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[smedindy]

I guess this assumes the NCAA continues with the trend they started last year. In the past, there would be no way St. Thomas and Linfield could both be #1 seeds.

[K-Mack]

I guess this assumes the NCAA continues with the trend they started last year. In the past, there would be no way St. Thomas and Linfield could both be #1 seeds.

Oh I think it's been several years now, since they first moved Mount to the East, that the committee has tried to reward No. 1 seeds, regardless of geographic region, while staying true to the clustering philosophy. And usually that opens the door for North and West teams that would otherwise be stuck behind UWW and UMU to get the No. 1 they might well deserve.

As for this year, I think SoS makes Linfield a shoo-in, and the same would go for St. Thomas. UMU and UMHB would be the others. If UST stumbles, then UW-Oshkosh is probably the No. 1 seed, IMO.

Minnesota and Wisconsin are close enough to Iowa, Illiinois, Indiana and Michigan to build a bracket around, and still leaving some teams to be in a true West bracket that's centered in Linfield.

I'm with Frank, I don't think Hobart would get the No. 1 although they'd definitely play at home. But with who's on the selection committee this year, I think these are very savvy guys who pay attention to the realities beyond the numbers, and would do what they could within the criteria to reward the No. 1 seeds.

I've been impressed with the committee the past few years, and I think we're going to be happy with their work this year, although Pool C looks like it's going to have some really tough decisions to make, and there will be some whining and complaining from those who get left out.

[pumkinattack]

If Hobart goes 10-0, I'd only be disappointed if they had to travel in a prospective second round game.  I think they've earned that this year (unlike in 2000 - where our AD's dept screwed up, but Widener was the better team and deserved the home game).  Looks like they'll have one or two RRO's (Utica & RPI) despite nothing really jumping out on their schedule.

[Pat Coleman]

St. Thomas as a 1 in the "North" would be a stretch due to geography. It would be an awkward bracket with both St. Thomas and Linfield as 1 seeds.

[d-train]

St. Thomas as a 1 in the "North" would be a stretch due to geography. It would be an awkward bracket with both St. Thomas and Linfield as 1 seeds.

My guess (listed in desending order of number one seeds):

1) Mt. Union
2) Hobart

1) UMHB
2) Wesley

1) Linfield
2) St. Thomas

1) UW-Oshkosh
2) North Central

[d-train]

As for this year, I think SoS makes Linfield a shoo-in, and the same would go for St. Thomas. UMU and UMHB would be the others. If UST stumbles, then UW-Oshkosh is probably the No. 1 seed, IMO.

Seems like UW-O has a decent lead over St. Thomas in SOS numbers right now.  But with the Cobbers still up for the Tommies, how much does that change?

[ITH radio]

What would be awesome would be if Hobart would put in for a second-round home playoff game. I remember when they declined to put in to host and had to go to Widener. (Although that made it easier for us to cover it!)

Given the updates to Boswell Field and different academic calendar, a 2nd round game (assuming they won in the first round), is almost a 100% certainty this season. 

HWS is on semesters which they weren't in the Widener game (2000) days.  Winter break doesn't happen at Hobart until 12/16 now, whereas back the school was shut down by mid-Nov thru New Year's.

[wally_wabash]

As for this year, I think SoS makes Linfield a shoo-in, and the same would go for St. Thomas. UMU and UMHB would be the others. If UST stumbles, then UW-Oshkosh is probably the No. 1 seed, IMO.

Seems like UW-O has a decent lead over St. Thomas in SOS numbers right now.  But with the Cobbers still up for the Tommies, how much does that change?

UW-O has games left with Stevens Point (2-6) and Stout (3-5) while St. Thomas has their games left with Concordia (7-1) and St. Olaf (6-2).  I don't know exactly how much that will swing the SOS numbers, but they'll wind up closer than they are right now if St. Thomas doesn't actually surpass Oshkosh on the SOS list.

[d-train]

UW-O has games left with Stevens Point (2-6) and Stout (3-5) while St. Thomas has their games left with Concordia (7-1) and St. Olaf (6-2).  I don't know exactly how much that will swing the SOS numbers, but they'll wind up closer than they are right now if St. Thomas doesn't actually surpass Oshkosh on the SOS list.

Okay, good info.  Here's a hedged bet:

1) Mt. Union
2) Hobart

1) UMHB
2) Wesley

1) Linfield
2) St. Thomas or UW-Oshkosh

1) UW-Oshkosh or St. Thomas
2) North Central or Concordia-Chicago  (<-editted after seeing the regional rankings)

[wally_wabash]

I'm interested to see what happens with the order of North Central and Wabash.  My gut feeling is that North Central will wind up seeded higher than Wabash, but the criteria don't necessarily support that.  It may well come down to which teams get ranked and which don't...specifically OWU, IWU, and Wheaton.  Maybe Hanover, but I think they're a little further out than these three. 

[smedindy]

Concordia - Chicago could be in the mix as well at 10-0, though their SOS will take a hit in these last weeks.

[K-Mack]

So I just watched the highlight packages all the way through for the first time

This is awesome; we did not have this a few years ago, let alone 10 or 15 or 20 when a lot of us played.

That said, not much weirder than just watching one team's highlights of a game in which you have no dog in the, er, tussle. The Hardin-Simmons highlights were cool (what is that wingback motion called? It's not jet sweep, is it? Not ghost reverse) but would have been nice to see some of Sul Ross State.

OWU looked pretty great for a team that lost 28-0. I'm a fan now. (Dern highlight packages)

Keep the things under 4 minutes, especially if it's just one person talking. 2-3 is probably ideal.

Love the diversity of styles. You'd think we want conformity, but at this juncture, it's just good to be able to get a glimpse of all the different places we play and how many people our game affects. I think I might feel inspiration for another column coming on lol (it is the time of year I do the item on seniors playing their last games)

Anyway, I enjoyed. I will try to make a habit of watching them in the future, but we've stayed so busy doing everything else ...

I will reply to some of the stuff mentioned above, and a lot of the e-mail queries I've received this week, right in Thursday's column. I get distracted and stay on the boards and stuff otherwise, so it'd be good for me to focus on ATN by answering there.

[K-Mack]

Lol at the highlight packages set to Wiz Khalifa and Drake.

[Ralph Turner]

My favorite for Highlight of the Week was the fly-over at the Austin College game. Here is the post on the SCAC board by roocru telling us about it, plus the 1:40 youtube clip showing it.   

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4753.9766

[d-train]

Concordia - Chicago could be in the mix as well at 10-0, though their SOS will take a hit in these last weeks.

Good call - they were graded pretty high for now.