FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jknezek]

That's true, too. Another thing would be reputation. Why give MC a home first round game in their first appearance in the Dance? No reason to, when HSC has been there a few times and has hosted before (first jab of the week) even though they're winless in the playoffs.

I brought that up last week before The Game. I thought HSC's name gave them a bit more benefit of the doubt than RMC's would have, even though RMC would have had an even better SOS. But I think, in this case, the criteria at the end of the season clearly indicates who should host between these two teams.

But who knows what actually happens in those meetings? Fascinating to think about.

[narch]

but it illustrates how much small differences and a little luck have to do with those 4-7 seedings.

i don't think there is any way that hsc should have been a 4 to 7 seed...they were ranked 9th in the last RR...all but one team above them won and the sos numbers couldn't have allowed them to justifiably jump that many teams...maybe they could be considered a 7 seed, but that's a big stretch - perhaps they jumped tlu in the RR...perhaps...but to get to 7 that also means they jumped wash u and to go from 9th to 7th in one week when all but one in front of you won is hard to believe - if anything, wash u was the legitimate 7 seed in the region - wash u has a significant sos advantage over hsc (14 vs. 70) and their 2 losses were to very respectable teams (10-0 uww and 7-3 coe by a combined 20 points)...if anyone jumped tlu, it should have been wash u - hsc has a significant sos advantage over tlu (70 vs. 226) and a sizeable advantage over thomas more (70 vs. 147), but those differences were similar before the final weekend and tlu and thomas more were both ranked well ahead of hsc in the previous RR...that's a lot of ground to gain in one week -  in my mind, hsc is a #8 seed hosting a home game and was the beneficiary of the ncaa trying to save first-round flight dollars.

...and wesley, with the best sos number in the country and a #4 RR gets to go on the road and give us a #4 vs. #2 RR matchup in the first round...

[Scots13]

but it illustrates how much small differences and a little luck have to do with those 4-7 seedings.

...and wesley, with the best sos number in the country and a #4 RR gets to go on the road and give us a #4 vs. #2 RR matchup in the first round...

Go home Selection Committee, you're drunk.

[jknezek]

i don't think there is any way that hsc should have been a 4 to 7 seed...they were ranked 9th in the last RR...all but one team above them won and the sos numbers couldn't have allowed them to justifiably jump that many teams...maybe they could be considered a 7 seed, but that's a big stretch - perhaps they jumped tlu in the RR...perhaps...but to go from 9th to 7th in one week when all but one in front of you won is hard to believe - if anything, wash u was the legitimate 7 seed in the region - wash u has a significant sos advantage over hsc (14 vs. 70) and their 2 losses were to very respectable teams (10-0 uww and 7-3 coe by a combined 20 points)...if anyone jumped tlu, it should have been wash u - hsc has a significant sos advantage over tlu (70 vs. 226) and a sizeable advantage over thomas more (70 vs. 147), but those differences were similar before the final weekend and tlu and thomas more were both ranked well ahead of hsc in the previous RR...that's a lot of ground to gain in one week -  in my mind, hsc is a #8 seed hosting a home game and was the beneficiary of the ncaa trying to save first-round flight dollars.

...and wesley, with the best sos number in the country and a #4 RR gets to go on the road and give us a #4 vs. #2 RR matchup in the first round...

Big paragraph that I agree with. I wasn't saying HSC jumped from a 4 to a 7, just pointing out that the factors and margins that go into being at home (a nominal 4 seed) or being a 7 on a long trip, aren't always all that great. I mostly agree that HSC and Maryville got paired so that Maryville didn't have to get on a plane in the first round. There weren't too many other options for Maryville, I think I found 4 or 5 late last week, but all of those had better opportunities. HSC is very fortunate and a lot of that is tied up in Maryville having beat Methodist (or LaGrange beating Huntingdon since I don't know the tiebreakers for the USASC if 3 teams tied with split wins).

I also think these are 4 team pods more than 8 team seedings, done for first round geographic measures. So the pod is Linfield, HSC, Maryville, PLU with both games primarily done to avoid flights and the home team is simply a higher criteria than the away team. This pod exists in isolation from the other pods as far as I'm concerned. So HSC hosting isn't a reflection on Wesley being on the road.

