MBB: Liberty League

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I talked to one (non-NESCAC) coach this year who said he thought Connecticut College would be in the top half of the E8 this year - and I don't think they won a single game in the NESCAC.  It's pretty loaded right now.

[Bartman]

The NESCAC has always attracted better top talent than the LL for basketball, although I think saying the Camels could be in the top half of the E8 is a stretch. The OOC records of the NESCAC teams are all over .500 except for the 10th and 11 th place teams in almost every year. One of the weaknesses of the LL is the lack of recruiting real Centers , and the best NESCAC teams seem to attract 6'8" to 6'10" athletic centers over the years. In addition to better length, the speed of the NESCAC games also seems to be a difference. I love the competition in the LL but the NESCAC as a league, is on the next level.....this comparison does not hold true for football ,IMO, but unless they compete in the national playoffs we will never know.

[stlawus]

Similar comparisons for soccer as well. There's a reason why NESCAC has won 3 titles in the last 4 years. They suck up a lot of Pool C oxygen since their conference is so strong.  It's the reason why Ithaca missed out this past season.

[thebear]

If you were a parent, of a 6-6 to 6-10 smart, decently athletic kid, who while a good player, wasn't getting a lot of Mid-Major D-I love, and had decent grades.  If a top 50 liberal arts college recruited that kid, most of those schools have nice endowments, and probably special talent admissions, and possibly scholarships; not to mention great alumni conenctions, then of course that kid is going to go to either the NESCAC or the UAA...  Is a student athlete going to have better post college career opportunities going to a Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Wash U, Emory, or Middlebury vs. riding the bench at Siena or Iona, on probably less than full scholarship.

Hmmm. 

[stlawus]

 SLU with another atrocious performance for the first game of a weekend set, getting blown out by RPI at halftime.  Went a full 8 minutes without scoring a field goal at one point.   

[stlawus]

Turnovers, terrible rebounding and offensive fouls kill SLU as they drop a terrible game against RPI.   Got it within 6 to start the 2nd half after being down 14 and then fouled a 3 point shooter that gave RPI all of the momentum back for the rest of the half.  Terrible loss, and that does it for home court advantage as we're definitely not beating Skidmore tomorrow.   Hard to be upset this season when you look at last year's record but this was a bit of a dud to end the season dropping 2 games against Union and RPI

[d3d3d3]

Friday

Ithaca 87, Bard 83
Skidmore 65, Clarkson 46
Union 85, RIT 64
RPI 67, SLU 60
Vassar 104, Hobart 101 (2OT)

Skidmore will play SLU with the regular season title on the line in Saratoga on Saturday. The winner hosts the semifinals and championship game next weekend.

This locks Bard into the #6 seed and Hobart into the #3, so it'll be Bard at Hobart on Tuesday in one quarterfinal. Yes, Ithaca can tie Hobart in the standings, but Hobart swept Ithaca, and that's the first tiebreaker.

The #4 and #5 will be Ithaca and RPI, but we won't know where until after Saturday's games. If Ithaca wins at Vassar, they are the #4 and will host RPI Tuesday; if Ithaca loses and RPI beats Clarkson, RPI will be the #4 on the strength of wins over Hobart and SLU (Ithaca and RPI split - second tiebreaker is record vs. teams above you in the standings).

[stlawus]

If SLU wins tomorrow (which I highly doubt happens), why would we win the league title?  What's the tie breaker?  We'd be tied on head-to-head and thus by default on record against teams above you in the standings.  What's the 3rd tiebreaker?

[d3d3d3]

It would be because SLU swept Hobart, the #3 seed (record vs. conference opponents in descending order)

So if it's any consolation to you, SLU knew going into tonight's game that it didn't matter. It's Saturday that matters.

[Caz Bombers]

kinda great that both the men's (SLU at SKID) and women's (IC at Vassar) #1 seeds will be decided head to head on the last day of the regular season. The commish has to be happy about that.

Not sure about that IC-RPI tiebreaker as posted above. I believe if RPI wins and Ithaca loses, then it depends on the outcome of the Skidmore-SLU game. If Skidmore wins to claim the #1 seed, then Ithaca's win over Skidmore gives them the #4 seed. If the Saints win to take the #1 seed, then RPI gets the #4 seed since they beat them and IC did not.

[d3d3d3]

If RPI and Ithaca finish tied at 10-8... RPI owns tiebreaker (2-4 cumulative record vs. teams with better record; Ithaca is 1-5)
1. Head-to-head: split
2. Cumulative record against all teams with a better record than those who are tied:

RPI (2-4):
-Skidmore (L,L)
-St. Lawrence (L,W)
-Hobart (W,L)

Ithaca (1-5):
-Skidmore (L,W)
-St. Lawrence (L,L)
-Hobart (L,L)

[Caz Bombers]

of course, leave it to the LL to have a tiebreaker format nobody has ever seen used before anywhere.

[Bartman]

of course, leave it to the LL to have a tiebreaker format nobody has ever seen used before anywhere.

+K, lol

[hopefan]

of course, leave it to the LL to have a tiebreaker format nobody has ever seen used before anywhere.

+K, lol

undoubtedly constructed by an RPI Engineer....

[stlawus]

Free throws are going to cost SLU home court advantage.  No one to blame but themselves