2011 Final Four

[David Collinge]

I remember something Pat had wrote about swapping some of the brackets so in the 2nd weekend, the Bracket of Death would've been split up and it wouldn't have mattered much since flights would be required anyway.  Hopefully the NCAA realizes this and splits things up a little more next year.

I could be wrong, but I think the tradition of someone pointing out a common-sense no-cost method to make the D3 men's bracket fairer and hoping that, next year, the NCAA will act upon it, began with the Assyrians in ca. 350 B.C.E.  Consider this passage from the Dead Sea Scroll denoted 4Q285, generally dated to 100-70 B.C.E.:

Yea verily I say unto you, O אאחנ (these letters, nun-chet-aleph-aleph, are considered by scholars to represent the organization that became the ancestor of the modern-day NCAA), wise would it have been for Habakkuk to have been bracketed in amongst the Levites in Damascus in a manner such that their smiting of the Galileans mey be postdated until a further round.  Would that such wisdom could be bestowed upon your heads like oil from the Lamp of Knowledge before you (illegible) the brackets twelve moons hence.

...to which came the reply,

Sooth, such should be made to occur just as soon as levitation is achieved by porcine creatures, such necessarily being at a distance from one another not less than 350 leagues, of course.

Thanks for extending the tradition another year!

[sac]

Thanks for tying in the pyramid so wonderfully DC.

[nescac1]

"If you listen to the Hoopsville Broadcast from Sunday night, Coach Edwards makes it clear that all four teams in Salem are quality deserving teams and that Wash U will have their work cut out for them."

I thought that was amusing.  I mean, it may be true (all three teams certainly have plenty of talent, even if all of them are likely a year away from truly challenging a team of Wash U's depth and experience), but either way, what is Edwards gonna say ... "now that we've made it through the bracket of death, we can basically relax, because the other three teams in the Final Four really kind of suck and don't even deserve to be there ... we have this baby won, let's break out the booze!"  I mean, a veteran coach knows better than to hand out that sort of bulletin board material ...

[TheOsprey]

Another example to disclaim "Purple reign"'s observation: 

UNLV had an undefeated season going and had won 47 straight entering their national semifinal with a Duke team they had beaten in the previous "NCAA National Championship by 30 points!!  I still haven't got over that one!!

[mark_reichert]

If you survive a bracket of death, is it really a bracket of death?

Well ... for everyone else!

[Even the NCAA d3 men's committee hasn't yet designed a bracket where NO one emerges! ]

It's "There can be only ONE!" not "There can be only NONE!".

[mark_reichert]

The Final Four in D3 this year was very competitive and lived up to it's billing.  This next set of games is like an afterthought and is about as interesting as "watching grass grow."  The D3 national championship has already been decided and don't understand why Washington U has to play these next two games.

Its this kind of talk that is the precise reason the games are played.

Here's a reference point
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woDd5erJtbQ

Too true.

On the other hand, there's at least one women's Final Four that would have been more competitive if the #2 and #3 ranked teams had ended up in Danbury and not been sent to St. Louis.  Definitely not a Final Four served well by excessive regionalism or cost savings.   

I have noticed recently that Capital torched all comers in 1994 but without rankings I can't tell if they met someone earlier that should have been in the Final Four.

[Knightstalker]

Just watch out for Stocktons secret weapon.  It's the shoes on Coach Gerry "White Shoes" Matthews, and the white belt.  You will get a chuckle when you see him, but he has been coaching forever and his team will be well prepared.

[Greek Tragedy]

Another example to disclaim "Purple reign"'s observation: 

UNLV had an undefeated season going and had won 47 straight entering their national semifinal with a Duke team they had beaten in the previous "NCAA National Championship by 30 points!!  I still haven't got over that one!!

Right, but it's not like Duke sucked when they beat UNLV.  I'm still trying to find a "season in review" for that National Championship year for the Rebels. 

[sac]

Just for kicks I paired up the NCAA D1 tournament with the D3 tournament using RPI and OWP.......matching the teams 1 to 1, 2 to 2 etc.

This years D3 final four would be the equivalent of Marquette, Sienna, Utah State and Virginia Commonwealth in D1....... a  6, 9 and two 11 seeds.

Marquette = Richard Stockton
Sienna = Washington
Utah State = Franklin and Marshall
Guilford = Virginia Commonwealth

by OWP the top 4 national seeds would have been  Elmhurst, Wheaton, St. Lawrence and Brandeis.  Maybe later I'll post the whole bracket, kind of interesting.

[PurpleReign]

Another example to disclaim "Purple reign"'s observation: 

UNLV had an undefeated season going and had won 47 straight entering their national semifinal with a Duke team they had beaten in the previous "NCAA National Championship by 30 points!!  I still haven't got over that one!!

Conjure up all the past examples that you can, but that doesn't change my (observation) opinion that, except for WashU, the best teams in D3 are out of the tourney.  Those team being Whitewater, Stevens Point, Wheaton, Puget Sound, St. Thomas, Platteville, and Buena Vista (got screwed).  This year, the West and Midwest were stacked with the most talented teams, and, I for one, had the privilege of seeing some of the "Championship Bracket."  But that's my opinion.  I am not saying that one of the "other three" Final Four teams couldn't win that bracket.  As the saying goes "even a blind squirrel can find a nut."  In closing, as a St. Thomas fan, it was great to see the Number 1 & 2 teams play, and in my very, very humble opinion, the best team won.  I thought that it was a great time, although the online "play by play" was pretty weak!!!   

[hopefan]

Wash U's Sean Wallis made the front page of the St Louis Post Dispatch today - a lengthy, flattering feature on Sean and Wash U  -  great to see in a paper that this year rarely even posted D3 scores....

Unfortunately, the article pointed out what Quaj already mentioned on these pages - Sean is up in the air about a course of action next year - he's already taking Grad courses this year, and has an opportunity to play professional basketball in Israel rather than returning to Wash U for his final year of eligibility.  Whichever, I'm sure all Wash U fans wish Sean only the best....

[hasanova]

Another example to disclaim "Purple reign"'s observation: 

UNLV had an undefeated season going and had won 47 straight entering their national semifinal with a Duke team they had beaten in the previous "NCAA National Championship by 30 points!!  I still haven't got over that one!!

Conjure up all the past examples that you can, but that doesn't change my (observation) opinion that, except for WashU, the best teams in D3 are out of the tourney.  Those team being Whitewater, Stevens Point, Wheaton, Puget Sound, St. Thomas, Platteville, and Buena Vista (got screwed).  This year, the West and Midwest were stacked with the most talented teams, and, I for one, had the privilege of seeing some of the "Championship Bracket."  But that's my opinion.  I am not saying that one of the "other three" Final Four teams couldn't win that bracket.  As the saying goes "even a blind squirrel can find a nut."  In closing, as a St. Thomas fan, it was great to see the Number 1 & 2 teams play, and in my very, very humble opinion, the best team won.  I thought that it was a great time, although the online "play by play" was pretty weak!!!   

Have you seen F&M, Guilford or Richard Stockton play?

[Knightstalker]

The F&M v Stockton game will feature two head coaches that have over 1150 wins between them.

[eclinchy]

Impressive, but by no means a record. The NESCAC beats that every year when Amherst plays Colby.

[Knightstalker]

Impressive, but by no means a record. The NESCAC beats that every year when Amherst plays Colby.

But neither is in the Final Four this season.