mac fans should be pulling for tufts -- yea, the jumbos -- in tonight's second game at amherst.  it would be considered a slight upset, i think, and maybe just maybe, tufts could go into saturday's game just a bit overconfident.  if amherst wins, just hope that tufts can wear them down some.

widener-messiah is, of course, the third time these two square off this year.  may the better team win.

Tufts and Amherst, even though both are in the NESCAC, played each other only one time this season (now that's convenient scheduling if you ask me).  Amherst won, 54-48, on their home floor.  Tufts shot extemely poorly in that game.  So this game promises to be a knock-down, drag-out battle ... and Messiah and Widener will benefit from those two teams if the game plays out that way.  I hope that Tufts returns the favor and wins in a tight contest so that the MC-WU winner plays a team on a neutral court.

I'm not saying that the MC-WU game won't be any less hotly-contested.  These two teams will wear each other out as well.  The Commonwealth team that advances will definitely have their hands full Saturday night, but I think that either could win two up in Massachusetts and get to the championship weekend in Michigan.

Good luck to the Falcons and the Pride, and may the better team win.

any knowledgeable messiah fan would know that lebvall's win may have been an upset -- but only on paper.  when widener beat messiah and then lvc beat widener on the road, the championship had to be considered a toss-up.  neither messiah regular season victory over lebvall was all that impressive ... and the dutchmen have had the falcons' number the last three years in the commonwealth tournament.  i for one was not at all surprised that messiah couldn't hold home-court advantage.

this year's women's tournament is the same set-up as in past years.  four teams travel to one site the first weekend; doubleheader friday night with second round saturday night.  therefore, there are 16 hosts ... including messiah and lebvall.

however, the men's side is different -- they play a single game this weekend, so there are 30 host schools.

a huge congrats is due on the commonwealth side -- three teams made the tournament, and that is without there really being an upset in the conference playoffs.  way to go, coach alisa and widener!

Quote from: Warren Thompson on February 20, 2013, 08:29:11 PM

For the record, the "barn-burner" in Chester saw LVC win by 12, 68-56.
[/quote]

probably ends any chance that coach alisa's team will get a bid -- i don't see the selection committee taking three commonwealth teams ... though who knows?

congrats to messiah and lebanon valley on advancing to the championship.  can the falcons handle the 'flying dutch' for a third time this season?

Quote from: Roundball999 on February 20, 2013, 05:54:28 PM

Quote from: luvdahoops on February 20, 2013, 05:48:05 PM
i just have a feeling ... about tonight's commonwealth semifinals ...

messiah will flatten elizabethtown to avenge a shocking regular-season loss in grantham.  falcons win by 15-18 points and hold the 'jays to under 45 points.

a barn-burner in chester is to be expected.  in a battle royale to be decided in the last two minutes of play, widener will come from behind to edge lebval.  the pride will prevail by 3-4 over the dutchmen.  [for the life of me, i do not know why lvc women put up with the 'dutchmen' moniker... there's an identity crisis in annville.]

Good question.  Here's one alternative.... at Hope College, the men are the Flying Dutchmen while the women are the Flying Dutch.

i know for a fact that, probably 7-8 years ago before a field hockey game at messiah, the p.a. announcer referred to lebanon valley as the 'flying dutch.'  what happened next?  the lvc coach yelled up to the announcer and said something like, 'we're the dutchMEN.'  talk about strange ...

what happened?  did they allow faculty members sheldon cooper, leonard hoffstetter, howard wolowitz (who has a master's degree from the massachusetts institute of technology) and rajesh koutherpolley play in some games?   

i just have a feeling ... about tonight's commonwealth semifinals ...

messiah will flatten elizabethtown to avenge a shocking regular-season loss in grantham.  falcons win by 15-18 points and hold the 'jays to under 45 points.

a barn-burner in chester is to be expected.  in a battle royale to be decided in the last two minutes of play, widener will come from behind to edge lebval.  the pride will prevail by 3-4 over the dutchmen.  [for the life of me, i do not know why lvc women put up with the 'dutchmen' moniker... there's an identity crisis in annville.]

Not a surprise.  Overtime.  Widener 75.  Messiah 69.

The Commonwealth tournament will be a toss-up.

A HUGE Commonwealth match-up begins in less than an hour.  Messiah (15-1) has to go to Widener (14-2), and in this situation I would never bet against Coach Alisa.  She always has her teams prepared for the really big games, and she has done well vs. the Falcons -- kind of a thorn in their side.  This game could be knock-down, drag-out battle that will go far in determining seeds in next week's conference tournament.

how often this type of thing happens ... they win and win and win and win, until they get national attention.  then they get whupped.  basketball sure is an unpredictable animal.

A huge congratulations to  FDU-Florham for breaking into the national rankings, settling in at #25 in this week's newly-released poll.  That's an awesome achievement.  Now, they just need to guard against the idea that "we've arrived" but, instead, use this ranking as a springboard for additional success.

Messiah College entered into an exclusive 3-year agreement with Nike sometime during the 2009-10 year.  They also looked at UnderArmour but Nike could outfit all the teams, while UA could not.

Congrats to Albirght on getting a chance to host, and to Lycoming for making the bracket.  Hope that you both go far in the tourney.  It's a great time of year.

Messiah apparently came close to getting in as well.

Based on results of the last two weeks, I'm thinking that all four playoff teams have a reasonable chance to get the AQ. While you need to give the home teams a couple points advantage for the home floor and fans, the visitors are indeed capable of winning on the road.  And VanPelt and Schlosser seem to find ways to win...  Should be an outstanding tournament.  I wish it was Wednesday already.