Ryan Pravato of College Fast Break is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League.

NDSU 22-6 (15-2)

Everybody’s favorite to be the league rep in the Big Dance.  Now the only question is what seed they will be pegged. Many bracketologists (I use that term oh so liberally) have the Bison as a 14th seed, some a 15th, no one else to my knowledge has them as anything different. With such a dynamite record, is a 13th seed really that much to ask?  Back on the 21st the Bison tangoed with the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in a scintillating BracketBuster match up for the ages. Check that, the only BracketBuster game anybody gave a flying squirrel about was Butler versus Davidson, and that game stunk. Do these one bid league teams really need to play an out of conference game during, uh, the conference season? I don’t think so. Plus, some of the BracketBuster match ups were a total waste of time, definitely not all created with equality in mind.  But back to the task on hand, NDSU senior guard Mike Nelson tied a season high with 22 points. Senior point guard Ben Woodside was two rebounds short of a triple-double. NDSU concludes the regular season at 2nd place Oral Roberts on Feb.28th .

Update- NDSU clinched at least a share of the regular season title with a road victory over Centenary on Thursday (Feb. 26). Woodside and Winkleman combined for 66 points.

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Ryan Pravato of College Fast Break is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League.

North Dakota State Bison 19-5 (13-1)
11 games and counting since this squad last lost a game (Jan. 2 @ Oakland). Three out of their last four wins have been by at least 20. In a 38-point murder of UMKC on Thursday, 11 different players scored for NDSU and their 4th leading scorer Michael Tviedt was not one of them.

Ben Woodside (left), Senior, 5’11”: Leads the conference is scoring, 2nd in assists, and totally needs to acquire a license for his guns. Balances the duties of point guard and go-to scorer perfectly.

Brett Winkleman (middle), Senior, 6’6″: 3rd in the conference in scoring, tied for 3rd in rebounding, and his last name is Winkleman.

Mike Nelson (right), Senior, 6’4″: NDSU’s 3rd leading scorer, 3rd in minutes/game, and 1st in headshot creepiness.

Woodside, Winkleman, & Nelson

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 12-13 (10-3)
Extended their 33-game conference home winning streak by squeaking past Western Illinois on Thursday, an important win considering the two game slide they were on coming into the game. Home date February 24th vs. NDSU.

Robert Jarvis (left) Senior, 5’11: 5th in the conference in scoring, probably has bigger guns than Woodside, and shoots a lackluster 38.5% from the field. Guy thinks his fecal matter and jump shot don’t smell.

Marcus Lewis (right), Senior, 6’8″: Oral’s 2nd leading scorer, team leader in FG% by a mile, and is tied for the team lead in assists (averages more feeds than Jarvis).

Jarvis & Lewis

Oakland Grizzlies 15-11 (8-5)
Two straight victories after two straight losses have the Grizz still in the hunt for the #2 seed. Celebs were in full force when Centenary traveled to Rochester for a date on the 7th. Didn’t actually see Joe Cribbs Car Wash mastermind Jerry with my own two eyes (almost sold out), but he was there.

Erik Kangas (left), Senior, 6’3″: The best shooter in the nation (inside joke, actually, wait a second) is 3rd in the country in total threes made, 2nd in the conference in scoring, and 2nd on the team in minutes/game (36.3).

Jonathon Jones (middle), Junior, 5’11”: J.J. currently has the most total assists in the nation, leads the team in minutes/game (38), and is only shooting 39.5% from the field (it’s unhealthy to be too much of a homer, got to keep it real).

Keith Benson (right), Redshirt Sophomore, 6’11”: Had to throw the big guy in here because he’s blocking over 2 shots/game (best in the conference.), 2nd on the team in scoring with 13.7, and the only guy I know who can effectively smile while swatting a shot, “running” back on defense, and getting cussed at by Coach Kampe. I’m telling you, the Only Guy.

Kangas, Jones, & Benson

The Others…

• Southern Utah had a golden opportunity to draw within one game of Oakland for 3rd place with a win @ SDSU on Thursday, but couldn’t get it done.
• After a 5-4 beginning in conference play, Centenary has lost four straight games by double figures.
• IUPUI is quietly lurking at 7-7 thanks to a 5-1 record since Jan. 24th.
• I think it’s safe to assume 2-10 UMKC won’t qualify for the Summit league tourney at this rate.

