Empire 8

[superman57]

Fisher-Utica Part IV here we come, let's hope the fourth one is no different then the other 3

[gobombers15]

Fisher, Utica Advance To NCAA Sweet 16...Ithaca Wins ECAC Championship...The E8 Reigns Supreme
Congrats to Fisher and Utica!!
Two Sweet 16 teams from the E8 is great news. To put the cherry on top, Ithaca wins the ECAC Championship, knocking off Oswego on their home floor, 61-60.

[roy_williams]

empire 8 sucks

[clearconceit]

Yep we suck.  The empire 8 is just that this year an EMPIRE!

Can 4 be a charm?  I am still believing we can do it.  In the end I am thrilled for the league.  Regardless we will have a team in the ELITE8!!!!!!!!

Peace

[gobombers15]

Hey Roy, don't hate, congratulate. I'm sure it probably sucks to be a Gordon fan, huh?

[notjoshreed]

Hey Roy get a life.  Last night Fisher was the superior team.  I think fisher jumped out to a 12-4 lead and then cruised from there.  Got to within 4 once but Fisher adjusted and had a real nice win.
O'brien had fire in his eyes last night.  He showed his all american status. He got hot and to his credit came back to himself draining 3 consecutive 3 pointers.  Mcgee continued to amaze us all with his shot. It is so pretty.  Well officiated game.  The officials from out side our region did a good job, letting the players play and not interferring.

A re-re-re match with Utica, Hope we do as well as the last game.  I hear there may be chance that the game wont be played in Amherst but some where in NY.  Anyone hear definately?

[gobombers15]

A re-re-re match with Utica, Hope we do as well as the last game. I hear there may be chance that the game wont be played in Amherst but some where in NY. Anyone hear definately?

NJR, I tend to think that the Regionals will be in Massachusetts. Think about it, the NCAA put it there when there was two teams from ROCHESTER still alive--one who had yet to lose a game and another that was in the top 10 for most of the year. Also, there was a third team from the state alive in Potsdam...and they STILL put in Amherst.

Fast forward to this year. There are two teams alive from NY and two from Massachusetts. Amherst was ranked ahead of Fisher pretty much the entire season and Utica wasn't even receiving votes in the Top 25 for the whole season. Also, there are two teams very close to each other (Amherst and Tufts) that are a short drive from one another. It makes a lot more sense to put in Massachusetts this year than it did last year. Since it makes sense to put it there, many would argue that NCAA will put it NY for that very reason. However, I have a feeling they're going to send Fisher and Utica to Massachusetts.

Once again, congratulations to the Bombers for their ECAC Championship. I'll be honest, I thought they were going to lose each game. I can't believe I'm about to say this but I really liked how Mullins completely overhauled the rotation for this tournament. He took Joe and Andruskiewicz out of the starting lineup, inserting Stahn and Bostic for a much more athletic starting team. Joe's defense and outside shooting is better suited for coming off the bench for energy and instant offense. Andruskiewicz was obviously out of shape the entire season but he still has talent in short bursts. Clemente's defense and Scanlon's grit are also nice intangibles coming off the pine. It obviously worked because Ithaca beat three teams that most would probably assume are much better than the Bombers. I knock Mullins a lot but I have to give him credit for this. It's just unfortunate that injuries to Clemente and Burton kept him from discovering this earlier in the season.

I'm more surprised by Jeff Bostic. The kid hits the winning shot with 7 seconds remaining to help Ithaca beat a very good Oswego team that is extremely tough at home. Even more, Bostic was hardly playing until the last few conference games. By all accounts he was a raw project that Ithaca hoped would grow into something by his junior year. Luckily for the Bombers he's ready now. The kid was the MVP of the tourney, that's unbelievable!!

Now on to the Sweet 16 game (wherever it is). Utica should know what it has to do to win this game. One thing, when playing Fisher, is you can't let them run away and hide in the first 5-10 minutes. Look at their games over the past two years and you'll see the Cards almost always jump on their opponents in the early going. Now look at the games they've lost or come very close to losing. Almost all of those games were close at half. Fisher very rarely plays a close first half only to go on and kill their opponent.

[fisheralum03]

well it's official, the East Regional will be in Amherst again. For as much as I was hoping Fisher would host, it makes sense because Amherst had a better ranking and QOWI than Fisher. I wish Fisher good luck in Amherst on Friday night

[gobombers15]

Hopefully Fisher can rid themselves of the thoughts of what went down there last season in the Sweet 16. Specific venues can definitely get in your head. When I was in high school, our soccer team absolutely could not win whenever we played at Spencerport's field. Unfortunately for us, the sectional final was at Spencerport my junior and senior years. Bastards.

I digress, but venue can make a difference. Fisher has to get rid of all the negative thoughts from that gym that they've probably carried with them to this day. I'm sure Utica fans are hoping Fisher goes into a shell when they walk into Amherst's gym. I completely understand that Potsdam beat Fisher, not Amherst's gym. That said, hopefully it doesn't still affect Fisher.

[Javaman]

Congradulations Fisher and Utica fans! I would have never thought both teams would represent the Empire 8 in the Sweet "16". Gametime is at 6 pm. Fisher and Utica fans will your schools have buses sent up to Amherst for the game? I called Fishers school last year and they said that Fisher students come first and if there are any left then non Fisher students. I doubt that will happen since I'm a Cortland Student.  Any ideas? Thanks.

[Ulf_Tornstrom]

They say it's hard to beat a team three times in one year.  What do they say about 4 times?  Consider this Mission Impossible staring Ray Bryant.  The Pioneers are hot baby!  Go UC!

[tigerfan2]

It wouldn't be the first time Fisher beat a team 4 times in a year unfortunately. RIT was 13-0 vs. the rest of the Empire 8 but 0-4 vs. Fisher last year I believe.

Not having to play at Fisher this time is a big factor though and Utica should really benefit from it.

[superman57]

The one thing that has to be troublesome to Utica is that the past two games have not even been close, and Fisher travels, Hamilton in 04 can speak to that.  SO I will be at the game being as loud as possible, and Fisher is on Spring Break, so who know how many people will be there

[superman57]

Is fisher gonna make it 4 straight or will Utica finally find a way

[fisheralum91]

4 Straight.
I think that it is great to see both these teams in the sweet 16, and each have done the league proud.
However,
Unless UC comes up with something completely different and can make it work, the results stay the same.
Too many chances for error when you change anything last minute.