BB: Top Teams in West Region

[BigPoppa]

Either way, history shows that a team NOT in the regional rankings in the last week will NOT be awarded a Pool C. The NCAA is basically telling them start packing their things for the summer.

[Richard Hamstocks]

You may think it's semantics, but keep in mind that the criterion is results versus regionally ranked teams, not wins necessarily. Of course wins are a very large component of those results, but it's not total wins, winning percentage or anything else alone. It's the artfully complex word "results."

+1!  YES!  Results are important because the team prepared a schedule that the coach tried to anticipate strong opponents.

You must reward a team that will go out and schedule tough opponents!

I disagree on some level.  Especially in the west, this leads to a case of the rich getting richer. If you've got the budget to travel to schedule these teams, then you stand a better chance to get into a regional?  Linfield traveled to both Arizona and Chapman.  Trinity and Pomona-Pitzer don't seem to have taken any flights (how much of this is due to budget constraints?  I suspect a lot!).  Pacific seems to be paying a price for playing non-D3 opponents in Hawaii, which I won't attempt to defend. Chapman, at .500, is only in this conversation because they've also paid to be here. 
If you additionally get results in these games, then that should be rewarded. But scheduling them?  I don't agree that should be given much weight.  Especially for a team who, in games played in common with everyone else in their conference, didn't perform very well. 

 

[Richard Hamstocks]

. . . "We're drilling down into the numbers, looking at all of our online score reporting information. ...where they finished in their last couple of games of the season..."

Linfield 4-6 in last 10 D3 games. 
Pacific 6-4
Chapman 8-2
Pomona-Pitzer 9-1

I know 10 is not a couple, but you get the point.

"Last 10 games" is not a criterion!  This is great research and discussion!

Respectfully, let's keep this as true to form as we can.

I suggest that I am simply "drilling down into the numbers", which apparently is done according to the interpretation of the criteria.

[dahlby]

Richard,
How has Chapman paid to be where they are?
Please explain what you mean.
Thanks.

[Richard Hamstocks]

Richard,
How has Chapman paid to be where they are?
Please explain what you mean.
Thanks.

As a 20-20 team, the only reason I can see that people are talking about them being a pool C candidate is due to their very good strength of schedule.  The only way this is possible is their ability to schedule good teams, which requires significant travel and thus a significant budget.  Looking at their schedule, it seems like their only flight is to Trinity, as 4 NWC teams traveled to Orange this year.  But this is a function of them making this trip in previous years.  No offense intended towards Chapman (one of the premier programs in D3), but from my viewpoint, they haven't had the kind of year to justify still being in the conversation.  Its strength of schedule which is strongly a function of athletic budget. 
Does that make sense?

[Ralph Turner]

I wonder if the Trinity-Chapman series is home and home for 2102-13.  Chapman may have traveled first and resumed their pattern of coming to Texas (McMurry) in alternating years.

Pacific traveled to Hawai'i!

[Ralph Turner]

Bro is on the regional committee but not the chair and not on the national committee.  The SCIAC has a rep too.

The proper thing to do is to recuse one's self (leave the room, hang up the phone) when one's team is in the discussion.

[108 Stitches]

I think that the Pacific NW teams have a particularly difficult time in getting in enough in region games because of their location/weather. Pacific went to Hawaii, which makes sense from a "getting the team ready/fun" standpoint, but they have to realize that this will (and has) impacted them from playing in the post season. The Ariz tournament would have likely been a better choice from that standpoint, but it is hard to argue with going to Hawaii to play some baseball in the winter. 

Based on Ricky's interview the committee takes into account the travel issues in the West when ranking teams, which is logical. Trinity has the advantage that it can get enough in region games without having to travel, but I it is good that they have set up a home/home series with Chapman, so they should be going to Ca next year. I think it would be worthwhile for them to extend this trip a couple of days and get in two more games if they could, but at least 3 games with Chapman helps with their SoS and RPI. They have teams coming to them from the North so they don't have to travel to Ariz. I think the  new SCAC gives them more OOC flexibility, but they are able to get in enough tough games to keep them in the hunt every year.


Late add: I am quite sure they would love for some of the Pacific NW teams to come down early season to play, which maybe with the new SCAC they can do it. SW Airlines goes in their and it is quite reasonable place to stay so who knows.

