BB: Midwest Region

[biggio34]

Barring conference upsets, might we see no Pool C bids from the Midwest Region?

I know that is far-fetched, but the Midwest seems really weak!

Is the Midwest really weak, or are many of the teams pretty damn good?  Seems like alot of competitive balance throughout the region as every week there were lots of splits in DH's in and out of conference play.  I will say that I'm very surprised by the season UWSP has had so far, but I would not be shocked if they turned their fairly disappointing year around this weekend and got on a roll.

[RSSmith]

Barring conference upsets, might we see no Pool C bids from the Midwest Region?

I know that is far-fetched, but the Midwest seems really weak!

Agreed. Not an absurd scenario either. For that to happen, I think UWSP would have to go 2-and-Q this weekend.

On the other hand, if UWSP is the runner up and goes 1-2 against Whitewater in the tournament, SP's winning percentage drops slightly, but their SOS goes up to about .545 which would make them a pretty easy Pool C selection.  If they're 0-2 against Whitewater, the SOS should hit about .538 which would probably get them one of the last few bids.

[MIACLUV]

I don't see how UWSP keeps losing games to bad teams and still stay ranked 4th in the region. And I know it's not a criteria, but how can you put a team in the regional rankings that didn't even make their conf. tournament (Conc-IL)? If I were Conc. Moorhead or Bethany Lutheran I would be screaming. So Conc IL has a great advantage, they can't lose anymore before selection sunday!

[BigPoppa]

I don't see how UWSP keeps losing games to bad teams and still stay ranked 4th in the region. And I know it's not a criteria, but how can you put a team in the regional rankings that didn't even make their conf. tournament (Conc-IL)? If I were Conc. Moorhead or Bethany Lutheran I would be screaming. So Conc IL has a great advantage, they can't lose anymore before selection sunday!

Ahhhhh.... the fatal flaw in the system. Concordia-Chicago may actually benefit by missing their own tourney. They cannot take a hit in the loss column this weekend while most other teams in the Pool C system will lost two games this weekend in conference tourneys.

[Pat Coleman]

How many boards did you post this on?

[paulisdeadman]

Baseballlover, I think everyone agrees that you were close. I just got off the phone with coach kragh and even he understands. You guys came up a couple good wins short. Great season BLC. I'm aleady looking forward to next year.

[supermiac]

I'm sorry, I just can't bite my tongue. How the hell did this Midwest bracket turn out this way, especially considering how EASY the Central bracket is?

--- How do you get off rewarding North Central for getting absolutely slammed in their conf. tourney by giving them a 2 seed in arguably the easiest regional? And then, how do you get off penalizing St. Thomas on the same side of the coin for finishing up their conf. tourney with 2 blowout wins.

--- You send CARTHAGE to Whitewater? What?! I know the committee only looks at numbers, but I can guarantee every team in the Midwest had a collective groan when they heard Carthage and not IWU, North Central, or Ripon was sent off. Maybe it was bad luck, but getting an underperforming Carthage team shipped in really makes this a bit tougher.

--- It's crazy that to think that teams like St. Scholastica and St. Thomas are held in the relatively same regard when it comes to tourney seedings as Ripon and North Central. It just feels wrong that two regionals separated by such a paltry distance are so completely different in their difficulty.

Just like every year (in my estimation), the Midwest regional looks to be the toughest. While I know it doesn't really matter who you play to get to the championship (since beating everyone is the goal of a national champion), it irks me how this region get stacked like this every year without pause. I think the Mideast and West regions are really tough this year too, but the Midwest far and away takes the cake.

[badgerwarhawk]

Midwest Regional
Hosted by UW-Whitewater, Whitewater, Wis.
1. UW-Whitewater (38-5)
2. St. Thomas (33-7)
3. St. Scholastica (38-6)
4. UW-Stevens Point (29-15)
5. Carthage (28-16)
6. Aurora (27-14)

[BigPoppa]

Midwest has three of the top eight teams (Whitewater, St. Thomas and St. Scholastica) in the d3baseball poll. Mix in Stevens Point, Carthage, and Aurora and you have a regional with a combined 78 regional appearances.

Aurora- 18th
Carthage- 16th
Whitewater- 12th
Stevens Point- 11th
St. Thomas- 15th
CSS- 6th


That is a brutal regional.

[OshDude]

All sorts of fun matchups, like usual. I'm looking forward to Steve Salazar vs. the Whitewater lineup. And I doubt this is a situation where UWW can throw its No. 4. Williamson, Wellner and company make for an intriguing 1 vs. 6.

UWSP and CSS should put a regional game in pen on the 2011 sked.

[CrashDavisD3]

Midwest Regional
Hosted by UW-Whitewater, Whitewater, Wis.
1. UW-Whitewater (38-5)
2. St. Thomas (33-7)
3. St. Scholastica (38-6)
4. UW-Stevens Point (29-15)
5. Carthage (28-16)
6. Aurora (27-14)

NCAA should have sent one of the top 3 seeds to a nearby regional. It just not seem right to have so many top teams in one regional and some other regional seems to get a pass on top teams. Same thing is happening in West....

[BigPoppa]

At this point, every team left standing is pretty good. On any given day, they can beat anyone. It is a huge mistake to look past anyone at this point in the season. Most regions have 2-3 VERY good teams and that balance is what makes it great to watch. You could argue that the Central is too weak, but NCC has tons of bats while IWU has great pitching. Rose-Hulman has Tim Tepe (who is one of the best offensive shortstops in the nation).

[dukes]

I think it is a good thing that the WIAC, MIAC, and UMAC champions will battle it out at the regional. Yes, it will be harder for them to make it to the WS, but I do believe those teams should always be in the Midwest regional. They may have a tougher region because of the good talent pool with less competition (very few Division I teams, and many poor D2 teams) leaves great talent for D3. I too believe it is one of the toughest regions, if not the toughest, but the team who wins it has a great chance in the WS.

[BoBo]

And I doubt this is a situation where UWW can throw its No. 4. Williamson, Wellner and company make for an intriguing 1 vs. 6.

I'd be pretty confident throwing Donovan at 10am Wednesday in game 1 of  the regional!!

[OshDude]

I think it is a good thing that the WIAC, MIAC, and UMAC champions will battle it out at the regional. Yes, it will be harder for them to make it to the WS, but I do believe those teams should always be in the Midwest regional. They may have a tougher region because of the good talent pool with less competition (very few Division I teams, and many poor D2 teams) leaves great talent for D3. I too believe it is one of the toughest regions, if not the toughest, but the team who wins it has a great chance in the WS.

And it's not like one team is going to Appleton nearly every year, like in another region or two. As often as these teams battle, the CWS trips have been spread around rather evenly, making it another positive for the region.

All but CSS in this year's regional have made it to Appleton at least once. Now that we've had a day to digest it, anyone have a favorite? I like UST over UWSP in the final. I see it as one of those years when you have five teams left after two days and three left after three days.