MBB: NESCAC

[7express]

I think it's the first Wednesday of February.

[nescac1]

With its loss to Anna Maria, Albertus Magnus drops WAY down in my mind.  AM has exactly one credible win this year, vs. Wesleyan, and that win has looked less impressive over time as the Cards continue to struggle.  I think right now the ranking has to go something like Midd, WPI, Williams, Amherst, Brandeis (red hot in UAA play), RIC as the top six (I think all six are NCAA teams if the season ends today, but of course, there is a LONG way to go).

That is followed by a BIG drop off (I don't see any other New England teams contending for an at-large NCAA big except MAYBE AM if they win out then lose in the league playoffs; other than AM, they'd all likely need to win their conference tourneys to earn a bid), and then MIT, Springfield, Tufts (not a great W-L record but playing well of late and lots of losses to Top 25 teams), Albertus Magnus, and Eastern Conn in the mix for the remainder of the top ten.  NESCAC is a bit down this year, but LEC seems to be WAY down. 

This is certain to be shaken up quite a bit with a big week of regional showdowns: Williams playing at Amherst and vs. Midd, RIC playing at Eastern Conn and vs. Amherst, and Springfield at WPI.  All really big games.  The top four in the region in my mind are basically a toss-up right now, so this week's games should be particularly illuminating for those four.  If either Amherst or Williams could come through with two wins vs. two very tough opponents, that would be particularly impressive. 

WPI is always very good, and always reloads, but this WPI team is not only off to it best start ever, but the future looks VERY bright:  the top five scorers include two frosh, three sophomores, and one junior.   So as a team WPI may be two years away from peaking.  This could be the group that finally enables WPI to follow on its usual regular season excellent with a deep post-season run.  WPI also has a 7'3 frosh who never plays.  If over the next two years he can develop into a contributor, they would be even scarier. 

[amh63]

WPI89.....I will cover your back if Walzy forgets.....
My guess is that Walzy is "working the numbers".....To see if he wants to take Frank's bet.....to calculate the spreads for this week.
More to reality.....Walzy maybe in Cambridge...working the numbers to stay in school, ....pay for classes...etc.  MIT classes may have started again for the new semester and the Sloan School classes cannot be missed...I know, I took several..a looong time ago.

Brandeis' entrance in the polls and with Springfield's appearance near the top 25, Amherst's out of conference schedule again gets a tiny bit stronger.
Oh yes, speaking of numbers and the NCAA....The number of scholarships allowed in Div.1 MBB is 13.  Also Div.2?  Do not know if one can divide a scholarship among players.  U. Of Md in the past would split scholarships among recruited students for the wrestling team...when they had one.  The "cut" in allowed scholarships does up the quality of "recruited" walk-on players, IMO.
Another related topic on the size of a squad.  A strong bench...improves the play of the starters..in practice, etc.  Bench players do need time on the floor to get game experience, etc.  Coaches turn to the bench when starters have bad games, get in foul trouble, are injured, etc....  IMO, a coach would like to have ALL his/her players be able to come in and contribute.  I believe that Coach Hixon is working on having at least 10-11 players that he can insert into games at any time and contribute on both ends of the floor. The entire team is important during a long season and to have available.  The present injured /missing Amherst  players will contribute when they return.

[madzillagd]

As of last year DII was 8 scholarships, at least for the schools that were recruiting my nephew.  Those could be split so the offers varied from a full scholarship to a partial scholarship.  Makes it very complicated because coaches get creative based on who can get the most financial aid and thereby avoid using scholarship money, who redshirts and whether they get any scholarship for that year, promises of full scholarships when they are upperclassmen etc. etc.

[7express]

You forgot Eastern Connecticut Nescac1.  In the next 8 days they have Keene state (bad W L record but a ton of talent there and playing well in the New Year, RIC and Wesleyan (another bad W L team, but another team with a lot if talent).  They my not be in the mix now but if they can beat RIC and win one of the others they'd have a season sweep if RIC which should at least put them in the discussion.  And your right, the LEC is awful this year.

[7express]

And of course there's always the slight chance RIC loses to the worst Western Connecticut team in 30 years tonight.  Highly doubtful, but there's a reason you play the games.

[grabtherim]

Time to move to the Big Ten.

Funny and smug as usual.  Watched a few replays of your fantastic football wrap ups and surprise surprise they are lacking in the witty sarcastic remarks.  Too busy loving anything purple and smooching up to Kelton?

