I was trying to think of a clever title for this post, but in all reality the simple truth is probably the most shocking. Kuyper College pulled off something that teams have not been able to do for almost 3 years. The last time the Grace Bible College Tigers lost was March 15th 200…. freaking… 8. Pardon my burst of energy there, but it really is incredible.
I could write this post a few ways.
1. I could take the approach of happiness. I am glad they lost. I think it is better for NCCAA DII basketball if more than one team wins the last game of the season.
2. I could take the approach of sadness. I am sad that they lost. I love greatness, and we witnessed something truly great.
I am going to take a different approach. I am going to project some reactions to this game, and let my thoughts spill over for the next few hundred words. Therefore I would encourage your to find your reaction and then see my response.
The obvious: “This just shows you Allen Durham was Grace Bible.”
Stop. If you have this opinion… stop. Grace Bible’s greatness was in their team approach to the game. We have never seen a team recruit, execute, and crush teams like Grace Bible. Allen Durham was an exceptional piece to the team, but you act like he was a hired gun. Recruiting and retention is part of what makes Gary Bailey and his Tiger men so special. To demean a team because of an exceptional talent is childish.
The know-it-all: “Obviously they aren’t the #1 team.”
Don’t be dumb. The new power ratings are out with this game included and you can see for yourself who is the “new” number one, and it looks a lot like the old number one. Kuyper pulled off an upset. It was an upset. That means Grace Bible is still the better team, and still the better team compared to every team in the country. Are they unbeatable? Obviously not, but they lost one game. 1. In three years. In 3 years…. 3.
The denial: “We are still better than you.”
Grace Bible College is better than everyone, but the reality is, they have shown weakness. Maybe most Grace Bible fans don’t realize it… I take that back… most do, but some fans are in denial. Grace Bible’s loss tonight does give hope to other teams across the country. It does say to other teams, we can do what Kuyper did tonight. Grace is still the favorite, in my opinion, to win it all, but you can’t deny this is a bit of a game changer for many teams. If you are a coach and you are not on the phone to find out what happened, you aren’t doing your job.
Conclusion:
I think I’m not excited about this. When I heard the news, I thought I should be more excited. I thought this would open a world of possibilities, but in the end I shrugged and sat down to write this post. In the end, I think I felt sadness. Like I said above, we witnessed something great. A winning streak marked by easy wins and incredibly tough wins, but I think the reason I am sad is because of the two massive reactions that we can have. Celebrating the loss, and rightly so, but in celebrating you know that those kids on Grace have to feel awful.
Therefore I raise a toast (Of sparkling cider) to Grace Bible College. That was quite a performance.
The Power Rating Top 10:
| Rank | Team | Region | Power Rating |
| 1 | Grace Bible College | MW | 0.8381 |
| 2 | Valley Forge Christian College | E | 0.8109 |
| 3 | Kuyper College | MW | 0.7933 |
| 4 | Clearwater Christian College | S | 0.7865 |
| 5 | North Central University | NC | 0.7536 |
| 6 | Hillsdale Free Will Baptist | SW | 0.7473 |
| 7 | Ohio Christian University | ME | 0.7460 |
| 8 | Lancaster Bible College | E | 0.7445 |
| 9 | Grace University | C | 0.7208 |
| 10 | Maranatha Baptist Bible College | MW | 0.7201 |
We live in a culture obsessed with failure, the insatiable appetite to find fault and elevate losing to a stature all its own; Joe Paterno, case in point. The incredible scrutiny of Tim Tebow, arguably the most intense since Jesus Christ Himself, another. Why CCSN has to fall into that trap is most disconcerting. How do you ‘rightly celebrate’ a loss? The euphoria and instant coverage of Grace’s loss last night perhaps was equaled only by the winning of a national championship. I would challenge CCSN to rise above the temptation to ‘celebrate’ losing and instead focus on WHO won and why! Kuyper beat Grace! They had more energy, more ‘fluke’ scoring, more desire, home crowd passion, better defense and more points. That is what should be celebrated by CCSN as representing all of Div. II. Yes, other teams and coaches can be motivated by the loss but why be led by CCSN?
What should become a great discussion is WHO did Kuyper really do a favor for?
And honestly what ‘streak’ do you think really matters to Coach Bailey and the team?
See-Bill Walton and John Wooden.
