MBB: Little East

[warrior]

Thanks for the shout-out ECSUAlum.  I still can't believe we did it!  What a GREAT team effort.  I couldn't be prouder!  I'd like to give my own shout-out to Coach Walsh.  We have been chasing him and his great teams for four years.  We finally caught them, but without them, there is no CHASE.  They set the bar high and it just feels great to be considered in the same breadth with them.  Go WARRIORS!  NCAAs here we come! 

[7express]

If Middlebury beats Amherst and Sprinfield beats MIT, the LEC may very well get 4 teams in the field.  I'll talk more about this in the morning, but right now I have Keene as one of the last few out, and WPI as one of the last few in; MIT is a lock to enter the field, losing to Springfield would give them a bid they wouldn't have gotten otherwise and I can't see the NEWMAC getting 3 bids so a Springfield win probably knocks WPI out of the field.
As for Middlebury....if their able to win @ Amherst, not to many other teams in the country have a better win than Keene does this year.  I think that may get them over the edge, hopefully it does.  LEC has been so competitive deserves to have all 4 in the field.

[ECSUalum]

If Middlebury beats Amherst and Sprinfield beats MIT, the LEC may very well get 4 teams in the field.  I'll talk more about this in the morning, but right now I have Keene as one of the last few out, and WPI as one of the last few in; MIT is a lock to enter the field, losing to Springfield would give them a bid they wouldn't have gotten otherwise and I can't see the NEWMAC getting 3 bids so a Springfield win probably knocks WPI out of the field.
As for Middlebury....if their able to win @ Amherst, not to many other teams in the country have a better win than Keene does this year.  I think that may get them over the edge, hopefully it does.  LEC has been so competitive deserves to have all 4 in the field.

Wouldn't that be wonderful if Keene St gets in!!  I think they deserve it 

[ECSUalum]

Thanks for the shout-out ECSUAlum.  I still can't believe we did it!  What a GREAT team effort.  I couldn't be prouder!  I'd like to give my own shout-out to Coach Walsh.  We have been chasing him and his great teams for four years.  We finally caught them, but without them, there is no CHASE.  They set the bar high and it just feels great to be considered in the same breadth with them.  Go WARRIORS!  NCAAs here we come! 

Absolutely correct re Coach Walsh, and YOU can be VERY proud of Jamie, for his 4 years of hard work, great acedemics, (which BTW Coach Geitner mentioned on LECYV last night), and tremendous performance.  I loved the picture of the pile-on at the end of yesterdays game on Eastern BB athletic site, the faces on Nick and Jamie tell the story!!  That is one you need to get framed

BTW 80% from the stripe last night  WOW WOW!!!!!

[WCSUFan14]

7 Express - Do you think there is ANY hope at all with what pans out today with other games that westconn could potentially hold a NCAA game in Danbury? I would absolutely love to see that happen! Hoping for the best!

[AllStar]

No doubt in my mind that the top 4 in the LEC are all very NCAA-caliber and all deserve a chance in the "big dance".

MIT is up 14 on Springfield early in the second. 

Engineers hold off a desperate Springfield comeback, winning 65-60.  Helps out bubble teams.

[7express]

7 Express - Do you think there is ANY hope at all with what pans out today with other games that westconn could potentially hold a NCAA game in Danbury? I would absolutely love to see that happen! Hoping for the best!

It's tough to say because there's a lot of good teams in New England,  2 good teams in the Atlantic (Paterson & Staten Island), and none in the East (NYU and St. Joseph's will be lucky to even make the field).  Western sits on the border there of the New England and East/region, so they can send us to the Atlantic or East region and get a home game, if they leave us in New England chances are we're on the road.
I posted this on another board, but this would be a good pod to have at the O'Neill Center: Western vs. Skidmore (Liberty league champion) and Staten Island/NYU (CUNY champion/UAA at large entrant) vs. Farmingdale state (Skyline champ).  NYU and Skidmore are East region teams; CSI and Farmingdale are Atlantic region teams.  Staten Island is the only one of those 4 with a legit chance to host, and with a capacity listed at only 1200 it may not be enough to host.

[WCSUFan14]

7 Express - Thank you for the clarification. Let's hope we get the game you where talking about. Would love to see DaQuan at the Oneil Center one more time!

