CIS Hoops.ca

Articles from the weekend:
Mac clinches third as Larry Moko from Hamilton Spectator reports Mac Clinces 3rd

Cape Breton's weekend recap from the Post Cape Breton Men & Women Win

Before we get into this week's CIS HOOPS.CA Top 10, here are some tables of data to consider:

TOP OVERALL RECORDS IN CIS listed in order of fewest losses
Concordia 18-2 with losses to Laurentian at home & at UQAM
Brandon 27-3 with losses at Winnipeg twice & at Trinity Western
Carleton 27-3 with losses to Ottawa (neutral & away) & York at home
UBC 28-4 with losses to Concordia (neutral), at Brandon, at Sask & at UVic
Ottawa 27-4 with losses at Windsor, at Toronto, at York and Queen's at home
Victoria 26-6 with losses at UBC, UBC at home, Concordia at home, at Carleton, Windsor (neutral) and at Brandon
Brock 24-8
York 22-10
Cape Breton 20-8
Toronto 20-9
Queen's 19-13
Windsor 18-7
McMaster 18-10
Alberta 18-10
Acadia 18-12
Saskatchewan 18-13
St. FX 17-6
Laval 15-12

# TEAMS OVER .500 PER DIVISION:
AUS: 3 out of 8 teams (Cape Breton, St. FX, Acadia)
QSSF: 2 out of 5 teams (Concordia, Laval)
OUA EAST: 5 out of 8 teams (Carleton, Ottawa, Toronto, York, Queen's)
OUA WEST: 3 out of 8 teams (Brock, Windsor, McMaster)
CANADA WEST: 5 out of 16 teams (Brandon, UBC, Victoria, Alberta, Saskatchewan)

HOTTEST TEAMS IN THE CIS - Longest current winning streaks:
Brandon 13
Victoria 8
Brock 8
Concordia 6

BEST RECORDS SINCE THE HOLIDAYS in order of most victories
Brandon 12-0
Victoria 12-2
Ottawa 11-3
Carleton 11-3
UBC 11-3
Toronto 11-3
Cape Breton 10-2
Brock 10-3
McMaster 10-3
Acadia 9-3

CISHOOPS.CA CANADIAN UNIVERSITY CIS TOP 10 for week of 19 February 2007

#1 Brandon (20-2 in Canada West, 27-3 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #1 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: DNP UPDATE: Brandon will play all remaining games prior to the Nationals at home including the Best-of-3 Great Plains division final this coming Friday against Regina, and, if they qualify, the Canada West Final Four, this year hosted by the Great Plains division champion. Bobcats have 3 wins against Top 10 competition: a pair of home wins two weeks ago against UBC and Victoria and a neutral court win at the Wesmen Classic against Toronto. Bobcats have also lost to Winnipeg twice (once in the finals of the Wesmen Classic) and also to Trinity Western in their second league game of the season in November. Have had an easy schedule relative to other Top 10 teams - only 7 of their 30 games overall have been against teams with records better than .500 - and will not play a Top 10 team on the road this season (2 home games, 1 neutral site).

#2 Concordia (13-1 in QSSF, 18-2 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #2 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated Laval 77-66 and Bishop's at home 93-87. UPDATE: The Stingers officially clinched first place in the "Q" and will host either UQAM or Bishop's in the first round of the playoffs (one game sudden death). Concordia has won 6 in a row and 18 of 19 since their opening night loss at their own Concordia tournament to Laurentian in early October. The Stingers are 6-0 against teams with records better than .500 including a pair of wins out west over UBC (road game) and Victoria (at UBC tournament). Concordia hosts UQAM on Friday and then goes to Laval on the final afternoon of the season this coming Sunday.

#3 Carleton (19-3 in OUA, 27-3 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #3 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Lost at Ottawa 77-71. UPDATE: The Ravens are an uncharacteristic 5-3 in their last 8 games but 2 of the losses have been to Ottawa, which only has 4 losses all season, on the road and at a neutral site. Carleton had clinched first place in the OUA East prior to Saturday's game at Ottawa and will host one of two OUA East semi-finals this coming Saturday against the lower remaining seed. The Ravens are still the four-time defending champions, have played a very demanding schedule and still have only 3 losses all season, all within the OUA East, which numbers-wise and anecdotally adds up to the toughest division in the CIS.

#4 Ottawa (18-4 in OUA, 27-4 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #7 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated Carleton at home 77-71. UPDATE: The Gee-Gees have won 8 of their last 9 games with the lone loss during that stretch at the buzzer at U of T, with wins against Carleton (twice) and York. With only 4 losses to CIS teams all season, only 3 teams have fewer setbacks against Canadian schools. The Gee-Gees are a solid 9-4 against teams above .500 with losses at Toronto, Queen's, at York and at Windsor. By sweeping the four-time defending CIS champion Ravens, the Gee-Gees have earned consideration for a top five ranking but still need to win their OUA East semi-final at home next Saturday to continue their quest for a spot in Halifax.

