MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Me too!...Magicman.   Who do you have in the front court?   I really do not understand fantasy-type play.  Not smart enough.

[trixiep]

Middlebury will host!

http://www.middlebury.edu/athletics/sports/mensbasketball/archive/2011-2012/news/node/356092

[lefrakenstein]

Amherst will have to go to Franklin and Marshall for the sectional. That's a long trip. I was assuming they'd go to MIT.

[dipfanatic]

Word on the street is that MIT did not apply to host

[Bucket]

Amherst will have to go to Franklin and Marshall for the sectional. That's a long trip. I was assuming they'd go to MIT.

It's interesting that Amherst is facing a very similar situation to Midd's in 2011. Panthers won the NESCAC and got a first round bye, but then had to travel for sectionals due to NCAA rules (500-mile rule was in play for one of the participants, St. Mary's). Panthers not only had a long trip (6 hrs to Rochester), but played the host on Friday.

A year later, Amherst wins the NESCAC, gets a first round bye, but then has to travel for sectionals due to NCAA rules (Amherst women get dibs on LaFrak for sectionals; men had rights for regionals). Lord Jeffs not only have a long trip (Lancaster), but play the host on Friday.

If it's any comfort to Lord Jeff faithful, we know how things turned out last year.

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Now, on to more important things.  So happy the Panthers are hosting sectionals this year. The last two nights Pepin was electric. Can't wait for next weekend.

[amh63]

Bucket.....great for Midd. to host the regionals!  You are flipped wrt the Amherst hosting situation.  This being an even year, the WBB had the regional hosting preference.  Special situation this year arose due to the sectionals.  Amherst's MBB first round bye due to their seeding allow the WBB to host the sectionals as well as the regionals.
Anyway....for selfish reasons, liked the location.  I will make it up to Amish PA...to watch games (less than a 2-hour drive from D.C.).  Did it in 2004 as Amherst upset F&M and advanced to the Final 4. 

My mistake.....always get the regionals and the sectionals confused.  Bucket you are correct again....shouldn't question your info.  Can I use the excuse that english is not my first language?

[Pat Coleman]

Word on the street is that MIT did not apply to host

F&M is a higher seed regardless, so it probably didn't matter in this instance.

[Pat Coleman]

Bucket.....great for Midd. to host the regionals!  You are flipped wrt the Amherst hosting situation.  This being an even year, the WBB had the regional hosting preference.  Special situation this year arose due to the sectionals.  Amherst's MBB first round bye due to their seeding allow the WBB to host the sectionals as well as the regionals.
Anyway....for selfish reasons, liked the location.  I will make it up to Amish PA...to watch games (less than a 2-hour drive from D.C.).  Did it in 2004 as Amherst upset F&M and advanced to the Final 4. 

My mistake.....always get the regionals and the sectionals confused.  Bucket you are correct again....shouldn't question your info.  Can I use the excuse that english is not my first language?

I think the reason is that Division I uses "regionals" as its term for the second weekend, while D-III is reversed.

[maineman]

I am glad Midd got some work against the press and solved it pretty well.  Last year St Thomas used the full court press effectively against them.

[Hugenerd]

Word on the street is that MIT did not apply to host

F&M is a higher seed regardless, so it probably didn't matter in this instance.

How does seeding work on the national level?  MIT had a higher WP and much higher SOS than F&M (0.509 vs. 0.452).

[Bucket]

Word on the street is that MIT did not apply to host

F&M is a higher seed regardless, so it probably didn't matter in this instance.

How does seeding work on the national level?  MIT had a higher WP and much higher SOS than F&M (0.509 vs. 0.452).

Regional rankings come into play. MIT was 3rd (behind Amherst and Midd) in the NE region. I believe F&M was either 1 or 2 in theirs.

Also, the committee would not want two sectionals in one region—i.e. Midd and MIT both hosting in the NE. They could have flopped what they did, and chosen Cabrini and MIT (instead of Midd and F&M), but that essentially would have been rewarding MIT over Middlebury, a team ahead of them in the regional rankings.

[augie]

They did that anyway with Cabrini being ranked higher then F&M in the regional rankings.I really think Cabrini got robbed.

[Bucket]

They did that anyway with Cabrini being ranked higher then F&M in the regional rankings.I really think Cabrini got robbed.

Perhaps d3hoops has the best explanation. Maybe, in a toss-up, it came down to "rotation of sites":

Middlebury: There didn't seem to be a clear reason to choose Middlebury or Cabrini, but the NCAA definitely owes Middlebury after last year, and "rotation of sites" is one of the criteria.

I can certainly understand Cabrini's disappointment. But between the two teams, Cabrini and Middlebury, you cannot make an argument that one clearly deserved to host over the other. It was a toss-up. Maybe "rotation of sites" was the deciding factor. Maybe it was the fact that Cabrini's students would be on break and Midd's would not. Maybe MIT declined to apply for hosting, virtually guaranteeing a NE regional with Midd as host. We'll never know.

But to say that one team was robbed would require the team that was hosting to be considered undeserving, and I fervently believe that's not the case. It was essentially a coin flip, with happy and disappointing outcomes, but no one was robbed.

And let's remember, last year Midd--a clear number one seed--got shipped out to Rochester for the sectionals. And it was Midd who advanced to Salem. Hosting guarantees nothing.

Though I sure look forward to Friday night's games being in Pepin. 

[Pat Coleman]

Hosting guarantees nothing.

Truer words may never have been spoken on these boards. Words to live by.

[augie]

I am glad you brought that up rotation of sites Wooster is hosting the sectionals again this year did they not host last year also?