After all games are played Saturday — Green Bay and UIC meet in the last one at 8 p.m. — the league will rank teams first through 12th, using that for the final standings and seeding in the conference tournament.
“Whoever is the No. 1 seed this season will be crowned the regular season champion,” said Dan Gliot, the Horizon League director of communications. “(There will be) no co-champions.”
Wright State (17-4, 15-3) and Cleveland State (15-6, 15-3) are on pace to be among six teams to play full 20-game league schedules.
The Raiders end with two at Northern Kentucky (12-9, 10-6), while the Vikings play twice at Purdue Fort Wayne (6-13, 5-13).
But the league puts out an updated seeding list each week, and CSU is currently No. 1, while Wright State is second.
“Seeding for the tournament will be decided utilizing a formula that considers four factors: League winning percentage, strength of schedule, weighting road wins vs. home wins and number of league games played,” Gliot said.
“This system is similar to the old RPI that the NCAA used to rank all teams to help with the selection process for the NCAA tournament, but with a few tweaks in order to better represent the four priorities.”
Both contenders will have 10 home and 10 road games, but the Vikings won’t play current No. 11 UIC and No. 12 Robert Morris this season, which helps their strength of schedule.
But the Raiders might be able to pick up ground since they’re facing the tougher opponent this weekend.
None of that matters, though, if the teams aren’t tied at the end. And the only thing on the Raiders’ minds as they head to NKU is sweeping two games.
“I definitely look at all the scores and the standings to see where everybody is,” sophomore guard Tim Finke said. “But at the end of the day, you can’t really pay too much attention to it. We have to take care of our business and see how it all plays out.”
On a roll: Loudon Love has had back-to-back 20-point games a few times in his career, but he’s in new territory with his current stretch of four outings with at least 20 points in a five-game span.
The rampage started with a 34-point, 11-rebound night against Robert Morris on Jan. 30, and he had 29 points and 12 boards in the second of two games against Milwaukee last weekend.
The fifth-year senior’s previous career high was 27 points.
“I’ve seen his whole transformation,” said fourth-year junior Jaylon Hall. “I’m probably the proudest guy on the team, seeing his growth and seeing all that work. He definitely deserves it.”
Love, who leads the Raiders in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (10.2), has put himself back into the discussion for league player of the year, an award he won last season.
Just five players have won it multiple times. Loyola’s Alfredrick Hughes is the only one to do it three times (1983, ’84, ’85).
Piling up victories: The Raiders’ nine-game winning streak matches the longest in the Horizon League this season. It’s also the second-longest in the program’s Division I era (since 1987-88).
The 2006-07 team, which knocked off Butler in the tourney finals to earn an NCAA berth, also won nine in a row.
The record is 11 straight in 2007-08.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Northern Kentucky, 6 p.m., ESPN3, 106.5
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