WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[madison]

My vote for COTY would be Thad McCracken. Hendrix did well hiring him!

[pbrooks3]

My vote for COTY would be Thad McCracken. Hendrix did well hiring him!

Can't really argue with you over the choice, but I think everyone just takes Chris Huffman for granted at DePauw. She has really earned the Coach of the Year this year with a balanced group of young ladies who play their hearts out nightly.

[DPU3619]

She has really earned the Coach of the Year this year with a balanced group of no-names who play their hearts out nightly.

I know you don't mean anything negative by that, but I'd say Marshall & Fernandez are hardly no names. Yeah, DePauw has played especially well considering they don't have a dominant guard who can just take over, but you don't really need one when you have 2 posts that are better than any 1 post player that you're likely to run into on most nights.

[pbrooks3]

She has really earned the Coach of the Year this year with a balanced group of no-names who play their hearts out nightly.

I know you don't mean anything negative by that, but I'd say Marshall & Fernandez are hardly no names. Yeah, DePauw has played especially well considering they don't have a dominant guard who can just take over, but you don't really need one when you have 2 posts that are better than any 1 post player that you're likely to run into on most nights.

Regretted my choice of words after I posted earlier!  Let's simply say that this might be Huffman's most evenly balanced team, which may work to their advantage as they try to go deep into the D3 tournament this year.  No ego problems with this bunch; a little different than Calipari at Kentucky!

[Blaster]

I must say that DePauw was the best tuned of any team I saw this year.  She definately deserves strong consideration.  A lot goes into coaching that most never see.  Adams produced a big turn around for AC and McCracken took a group of girls that had lost their appetite for ball and really got them to love it again.  Tough call for voters!

Congrats to HX for finishing strong.

I will be in Jackson.  Hopefully HX didn't use up all of their shooting carma today.

   

[hendrixfan]

Good luck to the ladies from Hendrix as they play in the tournament!

[DPU3619]

An important couple of days here for DePauw.  I'm sure that group is getting ready for their weekend in Jackson, but I'm not, so I'm poll watching.  Thomas More, a team that beat DePauw early, lost over the weekend. If DePauw can similarly pass them in the region rankings despite the head-to-head result, they're setting themselves up to not have to go back when the selections are announced.   

Also, I know I bring this point up every other season, but it's an important one.  This is an even-numbered year, meaning the men have the priority to host.  With Hope, Wash U, and Thomas More's men all with a good chance to get in, that's some awfully good news for the Old Gold.  They'd certainly love to open the playoffs in the building that they've won 49 straight in.

[Blaster]

Wes,  i know I am new to D3 playoffs but what does the men having priority have to do with DePauw playing at home?  Also any change in opinion on HX getting an at large bid (hopefully they won't need it).   

[pbrooks3]

Wes,  i know I am new to D3 playoffs but what does the men having priority have to do with DePauw playing at home?  Also any change in opinion on HX getting an at large bid (hopefully they won't need it).   

Wes is suggesting this is good for the DePauw women hosting given that these other regional schools on the men's side would be good candidates to host 1st round D3 tournament games.  These schools' women's teams are likely to make the tournament and might have to travel to DePauw to play since their gyms might be hosting men's games.  I still don't like Hendrix's chance of a bid without winning the SCAC tournament.

[scaccommish]

SCAC Hoops Weekly - Tournament Edition
http://scacsports.com/sports/wbkb/2009-10/weekly_reports/WBBAL-Week13.pdf

[DPU3619]

Exactly. Hope's men and Wash U.'s men both have really good chances at hosting, too.

Blaster, this is important because of the distance rule. If teams are 500+ miles apart, the NCAA has to fly them. DePauw is in a perfect place geographically because they're centrally located for a lot of the Great Lakes schools. With the Hope's and Wash U.'s likely having to leave home, and only so many teams within that distance, it's much more likely they host. If you theoretically have DePauw, a Michigan team, Wash U., and a NCAC team, DePauw is the only school to host without making anyone fly.

They would also like to get ahead and stay ahead of Thomas More in the region rankings. That building has not been kind to them. No doubt they'd much rather see the Saints in Greencastle.

EDIT: On Hendrix, I still say it doesn't look good for a C.  We'll know more with the region rankings later on today, but I think they sealed their fate a couple weeks back with the Southwestern loss.  I think that had the SCAC bracket been different, a win on Saturday against DePauw and then a loss on Sunday might have been enough.  But, it doesn't matter now because a win over DePauw ensures the Pool A anyway.

