WIAC Basketball Update: Games on February 18 plus Postseason Scenarios

It's the final day of the regular season in the WIAC, with plenty to be decided. Below are previews and a look at every scenario heading into the final day of play in the WIAC.

Men's Basketball

Weekly Release

D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll

WIAC Standings

WIAC Schedule / Links

Wednesday, February 15 Results

#RV Eau Claire 83, #4 River Falls 80

Oshkosh 67, #17 Whitewater 63

La Crosse 77, Stout 52

Stevens Point 61, Platteville 56

WIAC Tournament Seeding Update

As of today, the WIAC Tournament would be (1) *River Falls 11-2, (2) *Oshkosh 8-5, (3) *Whitewater 8-5, (4) *Eau Claire 8-5, (5) *La Crosse 5-8, (6) *Stout 4-9. (6) plays at (3) and (5) plays at (4) in the opening round, with the highest seed remaining playing at (2) and the lowest seed remaining playing at (1) in the semifinals. The highest seed hosts the WIAC Championship for an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. (* indicates a team has clinched a Tournament spot).

-In Men's Basketball, Stevens Point is under a postseason ban, so they won't participate in the WIAC Tournament. However, their season results do count in tie-breaking scenarios.

Oshkosh, Whitewater, Eau Claire tied at 8-5

-First tiebreaker is cumulative head-to-head. Oshkosh is 3-1, Whitewater is 1-2, and Eau Claire is 1-2, so Oshkosh is the 2 seed. We revert back to the first tiebreaker for Whitewater and Eau Claire, in which Eau Claire is 1-0 against Whitewater in advance of their meeting Saturday. Eau Claire is currently the 3 seed and Whitewater the 4 seed.

Playoff Scenarios:

River Falls 11-2: They are locked into the #1 seed.

Oshkosh 8-5: A. They earn the #2 seed with a win and an Eau Claire win. They own the first tiebreaker (head-to-head; 2-0) over Eau Claire.
B. They earn the #2 seed with a win and a Whitewater win. They own the second tiebreaker (record against teams higher in the standings; 1-1 vs 0-2) over Whitewater.
B. They earn the #3 seed with a loss. They own the first tiebreaker (head-to-head; 2-0) with Eau Claire, and they own the second tiebreaker (record against teams higher in the standings; 3-1 vs 1-2) over Whitewater in either scenario.

Eau Claire 8-5: A. They earn the #2 seed with a win and an Oshkosh loss.
B. They earn the #3 seed with a win and an Oshkosh win. Oshkosh owns the first tiebreaker (head-to-head; 2-0).
C. They earn the #4 seed with a loss regardless of Oshkosh's outcome. Oshkosh owns the first tiebreaker (head-to-head; 2-0) over Eau Claire.

Whitewater 8-5: A. They earn the #2 seed with a win and an Oshkosh loss.
B. They earn the #3 seed with a win and an Oshkosh win. Oshkosh owns the second tiebreaker (record against teams higher in the standings; 1-1 vs 0-2).
C. They earn the #4 seed with a loss regardless of Oshkosh's outcome. Oshkosh owns the second tiebreaker (record against teams higher in the standings; 3-1 vs 1-2) over Whitewater.

La Crosse 5-8: They are locked into the #5 seed.

Stout 4-9: They are locked into the #6 seed.

If Stout and La Crosse tie (Stout beats Oshkosh, La Crosse loses to Stevens Point):
First Tiebreaker: La Crosse and Stout are tied at 1-1 head-to-head.
Second Tiebreaker: La Crosse and Stout tied; would both own 2-6 records against teams higher in the standings.
Third Tiebreaker if Whitewater wins: La Crosse wins because of their 1-1 record against Whitewater (Stout 0-2)
Third Tiebreaker if Eau Claire wins: tied (teams with same records counted as 1 team); both teams would be 2-2 vs Oshkosh and Whitewater
Fourth Tiebreaker if Eau Claire wins: La Crosse wins because of conference road wins (3 to Stout's 2; Stout plays at home Saturday)

Platteville 1-12: Eliminated

Stevens Point 7-6: Ineligible

Women's Basketball

Weekly Release

D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll

WIAC Standings

WIAC Schedule / Links

Wednesday, February 15 Results

#11 Oshkosh 59, #RV Whitewater 58

#RV Stevens Point 69, Platteville 55

Eau Claire 44, River Falls 41

La Crosse 72, Stout 50

WIAC Tournament Seeding Update

As of today, the WIAC Tournament would be (1) *Oshkosh 12-1, (2) *Stevens Point 9-4, (3) *Whitewater 9-4, (4) *La Crosse 8-5, (5) *Eau Claire 7-6, (6) Stout 3-9. (6) plays at (3) and (5) plays at (4) in the opening round, with the highest seed remaining playing at (2) and the lowest seed remaining playing at (1) in the semifinals. The highest seed hosts the WIAC Championship for an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. (* indicates a team has clinched a Tournament spot).

Stevens Point, Whitewater tied at 9-4

-First tiebreaker is head-to-head. Stevens Point is 2-0 against Whitewater, so Stevens Point would be the #2 seed and Whitewater the #3 seed.

Playoff Scenarios:

Oshkosh 12-1: They are locked into the #1 seed.

Stevens Point 9-4: A. They earn the #2 seed with a win. Stevens Point owns the first tiebreaker (head-to-head; 2-0) over Whitewater.
B. They earn the #2 seed with a loss and a Whitewater loss. Stevens Point owns the first tiebreaker over both Whitewater and La Crosse, even if La Crosse wins over Stevens Point on Saturday. First tiebreaker is cumulative head-to-head, and in the grouping of the three teams, Stevens Point would be 3-1, Whitewater 2-2, and La Crosse 1-3.
C. They earn the #3 seed with a loss and a Whitewater win. Stevens Point and La Crosse tie on the first tiebreaker (head-to-head) in this scenario. Second tiebreaker is cumulative record against teams higher in the standings. Stevens Point is 2-2, La Crosse 0-4.