#5 Victoria (20-3 Canada West, 2-0 in playoffs, 26-6 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #4 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Swept Simon Fraser at home 80-71, 64-56. UPDATE: It is harsh to drop the Vikes a spot in these ratings despite two victories however the wins were at home against a .500 team while Ottawa's win was against one of Canada's top teams. Victoria will try to improve on their 1-5 record thus far against teams in the Top 10, with the only win coming against UBC at home (losses: UBC twice, at Brandon, vs. Concordia at UBC tournament, at Carleton). The highly-anticipated Canada West Pacific division semi-final begins Thursday at UBC.

#6 UBC (20-3 in Canada West, 2-0 in playoffs, 28-4 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #5 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated Trinity Western 89-62 & 84-78. UPDATE: The T-Birds swept TWU but struggled in the second game against a team besiged by injury. A late season loss to Saskatchewan took some lustre off a tremendous season in which the T-Birds have played the majority of their big games on the road, with only Victoria (win) and Concordia (loss) at home plus road games at Brandon (loss), at Saskatchewan (loss), at Alberta (win) and vs. Cape Breton (win at Memorial tournament). UBC has taken 2 of 3 from UVic in the regular season series including the only win on the road in the series at Victoria, so their positions in this poll could easily be reversed.

#7 Cape Breton (14-3 in AUS, 20-8 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #7 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Hammered Acadia 84-54 and defeated UPEI 84-77 at home. UPDATE: The Capers control their own destiny for the AUS regular season title and took a big step toward that with a pair of wins on the weekend. Cape Breton's only 2 losses after the holidays were on consecutive nights two weeks ago but with 8 losses overall including 5 out of the conference plus a convincing loss against York by 15, the Capers fall short of a Top 5 spot. Currently the top team in Atlantic Canada, the Capers can officially clinch first place in the AUS by winning at Dal in a 4 point game however Dal is 7-1 in conference play at Dalplex this season.

#8 Toronto (15-7 in OUA, 20-9 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #9 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Swept Ryerson 88-77 at home and 83-64 on the road. UPDATE: The Blues clinched third place in the OUA East and will host Laurentian on Wednesday in a sudden-death quarter-final. Varsity, which has only 2 losses all season out of Ontario, has given up an average of just 64 points per game in winning 11 of their last 12, one of the hottest streaks in the country. However, Toronto likely will have to win the OUA East championship to have a hope of going to Halifax.

#9 York (15-7 in OUA, 22-10 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #10 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Swept Laurentian 78-70 at home & 80-67 on the road. UPDATE: York hosts a pesky Queen's squad (19-13 overall) on Wednesday in the quarter-finals after a finishing fourth. The Lions have noteable wins at Carleton, at home against Ottawa and against Cape Breton at the Ryerson tournament but also have losses to Toronto (twice), Alberta, X, Carleton, Ottawa, Windsor, Western, Laurier and Queen's among their 10 setbacks.

#10 Brock (15-6 in OUA, 24-8 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca NR last week) THIS PAST WEEK: Won at Guelph, which was on a 5 game win streak, 78-76 & at home against Western 77-69. UPDATE: Winners of 8 in a row and 9 of their last 10 (the only loss was Mac's miracle comeback at home), the Badgers are getting hot at the right time led by OUA West Player-of-the-Year favorite Brad Rootes. With only 2 losses outside of the league all season (overtime against Cape Breton and Concordia by 6), the Badgers have earned consideration for a Top 10 ranking. The winner of Wednesday's regular season finale in Windsor between Brock and the Lancers will claim the OUA West regular season crown.

DROPPED OUT OF CISHOOPS.CA TOP TEN
Acadia (12-6 in AUS, 18-12 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #8 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Soundly defeated at Cape Breton 84-54 and lost at X 84-79. UPDATE: Losing a pair of games this weekend plus the fact that Acadia has six losses outside of the AUS are key reasons why the Axemen drop out of the Top 10. With a 9-3 record since the holidays, the Axemen now find themselves battling to get one of two first round byes in the AUS tournament - the Axemen realistically must win at UPEI and then against Dal at home (4 point game) and hope X trips up at SMU or against Cape Breton on the final day of the season.

ALSO GARNERED SOME CONSIDERATION:
St. Francis Xavier (10-6 in AUS, 17-6 vs. CIS overall): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated UPEI 80-68 and Acadia 84-79 at home. UPDATE: X is still in a position to finish in second place in the AUS and obtain a first-round bye in the AUS tournament as they play three more 4 point games including a pair at home against cellar-dwelling MUN. Senior Garry Gallimore has been looking for his offense much more lately and third-year guard Tyler Richards appears to have broken out of a mid-season shooting slump. This team has veterans who have been through the wars and X always plays well at the Metro Center and are a favorite for one of the two AUS spots at the Nationals.

Windsor (15-6 in OUA, 18-7 vs. CIS overall): THIS PAST WEEK: Swept a pair of games at Lakehead including game one in overtime. UPDATE: The Lancers are 9-4 in the new year. Four of Windsor's seven losses have come decisively on the road at Mac, at Brock, at York and at Guelph - two other losses have come to Carleton in close games. The Lancers need to defeat Brock on Wednesday at home to clinch their first OUA West regular season title in 27 years.

Alberta (15-7, 18-10) QUALITY WINS (1): York. LOSSES: McMaster, Toronto, Saskatchewan (twice), Regina, Brandon, Calgary (twice), Victoria, UBC.