BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[consultant]

Looks like the new ABCA poll will now be released on Tuesday...not today.  Apparently technical difficulties are contagious......

http://www.muhlenberg.edu/sports/abcapoll.html

[Pat Coleman]

If 31-7 does not get them in, the tournament needs to revise its criteria. I say they are a lock.

If only we had a regional poll to guide us ...

[frank_ezelle]

I'd like to take a moment and thank the folks at DePauw, RHIT and Trinity who were responsible for webcasting the baseball games from the SCAC Tournament.    It worked out that 4 of the 5 Millsaps games were against these schools and it was great to listen in on so many games. 

The Trinity broadcast mentioned on several occasions the number of folks that were logged onto their broadcast.  The highest number I heard was 59 but maybe it went higher than that.  It's a shame that the number wasn't at least 10 times 59 but I'm afraid that this is the reality of D3 sports at the moment.  Hopefully this will change and certainly the internet which allows webcasts and allows message boards like this one is a great tool for improving recognition in the future.

[BigPoppa]

Hopefully this will change and certainly the internet which allows webcasts and allows message boards like this one is a great tool for improving recognition in the future.

I know the feeling... I wish all schools had the games webcast on-line. It would make my life much easier.

[consultant]

Let me add my props to DePauw, RHIT and Trinity for webcasting the games, too.
On Sunday, Trinity's crew said that they maxed out at 84 listeners at any one time.  I believe that they would have gotten more hits had the sports festival website included the links to the broadcasts. 

Word out of Millsaps today is that they feel good about receiving an at-large bid....not exactly earth-shaking news....but it's good to hear that they are confident.  They'll take a few days off for exams and then get going again as they await to hear about a bid. 

By the way, Millsaps' 34 wins this year is a school record for wins in a season.  The only other times Millsaps has hit the 30-win mark came in 2004 (33-9) and 1996 (30-10 and finished with a 19th national ranking). 

[Ralph Turner]

Hard to believe that Millsaps won't get a bid.

In other news, I think that Depauw's performance this weekend was good enough to win the SCAC President's Trophy  ... the first time since the '00-'01 season and only the second time in 13 years for someone besides TU to win the all-sports championship.

Baseball:  TU +15 (if co-champ points awarded)
Softball:  TU +10
Golf (M):  DPU +50
Golf (W): DPU +25
Tennis (M):  TU +10
Tennis (W):  TBD but likely net 0 (see below)
T&F (M):  DPU +10
T&F (W):  TU +10

Net DPU +40


Still one sport to be decided ... women's tennis, where "the women's tennis match was called with DePauw leading 3-1, due to travel conflicts for Trinity.  The SCAC office declared the two teams co-champions and the women's tennis tournament committee will discuss the outcome on Monday."

Travel conflicts?  Travel conflicts, like Trinity and DePauw can't get the game or match in because of travel conflicts?  Where is the Hurricane?!?!?

Who woulda thunk!  

[Ralph Turner]

Hard to believe that Millsaps won't get a bid.

In other news, I think that Depauw's performance this weekend was good enough to win the SCAC President's Trophy  ... the first time since the '00-'01 season and only the second time in 13 years for someone besides TU to win the all-sports championship.

Baseball:  TU +15 (if co-champ points awarded)
Softball:  TU +10
Golf (M):  DPU +50
Golf (W): DPU +25
Tennis (M):  TU +10
Tennis (W):  TBD but likely net 0 (see below)
T&F (M):  DPU +10
T&F (W):  TU +10

Net DPU +40


Still one sport to be decided ... women's tennis, where "the women's tennis match was called with DePauw leading 3-1, due to travel conflicts for Trinity.  The SCAC office declared the two teams co-champions and the women's tennis tournament committee will discuss the outcome on Monday."

Bonzo, what about the differences in points for Volleyball, Football, XC and Swimming & Diving?