Ryan Pravato of College Fast Break is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League.

North Dakota St. 12-5 (7-1)

The Bison have not lost since falling to Oakland at the beginning of the month. Senior guard Ben Woodside is averaging 26ppg and 5 assists in the last 3 games. Even though senior guard Mike Nelson’s shooting %’s are down from previous year’s, he’s still the team’s 3rd leading scorer at almost 12/gm.  This team may run away with the regular season crown.

Oral Roberts 8-11 (6-1)

Oral just lolls teams to sleep with good team defense and a deep but largely unspectacular scoring attack (5 players averaging at least 8ppg). A 5 game winning streak in which only one of their opponents scored more than 60 has allowed them to keep on the heels of NDSU. Something this team lacks is consistent outside shooting. No regular rotation player is shooting better than 33% from downtown.

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Ryan Pravato of collegefastbreak.com is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League. 

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. North Dakota State Bison   (19-10, 13-5)
2. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles  (20-10, 13-5)
3. Oakland Golden Grizzlies  (18-13, 12-6)
4. IPFW Mastodons  (16-13, 11-7)
5. IUPUI Jaguars  (16-15, 9-9)
6. UMKC Kangaroos  (14-17, 8-10)
7. Centenary College Gentlemen  (11-19, 8-10)
8. South Dakota State Jackrabbits  (13-18, 7-11)
9. Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks  (9-20, 6-12)
10. Southern Utah Thunderbirds  (6-23, 3-15)

WYN2K. 

• 22 out of 31. Conference RPI ranking for the Summit League in each of the last two seasons.
• Oregon, Marquette, Oklahoma St., Kansas, Texas Tech, Utah.  Casualties at the hands of Summit league teams throughout the past 2 seasons. Does beating Seton Hall count? What about Louisiana Tech, twice?  Not bad, not bad. The Summit is not quite knocking on the door of the Missouri Valley in stature as of yet, but at least they’re in the neighborhood. Some will never be in the continent.
• Guardplay.  Guards rule this conference in more than one way. They not only light up the scoreboard from downtown, but they also grab more than their share of rebounds. Lots. Last season 6’5 Derick Nelson led the Oakland Grizzlies with 7.4, 6’6 Brett Winkelman led the North Dakota State Bison with 8.3, and 6’2 George Hill led IUPUI with 6.8.  The big men you will find, and there are some actually, are your rudimentary mid-level giants who usually possess the muscle tone of Kevin Durant and the post-up game of Muggsy Bogues. Besides that, Summit league big men are studs 

Predicted Champion. North Dakota State (#14 NCAA).  Coincidentally this happens to be the very first season in which the Bison are postseason-eligible. But the Bison seem to be the consensus these days. And for good reason. The three-headed monster returning for the Bison all redshirted their freshman year so that they would be able to have an opportunity like this. The littlest of the fifth year senior trio, Ben Woodside, scored over 20 ppg last season while also dishing out over 5 feeds.  At 5’10, Woodside is a very creative attacker and gauging from the few times I have seen him play in person, he will hoist from anywhere, anytime.  The giant of the group is Brett Winkelman, all 6’6 of him. While you already know he’s a terror on the glass, he’s also quite the assassin on the perimeter, hitting 43.8% of his threes last year. Winkleman is an efficient player and one not to shy away from the dirty work. He’d be in any team’s rotation.  6’4 Mike Nelson is the third head of this Bison monster. Often overlooked because of the other two, Nelson just goes about his business, you know, the usual 46.1% from downtown, 13.8 ppg, and 32 mpg. Not a shabby third option.  All numbers aside, this Bison squad is downright hungry. They’re ready for the limelight, ready for the Summit league tourney.

