stanford in the first round.

[bigmexmma]

dude i love this dynasty, i wish i had my own computer so that i can post more. i too wish we could get more people involved. i might take another coach at some point, but u got enough on ur plate right now. lol. good stuff though dude, hopefully more people will get involved eventully

[collegesportsfanms]

Thanks Rudy, I understand people are busy. I'm just happy to get the responses I get. Even if nobody was participating, it's still a fun project to do and see how things go. maybe more people will join, maybe they won't. I just hope that the people that are reading are enjoying it.

[collegesportsfanms]

N.C. State (Eddie Tate)- The Wolfpack are the 9th seed in the NIT West Region, taking on Ole Miss in the first round.

Arkansas (Ryan Hujing)- With their 15-16 record, Arkansas will be sitting this postseason out. Hujing maybe be on the hot seat.

Xavier (Shane Dreiling)- With their 30-2 record, Xavier is the #2 seed in the NCAA Midwest Region and will play Wright St. in the first round.

Kansas State (Chris Porter)- The Wildcats take the 5th seed in the NIT South Region and will travel to Butler in the first round.

Wichita State (Shannon Elliott)- Their 15-17 record will keep them home for the postseason.

[collegesportsfanms]

NIT First Round

California hammered Wichita East 85-56. This is not the same East team that won their preseason tournament.

St. Johns beat Wichita Northwest 70-63. 0 for 2 for the GWAL so far.

N.C. State's season came to an end as they were hammered by Ole Miss, 73-55.

CBI First Round

The GWAL continues to struggle in the postseason, as Stanford goes to Wichita Southeast and beats them 80-68.

NCAA First Round

I'm pulling my hair out now, as St. Josephs makes Wichita Heights look like a JV team, beating them 92-64.

Xavier gives Wright St. the business, beating them 81-50.