MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[jscwittfan]

I can see where a lot of your are coming from, but why change a system because some teams are down now?  What if you eliminate the 5-8 teams, and all of a sudden the conference becomes extremely deep?  Why eliminate a 4-5 game that almost never fails to disappoint (4 of the last 5 4-5 games have been decided by single digits)?  It's like all the people saying that the Eastern Conference in the NBA should have fewer playoff teams than the West because they are so much inferior THIS season.  A #16 has never beaten a #1 in the NCAAs - why not just get rid of all the 16 seeds and give the top seeds a bye?  Yes, the bottom of the NCAC isn't that great, but why take away the possibility for excitement?  Hiram as a 7 kept it close with Witt last year (down 6 at the half) until the Tigers pulled away in the second half.  What's so wrong with giving 4 teams one more game on their schedule?  I mean, there was intrigue and interest based on who was going to get the 8 seed this past weekend - sure, it 99.99999999999% surely means a loss to Wooster, but fans were excited about what would happen, people were interested in figuring out the tiebreakers - an otherwise meaningless game had some importance added to it.  Why take that away?  This isn't the pros - nobody's getting paid to play, so I see no harm in one extra game.

[wally_wabash]

I would guess that Wabash left tonight for Gambier.  On my one trip with the team to places that far east, the team left the day before the 2000 NCAC semis at Wooster and stayed in lovely Wooster, OH for the duration of the tournament.  It's tournament time...I wouldn't want my team to be on a bus for 5 hours or so and then jump off and play a do or die game.  

[wally_wabash]

On conference tournaments...I think they serve very little purpose in division-III.  The margin for error for inclusion in the national tournament is too small to risk sending anybody other than your best team.  I'd rather see the NCAA let these teams play 3 more games during the regular season and lose the conference tournaments all together. 

In D-I, the tournaments can be a money maker, and if your regular season champion loses, it really doesn't affect the national tournament bracket as that team was going to go anyway.  There are no such guarantees in D-III.   

[billy_pilgrim]

Smeds, you enjoy playing the devils advovate. The point is a 15-1 team should not be playing a 4-12 team in a playoff game. The NCAC does not go that deep in competitive balance and the conference needs to make a change. If you can't finish in the top 4, pack your bags and go home. This isn't Little League where everyone has to play.

I think Smeds roots in playing devil's advocate in this case come from his roots of having grown up in Indiana...where everybody in the high school tournament, regardless of record, gets a shot to win a championship.

I agree with him and, not just as a result of Earlham being outside the top eight this year, I've always thought that every NCAC team should be able to participate in the postseason tournament.

The NCAC decided to let the tourney winner get the auto bid to the national tournament. Oberlin, Kenyon, et al. as part of the NCAC have the right to play in that tournament then. Let them play it out.

[smedindy]

Smeds, you enjoy playing the devils advovate. The point is a 15-1 team should not be playing a 4-12 team in a playoff game. The NCAC does not go that deep in competitive balance and the conference needs to make a change. If you can't finish in the top 4, pack your bags and go home. This isn't Little League where everyone has to play.

No, the point is if you're going to have a tourney, invite 'em all. I don't like tourneys but if you have them then they should be true conference tourneys. Rig the seeding to protect high seeds and have home court or something for #1.

You know, over the years I've seen kids on the 6th through 9th place teams fight at the end of the year just to be sure to make the tourney. That one game is one extra game they'll never have again.

The difference between 4 and 5 is razor thin in this league this year.

You know, that blasted uncompetitive 7 beat a 2 in the WIAC just tonight. Nah, they shouldn't let 7th seeded teams with 5-11 records in the tourney, should they?

[smedindy]

In D-I, the tournaments can be a money maker, and if your regular season champion loses, it really doesn't affect the national tournament bracket as that team was going to go anyway.  There are no such guarantees in D-III.   

Tell that to Davidson if they don't win the Southern Conference...

[wally_wabash]

In D-I, the tournaments can be a money maker, and if your regular season champion loses, it really doesn't affect the national tournament bracket as that team was going to go anyway.  There are no such guarantees in D-III.   

Tell that to Davidson if they don't win the Southern Conference...

Davidson would be an interesting case...I'm not worried though as they are blasting everybody in the SoCon.  They're definitely bubblicious if they blow it in their tournament.  Unfortunately for the smaller single bid leagues, they have to play the all-or-nothing game with these conference tournaments.  Too bad they couldn't have won one of those tight games with UNC, Duke, or UCLA.  They wouldn't have anything to worry about. 

Back to D-III tournaments...I'm in agreement with the idea that since we do have them and they're not going anywhere, then everybody should be allowed to play.  Inclusion is part of the D-III philosophy, right? 

[woosterbooster]

I like it as it is, but I'm not adament about it.  Including the bottom two teams diminishes regular season play a bit more; right now I suspect there's some excitement within those programs when the season winds down as they fight to make the tournament.  Fighting to move up or down a spot seed-wise might not be as important.

[Pat Coleman]

I kinda like giving Division III players as many chances to compete as possible. The NCAA, and in some cases, conferences, restrict them from taking the floor more often.

[smedindy]

And yes, Billy, my Hoosier roots also say that everyone gets a chance.

[ECHOOPER]

Invite all teams to the tournament giving having 8/9 and 7/10 match up play on monday or tuesday and then continue the tournament tuesday or wednesday with what would now be the first round and having the semi's where ever.  Doing it almost like the Big Ten, not having the 6/11 matchup, but with 6 playing 3, or a tournament that has 10 teams.  Everyone has to remember George Mason from a couple years ago, and every one loves the underdog, giving all teams the opportunity to participate in the tournament allows for the underdog to make a run possible.

[wooscotsfan]

Terrific article in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer on Coach Steve Moore and the Wooster basketball program.

The article, "Great Scots Again", actually appeared on the front page of the sports section with a picture of Coach Moore.

Here is the link: http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/02/great_scots_again_at_wooster.html

[smedindy]

In the last few days, the Star - Tribune has given ink to St. Thomas' women's team and the Hamline hockey team on the front page. So it seems that at least in some areas, D-3 sports are getting the attention of big city ink-stained wretches!

/was a small town ink-stained wretch for a while...

[BigRedGrad]

Good luck to all teams tonight!!!!!!!!!!!

[pennstghs]

good luck to Witt tonight-hopefully Allegheny doesn't prove the third time is the charm-i think Witt should be able to win handidly-people are looking way too far into their loss to Kenyon Saturday as it was a nothing to gain or lose situation essentially and everything to gain or lose for Kenyon.