2011 Final Four

[ScotsFan]

How about the Canton Civic Center? Right size (seats 5,200), and it's right in the geographical sweet spot.

It looks like a small dumpy version of the Salem Civic Center

This is why I never really considered the Canton Civic  Center as a viable option.  It really is nothing special as far as a venue goes.  Dumpy is a pretty good description and I would say Calvin's arena blows the CCC out of the water IMO.  Location is really the only thing the CCC has going for it.

[BUBeaverFan]

The Battelle Grand (Columbus (OH) Convention Center) is only 8 or 9 miles from the Columbus, OH Airport (CMH).  The NCAC, OAC, HCAC and the AMCC all have a team or teams from Ohio. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Just wanted to update the board and put it on the first page.  Obviously we have awhile before we see Williams, Guilford, Washington U and William Paterson in the Final Four this year! 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Just wanted to update the board and put it on the first page.  Obviously we have awhile before we see Williams, Guilford, Washington U and William Paterson in the Final Four this year!

Hey, stop stealing my picks.

[Greek Tragedy]

I had half right.

Williams v Guilford

Stevens Point v Randolph-Macon

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I had three out of four - missed in William Patterson (though, I had RMC losing to William Patterson, so nearly got it completely right).

[nescac1]

I would have had all four has F&M and EMU pulled through, dang.  I guess my bias helped a bit (Williams, although that was an easy pick out of that sectional) and hurt a bit (McNally, F&M's star, is a fellow alum of my high school).  I am wondering if, as I predicted, Williams beats WSP in the final, I'll take the pick 'em title, or if others have the same outcome who are currently ahead of me in the pool ...

pretty amazing run for the ODAC of late from 06-10, five final fours from three different teams, and one title (so far) ... EMU could easily make it four teams next year! 

[Ralph Turner]

Now the pressure is on...

I have all four teams picked correctly and am tied for first in the men's pick'em.  I have Guilford over Stevens Point in the finals and a total score of 131 points.

Of interest, these two teams have eliminated UT-Dallas from the tourney in the last 2 seasons.

[ziggy]

Now the pressure is on...

I have all four teams picked correctly and am tied for first in the men's pick'em.  I have Guilford over Stevens Point in the finals and a total score of 131 points.

Of interest, these two teams have eliminated UT-Dallas from the tourney in the last 2 seasons.

dang, there goes my chance at a comeback...
I also have Guilford over UWSP in the championship. Got Williams right, RMC wrong, went with Virginia Wesleyan instead (oops!)

[Greek Tragedy]

So...the men's Final on Saturday is at 1 pm, correct?  When is this so-called All-Star game being played?  10 in the morning?  

Also, a friend called over to get tickets and it's $25 for 3 games.  Two semis and the final, I presume.  Is it extra for the all-star game?  Does anyone know the situation regarding the all-star game?  Time?  Cost? etc...

edit:  All-Star game is at 10:30 am

NCAA DIII tourney information link

Salem Civic Center:  Go to "Events Listings

[Gregory Sager]

D3 tourney history of the 2010 Final Four participants

team	apps	first app	E8s	F4s	titles	W-L (.pct)
Williams	11	1994	5	5	1	29-9 (.763)
Guilford	4	2007	3	2	0	11-3 (.786)
UW-Stevens Point	9	1997	5	3	2	23-6 (.793)
Randolph-Macon	10	1990	1	1	0	9-9 (.500)

[frodotwo]

So in planning out my driving route to Salem today I checked with several map engines online and found several different  interpretations of the distance and time needed to get there. The NCAA mileage calculator lists UWSP to Roanoke as 938 miles, here's what the mapping engines suggested routes came up with. All of them show driving the route around Chicago as the best, but having done that before I know from the experience that there is always an hour delay if you drive it at any time other than the dead of night. I drive down to Bloomington and then to Indy and that's where the engines differ. Some route via my fave I74-US35-I64-I77-WV460-I81 (#1), others I65-I64-I77-US460-I81 (#2) and still a third preferred route of I65-I64-I75-I81 (#3). One, Maps.com, sent me on the northern route via I80-I77 and said I could make the 1002 miles in 13-1/2 hrs (average speed at that pace is 74.45).

Here's what the 4 "biggie" search engines put the routes as:

#1

Google	900mi	15h42m	57.32mph
Yahoo	938mi	15h40m	59.86mph
Bing	907mi	14h2m	64.78mph
Mapquest	934mi	15h31m	60.26mph

#2

Google	955mi	15h59m	59.69mph
Yahoo	957mi	15h5m	63.46mph
Bing	960mi	14h20m	66.99mph
Mapquest	956mi	15h35m	61.68mph

#3

Google	1037mi	16h35m	62.54mph
Yahoo	1034mi	16h7m	64.14mph
Bing	1047mi	15h5m	69.43mph
Mapquest	1035mi	16h41m	62.05mph

So obviously I should choose the Google mileage from route #1 and the Bing speed from route #3 and get there in less than 13 hours. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

FYI - for those coming from New England and planning to drive... email me as I will give you some good suggestions to either miss New Jersey headaches... or those in the Baltimore/DC area as well. A version I read from Williamtown to Salem does include NJ (which is nuts) but misses the Baltimore/DC area (smart).

[Titan Q]

All of them show driving the route around Chicago as the best, but having done that before I know from the experience that there is always an hour delay if you drive it at any time other than the dead of night. I drive down to Bloomington and then to Indy and that's where the engines differ.

Without question - Stevens Point, WI to Bloomington, IL (about 4 hours), then to Indy (about 2 1/2 from Bloomington) is your first step.

I've driven from Bloomington, IL to Salem, VA 3 times (always heading to Indy first).  We tried 3 different routes on those trips, but seems like it always took about 11 hours regardless.  15 hours from Stevens Point sounds right.

After flying several times now, it's hard to talk myself into ever driving it again.  From O'Hare to Roanoke airport is a quick little 1:15 flight (from Stevens Point you could just zip down from CWA to O'Hare).  The problem, of course, is that with 5 days notice, it's completely unaffordable to fly.  CWA to ROA through Chicago would be over $800 now.  

That's the real tough thing about the Salem location for a lot of the country.  It's only affordable to fly if you book 3+ months in advance, and the drive is pretty rough.  

[r-buddy]

For cheap last minute air travel try www.lastminute.com.  I don't work for them or own stock but used this to go to Salem one year and it was the only way possible at the time.