[Blaster]

Good info to know.  The Regional Ranking from last week (17th) was disheartening.  While HX had better ranking criteria in most areas, they dropped out of the regional ranking. 

         Win %      OWP      OOWP        SOS
HX     .810         .507       .510         .508

CN    1.000        .495       .510         .500
Ron    .909         .489       .501         .493
MHB   .792         .492       .504         .496
LC      .900         .483       .508         .491
MC     .760         .490       .501         .494
HP      .800         .484       .504         .491

As you can see HX ranked 4th in Win %, 1st in OWP, 1st in OOWP, and 1st in SOS.  How do they get eliminated when ranking is supposed to be "mathematical"?  Since then we have added two more victories and if we get to the championship game, I don't see how they can be left home.  Oh well, based on the math, only conference tournament winners will get to go from the south since DePauw will be playing the the Great Lakes region.

[DPU3619]

Because the math isn't the only criterion. The region rankings give us a good idea about what the NCAA thinks about all the criteria.

Look at what Hendrix has not done in regards to all the criteria. I hate to sound too critical while trying to explain the selection process, but there just isn't anything in the other criteria besides the math that makes Hendrix a good candidate. If Hendrix had a great OWP & SOS, then maybe. But even that isn't that good. They have no wins vs ranked teams. They don't have a great region record.  Hendrix did not return to the region rankings this week, which seals their fate as far as I'm concerned. They must win 3 this weekend.

On the DePauw side, I was disappointed to see Thomas More not move down with a loss. However, one of TMC & Wash & Jeff will lose in the PAC tourney this weekend. We'll see where the dust settles if DePauw can win them all this weekend.

[Tennessee_papa]

Because the math isn't the only criterion. The region rankings give us a good idea about what the NCAA thinks about all the criteria.

Look at what Hendrix has not done in regards to all the criteria. I hate to sound too critical while trying to explain the selection process, but there just isn't anything in the other criteria besides the math that makes Hendrix a good candidate. If Hendrix had a great OWP & SOS, then maybe. But even that isn't that good. They have no wins vs ranked teams. They don't have a great region record.  Hendrix did not return to the region rankings this week, which seals their fate as far as I'm concerned. They must win 3 this weekend.

Wes - Hard to argue with your conclusion, but just for the sake of discussion, let's compare HC and UMHB.  They should be pretty comparable - HC is the weaker of the two division champs in the SCAC and UMHB is the weaker of the two division champs in the ASC.  I'm using the selection criteria published on d3hoops:

In region W-L:  HC 17-4 (.81), UMHB 19-5 (.792)   Slight advantage HC

OWP:  HC .507, UMHB .492
OOWP:  HC .511, UMHB .504
SOS:  HC .508, UMHB .496   Big advantage HC (50 slots ahead of UMHB according to d3hoops)

vs. in-region ranked:  HC 0-2, UMHB 3-1 Big advantage UMHB (HC hurt here by Trinity's late-season semi-slump).

vs. in-region common op:  HC 5-2, UMHB 3-2  Advantage HC

no head-to-head

So HC is ahead of UMHB in all criteria except record vs. in-region ranked.  How does that make UMHB #4 in the region (and a strong candidate for a C) and Hendrix nowhere (and not really a candidate for a C)?

[Blaster]

I think everyone agrees that DePauw belongs and should be granted a host site. 

This weeks regional rankings just came out and again HX is left out even with superior metrics.  DePauw is the strongest champ over the season but HX is champ over the western division which had more wins against eastern division than the east had against the west (19 vs. 17) and 6 of those included Millsap which played tough at home.  Of the rankings only Christopher Newport and Ronoke can be justified ahead of HX based only on the winning % metric.   I did note that HX at least got 5 votes in the Top 25 poll.

Looks like the regional rankings are heavily skewed to the ASC but the SCAC western teams went 8-4 against ASC teams.  The only 'black eye" was HX loss to Mississippi College.

We can statistically justify HX but they could still run the risk of losing the first game (don't want to jinx them).  It is still about winning on the court but I would just like to see them get a chance because the voting for the national ranking seems to be heavily emphasized to the midwest and northeast areas.