When you get a chance, let us know how the view is up there.
The view also noted not only the class of Grace in defeat but also the character of sportsmanship Kuyper’s players and fans showed throughout the game in winning arguably the greatest game in school history. Those are both streaks that should never end, possibly showing how one team’s example over the years has a bigger impact on others beyond just winning.
The rematch will have even higher drama, except Grace nation gets a chance to show a home court frenzy Kuyper’s fans did so well there. What a great rivalry this is becoming giving even more exposure to Christian college athletics in West Michigan.
I don’t see this article as celebrating losing. He says himself at the end he felt sad to see a great streak end. He acknowledges the loss, and reactions to it, then proceeds give his opinion why he believes the negative reactions to the loss are incorrect. I see this article in no way as celebrating the loss, but instead more of an acknowledgement that a great streak has come to an end and it should be acknowledged and celebrated for what it was, and why and how it was achieved.
@Kirby: I agree with you. I thought this story written was not necessarily a slam on any team, but more of a reaction to what possible thoughts might be of people who saw the score. I think this article outlines possible feelings one might have depending upon school loyalties, but in the end the author mentions how awesome the streak was and is written with appreciation toward what both GBC and Kuyper did. I thought this article was in good taste and was written from a slant of normal reporting.
I attended this game. I give credit all the way around.
Kuyper’s returning players have gotten better. Kuyper’s new players have loads of talent. Kuyper’s homecourt crowd was into the game, giving them a nice homecourt advantage.
Grace Bible’s players held their heads high even knowing the streak ended.
From the stands, It looked as though Grace Bible’s coaching staff taught some valuable lessons to their team during the game that I think will be important building blocks for the rest of the season.
I think the rematch @ GBC will be a very interesting/exciting game in Feb.
Being a student at Kuyper College, and attending the game myself as well..I’ve noticed a huge change in our team. I remember reading from another article one of our players was interviewed, it was either the coach or the player had said that they looked at Grace and saw that they wanted a championship like Grace had.
That was their drive to never give up. And having lost to Grace so many times and still refused to give up taught them some valuabel lessons too. Even though I’m a student here and could be a little biased..every one gave this game their all and it was a very good game. Grace presented Kuyper with a challenge and we met it. And I agree with you Kyle, the rematch in Febuary at Grace will be very very interesting and an exciting game!
I am excited for the rematch too! I wouldn’t expect Grace Bible to handle last night in any other way. It really is astounding what that school has done.
I think that losing can be as big a motivator as winning. I think the February re-match will be a great game. Kuyper will be motivated by knowing the feeling of beating a #1 and eager to continue the trend, and Grace feeling the sting of losing at their level for the first time in years. I think the re-match will be an even better and more competative game because each team has an additional motivator in these next weeks of practice and games.
I would also like to put the challenge out there to the GBC crowd…Kuyper’s crowd arose to the challenge and showed how valuable a home crowd is…let’s see what GBC’s got in Feb!
Great article. Grace is an inspiring story. Watching a team like Grace play and execute the way they do is inspiring. Great Team, Great Coach, Great Streak that will be talked about forever, a Great Win for Kuyper, all gearing up for a great national tournament.
Its going to be a crazy end of the year, hold on to your seats folks!
Yes this article talks a lot on how a truly great run has come to an end, but it fails to mention that kuyper did beat grace, grace did not loose. You can say kuyper was lucky and it’s a fluke but kuyper was the better team in every aspect of the game. It goes to show you just how much of a loss Durham was and how they failed to have a legitement post game throughout the night. I am a neutral fan but it was clear that last night kuyper was better but the rematch will show us if they are national championship contenders or not.
Kuyper lost to Great Lakes.
…GREAT LAKES!!!
Grace just put a 20-spot on Gt Lakes last night for those who care
Predictions for the rematch?
Grace wins by double-digits at home.
#TeamBailey
Christian Lawyer
Missionary Athlete in Germany
http://www.ChristianJanisLawyer.com
PS- HUGE game between Dallas Christian and Hillsdale on Friday night! Former DCC Standout, Antoine Warren looks to keep Hillsdale in the Top 10. Hillsdale has some great players this year. Dallas is riding Isaac Gonzalez (All-American) and a few new fresh faces.
