MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[algernon]

The tournament selection committee is a joke.  We should start calling it the BCS.  How does the ODAC get 3 bids and the MAC Freedom get two when the WIAC and the CCIW get only one?  UW-Oshkosh is ranked 7th, Elmhurst is 14th, and UW-Lacrosse is 18th.  And Messiah gets in with a pansy schedule?

Here are a couple different questions:  Why is UW-Oshkosh ranked as high as 7th, with 5 losses?  And why is UW-Lacrosse ranked 18th, only a step below Guilford, when Lacrosse had 7 losses and Guilford only had 3 losses (2 of them to the defending national champion)? 

Sure, the WIAC is a power conference and has had many national champions, particularly in the 90s, but I'm not at all convinced that the level of play is that much better than it is in the ODAC.  In fact, ODAC teams have played the WIAC pretty even, when we've had the opportunity.  Hampden-Sydney took UW-Platteville to double OT in the national championship game 8 years ago.  Hampden-Sydney returned to the Final Four 4 years ago.  And just last year, Virginia Wesleyan won the national championship, but not one of the 3 WIAC teams given a bid made it to the Final Four.  Even this year, the ODAC's #6 seed, Randolph-Macon (9-9 ODAC record) defeated the WIAC's #5 seed, UW-Platteville (8-8 WIAC record), by a score of 68-64.

There's been a wide-spread assumption that the WIAC and CCIW are significantly better than the ODAC, but I don't think there's really that much difference in the quality of play among these 3 conferences.

[Brian Hamilton]

Algernon,

I would also add that HSC beat IWU and A WIAC school (Oshkosh I believe) on their way to the 2003 Final Four.  I believe that the WIAC and the CCIW are two outstanding conferences that have traditionally been national powers; however, as Algernon stated, recent history is not on their side.  I also believe that the D3Hoops poll still has a slight bias to the WIAC and CCIW.  What other conferences around the country would have teams with 7 or 8 loses in the top 25.  Say what you want, but the ODAC is a much improved conference and I am hoping that all 3 of our teams will be able to back up what all of us on the ODAC board are saying.  If not then we all look stupid!

[justafan02]

I am pretty pumped that the ODAC got three teams.  I can't argue many point but just to say I would rather be lucky than good any day of the week.  The ODAC is lucky to get these teams in and hopefully they will all perform well.  HSC coming off a great conference tourney run and VWC and Guilford building off their loses. 

[tigerfanalso]

I'm admitting to the world that I know nothing about basketball. Two short weeks ago I mentioned the Tigers had "no chance" to win the ODAC and just last week that the ODAC would not get three teams into the NCAA's.
Wrong on both counts, gladly.

Congratulations to the Tigers and to Coach Smith. Tremendous execution and one hell of a coaching job. If the Tigers continue to play defense like they have the last two games, who knows !!!!

Good luck to all during the NCAA's. May the ODAC bring home the trophy again !!!!!

[jdubyadubya]

Congratulations to the Tigers for their great win! Spectacular. And good luck to the Tigers, the Quakers, and the Marlins in the NCAA tourney. 

[hasanova]

The tournament selection committee is a joke.  We should start calling it the BCS.  How does the ODAC get 3 bids and the MAC Freedom get two when the WIAC and the CCIW get only one?  UW-Oshkosh is ranked 7th, Elmhurst is 14th, and UW-Lacrosse is 18th.  And Messiah gets in with a pansy schedule?

How do ho-hum teams like Brandeis, Messiah, and Hood (and even Guilford) get in when some of these aforementioned great teams don't?

I would agree there are some questions over who got in and who stayed home, but I would ask if your post is entirely backed by facts or partially supported by emotion?  There are several match-ups that would seem to indicate that the WIAC is not always superior to the ODAC.  Among others, I think Guilford easily beat UW-Lacrosse in the regular season two years ago when the Quakers were about a .600 team.

[algernon]

The bracket has been posted:  http://www.d3hoops.com/images/2007/bracketmens2007.jpg

Hampden-Sydney will play Hood at Virginia Wesleyan on Friday.  If they win, they'll play the winner of the Virginia Wesleyan / Averett game on Saturday.