Others considered.  Oral Roberts, the Summit League representative in the tourney the previous three years, will always be in the discussion for the title.  Oral Roberts consistently plays defense year in and year out the way it should be played: stay between your man and the basket.  Alright, that may not be their textbook philosophy on defense, but a casual fan watching this team would probably not argue against it actually being THE PHILOSOPHY. Offensively speaking, combo guard Robert Jarvis and forward Marcus Lewis are the only returning players that averaged north of 5 ppg last season. Jarvis is a star though. He’s without a doubt the most streaky player in the conference (16.1 ppg in 29 mpg…off the bench). I’m not real sure Oral Roberts can survive the shoot first mentality of Jarvis as their point guard, but it sure looks like that will be their only chance to make it 4 straight tourney appearances.  Oakland finished third in the conference in 2008. They have one heck of an opening stretch of road games to begin the year. If they can come out of it with an upset or three, it might just be all the confidence this team needs to make a run. Scoring the ball is not a concern for head coach Greg Kampe. Guards Johnathon Jones, Erik Kangas and Derick Nelson all averaged over 14 ppg last season. Nelson has a tendency to try to do too much, but when he plays within himself, he can hurt you in a variety of ways, whether it’s on the offensive glass, in transition, or with an occasional trey. Defense and rebounding seem to be the problem for this team, especially up front. They can usually get away with lackluster defensive lapses against the weaker teams, but losing four out of five to last year’s strongholds IUPUI and Oral Roberts should be an indication of what Oakland must drastically improve on to legitimately be considered a threat . A pair of highly touted freshman (as opposed to lowly touted), 6’9 Jay Thames and 7’0 Ilija Milutinovic, hope to give this lacking front line a boost. Ilija, says coach Kampe, might be just what the doctor ordered: “There is a lot of hype with him and we have never had this much hype about a recruit before. He turned down six figures to play professionally in Serbia because he wants to go to the NBA.”  Kampe later referred to Ilija as “very comparable” to Darko Milicic.  I’m still not sure what to make of that.

RPI Boosters/Games to Watch. You won’t see many of the Summit League teams on tv, but if you live in a midwestern state, chances are you’ll be able to take in a game at a very reasonable price.

• For the state of Michigan at least, Oakland vs. Michigan State (12.27.08 @ The Palace) will be a fun affair.  Last season Oakland lost @ MSU by only 4.
• NDSU @ Minnesota (11.29.08).  Intriguing early season test for the Bison against an up-and-coming Minnesota team.
• Oral Roberts @ North Carolina (12.13.08). This game will be on ESPN2.
• NDSU @ Oakland (1.2.09) & Oakland @ NDSU (1.29.09).
• NDSU @ Oral Roberts (2.28.09).  Last game of the regular season for both of these schools, a #1 seed could be on the line.
• And of course the Summit League Tournament, where mascots take themselves seriously (see below).  This is a one bid league fellas.

Did You Know.

• Oral Roberts freshman Beloved Rogers led all Maryland high schoolers in scoring last season with 27.8 ppg.
• UMKC senior Dane Brumagin, had games of 40, 35, 29, and 27 points last season while improving his 3pt% by almost 10% from the previous season.  Unfortunately for Dane there’s not much else besides a possible conference scoring title to look forward to this year.  UMKC players 6’8 or taller equal the number of playoff series Tracy McGrady has won. 
• Valparaiso is the last school to win a non-PiG NCAA tournament game as a member of this conference (known as the Mid-Continent Conference until 2007). Valpo won 2 games back in the 1998 NCAA tourney.
• Waste Management Court at Western Hall is home to the Western Illinois basketball team. I know, I know, ‘Coach K Court’ and ‘Jim Boeheim Court’ are so much more original.

65 Team Era.  The MCC/Summit has had a fair amount of success throughout this era, going 8-24 (.250), but most of those wins were performed by teams no longer affiliated with the conference ten or twenty years ago (Valpo, UW-Green Bay, Northern Iowa, Cleveland St.).  In the past ten years, only Oakland has won a game, and that was the dreaded #16 v. #16 play-in game.  In the ten first-round games of the last decade, the MCC/Summit representative has lost by an average of 21.4 points.  The only close game was #14 Southern Utah’s three-point loss to #3 Boston College in 2001. 

Final Thoughts.  In the end I feel like there are five to six quality teams in this conference, but only three of them have any realistic shot at knocking off somebody come NCAA Tourney time. Oral Roberts has the defensive discipline and experience factor going for them. Oakland can put points up in a hurry and is the deepest team in the conference. North Dakota State has the firepower and sense of urgency. They have not had the chance to taste March Madness. Those talented seniors get one crack at it, and they’re ready to battle.  Heck, give which ever team wins the tourney a shot at Duke. We all saw the trouble perimeter savvy Belmont gave them.  Bring ’em on!