Official 2010 PLAYOFFS reaction thread

[usee]

I think St Johns is rated right where they should be don't you? Not sure your point. You could say Franklin (who seriously tested UWW last week) lost to the CCIW's 5th place team. Carthage certainly isn't over rated. Are we really talking about St Johns who didn't even make the playoffs?

[Pat Coleman]

I think St Johns is rated right where they should be don't you? Not sure your point. You could say Franklin (who seriously tested UWW last week) lost to the CCIW's 5th place team. Carthage certainly isn't over rated. Are we really talking about St Johns who didn't even make the playoffs?

Yeah, I didn't get this either.

[retagent]

 I believe K-Mack was the one who brought up the thought that St John's is over rated. Perhaps your memories are not as good as my Old Timers disease ridden brain. The Front Page survey had St Thomas as the most likely #1 to lose this weekend. There are many who didn't think either Bethel or St Thomas would win last week, much less make it through the second round. Maybe I dreamed all this, but I thought it was an appropriate way to say that the MIAC is not given the respect it might deserve. Sorry if I confused you.

[Pat Coleman]

Yes, based on the outcomes of Saturday's games, CLEARLY it was a mistake for our readers to suggest St. Thomas was the No. 1 team most likely to lose!

[retagent]

Not to dwell on this since it beating a dead horse that no one wanted to ride when it was alive, BUT........................

It's not just one round of games. If you want to argue that way, you would be right. I'm addressing the totality of the season, many, many posts by various posters from many leagues, implying, if not actually saying, that Bethel and St Thomas didn't deserve to be "seeded" where they are. I would guess, without doing a survey of all posts on this site, that the majority thought neither school would be around this long. If you want to ignore the prevailing "wisdom" that the MIAC is weaker than it actually seems to to be playing out to be, then do so. The St John's reference is just an extension of that inferred perception.

[Ralph Turner]

Not to dwell on this since it beating a dead horse that no one wanted to ride when it was alive, BUT........................

It's not just one round of games. If you want to argue that way, you would be right. I'm addressing the totality of the season, many, many posts by various posters from many leagues, implying, if not actually saying, that Bethel and St Thomas didn't deserve to be "seeded" where they are. I would guess, without doing a survey of all posts on this site, that the majority thought neither school would be around this long. If you want to ignore the prevailing "wisdom" that the MIAC is weaker than it actually seems to to be playing out to be, then do so. The St John's reference is just an extension of that inferred perception.

For me, any qualms that I might have had for a MIAC friend was not the quality of the MIAC teams in the playoffs.
It was about the strength and balance of the West Region.  Where is the weak conference in the 2010 West Region?  (The Midwest Conference?)  You had two Pool C bids this year in this bracket., and I thought that Redlands and Pacific Lutheran were stronger candidates for a Pool C bid.

The UMAC may be the weakest Pool A bid next season, and so that Pool A bid will be sent to the #1 seed.  The "Pool B bid" that the UMAC schools afforded the field was seeded in another bracket, as SUNY-Maritime or Salisbury was this season.  Therefore, a UMAC Pool A bid will slightly weaken the "West" Bracket overall.

[Pat Coleman]

Not to dwell on this since it beating a dead horse that no one wanted to ride when it was alive, BUT........................

It's not just one round of games. If you want to argue that way, you would be right. I'm addressing the totality of the season, many, many posts by various posters from many leagues, implying, if not actually saying, that Bethel and St Thomas didn't deserve to be "seeded" where they are. I would guess, without doing a survey of all posts on this site, that the majority thought neither school would be around this long. If you want to ignore the prevailing "wisdom" that the MIAC is weaker than it actually seems to to be playing out to be, then do so. The St John's reference is just an extension of that inferred perception.

Who thought St. Thomas should be seeded behind any of the other teams in its bracket?

I think the actual opinion I saw was that St. Thomas should be seeded behind UWW or North Central. St. Thomas hasn't had the opportunity to dissuade anyone from that opinion as of yet, right?

[usee]

The only thing I know right now is that Bethel/Wheaton are pretty evenly matched teams and St Thomas/Linfield are pretty evenly matched teams. It also appears to me that Bethel/St Thomas are pretty evenly matched. All of which is what Pat and most people were saying about the St Thomas bracket, that all of those teams are pretty good and any of them could emerge from the bracket. Bethel has won 2 very tough games on the road, which is impressive to me. Now they get "rewarded" with a close road game and a grudge match against a conference rival. If St Thomas beats them again, they deserve to be the region #1.

What does this say about the MIAC? I think it confirms what many have already thought, the top 2-3 teams in the MIAC are probably as good as many of the top 2-3 teams from the top conferences. It doesn't reflect at all on any respect/lack of for the MIAC in my opinion. The question is what else can the MIAC claim as a conference?

[Pat Coleman]

Three different teams making the quarterfinals in the past eight seasons.

[usee]

Similar to OAC and CCIW? Which is what most thought already. Either way, it certainly doesn't sound like any lack of respect issue.

[emma17]

Retagent,
I am one guy guilty of picking St. Thomas as a #1 most likely to lose.  However, it has nothing to do with lack of respect to them or the conference.  They were playing Linfield, a team that UWW has played twice.  I saw them play last year so I had the personal experience.  I simply felt their balanced offense would present greater challenges to St. Thomas. 


I'm a big fan of the land of 10,000 lakes, and all D3 teams that play in between them.

[usee]

The fact is they were the most likely #1 to lose last week. The games bore that out. This week it's probably NCC's turn as most likely to lose.

[retagent]

Again, I'm not basing my comment on that particular episode. I would like all those who picked St Thomas, and/or Bethel, to get to the quarterfinals to speak up. There has been a lot of talk about Linfield, NCC, or of course, UWW to get to the Stagg. I doubt that anyone outside the MIAC fans spoke of St Thomas to get there. And going back even further, who picked SJU to get to the Stagg in 2000, and stay in the game, or to win it in 2003? As I said, this is a long running theme.

[usee]

Nope. totally disagree. take off your Minnesota colored glasses. I can fax you my bracket as I have St Thomas playing in the Semi's against Mount. I did have Wheaton losing to St Thomas this weekend and I was 1 pass from making that happen. I am just 1 poster but I don't see the "bias" you are referring to. I think the St Thomas bracket is the most competitive in the tourney this year and the games are proving that out. As Pat said, it wouldn't be surprising for any of these teams to win the region.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Does anyone know if the NCAA will be providing Internet Video Streaming of the Semi Final Games as they have in the past?