East Region Playoff Discussion

[JT]

We just finished our "In the HuddLLe" interview with Dr. Joy Solomen, Chairwoman of the NCAA Division III Football Championship Committee.  I have to admit, I learned some things during the call -- and I'm sure readers will want to hear what she said about strength of schedule issues, the East as a whole and the way to avoid Mount Union at the top of the East Bracket every year.

Tune in at http://inthehuddlle.com at 7:30pm EST for the interview and a lot more.

Joy is top notch and a straight shooter.  JT knows her very well as the AD of Rowan.  She was the first women inducted in the Rowan HOF for her body of work as an athlete for Rowan (Glassboro St) in Basketball, Field Hockey and Lacrosse.

[DanPadavona]

Well done Frank.  That's worth a little karma for Mr. Rossi.

[HScoach]

For those interested, you're invited to participate in the OAC Playoff Pick-Em Contest.   Whether you joined us in the regular season or not, your welcome to join for the playoffs.

Spreads for Round 1 have been posted in the General Page.

[pumkinattack]

So for anyone who listened to the interview (and last year's with Dr. Dick K.) did anything change from last year or prior years?  Curry got in as a one loss team last year and actually proved their worth even though we all kind of share the same opinion of the strength of the NEFC. 

It seems like the committee doesn't want to get into the subjective if they don't have to, but then it's still driven by the regional rankings, which are subjective (record vs. regionally ranked competition).  Seems inconsistent to say we don't want to subjectively compare across regions, but we'll use subjective regional rankings to judge the worthiness of a school. 

I still don't believe that the answer would be to schedule patsies (RPI, Hartwick) because it does nothing for the team with respect to preparing them for league play (RPI and Hartwick were a combined 4-8 in conference and 5-0 in OOC vs. 4 NEFC teams and Utica).  Maybe it doesn't make sense to schedule MUC, UWW and UMHB to start the season, but I'd bet that if you had a quality team (including the intangible winners mentality which not all talented teams have) and started with those three you would've probably ripped through either the E8 or LL this year.  Look at Hobart in 2007, lost to (8-2, playoff bound) Dickinson (in OT) and lost to LL champ RPI @ home in a close one, but beat a 6-4 CMU and then took it to Alfred midseaon, won 7 straight and got a pool C with two losses (might've been the hottest team going into the playoffs from the East, but got a really tough draw in a very good SJF team in the first round). 
I would still draw upon Hobart's 2007

[AUKaz00]

Pep (or anybody). 

What can we expect from Albright.  I mean their offensive scheme etc. Anybody from the E8 played this year or the last few years?  I understand from WETM news in Elmira that the last time we played them was 1955 so no help there.  AU won that one 13-7.

Go Saxons!!

It appears, from Pep's brief visit to the Albright website, that the Lions are a pretty balanced team offensively, throwing the ball about 50% of the time. Their four-year starting QB is out, but their backup has done an admirable job.

Here's a link to their cumulative statistics for 2009:

http://www.albrightathletics.com/custompages/stats/football/2009/teamcume.htm

On Saxon Warriors!

Assuming that Kelly will be back behind center for Albright (or perhaps regardless since Subers threw for 362 yards), this game looks like it will be a barn-burner.  Both teams score and concede similar amounts and have balanced offenses.  It seems like Alfred has the stronger rushing attack, but Albright has a very balanced passing attack which will play right into Alfred's Achilles Heel.  I expect to see Manzer covering Romig, but Subers seemed to have great chemistry with Pillar in their comeback so he could have another big day.  The game could be decided on turnovers since both schools turn the ball over more than 2 times per game.  I like how Alfred has played at home, so I'm hoping they can pull out something like a 38-31 type win.

[DanPadavona]

It seems like the committee doesn't want to get into the subjective if they don't have to, but then it's still driven by the regional rankings, which are subjective (record vs. regionally ranked competition).  Seems inconsistent to say we don't want to subjectively compare across regions, but we'll use subjective regional rankings to judge the worthiness of a school. 

I think that is a fair point.  It came up during the interview, and  I didn't hear a satisfying answer.  Seems to me Ohio Northern among others could very well have secured the last playoff spot based on their success versus a difficult schedule. 

I believe Pat brought up an argument for St. John Fisher too, though I feel they played their way out of the discussion by losing to a 5-5 Salisbury team.  Pat seemed to insinuate that past committee decisions have made it clear to coaches/ad's that the best path to the playoffs is to run the table against a comparatively weak schedule.  Don't want to put words in his mouth, but that would be my thoughts exactly.  I'm not saying this to defend a second place NJAC, E8 or LL team.  But I think we all know a mid tier team in the WIAC would beat the NEFC champion by 4 or more touchdowns in most seasons.

[pg04]

Apparantly the brackets aren't seeded at all...  The NCAA goes AWOL from normal logic once again...


http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/2009/11/16/there-are-no-seedings/

[theoriginalupstate]

Apparantly the brackets aren't seeded at all...  The NCAA goes AWOL from normal logic once again...


http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/2009/11/16/there-are-no-seedings/

Apparently the NCAA really means No Clue At All..

Seriously why do they always come out and do stuff that just fits their needs/wants at the present time instead of having stuff like this in writing...

[Dr. Acula]

How does one even create the brackets without seeding teams?  If the teams aren't seeded, then why was MUC shipped to the East and UWW to the North?  Clearly they determined the 1 seeds so why would we believe that they didn't seed all the teams?  The NCAA continues to amaze.

[HScoach]

I knew the NCAA was full of idiots, but this one takes the cake. 

[theoriginalupstate]

Maybe we could see MUC and UWW meet in the Semi's...

[pg04]

Maybe we could see MUC and UWW meet in the Semi's...

I think the one thing that the ESPN host was clear of was that the Wesley Bracket met the MUC bracket. 

[theoriginalupstate]

Maybe we could see MUC and UWW meet in the Semi's...

I think the one thing that the ESPN host was clear of was that the Wesley Bracket met the MUC bracket. 

That's no fun...

[Pat Coleman]

How does one even create the brackets without seeding teams? 

I asked that question, too!

[theoriginalupstate]

How does one even create the brackets without seeding teams? 

I asked that question, too!

I'd say they did pretty good considering this is how they pick the teams...