WBB: NESCAC

[senatorfrost]

  Game of the week.
  Let's assume for a moment that Colby beats both Conn. Coll. and Wesleyan. You never know but most people think they will. Then look at Trinity-Midd. Similar records and the game is at Midd, so Midd would figure to be a slight favorite.
  Let's say they both Trinity and Midd lose their upcoming Friday night game. Then what? If Midd beats Trinity, their reward would be traveling about 300 miles to Colby. If they lose, they travel about 150 miles to Amherst and might not have to sleep over.
  If Trinity wins they have to travel about 280 miles vs about 50 if they lose. To be honest, if I were in that situation, I know what I'd do.

[Maine 1]

I was at the Colby-Williams game--Colby played extremely well (shot 7-8 on threes), while I thought Williams did not play well, and relied too much on threes (4-22).  Many of those threes were wide open threes takenon 3-1 breaks, which, unless you are going to make 9-10, are bad shots.

The NESCAC playoffs are definitely for second place.  I believe that of the group os Williams, Colby, Bates,and Bowdoin, Bates may be the top team of that group, but anyone of this group can beat anyother team. Tufts appears to be struggling, but I certainly would not want to play them in a first round game.

I would expect 5 teams from the NESCAC to get to the NCAA's.

[amh63]

SenatorFrost......read your post twice and still did not get your points....It was late and I was tired.  Still, are you saying that you would rather lose so as to travel less and therefore be in a better position to lose?
Maine 1...interesting comments wrt Williams' offensive approach.  Based on Amherst's performance.....Bates does look like the best candidate for second.  However, Amherst does have two away games this weekend....one with Williams.
What do you base your prediction on 5 conference teams in the post season?  Isn't that a little high? Three is the most likely number...even in a down year for other conferences.

[Maine 1]

Prediction is based on the relative strenghth of the conference (NESCAC is far and away the strongest conference in the East, and there any of five I mentioned would dominate most of the other leagues), the fact that the NCAA took five teams from the NESCAC last year (Amherst, Colby, Bowdoin, Williams, and Tufts), the fact that there is very little to differentiate between Colby, Bowdoin, Williams and Bates (Williams beat Bates, Bates beat Bowdoin (1-1 on the season), Bowdoin beat Williams, Bowdoin beat Colby twice, Colby beat Williams, Colby split with Bates).  And all 5 of those teams are in the regional rankings.  It is hard to pick between those four teams.

[deiscanton]

Maine1--

I wish that the NCAA released the SOS data last week with the regional rankings nationally.  Unless the NCAA releases this data, I will have no way of confirming whether or not your belief that NESCAC will once again get 5 teams into the NCAAs will be correct or not.

Just based on the positions of the teams in Week 1 of the regional rankings, I can see 4 teams from NESCAC getting in.  However, unless the NCAA releases their SOS data, I cannot make a determination on whether or not NESCAC will once again get 4 Pool C bids.

However, should 4 Pool C bids go to NESCAC, it would most likely be Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, and Bates picking up those bids at this time-- with Bates taking the place of Tufts.

[Maine 1]

note that the latest rankings out yesterday have 6 NESCAC teams (Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Williams, and Tufts) in that order in the top 12 in the Northeast.  The strength of schedule information is also included.

[amh63]

Want to be the first to congrat Amherst players on their win in a surprising close game.....Amherst 66-Williams 55.  Amherst was led again by their senior captains.   Writeup of the game now posted on the Amherst website.
Amherst will be the top seed for the conference tournament and will host the tournament if they win their quarter final game.  Pairings are listed on the conference website, I believe.

[frank uible]

So outstanding that it deserves to be said twice.

[amh63]

Thanks Frank for pointing out the errors in my post.  Made the corrections.

[frank uible]

We aim to please.

[Maine 1]

Amherst should win the NESCAC tournament. I would expect Colby to have very little trouble with Middlebury. The other two games are toss-ups.  I would not be surprised to see Tufts beat Williams, although the Williams gym is a hard place to play for visiting teams. Bowdoin and Bates could go either way, but we could see three out of last year's four teams at Amherst in the finals.  I expect Bowdoin and Tufts to move forward, with a Bowdoin Amherst final.

[senatorfrost]

  My opinion is that only the top 4 teams in a conference should be in the playoffs. However, in these times people are in to giving out as many accolades as they can. As far as I'm concerned Trinity 'Won' the game with Middlebury because they get to make a quick one day trip to trip to Amherst. (about 50+ miles).
   Middlebury on the other hand gets to travel about 300 miles to the middle of Maine. I think Middlebury is slightly better than it's record, so Colby had better not take them lightly. Yes, I know, miracles can happen.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

I think the upcoming playoffs/tournament will be interesting for Amherst.  While I think we all agree that they are the class of the NESCAC field, I think that Gromacky's tendency to shrink their bench in tight games may come back to haunt them.  Coach G has done an excellent job of spreading the PT throughout the season, except in close games.  And it is in those close games that the 7-8 player rotation gets gassed, especially in an up-tempo offense.

[Maine 1]

It is hard to question someone that has had the success Gromacki and Amherst have had.  Back to back final fours, 1 loss in the last two seasons, playing in a very tough conference.  I don't see them being challenged in the NESCAC championships (it appears that for some reason Williams seems to give them trouble once in a while, but I don't see Williams getting past Tufts, even at Williams).

[NH NESCAC Fan]

My intention was not to question the coach.  He has the chops, there is no doubt of that.  I am merely making an observation that I think it will be interesting as they progress deep into the NCAA Tournament...I agree that the NESCAC tournament should not be an issue.