Guilford will play Manhattanville at Johns Hopkins on Friday.  If they win, they'll play the winner of the Johns Hopkins / Villa Julie game on Saturday.

Two of these teams can get into a sectional (that would very possibly be hosted by Johns Hopkins, Catholic, or Virginia Wesleyan, but time will tell).  They're all in the same quarter of the bracket.

[hasanova]

Guilford (21-4) vs. Manhattanville (23-5) at Johns Hopkins
Hampden-Sydney (18-10) vs. Hood (21-7) at Virginia Wesleyan
Virginia Wesleyan (23-4) vs. Averett (20-6) at Virginia Wesleyan

[Jacketlawyer]

Guilford (21-4) vs. Manhattanville (23-5) at Johns Hopkins
Hampden-Sydney (18-10) vs. Hood (21-7) at Virginia Wesleyan
Virginia Wesleyan (23-4) vs. Averett (20-6) at Virginia Wesleyan

Congratulations to Hampden-Sydney on their tournament run!!

I'm with Hasanova in breathing a sigh of relief that Guilford made the tournament.  I'm also stoked three teams are going.  Turned out this ODAC season was much wilder than I thought it would be.

GO ODAC.

[justafan02]

Tough draw for the Marlins.  Averett, a team that beat them earlier this year comes first and if they happen to win that, they have a shot at HSC who also beat them.  Good news is they get to play in the Batten Center.  When do they post game days and times??

[hasanova]

Tough draw for the Marlins.  Averett, a team that beat them earlier this year comes first and if they happen to win that, they have a shot at HSC who also beat them.  Good news is they get to play in the Batten Center.  When do they post game days and times??

The schedule indicates all the ODAC teams will play their first games on Friday, March 2 and, if they win, the 2nd round on Saturday, March 3.  I'm not sure of times yet, but it looks like they'd get better crowds on Friday if the doubleheaders start in the 6-7 pm range.

[algernon]

Tough draw for the Marlins.  Averett, a team that beat them earlier this year comes first and if they happen to win that, they have a shot at HSC who also beat them.  Good news is they get to play in the Batten Center.  When do they post game days and times??

According to http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/basketball/2007/2007_d3_m_basketball_handbook.pdf ......

All single-game sessions shall start at 7 p.m. First games of all doubleheader sessions shall start at 6 p.m. with the second contest publicized as not starting before 8 p.m. The host institution shall play the second game of all doubleheaders.

The second game of a doubleheader shall begin not later than 30 minutes (introductions begin after the 25-minute warm-up) after the completion of the first game, or the announced starting time, whichever is later.

A host institution desiring to deviate from these times shall indicate its requested start time(s) on the facility evaluation form and notify its regional advisory committee chair before site selections.

[hasanova]

Guilford (21-4) vs. Manhattanville (23-5) at Johns Hopkins
Hampden-Sydney (18-10) vs. Hood (21-7) at Virginia Wesleyan
Virginia Wesleyan (23-4) vs. Averett (20-6) at Virginia Wesleyan

Thanks, algernon.  That means GC and HSC both play at 6 pm and VWC at approximately 8 pm, all on Friday, March 2.

[algernon]

hasanova .... Yes, if I have it right, this is the schedule:

Friday, March 2, at VWC:
    6pm:  Hampden-Sydney (18-10) vs. Hood (21-7)
    8pm:  Virginia Wesleyan (23-4) vs. Averett (20-6)

Friday, March 2, at Johns Hopkins:
    6pm:  Guilford (21-4) vs. Manhattanville (23-5)
    8pm:  Johns Hopkins (23-4) vs. Villa Julie (20-7)

Saturday, March 3, both locations:
    7pm:  Game between the Friday evening winners for the opportunity to go on to the Sweet Sixteen

[algernon]

The Battan Center will be packed on Friday evening.  I plan to spend the night at the beach and hope for a second game on Saturday evening at 7pm!