[historymajor]

Good post Ralph!  I have always felt that points awarded for various sports were totally without any basis in reality...  My suggestion is that the number of points per sport be limited to the number of athletes eligible under playoff rules eligible to participate in the sports championships.  Track and swimming/diving might require some interpretation, but OK.... football gets 52, baseball gets 25, basketball gets 15, hockey gets maybe 20, and golf, and tennis get 10-12.....  any thoughts?

[BigPoppa]

By the way, Millsaps' 34 wins this year is a school record for wins in a season.  The only other times Millsaps has hit the 30-win mark came in 2004 (33-9) and 1996 (30-10 and finished with a 19th national ranking). 

I have a feeling that Millsaps could creep into the top 10 in the new ABCA poll. 34-11 is quite a season for them.

[Ralph Turner]

As for Championship Cup point totals, I am slightly conflicted about the point designations.

1) All Champions are champions.  Make no distinction for Football or Basketball due to the "likability" of the sport.

2) The point totals should reflect the number of competitors (i.e.,  teams) that you defeated.  National Championships in Golf or Ice Hockey are great, but do they reflect the quality and quantity of the competition as Women's Volleyball or M/W Soccer or M/W Hoops?

As for a conference, if the conference offers the championship, then the Conference Championship ought to have a certain value.  I do make this distinction between the National and Conference Champs.  If a school fields that sport and competes in the Conference, then a fourth place finish ought to be worth the same whether "4th" was a semi-finalist or the last place team in the conference, because 6 other schools did not send athletes in that sport!

[Ron Boerger]

Bonzo, what about the differences in points for Volleyball, Football, XC and Swimming & Diving?

Winter sports were previously included in the point totals that had DPU leading by ~50.  You can get more details from the SCAC site, they've put up an article on the Cup.

And, great Ghu, someone actually filed a protest over whatever was decided regarding the women's tennis champion.   With one team #2 and the other #3 there shouldn't be any question of both getting bids.    If I had to guess it would be whomever didn't get the conference's auto bid, since DPU was leading 3-1 that would probably be Trinity with the protest.  [total speculation]

[consultant]

I posted this on the polls board, but I thought I'd add it here, too.....

I'd like to see Trinity and Millsaps jump into the top 10.  I think it's possible and it would be outstanding for both clubs and the SCAC.  On another note, I wouldn't be surprised if Millsaps and Trinity both leap into the number one spot in their respective divisions.....Millsaps in the South.....Trinity in the West.

[BigPoppa]

I doubt that Trinity will leapfrog Chapman foir the #1 spot in the west region as Chapman has been on fire as of late. I am not saying they do not deserve it as Chapman never plays conference games and always throws their top three. I am guessing that they will end up in the #2 spot in the west.

[frank_ezelle]

The May 2nd ABCA poll is out with Trinity inching up to #10 and Millsaps staying at #14.  They have Chapman at #7.

In the regional rankings you have Chapman followed by Trinity in the West and Millsaps follows Salisbury and Emory in the South.

In looking at the regional rankings I find 5 teams that Millsaps has played this season.  Millsaps went 2-0 vs. Emory, 2-0 vs. Huntingdon, 4-3 vs. Trinity, 2-1 vs. Mississippi College and 0-2 vs. Illinois Wesleyan.  That's a 10-6 record against regional ranked teams which isn't too bad.  (For those interested, the other 5 losses were to East Texas Baptist, Hendrix, Rhodes twice, and Belhaven College).

[Ron Boerger]

ABCA national poll  - regionals on second page. 

Surprised that ASC East leader Miss Coll is in, but not ASC West leader Texas Lutheran, with a better record (27-10-1 vs. 27-13-1) and a 2-0 record against Trinity.

West
1. Chapman (26-8)
2. Trinity (33-10)
3. Redlands (29-9)
4. George Fox (25-10)
5. Mississippi College (29-14)
6. Cal State East Bay (22-10)