[Scots13]

I feel like the JHU/Wesley game is shafting both teams. I feel like both JHU and Wesley have teams that can go very deep in the playoffs. One of them stays home after this weekend. Something could have been done about that.

At any rate. On Highlanders, Down the Field!

[Scots13]

For your reading pleasure..
http://mcscots.com/sports/fball/2013-14/releases/20131118sk3gzl
(The Daily Times article written by Marcus Fitzsimmons)

[jknezek]

I feel like the JHU/Wesley game is shafting both teams. I feel like both JHU and Wesley have teams that can go very deep in the playoffs. One of them stays home after this weekend. Something could have been done about that.

At any rate. On Highlanders, Down the Field!

I agree that is one of my least favorite non-$$$ related pairings. But you have to consider that Wesley is 4-2 in D3. That is, by far, the lowest winning percentage in the tournament (I think the second worst is Franklin at 7-2 in D3). So if you are Wesley, you take what you are given. It's definitely tough on JHU, but if they deserve to be the second team in that bracket, they should be able to get past Wesley. Would have to play that caliber of team (or better) eventually, as UMU looms for those teams. Still, I think either Ithaca or Framingham St will be an easier opponent for the JHU/Wesley winner than that first game.

[tigerfanalso]

Narch

I don't think anybody would disagree HSC does not deserve a home playoff game, but at the end of the day both MC and HSC got the very best match up either school could had hoped for. They both should be playing a #1 seed or #2 seed on the road but instead both schools are playing a game that should be winnable. That is not going to happen very often for teams sporting 8-2 records and playing in the ODAC and USASC. The two conferences are not exactly powerhouses.

[Scots13]

Agreed.

Averett's Dunlevy was on the committee I think. If he was, thank you Dunnie. 

[HSCTiger fan]

If you listen to the POD cast Keith makes a good point about HSC's home game. Look through who is going on the road and ask yourself who got shafted? Not many.

[jknezek]

If you listen to the POD cast Keith makes a good point about HSC's home game. Look through who is going on the road and ask yourself who got shafted? Not many.

That's a great question. There are a ton of 2 loss teams this year mixed in to the A teams, and then to pick up two more from the B and one from the C just makes for a very odd year. And it isn't just who "deserved" it's how the geography would work out. The one team that got shafted for hosting? Framingham St. 9-1, close loss to playoff team Rowan, win over playoff team Endicott. SOS of 19. How did they not end up hosting?

The only other one loss teams on the road are weak sisters St. Scholastica and Gallaudet (SOS around 200 for both), plus poor Pac Lutheran in a $$$ match up. Pac Lutheran is the only one of those three deserving of hosting but being an orphan is tough. Same with Redlands. Finally, Wash U or Wesley would be the next best teams to host that are on the road.

So really, Framingham St I think should have hosted over HSC and realistically Wash U and Wesley would have been legit choices, but I don't think that falls in the "deserved" category.

[D O.C.]

To recap, E&H dominated the first half and led 24-0.  Then, the Wasps took the 2nd half kickoff for another TD and a 31-0 lead with 24 minutes to go.  Guilford then proceeded to score a TD on 5 straight possessions to win the game 35-31 with 19.7 seconds to go on a Pawlowski to Smith 42-yard catch and run.  It was special ... and a heartbreaker for the visitors.

Mighty! Mighty! Not since World B. Free!

[Scots13]

I posted a link to the local Maryville paper's article on the USAC board, but this article is from the Knoxville News Sentinel. (Can't find link, so here it is typed out)

