MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[algernon]

This is the ODAC quarterfinals schedule Friday:

#8 Hampden-Sydney (14-12) / #1 Randolph-Macon (20-5) at 1pm
#5 EMU (16-10) / #4 Lynchburg (17-8) at 3pm

#7 Bridgewater (15-11) / #2 Virginia Wesleyan (19-6) at 6pm
#11 Washington & Lee (7-19) / #3 Guilford (17-8) at 8pm

[2RMCFans]

Its a big difference between playing the worst defensive team then playing the second best defensive team in the conference.  I'm sure Macon will be ready and amped to play HSC.  Its weird to say HSC losing twice to RMC is actually a good thing for them, its usually pretty hard to beat a team 3 times. 

[/quote]

The Jackets are going for 4 in a row v. the Tigers-- which is even harder than 3 in a season.  We think they are ready for the challenge but anything can happen between these two teams.

Congrats to all the play in winners but as Desgain family fans, we're sorry that Randolph is missing the tournament this year.  Hoping that Zach will be back on the court in the fall.

Good luck & safe travels for everyone on the road to Salem!

GO JACKETS!!!! 

[hasanova]

Looks as though the Quakers draw the Generals ... congratulations to W&L!

Once a year the Generals put it together. I've been waiting all season for that one moment. Thought it was going to be against RMC the other day but I'm happy to see the Generals return to Salem even in this otherwise ugly year. Good luck to the ODAC teams!

I still remember my disappointment when the Generals upset the Quakers in OT in 2009 ... hopefully, we come with the intensity (and a full roster) required to win.  I say it this way because some key players did not suit up against the Marlins last Saturday ... not sure why.

[tigerfanalso]

Not predicting an outcome in Friday's HSC vs RMC game but the Tigers did look alot better last night. All I ask from the Tigers is to give that same effort against Macon.  If you play your best/hardest and that is still not good enough to win, so be it. Have fun, play hard and good luck.

[hscathletics]

Not predicting an outcome in Friday's HSC vs RMC game but the Tigers did look alot better last night. All I ask from the Tigers is to give that same effort against Macon.  If you play your best/hardest and that is still not good enough to win, so be it. Have fun, play hard and good luck.

The first half, especially on defense, was about the best I've seen them play all year. It was pretty clear from the outset the mission was to return the favor we received Saturday. It was a season-high in points for H-SC, was Roanoke's 5th worst FG% shooting game of the year, and the Tigers held them to a 32% mark in the first half, which is their third worst offensive half of the year in terms of FG%. Only two halves that were worse were both against Methodist. Let up some in the second half on the defensive end, but when you are up 22 at the half that isn't wholly surprising.

[hscathletics]

This is the Tigers team that we thought we were going to have at the beginning of the season. Jekyll and hyde...


Yes indeed!...Huge home win against the #9 seed!

Every win is big in a win-or-go-home format when a loss means you are going to go home without an ODAC or NCAA Championship and your season being over.

[baselinejam]

Looks as though the Quakers draw the Generals ... congratulations to W&L!

Once a year the Generals put it together. I've been waiting all season for that one moment. Thought it was going to be against RMC the other day but I'm happy to see the Generals return to Salem even in this otherwise ugly year. Good luck to the ODAC teams!

I completely agree - Go Gennies! Remember '09!!

[2RMCFans]

Congrats to the 3 ODAC teams who survived in the final South Region rankings.  What a conference-- with so much to be proud of!!! 

GO JACKETS!!!

[2RMCFans]

Let up some in the second half on the defensive end, but when you are up 22 at the half that isn't wholly surprising.

Who can forget when the Jackets were up 19 at the half at ODACs & H-SC (can you say T. Kaase--hope I spelled it right!) took the game away?  We will never forget that game-- although Justin Short did his best to carry the Jackets to a win, it was not to be. 

Go JACKETS!!!

[algernon]

Congrats to the 3 ODAC teams who survived in the final South Region rankings.  What a conference-- with so much to be proud of!!! 

GO JACKETS!!!

1   Randolph-Macon   20-5   20-5
2   Emory   17-7   17-7
3   Virgina Wesleyan   18-6   19-6
4   Texas-Dallas   22-3   22-3
5   Centre   17-3   20-4
6   Birmingham-Southern   16-9   16-9
7   Guilford   17-8   17-8
8   Trinity (Texas)   16-9   16-9

Emory will almost certainly finish with a win at Rochester (9-15), so I expect that the final rankings on Sunday (not publicly released) will continue to have RMC as #1 and Emory as #2 in the South (even if RMC loses to the Tigers on Friday and finishes 20-6. 

We're looking at a situation, I think, where Guilford has to defeat Virginia Wesleyan in the Semifinals to have a shot of moving up enough in the South rankings to have even 5% chance of a Pool C.  However, in the end, a 19-9 record won't get them in.

