MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Dr. Acula]

Mount notches a big win 77-68 at Etta.  Parker fouled out in only 22 minutes but Gurley stepped up big time w 27 and 10 to lead the Raiders on the road.  That's what good teams do.  A key guy is limited another key guy takes over.

[bluestreak66]

Out of curiosity (obviously hoping it doesn't come in to play!) what is the OAC's tie breaker?

[Dr. Acula]

After H2H I would think it goes to record against the next best teams in descending order.  So presently, record against Berg which would go to JCU since Mount split with the Princes. 

I can't find anything on the OAC website which is no surprise because I couldn't find anything for the baseball tiebreaker when I looked for that info in the past.  I even tried the media guide but the OAC hasn't posted a new hoops media guide for a couple years now.  It wasn't in the old one so I doubt it would help anyway.

[Dr. Acula]

The OAC showed well in the regional rankings taking 3 of the 7 spots.

1. Mount
2. JCU
7. Berg

I was a little surprised that there were no MIAA teams ranked (especially Calvin), but I guess they're weighting SOS a lot.  Wabash has the worst SOS of the regionally ranked teams at .536 and Calvin is at .506.

[BillyRayJimBob]

The OAC showed well in the regional rankings taking 3 of the 7 spots.

1. Mount
2. JCU
7. Berg

I was a little surprised that there were no MIAA teams ranked (especially Calvin), but I guess they're weighting SOS a lot.  Wabash has the worst SOS of the regionally ranked teams at .536 and Calvin is at .506.

A good showing by the OAC in the Women's Regional Rankings as well:
1 - ONU
2 - B-W
4 - Marietta

[BillyRayJimBob]

After H2H I would think it goes to record against the next best teams in descending order.  So presently, record against Berg which would go to JCU since Mount split with the Princes. 

I can't find anything on the OAC website which is no surprise because I couldn't find anything for the baseball tiebreaker when I looked for that info in the past.  I even tried the media guide but the OAC hasn't posted a new hoops media guide for a couple years now.  It wasn't in the old one so I doubt it would help anyway.

The Mount Union broadcast team said, during tonight's game vs. Muskingum, that if B-W beats JCU this evening, Mount Union will be in first place, as the tie breaker is better overall record.

[Dr. Acula]

That's interesting to make the tiebreaker something that can be easily manipulated.  You'd think the conference would keep any tiebreakers on an even field i.e. conference results only. 

[Dr. Acula]

And by god it happened!  BW beat JCU 99-94.  Being happy about BW winning anything makes me feel like I need a shower.  I'm happy if Mount hosts but as a fan that tiebreaker is still dumb.  That should be the tiebreaker just before coin flip at best.

[Onward on, John Carroll]

Now wait a minute... JCU says they are hosting:

https://jcusports.com/news/2023/2/15/mens-basketball-claws-back-late-but-can-t-fend-off-yellow-jackets-in-berea.aspx

Who hosts? Do we just meet in Ravenna and call it a day?

[BillyRayJimBob]

That's interesting to make the tiebreaker something that can be easily manipulated.  You'd think the conference would keep any tiebreakers on an even field i.e. conference results only.

And by god it happened!  BW beat JCU 99-94.  Being happy about BW winning anything makes me feel like I need a shower.  I'm happy if Mount hosts but as a fan that tiebreaker is still dumb.  That should be the tiebreaker just before coin flip at best.

I couldn't agree more, provided that the UMU broadcast team is correct.

[Dr. Acula]

Now wait a minute... JCU says they are hosting:

https://jcusports.com/news/2023/2/15/mens-basketball-claws-back-late-but-can-t-fend-off-yellow-jackets-in-berea.aspx

Who hosts? Do we just meet in Ravenna and call it a day?

Ravenna?  You guys can just host...

In all seriousness I don't know why JCU wouldn't host via tiebreaker.  I think they should.  At the same time I hope the Mount broadcast was correct!  If only the OAC had the tiebreakers somewhere people could see them.

[D3fanboy]

I found an article from 2018 that breaks down the OAC basketball tie-breaker at that point, who knows if it is still the procedure five years later

https://www.adaicon.com/news/201802/trophy-watch-breaking-down-oac-basketball-title-race

Because OAC teams play each other twice every season, however, there is the opportunity for a split in head-to-head competition. Then, Gleason says, the next tiebreaker is how each team fared against the rest of the conference -- from the top of the standings on down.

[sac]

John Carroll should be hosting.

JCU/MtU head-to-head is a split
Heidelberg is locked into the #3 spot in the standings, JCU is 2-0 vs H, MtU is 1-1

I don't know of any conference that uses overall record until very far down the tie-breaker list.


John Carroll went from #10 seed a year ago, to #1 seed this year.  That's incredible.

[Dr. Acula]

In their defense, they were better than their record last year.  But they also weren't up to JCU standards.  Moran knew they needed a roster overhaul and he hit the transfer portal hard and brought in 5 guys who are now 5 of their top 6 guys in terms of minutes this year.  I like that he didn't sit back and try to cycle out of it in 2-3 years.  If you can fix it, fix it.

[D3fanboy]

seems weird to reward JCU for losing to a much, much worse OAC team than Mount did, but I bet the Raiders would love to play JCU anywhere...except maybe Ravenna