[7express]

7 Express - Thank you for the clarification. Let's hope we get the game you where talking about. Would love to see DaQuan at the Oneil Center one more time!

Let me just point out is that I'm not expecting them to host, but would be nice.  If we do end up hosting it'll be that opening round Thursday night game against someone like Endicott or Castleton state.

[7express]

Note: for future reference (i.e looking at the brackets to see which teams could host regional), use this chart to compare them: https://web1.ncaa.org/TES/exec/miles
That's the official NCAA chart to compare how many miles it is from 1 school to another, remember any school that's traveling 500 or more miles the NCAA needs to pay for a flight.  Mapquest miles don't count, GPS miles don't count, that chart is the official milage chart.

[amh63]

ECSU.....THANKS.....and congrats to your Warriors....going to the dance too with a title in hand.   Sweet!
lets hope our teams do not meet too early....maybe in the third round at Willi....Amherst cannot host a sectional due to the WBB team.

[ECSUalum]

ECSU.....THANKS.....and congrats to your Warriors....going to the dance to with a title in hand.   Sweet!
lets hope our teams do not meet too early....maybe in the third round at Willi....Amherst cannot host a sectional due to the WBB team.

Thank Yo Sir!!!  Definitely need to buy you a couple of pints at Willibrew!!!

[7express]

In case anyone cares, here's my 28 selections I would pick I'm picking the field, not neccessarly in the order I'd pick them (also I realise only 19 get selected, but I'm gonna put my first teams out). Teams in green are locks, teams in red should be in, teams in blue are probably in, teams in orange are probably out

1) Middlebury (Northeast)
2) St. Joseph's (LI) (Atlantic)
3) Hartwick (East)
4) Hobart (East)
5) NYU (East)
6) Richard Stocton (Atlantic)
7) Wittenberg (Great Lakes)
8) Ohio Wesleyan (Great Lakes)
9) St. Mary's (MD) (Mid-Atlantic)
10) Keystone (Mid-Atlantic)
11) John Carroll (Great Lakes)
12) Wheaton (IL) (Midwest)
13) Transylvania (Midwest)
14) Lake Forest (Midwest)
15) Illinois Wesleyan (Midwest)
16) RIC (Northeast)
17) Western (Northeast)
18) WPI (Northeast)
19) Wesleyan (Northeast)
20) Keene state (Northeast)
21) Mary-Hardin-Baylor (South)
22) Birmingham Southern (South)
23) Virginia Wesleyan (if they end up losing, as of this post up 3 with 2:07 to go)
24) Randolph-Macon (South)
25) Emory (South)
26) Wisconsin-Whitewater (West)
27) Wisconsin-Stevens Point
28) Gustavus Adolphus (west)

If I have my count right I should have 19 of the 28 colored either green (locks), red (should be in) or blue (probably in).

Notes: in the East region, Hartwick is pretty much a lock, but both of NYU and Hobart aren't getting in.  If the East gets a second bid (which is questionable) it'll go to 1 of those 2 teams not both.
My first out is Illinois Wesleyan, but last in is Keene state.  If Va Wesleyan ends up losing push Keene state out.  Keene state has the better win (Middlebury), but Illinois Wesleyan has out of region wins this year against Bethany (#5 in Great Lakes) and Staten Island (#1 in the Atlantic) which falls under the secondary criteria, which could push them past Keene.
Keene state jumps WPI in my Northeast pecking order which pushes Keene in the tournament....If WPI doesn't get swept by Wheaton, lose 2 of 3 to Springfield, or was able to hang on and beat Western (they were winning with 3:00 minutes left to play), I'd still have them above Keene.

Last in vs. 1st out is now between Illinois Wesleyan (in) and WPI.

Edit: Va Wesleyan wins the conference, so they get auto entrant into the field.  They are replaced by Wesleyan, and I'm tempted to replace either NYU or St. Joes with WPI, but I'll sleep on it.  As of now, Wesleyan is last in, WPI first out.

[magicman]

7express,

Your count is off. You've got 28 teams, but have 10 teams in orange. That only leaves 18 Pool C bids.

[amh63]

7express......to many early early morning posts!