While the 2008 Patriot League men’s basketball race is shaping up to be an unpredictable and exciting ride, the competition on the hardwood extends even further. The intramural basketball race is heating up as teams position themselves for the upcoming playoffs. While some leagues clearly have dominant squads, other divisions like League B are filled with evenly-matched teams.

Perhaps the most interesting story is that of team LNA. Having won the Ultimate Frisbee and Division II Flag Football leagues, LNA is looking to complete the trifecta. With a 6-0 record, they sit alone atop League A. In fact, LNA and Strokin’ (5-1) were the only two teams with winning records in League A at Winter Break. With the one and two seeds fairly set, the rest of the pack will be fighting for the crucial third seed. Phi Tau is the best situated to attain that goal with a 2-2 record. The Running Suckers, who won the title last year, sit behind Phi Tau with a disappointing 3-4 record. Sigma, whose team is essentially composed of Colgate men’s soccer players have an uphill battle to climb with a 2-4 record. At the bottom part of the league are the Buffalo Soldiers at 1-3 and Theta Chi at 0-4. While League A is normally the most competitive league, several teams need to come back from break strong if they have championship aspirations.

The B-division will join the A-division at season’s end and compete in the D-I playoffs. With each game coming down to the wire, the race to the playoffs is sure to be very exciting and nerve-racking. Behind inspired play of pre-season All-Colgate Intramural B-League center Jesse Brooks, Beta A (3-0) looks to hold onto their reign atop the second division.

“You know it is really important for me, in my last semester, to go out there and give it my all!” Brooks said.

Right on Beta’s heels is Old School at 3-1, comprised of the live-spirited professors and Colgate staff members. It will be very interesting to see how students that were abroad for a semester will affect the outcome of the league. Furthermore, teams that were stacked with juniors are likely to take a hit when some of them leave school for a semester.

“Yeah, you have to be worried if you’re on a team that lost a lot of juniors who are not at Colgate this semester,”Alex Gardner, Sigma’s starting guard, pointed out.

While some teams may lose key players, there are some highly anticipated arrivals such as Beta’s Kyle “MJ” Cooper. Looking to emulate the run that Clifford the Big Red Dawgz made last year, Team Naughtilus (3-2) is the token first-year team in D-I. Sophomore squad Team Brolic at 2-3, the senior-laden Jewce is Loose (2-4), CU Nautical Team (1-3) and the Blazers (1-3) are currently sitting in seeds thirteen to sixteen.

Now normally, those who sign up for Division II are not the really cutthroat athletes who do anything to win (such as hitting the gym, drinking protein or team film sessions), but this year seems to be different. Cutten, looking to avenge last year’s championship loss, is well-positioned to be the one seed with a 4-1 record. Team Cutten is the same team as last year’s second-place Curtis squad, led by sophomores John Ogilby and Matthew C. Russo.

Next in the C-League is first-year squad This Is Austin, who at 3-1 is the only other team with a winning record. Bringing up the rear are the juniors of GDI (2-3), Phi Delt (1-4) and the winless Derrty Byrdz at 0-4. The D league seems to follow the same pattern as the other leagues with the top two or three teams running away with the division and the rest of the pack battling for .500. After defeating the CCF-led squad Sack Lunch in a tough overtime battle, the Ninja Warriors are undefeated with a 4-0 record. As stated earlier, second semester always results with an addition or a loss of key players. However, in the case of Killer Tofu, which is dead-last with a 0-4 record, it was in fact the decision of its star player to transfer that makes for a gloomy future. Sophomore combo guard Raipher Pellegrino, who led all scorers in any division with 25 points per game and simply dominated League D play, has transferred. Making up the rest of the D-league are the BDS (2-2), Bad Newz Kennels (2-1) and Phi Tau B (1-3).

This week marked the last week of the regular season and the playoffs will start next Monday.