Historic first   

- November 05 2009

I had the privilege to take part in a CIS fantasy basketball draft on Wednesday night along with five other brave souls who love Canadian university hoops. The other characteristic linking us: we're not afraid to make fools of ourselves.

As far as we could tell a CIS fantasy draft of this kind had never taken place so in many ways we were trailblazers. Thanks to SSN we have been able to see some hoops action this season, but needless to say, it can be hard to ascertain who the big stars on the CIS scene will be ahead of the season-opening tip-off in all conferences.

Heck, it's tough enough at the pro level where the media attention is obsessive.

But back to our draft. Here's a quick rundown:

• Six owners each taking 12 players ... so 72 total players drafted
• Each owner must have at least one player from each conference
  
• Boris Bakovic of the Ryerson Rams was selected first overall in the draft
• The first round went: Bakovic, Keenan Jeppesen (McMaster), Mark McLaughlin (SMU), Jacob Doerkson (TWU), Showron Glover (Saskatchewan) and Ross Bekkering (Calgary)
• The OUA led the way with 29 players selected, followed by Canada West with 18 players, AUS with 13 and the QUBL with 12 players selected
• The first AUS player selected was McLaughlin third overall
• The first Canada West player selected was Doerkson fourth overall
• The first QUBL player selected was J-f Beaulieu-maheux (Laval) 23rd overall
• The first player selected from the defending national champion Carleton Ravens was Kevin McCleery who was selected 12th overall
• Three schools led the way with four players selected from their rosters: Queen's, McGill and Toronto
• Five schools had three players selected from their rosters: Saint Mary's, Calgary, Carleton, Cape Breton and Laval
• Fifteen schools had two players selected from their rosters: Brock, McMaster, Saskatchewan, Laurier, Acadia, Regina, Winnipeg, Thompson Rivers, Windsor, York, UPEI, Waterloo, Concordia, UBC and UQAM
• Fifteen schools have one player selected from their roster
• Five schools had no players selected from their rosters: Memorial, Victoria, Alberta, UFV and RMC
  
• The last player selected in the draft, 72nd overall, was Nick DiDonato (Queen's)
  

You can watch the draft at the following link: http://www.cisblog.ca/2009/11/masters-university-basketball-league.html

The uncertainty of the draft will be followed by the uncertainty of the league itself. See below for the rules. Play starts this week.

Fantasy league rules

• League setup. Six teams, head-to-head. All owners must be able to check in with the league at least every Monday and Tuesday, when statistics for the previous week are collected and lineups for the upcoming week are set. You may designate someone to check in for you if you are unable to do so yourself.
  

• Roster size and composition. Rosters are 12 players maximum. You can choose six starters for each week. These six starters must include at least two forwards and at least two guards, and at least one player from each conference (Canada West, OUA, Quebec, AUS). A starting lineup that satisfies those conditions is called a complete lineup. This is not a keeper league.

• Bye weeks for conferences. If any conference has a bye week, you do not have to start a player from that conference. Your lineup will still be considered complete. Bye weeks will be announced in advance. (Week 1 is a bye week for the QUBL.)

• Head-to-head categories. Five counting stats and three rate stats. The counting stats are three-pointers, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals; the rate stats are points per 40 minutes (200 minutes minimum), field goal percentage (100 shots min.), and free throw percentage (40 free throws min.). You get a win for every category in which you outperform your opponent. If you do not meet the minimum, you cannot win that category; if neither team meets the minimum, a tie is awarded. Ties are possible for all categories, but must be exact ties for the rate categories.

• Weekly schedule. The following Tuesdays indicate weeks of play: Nov. 3, 10, 17, 24; Jan. 5, 12, 19, 26; Feb. 2, 9, 16. There will be 11 weeks total. The schedule will be arranged beforehand (i.e., Team 1 vs. Team 2) and you will be assigned to one of those numbered teams randomly.

• Setting your lineup. You must set your lineup by Monday at midnight ET (Friday at noon ET for Week 1). If you do not do this, last week's lineup will be used. If you don't do this in the first week, the first six players you drafted will be your lineup, regardless of whether that lineup is complete.

• Trades. Trades can occur on any Monday during the season. Both owners have to confirm the trade to me beforehand. Once the trade is confirmed, your players will be swapped. No more than three players can be traded by anyone in one week, and you may not make more than five trades in the season.

• League champion. Whoever has the best record at the end of the last week is the league champion.

• Tiebreakers. If two (or more) teams are tied for first (or any position that we need to break ties for), the following tiebreakers will be used, in order, and once any tie is broken, the remaining tied teams repeat the tiebreaker from the beginning until all ties are resolved:

• Most wins overall

• Best head-to-head record

• Something else to be determined (in other words, I'm hoping it doesn't get this far, and we'll use Rule 11 if it does)

1 Comments

B Nov 06 9:41 p.m.