MBB: NEWMAC

[WPI89]

Amh63 and Magic - yup.  Could see this coming a mile away.  I actually would have predicted a squeaker of a win against Emerson and then at least 1 loss at Babson or at MIT - WPI's next 2 games.

Hopefully this snaps them out of their mini-funk (they have been winning but not playing at crisply or with the intensity they did before Christmas).

Trying not to make too much out of 1 loss...........hopefully it is just that.

[WPI89]

Uh-Oh!

[WPI89]

Anybody know the second tie-breaker for the conference?  Say WPI and Babson both end up 11-3 and split their 2 games - how do they decide the 1 seed and host for the NEWMAC?

I will do some research later int he day but if anyone knows - let me know - thanks.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I can't find it online... but most conferences look at head-to-head and if that doesn't decide things, look at results versus other conference teams starting at the top and working their way down.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Indeed the NEWMAC does start with the record versus conference opponents starting at the top and working their way down until they break the tie. If they still have a tie, they go to common non-conference opponents.

[WPI89]

Thanks Dave.  I found the 2009 NEWMAC handbook and it looks like the second tie-breaker after H2H is actually overall record (if that can be right?) and then what you describe above.  So if WPI and Babson tie - they would look at overall record and then start with games against the 3rd place finisher, 4th place finisher and so on.

Although I will admit - it is not completely clear to me.

http://scripts.mit.edu/~hwtaylor/xc/2008/newmac08/NEWMACHandbook12.pdf  (page 24)

[rlk]

Thanks Dave.  I found the 2009 NEWMAC handbook and it looks like the second tie-breaker after H2H is actually overall record (if that can be right?) and then what you describe above.  So if WPI and Babson tie - they would look at overall record and then start with games against the 3rd place finisher, 4th place finisher and so on.

Although I will admit - it is not completely clear to me.

http://scripts.mit.edu/~hwtaylor/xc/2008/newmac08/NEWMACHandbook12.pdf  (page 24)

Last year MIT and WPI had identical conference records and split head to head.  The tiebreaker (that I was told) was record against common non-conference teams -- you beat Salem State and we lost to them.

[WPI89]

That criteria would not solve a Babson/WPI tie this year.  No losses to common non-conference opponents.

[middhoops]

Some fun statistical drama, here. 
Do it like MLB and have a one game playoff a day after the last conference game.
Sounds silly but after seeing two teams get tied in our league standings on a bench technical; you gotta admit it's a more satisfying finish.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

If the tie can't be broken... they go to a coin flip as they did a few years ago.

[WPI89]

Let's get Dave to wear his fur coat and flip the coin!  (Joe Namath reference for those that missed the SuperBowl coin toss)

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

LOL outstanding!

[amh63]

How much does Pat C. hire out for ...fur coat and all...in flipping coins.?  Seems that in the East region...NYState schools board they are having the same discussions as here....criteria in case of ties, going to conference rule books and finally to coin flips.  It must be that time of the season!

[mass_d3fan]

Very tough week for Engineers - WPI falls down to #12 in the latest D3hoops poll.  They should be able to make some of that back up as they have MIT, Coast Guard, Wheaton & Clark remaining on the schedule.  I do not believe MIT can beat them and they should dispatch the other 3 easily.  They should finish with the #1 seed for the conference tournament, but there are three teams in Emerson, Springfield and Babson who can defeat them in that opening game (Semi-final round).  Some good news for the team though – I believe both Ryan Kolb & Sam Longwell are closing in on 1,000 career points.

The question now is how far they fell in the regional rankings that come out on Wednesday.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I would expect the NEWMAC to help with the costs of the coat - even if it is a rental .

The coin flip is usually the best option to break the tie if you have exhausted all other options. However, let me share with you a few other ways I have seen over the years:

- In the Capital Athletic Conference (the actual CAC, despite NESCAC fans efforts LOL) a few years back, they used to have all of the schools pull a number out of a hat during the meetings ahead of the academic year. Whatever number the school pulled would be their number the rest of the year and if they were ever involved in a tie-breaker that went that far... they would compare their number to the other participants in the tie-breaker. The one with the better number (i.e. 1 being the best) would win the tie-breaker. That was eventually done away with when it was pointed out that one school could have an unfair advantage for the entire year in all sports - now they flip a coin, I believe.
- Some conferences in some sports actually indicate whoever is higher ranked in the D3(pick-a-sport) Top 25 gets the nod.
- The OAC in football actually has the coaches not involved with the tie-breaker secretly vote on who they think should get the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.
- Some conferences used to/still do eliminate the team that made the NCAA tourney automatically the last time to give the other team the opportunity.

So the coin flip... not a bad option .