Observations from another Midwest Coach:
Having played both Kuyper and Grace, I am not surprised by two themes…Kuyper is really good and Grace will always handle themselves with class as a reflection of their exceptional coaching staff. Stan and his staff should also be commended for their preparation and execution in this win…regardless of who is privileged to play on Saturday, January 25 at NIU I hope the National Tournament has room for two Midwest teams this year…
Boom!
Grace lost to kuyper
I love this comment.
Since Kuyper has come out this year I am sure the MW region will send two teams. Grace and Kuyper. NIU has a shot if they get to the championship game. The rest of the region is weak. I was looking forward to the mbbc Faith game, but after hearing Betz is out, that game wont mean anything.
It’s funny that the d3 team is one of the weakest in the MW region. In the NC region NCU is by far the best and they do very well in d3. NCU 6-8 in d3 so far. mbbc 0-8.
This will be a great national tournament this year! Maybe we will see Clearwater! It’s been a while. Several good teams out there!
One thing to look at when comparing NCU and Maranatha in their respective D-3 divisions are the actual D-3 Divisions the teams are in and play. I know that the whole D-3 thing can be misleading because some D-3 conferences are very, very weak versus others. I have no clue what conference NCU is in and will not take the time to research it, but I do know that the division maranatha is in is a buzz saw. No easy games in that conference. Thoughts?
Bohl,
Absolutely right. Maranatha unfortunately has been on the losing end in ever conference game this season. And they have struggled late in games to finish a team off. AND I realize that you can always talk about what would/could/should have been. But, the level of competition in the NAC, as you pointed out is top notch for a D3 conference. No, not top to bottom, but top to….middle or so. And there are no freebies. Every win is earned. I’m sure Marian, Dominican and #1 (NAC South)Benedictine would gladly admit they EARNED the wins against Natha. I would like to point out 3 things quick then I’m done. 1)MBBC lost to Benedictine on the road by 2 in OT. A guy rattles in a contested 3 with 4 seconds and they win in OT. Benedictine beat MSOE by 30. MSOE beat North Central by like 25. 2) Maranatha lost by 3 to Kuyper at our place during break when we had no home crowd/student body. As has been mentioned many times throughout this thread, home crowd makes a difference. 3) Everyone except North Central R has posted under their name.
Also, I neglected to mention that the loss to Kuyper was without 2 starters and a reserve who gets decent minutes. You can’t tell me Matt McGivern, Matt Hunter and Caleb Burch wouldn’t have made a difference in that game. In the final minute of the game, zero regular starters were on the floor.
NCU plays a lot of tough D3 teams (one of which is Northwestern who won the nccaa div. 1 2 years ago) They also have a very young team (they lost 3 starters from last year). Not to discredit their bad losses at the beginning of the year, but they were young.
The MW is a great region this year. But the only for sure way to get to the national tournament is to win your region, no matter how tough or easy it is.
Wow, a lot of great post and it makes me feel like i’m right there. But in my opinion Grace shouldn’t hang their heads because it was a great streak and Kuyper on the other hand should lift their heads high because that is a great win for their program. “THIS IS COLLEGE BASKETBALL” and I love it! Now the rematch is going to epic, because knowing Grace and the guys….that loss is not going to go over well with them. And Kuyper having the confidence of knowing they can win, this might be the best game of the year to date!
Is that really Allen Durham? For some reason I think not.
Yes David, it is really me! LOL
Ok just to be clear Grace has actually lost games since March 2008.
Yes they have Mike… to schools who give players money to be there.
boom
Ok…but not to schools whose players actually have to be enrolled full time.
Streak is still very impressive though.
Hey Mike, every single athlete at GBC has to take at least 12 credits, just like every other student athlete at every other school, so your argument holds no water. Get over it and give a team credit without having to make it a back handed compliment.
Hey grow,
I know, I was just messin’ a little bit. A couple of those victories were over my alma mater in the national championship game, so they sting a little extra. You have to have great focus and great coaching to win like that. No disrespect to GBC’s team.
This is the the thing that makes college basketball (no matter what the level) so exciting. At any given moment anyone can beat anyone. Grace losing shouldn’t be something for them to hang their heads about nor should it be something for the rest of the country to get real excited about. What this tells us it that we could be in for the most exciting NCCAAII National Tournament in recent history.