[warriorcat]

To answer your question about the number of scholarships.  Men's basketball at the Division 1 level is a "head count" sport, like football.  The amount of scholarship is not significant.  Any monies given to a recruited athlete count as one scholarship against the program's allotted 13.  Need based financial aid also triggers the head count because teams would find the full need student athlete and not have to count them against their 13.  It is a little more complicated when it comes to competitive merit scholarships like UNC's Morehead scholarship.  A potential player can not be recruited by the program's coaches but still can walk on and not be counted as one of the 13.  In almost every other male sport (baseball, soccer, wrsetling for instance) they are equivelency sports where the cost of attendance is multiplied by the number of scholarships permitted and those monies can be distributed in any manner from $1.00 to a full scholarship. Some schools do not fund the full amount allowed   in these other sports. 

esuote author=amh63 link=topic=4491.msg1488113#msg1488113 date=1358872217]
WPI89.....I will cover your back if Walzy forgets.....
My guess is that Walzy is "working the numbers".....To see if he wants to take Frank's bet.....to calculate the spreads for this week.
More to reality.....Walzy maybe in Cambridge...working the numbers to stay in school, ....pay for classes...etc.  MIT classes may have started again for the new semester and the Sloan School classes cannot be missed...I know, I took several..a looong time ago.

Brandeis' entrance in the polls and with Springfield's appearance near the top 25, Amherst's out of conference schedule again gets a tiny bit stronger.
Oh yes, speaking of numbers and the NCAA....The number of scholarships allowed in Div.1 MBB is 13.  Also Div.2?  Do not know if one can divide a scholarship among players.  U. Of Md in the past would split scholarships among recruited students for the wrestling team...when they had one.  The "cut" in allowed scholarships does up the quality of "recruited" walk-on players, IMO.
Another related topic on the size of a squad.  A strong bench...improves the play of the starters..in practice, etc.  Bench players do need time on the floor to get game experience, etc.  Coaches turn to the bench when starters have bad games, get in foul trouble, are injured, etc....  IMO, a coach would like to have ALL his/her players be able to come in and contribute.  I believe that Coach Hixon is working on having at least 10-11 players that he can insert into games at any time and contribute on both ends of the floor. The entire team is important during a long season and to have available.  The present injured /missing Amherst  players will contribute when they return.
[/quote]

[pjunito]

7express, I agree East Conn should be in the conversation. I think Midd, WPI, Williams, Amherst, Brandies, RIC, and East Conn/Albertus to round out the top 8 in my opinion. The new tournament format will be interesting this year as you may have a team like Albertus face Amherst in the first round.

[nescac1]

I mentioned Eastern Conn guys!  Even though there is zero chance they make the NCAA's without winning the LEC, in my view ... but they seem to be at least in the mix for that 7-10 area in terms of New England rankings, when they come out. Again, the next seven days could clear a lot up, or of course, further muddy the waters ....

Speaking of the NCAA's, does anyone have a good understanding of the new tourney format?  From what I understand, there will be two rounds in Salem, the Elite 8 and National Semis, but not the championship, is that right?  How would that impact the earlier rounds, if at all? 

[WPI89]

Yes quarters and semis in Salem - you think they will time it so schools do not have to go back "home" in between Salem and Atlanta?

Will be a streeeeeeeeeeetched out tourney this year - be fun to have "your" team involved for a while.  Assuming the 8 would be regionalized so that at best we could get only 2 from the northeast to Salem?

[amh63]

See that the "new" post season tourney format is hitting home so to speak.  Two areas that will change from past years...in terms of "sites"...as gathered from bits and pieces of info via D3Hoop's Hoopsville broadcasts with NCAA reps.  First, I gather "regional sites" maybe gone and therefore there are more sites in play at least in the first round....no more byes?.  Second, for this year at least, both the WBB and the MBB teams that are eligible for the post season can share the SAME site....like for example, Amherst's can host both men and women NCAA games the same day at Amherst???.  So no shipping of a higher seed to another site because the women's team is hosting like what happened to Amherst's MBB team last year in the Sweet 16 rounds. Also, there will be at least two weeks between the semis and the final game due to the final game going to Atlanta....on a Sunday in a smaller venue with free tickets for all and hopefully rooms available....for supporters.  The actual schedule of the post season is given on the Amherst website, I believe....look for the Amherst team schedule/result line.   
As nescac1 states....there is much BB to be played at this time!   Oh yes, this year's schedule could impact some "CAC" Spring sports.

[Bucket]

My understanding is that for the first few weekends there will only be one game per weekend, instead of two, so the schedule will look like this:

First Round, March 2 at a campus site
Second round, March 9 at a campus site
Sweet 16, March 16 at a campus site
Elite Eight, March 22 at Salem
Final Four, March 23 at Salem
Championship, April 7 in Atlanta

This also means that far more teams will get to host first and second round games, as there will not be four team pods at sectional or regional sites.

[amh63]

Oh,  forgot.....in the games in Salem, Va.......with 8 teams involved and an all-star game scheduled.......there are 4 games planned for Friday and two games on Sat. to determine the participants for the finals in Atlanta.  Sometime an All Star game will held in Salem.  The terms used for site games can be confusing this year.

[Mr. Ypsi]

There WILL still be two byes, but that might not be an advantage this year, as they will go at least two full weeks between the end of their season and their first game.