With the regular season wrapping up last week, the intramural basketball playoffs are set to begin next week, culminating with the championship game next Thursday night. The single-elimination playoffs start Monday night with three games. Murk City will play Whoosiers at 5 p.m. in a play-in game, while Quiet Storm and Deuce’s Wild meet at 6 p.m. New Breed and Buhleedat will tangle in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
First round action continues on Tuesday night, when Houma will play the Bottom Boys at 6 p.m. in a match up of undefeated teams, while the winner of the Murk City/Whoosiers contest will play Koks, which received the tournament’s lone bye, in the 7 p.m. game.
Semifinal matchups will take place Wednesday, with the winner of Quiet Storm/Deuce’s Wild meeting the winner of New Breed/Buhleedat at 6 p.m., while the winner of the game between Koks and the play-in team will be at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for 7 p.m. March 17.
Michael Matherne, director of campus recreation, said all playoff games will be played in Shaver Gym.
Matherne said seeding was not used in determining what teams would play each other in the playoffs. Rather, the teams drew lots and placed themselves where they wanted to on the bracket.
“We do it like this because I think it creates a healthy, competitive atmosphere,” Matherne said. “If you’re this team and you really want to play these guys, you put yourself playing them. If you want to avoid somebody, you can avoid somebody. If you want to play somebody head up, you can play them head up too. It adds another twist.”
Student intramural coordinator Gerrod Galliano, business administration senior from Cut Off, said the playoffs are pretty wide open as far as who could be crowned champions.
“We have a number of teams (on a) similar competitive level, and we expect a high intensity set of games in the playoffs,” Galliano said. “(There are) a number of stand out teams, but a lot of teams haven’t really stood out completely, so it’s pretty much up for grabs.”
Brandon Ruttley, marketing senior from Houma and team captain of Buhleedat, said the competition is better this year.
“I think it’s been more competitive than the last couple of years,” Ruttley said. “A lot more teams have played than in the past. It’s gotten a lot better. Last year it was one or two teams that could win state, and this year it’s four.”
When asked what his team is most looking forward to in the playoffs, Josh Guidry, freshman from Houma and captain of Houma, said they just want to win. He said they want to work together and beat the Bottom Boys.
Galliano said the regular season went smoothly with very few incidents involving bad sportsmanship.
“Well I think every year you have an aspect of sportsmanship,” Galliano said. “Surprisingly, this year we had a minimal amount of incidents, if any. We have a real good group of guys this year, and we’d like to thank them for participating and treating the officials with respect and each other.”
As far as technical fouls, Michael Abadie, business administration junior from Slidell, said dunking and vulgar language on the court were the two that he remembered during the season.
Two teams, Dip Set and Backyard Ballers, forfeited this past year. Abadie said he was not sure why these teams forfeited because they had signed up and turned in their rosters on time with the correct number of players needed to play.