I think that Virginia Wesleyan might not finish high enough in the rankings to get a Pool C if they only get victories over #7 Bridgewater and #11 W&L before losing in the finals and finishing 21-7.  If there are a number of upsets of top-ranked teams across DIII, the Marlins could need another victory over a regionally-ranked opponent like Guilford in the Semis to get one of the very last Pool C spots. 

There are only 19 Pool C bids, and some of the Pool C bids are already spoken for (e.g. Williams/ Amherst ... whichever of these two does not win the NESCAC AQ will definitely be a Pool C).  Randolph-Macon is the only ODAC team that can lose in the tournament and be assured of a Pool C bid.

[marlinpg10]

How does emory get ranked #2 over the Marlins. The Marlins have a better record and also beat Emory. VWC is 3-1 vs regionally ranked south region opponents and Emory is 1-2 beating birmingham southern and losing to birmingham southern and VWC. RMC is deserving of the number 1 ranking as they are 3-1 vs south region ranked opponents. If VWC goes on and plays guilford and RMC and wins both I believe they should be in the running for that #1 ranking in the south region. That would make them 5-1 vs ranked south region opponents and RMC 3-2 with VWC & RMC splitting. I would not be mad if RMC still got the nod over VWC but Emory should clearly be #3 behind RMC and VWC. Not sure how they do these rankings but would be interested to see why emory was ranked higher than VWC.

[marlinpg10]

ODAC banquet is tonight and should be interesting to see who wins POY, FOY, and COY. I believe this is the first time in awhile that their is not 1 clear favorite for any of these awards. If i was a betting man i would say DJ Woodmore for POY, Khory Moore for FOY and Hillary Scott for COY. But it could easily be Andre Simon(POY), Zach Burnette (FOY) and Nathan Davis (COY). We have had this discussion before about COY but Dave Macedo was never mentioned. Does he get left out because of the marlins success year in and year out. His Marlins finished 2nd in the ODAC after graduating 4 of his top 6 players from a year ago. Him and his coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for what he was able to do again this year. Good luck to all the teams in the ODAC and GO Marlins!!!

[tigerfanalso]

He does get left out; taken for granted much the way of Tony Shaver back in the day. Coach Macedo could win the award every year but you know that is not going to happen. 

[hscathletics]

How does emory get ranked #2 over the Marlins. The Marlins have a better record and also beat Emory. VWC is 3-1 vs regionally ranked south region opponents and Emory is 1-2 beating birmingham southern and losing to birmingham southern and VWC. RMC is deserving of the number 1 ranking as they are 3-1 vs south region ranked opponents. If VWC goes on and plays guilford and RMC and wins both I believe they should be in the running for that #1 ranking in the south region. That would make them 5-1 vs ranked south region opponents and RMC 3-2 with VWC & RMC splitting. I would not be mad if RMC still got the nod over VWC but Emory should clearly be #3 behind RMC and VWC. Not sure how they do these rankings but would be interested to see why emory was ranked higher than VWC.

Most likely reason is strength of schedule.

Emory has the toughest SOS in the nation and by far the toughest SOS in the region at .603, the only team at .600 or better. Only a handful of teams in the nation even come close - Wheaton (IL) at .595, Washington U at .595, Carthage at .593, Rochester (NY) at .592, and North Central at .592. The second best SOS in the South Region is H-SC at .563, Macon is 3rd at .560. VWC checks in at .547 for 5th in the South region, although just narrowly above two other teams.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Emory will almost certainly finish with a win at Rochester (9-15), so I expect that the final rankings on Sunday (not publicly released) will continue to have RMC as #1 and Emory as #2 in the South (even if RMC loses to the Tigers on Friday and finishes 20-6. 

We're looking at a situation, I think, where Guilford has to defeat Virginia Wesleyan in the Semifinals to have a shot of moving up enough in the South rankings to have even 5% chance of a Pool C.  However, in the end, a 19-9 record won't get them in.

I think that Virginia Wesleyan might not finish high enough in the rankings to get a Pool C if they only get victories over #7 Bridgewater and #11 W&L before losing in the finals and finishing 21-7.  If there are a number of upsets of top-ranked teams across DIII, the Marlins could need another victory over a regionally-ranked opponent like Guilford in the Semis to get one of the very last Pool C spots. 

There are only 19 Pool C bids, and some of the Pool C bids are already spoken for (e.g. Williams/ Amherst ... whichever of these two does not win the NESCAC AQ will definitely be a Pool C).  Randolph-Macon is the only ODAC team that can lose in the tournament and be assured of a Pool C bid.

FYI - Emory's senior class has not won at Rochester in their careers... just something to think about.

Guilford has to win the ODAC to get into the NCAA tournament. Even with a win over VWC, I don't see them jumping ahead of VWC in the final regional rankings, though VWC would certainly fall down the poll. If VWC gets to the title game, they probably give themselves a good chance of getting into the NCAA tournament, but anything else will probably sink their chances.

Congrats to the 3 ODAC teams who survived in the final South Region rankings.  What a conference-- with so much to be proud of!!! 

GO JACKETS!!!

Well... there is still one more regional ranking... it just isn't public