Whitewater 9-4: A. They earn the #2 seed with a win and a La Crosse win.
B. They earn the #3 seed with a win and a Stevens Point win. Stevens Point owns the first tiebreaker (head-to-head; 2-0) over Whitewater.
C. They earn the #3 seed with a loss and a Stevens Point win.
D. They earn the #3 seed with a loss and a La Crosse win. Whitewater and La Crosse are tied for the first tiebreaker. The second tiebreaker is cumulative record against teams higher in the standings, and Whitewater is 1-1 against Oshkosh while La Crosse is 0-2.

La Crosse 8-5: They are locked into the #4 seed.

If La Crosse wins over Stevens Point...
...and Whitewater wins: Stevens Point and La Crosse tie on the first tiebreaker (head-to-head) in this scenario. Second tiebreaker is cumulative record against teams higher in the standings. Stevens Point is 2-2, La Crosse 0-4.
...and Whitewater loses: Stevens Point owns the first tiebreaker over both Whitewater and La Crosse, even if La Crosse wins over Stevens Point on Saturday. First tiebreaker is cumulative head-to-head, and in the grouping of the three teams, Stevens Point would be 3-1, Whitewater 2-2, and La Crosse 1-3.

Eau Claire 7-6: They are locked into the #5 seed.

If Eau Claire wins and La Crosse loses, La Crosse owns the head-to-head tiebreaker (2-0) and would claim the fourth seed.

Stout 3-9: A. They earn the #6 seed with a win.
B. They earn the #6 seed with a loss and a River Falls loss.
C. They are eliminated with a loss and a River Falls win. River Falls owns the first tiebreaker over Stout (2-0 head to head).

River Falls 2-10: A. They earn the #6 seed with a win and a Stout loss. River Falls owns the first tiebreaker over Stout (2-0 head to head).
B. They are eliminated with a loss.

Platteville 2-10: Eliminated

If Platteville wins and Stout loses, Stout owns the head-to-head tiebreaker (2-0) and would claim the sixth seed.

Men's Basketball at Whitewater (5pm): #17 Whitewater (19-5, 8-5) and #RV Eau Claire (18-6, 8-5) have plenty to play for in their game. By tipoff, they will know if Oshkosh won or lost. An Oshkosh win means this game is for the 2-seed and a first-round bye; an Oshkosh loss means this game is for the 3 seed. A win either way places the winner on the opposite side of the bracket from River Falls. The losing team will face La Crosse at home as the 4 seed, with a possible semifinal game against River Falls looming.

Women's Basketball at Eau Claire (5pm): #RV Whitewater (19-5, 9-4) can earn the 2 seed with a win and a La Crosse victory over Stevens Point, but any other scenario, win or lose, makes them the 3 seed, and they will know that before tipoff. Whitewater is also currently sixth in the NCAA Regional Rankings, so after a loss to Oshkosh on Wednesday, they'll be seeking a win to boost their at-large Tournament resume heading into the postseason. Eau Claire (13-11, 7-6) is locked into the 5 seed and will play at fourth-seeded La Crosse next week in the WIAC Tournament.

Men's Basketball at Stout (3pm): Oshkosh (15-9, 8-5) can clinch a 2 seed with a win over Stout (13-11, 4-9), and will be the 3 seed with a loss. Stout, meanwhile, is the 6 seed. If Stout wins this game, these same two teams will play again in Oshkosh on Tuesday. If Oshkosh wins, Stout will face the winner of Whitewater and Eau Claire on Tuesday on the road while Oshkosh enjoys the bye.

Women's Basketball at Oshkosh (7pm): #11 Oshkosh (22-2, 12-1) is locked in as the top seed in the WIAC as the regular-season champs. Stout (7-17, 3-10) is into the WIAC Tournament with a win, but can still make it with a loss as long as Platteville beats River Falls. In fact, by the time the game tips off, it will be known if this game is a must-win for Stout, or if they have already clinched the 6 seed.

You can hear both games between Oshkosh and Stout on WMEQ in Menomonie, and on iHeartRadio by clicking here. I will be calling the women's game in this double-header.

Men's Basketball at Stevens Point (7pm): La Crosse (13-11, 5-9) is locked into the 5 seed, while Stevens Point (13-10, 7-6) is playing their final game of the season for their five seniors (the Pointers are facing a postseason ban this year).

Women's Basketball at La Crosse (3pm): #RV Stevens Point (17-7, 9-4) can clinch a first-round bye and the 2 seed with a win or a Whitewater loss to Eau Claire. The Pointers are also absent from the NCAA regional rankings, so they will most likely need to win the WIAC Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. La Crosse (14-10, 8-5) is locked into the 4 seed no matter what happens--they lose key tiebreakers to the teams ahead of them that they could tie, but own tiebreakers over Eau Claire as well. Speaking of, La Crosse will host Eau Claire in the first round of the WIAC Tournament as the 4 seed.

Men's Basketball at Platteville (7pm): #4 River Falls (21-3, 11-2) will be looking to bounce back after losing to Eau Claire on Wednesday. The Falcons are the 1 seed and regular-season champion of the WIAC. Platteville (8-16, 1-12) will wrap up their season, and also a career for their lone, outstanding senior, Cory Vaassen.

Women's Basketball at River Falls (3pm): River Falls (7-17, 2-11) can get into the playoffs with a win and a Stout loss to conference-leading Oshkosh. Platteville (6-18, 2-11) will end their season after this game, with their only senior, Morgan Hartman, playing her final game.