D3 Championship Belt

[sac]

Virginia Wesleyan 84 Washington and Lee 72 F

Great run by the Generals, we must all ponder the vision of a fish with a Belt^Tm

Sometimes you look for things you just want to be so true.  Va Wesleyan has a Lee and two Jackson's on the roster, but no Washington.  Even a Davis as a bonus and a Curry is ok.  The Fish might not have the Civil War history of the Generals but they do have past experience with The Belt^Tm and a cute NCAA doorstop and hosted our little trinket all summer long.

Wesleyan will host Shenandoah on Saturday for Senior Day you might remember from a month ago, but probably not, that Shenandoah held The Belt^Tm for two whole days.

Lets meet Buzzy D. Hornet again


...menacing

[kiko]

Buzzy has 'could be a mascot, could be a Marvel superhero with a movie coming out this spring, could be a fixture in the commercials of your local car dealership/grocery store chain' vibes.  He's a walking, costumed Rorschach test.

[kiko]

Buzzy has 'could be a mascot, could be a Marvel superhero with a movie coming out this spring, could be a fixture in the commercials of your local car dealership/grocery store chain' vibes.  He's a walking, costumed Rorschach test.

Well, if he's a superhero, then his power is invisibility, given that the photo upstream has <poof>...

[sac]

Va Wesleyan 77 Shenandoah 60  F

We're getting closer
The Marlins will host Eastern Mennonite University on Wed night.  A couple of things of note, EMU has always interested me mostly because I've always wondered why there is no Western Mennonite University.  Seems like a rivalry for the ages.  Secondly the current President of Somalia is an Eastern Mennonite graduate....yeah let that sink in a minute.

So its important to note the ODAC only takes 10 teams for its post-season tournament and EMU is not one of those 10 at the moment and neither is EMU's next opponent Lynchburg, so you can kind of see where I'm going here.  This one is BIG for "the scenario" if catch my drift.


Let's meet Herm, short for His/Her Royal Majesty  (nice!)


"Herm is a warm, fuzzy guy who embodies welcoming friendliness, a trait that many visitors and new students use to describe the EMU community."
How can we not like this guy.

A not so brief history of "Herm"
https://emu.edu/now/news/2020/the-unofficial-history-of-herm-emus-mascot/


The old Herm hung out with Ernie the Eagle

[sac]

Va Wesleyan 59 Eastern Mennonite 54 F

That close to a code red "scenario".  The Marlins hold on and take The Belt^Tm to Roanoke on Saturday in the regular season finale.  Both Roanoke and Va Wesleyan are comfortably into the ODAC tournament so our little gift to the basketball world will once again glorify the post-season.

Roanoke are the Maroons which makes mascotting difficult you'd think but Roanoke found a maroon tailed hawk they claim is native only to the immediate Roanoke College campus area.  I'm a bit skeptical of this story, however here is Rooney.....

Oh lord, a very angry bird.

[lmitzel]

Roanoke 80, VA Wesleyan 74

2022-23 Belt^TM Path
3/19/22: Randolph-Macon
11/16/22: Mary Washington
11/27/22: Johns Hopkins
12/3/22: Muhlenberg
12/19/22: DeSales
1/9/23: Shenandoah
1/11/23: Washington & Lee
2/4/23: Virginia Wesleyan
2/18/23: Roanoke

The Maroons carry The Belt^TM into the ODAC Tournament as the 4 seed. 5th seeded Washington and Lee awaits on Friday at the Salem Civic Center.

[sac]

Roanoke 80 Va Wesleyan 74  F

Post season time and in D3 for 20+ years that meant Salem, Va.  So we are back because Roanoke College is in Salem, Virginia and because the ODAC chooses to play its tournament in the greatest D3 Belt^Tm venue of all-time the Salem Civic Center.

Roanoke will play Washington and Lee on Friday at 3pm.

[lmitzel]

So in updating The Map^TM, this is Roanoke's first time in possession of The Belt^TM; they had previously lost at home to a holder way back in '07-'08. Not sure about any road games.

I also updated the count at the Salem Civic Center. With the conclusion of this weekend's ODAC Tournament, there will have been 30 Belt^TM games played there in the Modern Era.

[Veni Vidi Vici]

So in updating The Map^TM, this is Roanoke's first time in possession of The Belt^TM; they had previously lost at home to a holder way back in '07-'08. Not sure about any road games.

I also updated the count at the Salem Civic Center. With the conclusion of this weekend's ODAC Tournament, there will have been 30 Belt^TM games played there in the Modern Era.

Roanoke previously held The Belt^TM for one day in 2007.  They won the 2007 ODAC semifinal on 2/24/2007, but lost in the ODAC championship the next day.

[SpringSt7]

Has The Belt ever missed the NCAA tournament? Unless there is another scenario I'm not considering, it would have to end the season with a team that misses its conference tournament, which would be very hard.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Has The Belt ever missed the NCAA tournament? Unless there is another scenario I'm not considering, it would have to end the season with a team that misses its conference tournament, which would be very hard.

It's happened more than once. Access to the tournament was a little sketchy in the 70s and 80s. It hasn't missed the tournament since the current format was adopted.

Here's the full path, as best we can tell.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K1zZi4KpHclVH4HwMovjt73df9nTJeEL/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=104084392362677817686&rtpof=true&sd=true

[kiko]

Has The Belt ever missed the NCAA tournament? Unless there is another scenario I'm not considering, it would have to end the season with a team that misses its conference tournament, which would be very hard.

You've got it backward.  The Belt^TM doesn't miss the tournament.  The tournament misses the Belt^TM.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Has The Belt ever missed the NCAA tournament? Unless there is another scenario I'm not considering, it would have to end the season with a team that misses its conference tournament, which would be very hard.

First, someone is just asking for some small, sleek, carnivorous mammals to show up
Second, The Belt ^TM could be in the UAA which has no tournament.

[sac]

The Belt^TM doesn't miss the tournament.  The tournament misses the Belt^TM.

2nd best quote about The Belt^TM ever.

[lmitzel]

The Belt^TM doesn't miss the tournament.  The tournament misses the Belt^TM.

2nd best quote about The Belt^TM

Yeah, The Belt^TM is the true prize. Definitely not that other, lesser, object made of wood and metal.

Has The Belt ever missed the NCAA tournament? Unless there is another scenario I'm not considering, it would have to end the season with a team that misses its conference tournament, which would be very hard.

First, someone is just asking for some small, sleek, carnivorous mammals to show up

I'm partial to the classic, but didn't want to dig through the thread on mobile and this one made me laugh.

Second, The Belt ^TM could be in the UAA which has no tournament.

Happened in 2008. Don't remember how close we came to the Dream Scenario^TM but that might be the closest.