MARYVILLE TO PLAY AT HAMPDEN-SYDNEY

It's not very often that the Maryville College and University of Tennessee football programs cross paths, but when the Scots take the field for their first playoff game in school history, they'll be trying to stop a former UT quarterback.
The Scots (8-2) will travel to face H-SC in Farmville, Va in the first round of the NCAA Div.III playoffs at noon Saturday.
The Tigers (8-2) are led by junior Nash Nance, who transferred from Tennessee prior to the 2012 season, after spending two years as a reserve for the Vols
Nance has thrown for 2,779 yards and 20 touchdowns for the Tigers, champions of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
"They're a very well coached team," said second year MC head coach Mike Rader, who faced the Tigers three times as an assistant at Huntingdon College before coming Maryville. "They're an historic program, and we're excited to play them."
The teams shared three common opponents this season.  Both squads beat Averett, and H-S beat Emory and Henry and lost to CNU, while MC lost to E&H and beat CNU.
"Everyone's kind of familiar with each other," said Rader. "I'm sure they have some stuff on us, and we have some stuff on them."
MC, co-Champions of the USAC for the second straight year in a row, averaged39.8 points per game to H-SC's 34.8, but how they got those points are different.  Nance spearheaded the Tiger's aerial attack, while Maryville's ground-based offense is led by Travis Felder, whose 1,075 rushing yards is the most ever by a Scot running back in a single season.
Both teams have stout defensive numbers.  The Tigers surrender 16.6 points per game and the Scots give up just under 21 points per game.  Maryville is led by Central (Knoxville) HS graduate Dylan Wolfenbarger, the Scots' all time leading tackler.
He recorded 11 tackles against Huntingdon in the Scots' regular season finale to give him 359 for his career.  He didn't enjoy the accomplishment much, though due to the fact that MC lost 45-38.
"It's a great honor," Wolfenbarger said. "But it was very bittersweet that it occurred during a loss.  That was a game we wanted to win, and it was really disappointing  not to, so I didn't really think much the record or celebrate it.  Maybe a few years down the road I'll think back on it."
Still, he knows there's at least one more game to be played, and it'll be an historic one.
"It really is a great feeling for MC to have football for so many years, and this is the first time we've made the playoffs," Wolfenbarger said.  "To be a part of this senior class, it means so much more.  I'm looking forward to playing another week and playing in the playoffs."


(All rights reserved to Mitch Worthington and the Knoxville New Sentinel)

[HSCTiger74]

but it illustrates how much small differences and a little luck have to do with those 4-7 seedings.

i don't think there is any way that hsc should have been a 4 to 7 seed...they were ranked 9th in the last RR...all but one team above them won and the sos numbers couldn't have allowed them to justifiably jump that many teams...maybe they could be considered a 7 seed, but that's a big stretch - perhaps they jumped tlu in the RR...perhaps...but to get to 7 that also means they jumped wash u and to go from 9th to 7th in one week when all but one in front of you won is hard to believe - if anything, wash u was the legitimate 7 seed in the region - wash u has a significant sos advantage over hsc (14 vs. 70) and their 2 losses were to very respectable teams (10-0 uww and 7-3 coe by a combined 20 points)...if anyone jumped tlu, it should have been wash u - hsc has a significant sos advantage over tlu (70 vs. 226) and a sizeable advantage over thomas more (70 vs. 147), but those differences were similar before the final weekend and tlu and thomas more were both ranked well ahead of hsc in the previous RR...that's a lot of ground to gain in one week -  in my mind, hsc is a #8 seed hosting a home game and was the beneficiary of the ncaa trying to save first-round flight dollars.

...and wesley, with the best sos number in the country and a #4 RR gets to go on the road and give us a #4 vs. #2 RR matchup in the first round...

   In many ways I agree with your post, Narch, but in making your argument you seem to be confusing "seeding" and "regional ranking". I have no doubt that HSC did not jump very much in the RR after last weekend, but Thomas More, Millsaps and TLU didn't make the playoffs and Maryville lost, leaving the Tigers behind only Washington U. in the lower half of the bracket they were placed in. My best guess is that HSC and MC were the 6 and 7 seeds, but with the NWC orphans stuck with each other that left the Tigers at home until the second round (if they win).
   In an ideal world they would have been sent on the road, along with all the other low-seeded teams, but we're dealing with the world of the NCAA D3 football tournament, where it's more important to save money by limiting flights than it is to provide an equitable experience for all the participants. So PLU got hosed and HSC got a great break (as did Maryville, who have a game they can win instead of being matched up with one of the top eight seeds in the whole playoffs).

[hasanova]

To recap, E&H dominated the first half and led 24-0.  Then, the Wasps took the 2nd half kickoff for another TD and a 31-0 lead with 24 minutes to go.  Guilford then proceeded to score a TD on 5 straight possessions to win the game 35-31 with 19.7 seconds to go on a Pawlowski to Smith 42-yard catch and run.  It was special ... and a heartbreaker for the visitors.

Mighty! Mighty! Not since World B. Free!

As Yogi Berra would say, "It ain't over 'til it's over".