Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 04, 2025, 07:23:17 AM"And I think most everyone involved in NCAA would like to have Williams around if they can justify it..."

What does that even mean? You make it sound like it's a popularity contest.

Sounds like it kind of was until this year, although im sure there were other constraints in place. Otherwise IWU would have took Stockton's spot lol

That's what the Top 25 poll is for.     

If there is some sort of NCAA bias towards Williams, it certainly hasn't shown up in the tournament seeding.  The last three years, Williams made the Sweet 16 twice and the round of 32 once despite not getting a home pod (and in the year they beat Pomona, being the third-seeded team in the pod, which I thought was an especially tough beat), when I think twice they had at least an arguable case to be awarded one.  I'm not saying their seeding was egregiously unfair or anything as none of those Eph teams were slam-dunks to host a pod, but clearly, the selection committee hasn't gone out of their way to do Williams any special favors, either.

Overall, I think the selection committee has gotten better and better over time in terms of the teams they include in the tourney, with very few egregious omissions or inclusions.  And while the seeding is never going to be perfect due to geographical / travel constraints, they've also done a much better job spacing out the top teams into the four quadrants, avoiding some of the truly ridiculous brackets of death we used to see routinely (again, granting that there is usually one that seems clearly to be the toughest of the four).  Whether using NPI represents even further improvement, or a step backwards, in terms of how the tournament is structured remains to be seen ...

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 04, 2025, 07:18:11 AMThe selection process from last year to this year is literally night and day. Last year, the selection committee could argue for and against Stockton getting in or not compared to other Pool C teams at the table. This year, you simply look at a number. If they're Pool C 21, they're in.

Exactly, nicely said.

Quote from: nescac1 on February 04, 2025, 08:27:04 AMIf there is some sort of NCAA bias towards Williams, it certainly hasn't shown up in the tournament seeding.  The last three years, Williams made the Sweet 16 twice and the round of 32 once despite not getting a home pod (and in the year they beat Pomona, being the third-seeded team in the pod, which I thought was an especially tough beat), when I think twice they had at least an arguable case to be awarded one.  I'm not saying their seeding was egregiously unfair or anything as none of those Eph teams were slam-dunks to host a pod, but clearly, the selection committee hasn't gone out of their way to do Williams any special favors, either.

Overall, I think the selection committee has gotten better and better over time in terms of the teams they include in the tourney, with very few egregious omissions or inclusions.  And while the seeding is never going to be perfect due to geographical / travel constraints, they've also done a much better job spacing out the top teams into the four quadrants, avoiding some of the truly ridiculous brackets of death we used to see routinely (again, granting that there is usually one that seems clearly to be the toughest of the four).  Whether using NPI represents even further improvement, or a step backwards, in terms of how the tournament is structured remains to be seen ...

All of New England got hurt by pods last year

I am really hoping this system brings better pods now. The regional ranking system was so flawed - designed to provide objectivity nationally across teams that don't play cross region but in the end just turned into subjectively determining if regionally ranked wins were good because they decided what regions were good or bad this year.

Trinity and Tufts are both top 10-15 teams at worst this year and their seedings and placements I think should tell us a lot about whether or not that has been tweaked.

Would be interesting if someone could take last years games and do the NPI right before the NCAA tourney last year and see the difference in which at large teams made it and the seedings.

Quote from: D3BBALL on February 04, 2025, 03:20:02 PMWould be interesting if someone could take last years games and do the NPI right before the NCAA tourney last year and see the difference in which at large teams made it and the seedings.

There isn't really a direct comparison for seeding but can help you with the differences NPI would have made in at-large selections for the last three years: https://youtu.be/xrKp8McryUA?t=2373&si=iPzT9GYTmEBb1jF2

Alright I'm sure everyone has been disappointed to see no posts in the last day and a half so I'll break the ice. If anyone will be at the Tufts games this weekend LMK - would love to introduce and meet some of my internet friends.

Tufts in recent years has bounced back strongly from bad weekends. There is big emphasis on turning the ship around when the going gets rough. The leadership in both coaching and players is phenomenal in this program. There will be dozens of alumni at the game this weekend and I doubt we'll see this team "quit" in another game this season.

Hopefully weather does not postpone Saturday games.

Quote from: D3BBALL on February 07, 2025, 08:40:54 AMHopefully weather does not postpone Saturday games.

Keep an eye on next weeks storm too..

Tufts is on pace to beat Amherst 102-38. It is halftime. Amherst coaching situation is just simply sad. One head coach, who gets tons of criticism, which I agree with. Not a single assistant on the bench. Sad.

Big win for the Ephs tonight over Colby. Shared the ball well, shot it great (finally!) got some stops when they needed to. Fun game to watch

Quote from: jmh21 on February 07, 2025, 07:54:26 PMBig win for the Ephs tonight over Colby. Shared the ball well, shot it great (finally!) got some stops when they needed to. Fun game to watch

90 points! Wow

Very well-rounded contributions for the Ephs, all five starters plus Dinkins and Rein off the bench all had solid games, and Porter hit huge back-to-back threes at a critical juncture in the second.  Aidan Yates when he has it going is fun to watch, he has a lot of weapons in his offensive arsenal. Jack Lawson was on fire for Colby, a lot of pretty finishes inside. The Ephs did a nice job hounding Poulton until he got on track late in the game, once he gets into a rhythm, it's scary for a defense.  It must be fun for everyone (win or lose) to play an up-and-down game vs. Colby after all the other NESCAC grind-em-out slogs. 

Watched a good amount of Hamilton-Conn as well.  Espinosa did not play for Conn and if he continues to be out that's a massive loss for them, so much of what they do on offense involves getting shots for him or openings off the attention he generates. 

I was focusing on Hank Morgan and I'm sorry I just can't see how he's not the POTY, the eye test backs up the insane stats. He is by a very wide margin the best offensive player in the league, he's playing at a first-team all-American level right now.  He is deadly from everywhere and just has a crazy bag, so quick and decisive with his moves with incredible touch from deep, in the mid-range, and using the glass around the rim. He finds really tough scoring angles, as he always has a crowd of guys focused on him, and it simply doesn't matter.  He is clearly a student of the game, as his scoring average, and FG, FT, and 3 PT percentage have each increased each year he's been in the league.  He wasn't a high-level three point shooter until this year, but now that he's gotten more reliable from deep, there is really no way to defend him one-on-one, because his mid-range game and game around the rim are insane, and he's money from the line. 

Regan is great, and Wesleyan is clearly the best team, but they have a lot of depth led by two all-stars.  Every coach in the league would pick Morgan as their first choice of players.