[wildcat11]

Bro is on the regional committee but not the chair and not on the national committee.  The SCIAC has a rep too.

The proper thing to do is to recuse one's self (leave the room, hang up the phone) when one's team is in the discussion.

RT,

The proper thing?  This is a fan posting board not a courtroom.  In knowing Bro as a person, his reputation, and his body of work as a coach I'm just suppose to not say anything when another calls into question his character?

I think my response was fair.

[tigerfan_2001]

I think that the Pacific NW teams have a particularly difficult time in getting in enough in region games because of their location/weather. Pacific went to Hawaii, which makes sense from a "getting the team ready/fun" standpoint, but they have to realize that this will (and has) impacted them from playing in the post season. The Ariz tournament would have likely been a better choice from that standpoint, but it is hard to argue with going to Hawaii to play some baseball in the winter. 

Based on Ricky's interview the committee takes into account the travel issues in the West when ranking teams, which is logical. Trinity has the advantage that it can get enough in region games without having to travel, but I it is good that they have set up a home/home series with Chapman, so they should be going to Ca next year. I think it would be worthwhile for them to extend this trip a couple of days and get in two more games if they could, but at least 3 games with Chapman helps with their SoS and RPI. They have teams coming to them from the North so they don't have to travel to Ariz. I think the  new SCAC gives them more OOC flexibility, but they are able to get in enough tough games to keep them in the hunt every year.


Late add: I am quite sure they would love for some of the Pacific NW teams to come down early season to play, which maybe with the new SCAC they can do it. SW Airlines goes in their and it is quite reasonable place to stay so who knows.

TU thought that playing Chapman this year would help their SOS...didnt turn out that way.

[Richard Hamstocks]

Bro is on the regional committee but not the chair and not on the national committee.  The SCIAC has a rep too.

The proper thing to do is to recuse one's self (leave the room, hang up the phone) when one's team is in the discussion.

RT,

The proper thing?  This is a fan posting board not a courtroom.  In knowing Bro as a person, his reputation, and his body of work as a coach I'm just suppose to not say anything when another calls into question his character?

I think my response was fair.

He was speaking of Brosius recusing himself from the regional ranking committee when Linfield was being discussed, not your comment.  But when there are only two spots in the regional rankings being discussed (after Trinity and the 3 AQs), discussing any team is in effect also a discussion of Linfield.  That's not a personal attack on Brosius, but it is a problem.  And stating that the other conferences have reps as well is not the same thing. 

[BigPoppa]

The only alternative to avoiding having Brosius (or another coach from a team in the mix) there is to have a committee made up of guys that are not baseball coaches or affiliated whatsoever with any university... which would make even less sense.

[Richard Hamstocks]

The only alternative to avoiding having Brosius (or another coach from a team in the mix) there is to have a committee made up of guys that are not baseball coaches or affiliated whatsoever with any university... which would make even less sense.

Or have remotely well-defined criteria that can't be easily manipulated...
I haven't seen the regional rankings, but the rumors are well known.  What I also haven't seen is a justification for those rankings should the rumors be true, or anything coming close to a justification. El Hombre on the other hand has made strong arguments against, simply using the criteria listed in the handbook and common sense interpretations for loaded terms like "results".

I don't make the connection from recusing coaches from teams "in the mix" to jumping to a committee of non-baseball coaches.  There are plenty of teams that are definitely not "in the mix".  But that's a different conversation.

[wildcat11]

He was speaking of Brosius recusing himself from the regional ranking committee when Linfield was being discussed, not your comment. 

Sorry Ralph.  My mistake.

[dahlby]

Richard Hamstocks,
I also am surprised that Chapman is even being discussed. I see no way that they will be selected for the playoffs.


Chapman has played a home and home series with Texas teams and NW teams for a long time...alternating between the
areas when possible to save costs. Chapman's strength of schedule is also determined by the volume of requests that come every year from teams that are not afraid to play a team of their caliber. I doubt very much that CU's travel budget is much more than other "quality" teams that want to play good competition, so that their SOS doesn't keep them from post season
participation.

That being said, it will be interesting to see how CU handles the SOS factor when playing a full SCIAC schedule. Hopefully they will drop the NAIA games and continue to schedule the tougher out of conference D3 opponents.

Time will tell.