Great comments guys. The one that continues to pop up that humors me is that we are now going to have an exciting national tournament now that Grace has been beat. May I remind you that Grace went down to the wire 2 years ago in both the semi’s against CBC and in the finals against Southeastern? May I remind you that they were losing by double digits in last year’s national tournament against Dallas Christian before they rallied to win? And that was with the most dominating NCCAA II presence in the past 15 years in Allen Durham. And that was also with Ryan Dame—people forget about Dame–the guy was an absolute beast! He scored over 1,000 points as a Tiger as well.
This year, the Tigers trailed by 19 with 10 minutes left in the game against Valley Forge, only to rally and win. Grace had pretty good scares against Clearwater Christian at the Florida Christian Holiday Classic in December as well at Ohio Christian in early January. I talked to Gary Bailey just a short time before Tuesday’s game against Kuyper College….he told me that Kuyper was good enough to beat them if Kuyper played well. So while it has shocked all of us, it didn’t shock Gary Bailey. He knew how good Kuyper was.
My point is this—the NCCAA II Men’s National Basketball Tournament is going to be phenomenal in 2012 just as it has been in 2011 and 2010!! Grace didn’t steamroll their opponents in either of those tournaments and they sure won’t do that this year. They will have to play very well for 3 straight games if they are going to get their 4th consecutive national championship. Ohio Christian is hungry; Clearwater is hungry; Kuyper is hungry, and Valley Forge is starving!!!!
I salute Gary Bailey and the Tigers for their 69-game win-streak. To do what they have done in MEN’S basketball at this level is absolutely remarkable. I salute them most for the way they have won…they have won as a team, they have won with class, and they have won with defense!
A loss this time of the year may end up being a good thing for Grace. I was on a team in ’95 that had won around 15 in a row in late February when we were beat by a bad NCCAA I school that we shouldn’t have lost to. That loss took a lot of pressure off of us heading into regionals and nationals. It allowed us to exhale. It allowed us to regroup. And it made each of us realize that we better bring our “A” game every night if we were going to do something special that March. We did something special that March and the next March as well, and that late-season loss was a big reason why. So the rest of the NCCAA may be celebrating Grace’s vulnerability and rightfully so. But this loss has the potential to cause more harm than good to the rest of the NCCAA if Grace learns from it.
Got a few closing questions that should stir some debate—could you imagine a scenario where Kuyper doesn’t even advance to the national tournament? I can. What if Kuyper loses in the semi’s of their region to a Northland or Maranatha? What if Great Lakes beats them again in the quarterfinals? In some regions, the team that loses in the regional final is the only team eligible for an at-large bid. That Midwest Region is loaded….there is no guarantee that Kuyper will get to the title game. Can someone from the Midwest Region let us know how the at-large selection works in that region for men’s basketball…do you have to advance to the regional final to be eligible? There may only be 1 at-large available–has Kuyper secured that at-large with this win? One Midwest Region expert told me in December that Clearwater Christian and Florida Christian were better than any of the the teams in the Midwest (except for Grace)–does Clearwater get left out of the national tourney if FCC pulls the upset in the South Regional? The selection process will be very interesting, especially if Central Bible doesn’t win their region, thus chewing up 1 of the 2 at-large births.
Just some questions to get the ball rolling. I can’t wait for March Madness!
That’s The Scoop With Coop!
Rick Cooper
CCSN
All regions follow the same process to select the at-large teams. Here is section from the handbook that explains the selection process.
1) At-Large Teams shall be selected as follows:
a. No more than one team from a region. The host team is an automatic selection and not
considered as the at-large bid from their region.
b. No lower than fifth seed in the region.
c. If the #1 seed loses then they are the at-large. If #1 seed wins the regional tournament, then the #2 or #3 seeds shall be selected if they are runner-up.
d. If the #1 seed wins and the #4 seed or lower is runner up, then the #2 seed shall be selected as the at-large team.
f. If the qualifying at-large bid of a particular region declines to submit a bid, then the next highest seed shall receive the at-large bid opportunity.
Thanks for the insight Shawn! I think it must be women’s basketball that has different policies regarding at-large selections. Thanks for taking time to share some wisdom with us.
Coop
Correction: Dan Dame was the beast that graduated with Allen Durham a year ago, not Ryan Dame….sorry about that!
Coop
Kuyper wins again!!!! #new number 1
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