2012 Playoffs: Bracket Reactions & more

[USee]

Tough draw for the CCIW.  Just hours after Pat & Company projected NCC to have won the bracketing lottery (playing CUC, surely one of the worst #2s in d3 history)), they go TO Cal Lu, and if they survive go TO Linfield!  Meanwhile, Elmhurst not only doesn't host, they travel TO a 10-0 Coe!

OUCH!

Not really....CUC has the offense where it can drop 40 points on a team on a daily basis. Their D leaves much to be desired but has made several game changing plays during the season. CUC however still has a tough out in Bethel to deal with in the first round.

I would bet a lot of money that CUC doesn't score 40 on Bethel.  I'll be surprised if they score more than twice.

[K-Mack]

Hobart in the STU bracket?  Didn't see that one coming...

UST. But yes ... kinda cool though. I can see six teams, maybe seven, winning a game in that bracket, even though St. Thomas is the favorite. Hobart could carry the flag for the East ... if they last that long.

[speedybigboy]

Back to cheap NCAA with two first-round in-conference matchups.

I have much less of a problem with it this year than in years when Hardin-Simmons would be 9-1 with a one-TD loss to UMHB, or 10-0 UMHB vs. 10-0 Trinity ... or even CLU getting sent to Linfield the past few years.
Here's why ... PLU and LC are two-loss teams that don't even get to the board in years when there are stronger crops of 9-1 teams. As two of the last four teams in, they should be going to play No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in Round 1 on the road. So it made sense geographically, without a doubt, but it's not like they're getting jobbed in the process.

Good reasoning but shouldn't then Bethel have played St. Thomas in the first round?  Or were they in the field ahead of PLU?

[wally_wabash]

Back to cheap NCAA with two first-round in-conference matchups.

I have much less of a problem with it this year than in years when Hardin-Simmons would be 9-1 with a one-TD loss to UMHB, or 10-0 UMHB vs. 10-0 Trinity ... or even CLU getting sent to Linfield the past few years.
Here's why ... PLU and LC are two-loss teams that don't even get to the board in years when there are stronger crops of 9-1 teams. As two of the last four teams in, they should be going to play No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in Round 1 on the road. So it made sense geographically, without a doubt, but it's not like they're getting jobbed in the process.

Good reasoning but shouldn't then Bethel have played St. Thomas in the first round?  Or were they in the field ahead of PLU?

They don't match up teams from the same conference in the first round unless they have to for travel purposes. 

[speedybigboy]

Back to cheap NCAA with two first-round in-conference matchups.

I have much less of a problem with it this year than in years when Hardin-Simmons would be 9-1 with a one-TD loss to UMHB, or 10-0 UMHB vs. 10-0 Trinity ... or even CLU getting sent to Linfield the past few years.
Here's why ... PLU and LC are two-loss teams that don't even get to the board in years when there are stronger crops of 9-1 teams. As two of the last four teams in, they should be going to play No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in Round 1 on the road. So it made sense geographically, without a doubt, but it's not like they're getting jobbed in the process.

Good reasoning but shouldn't then Bethel have played St. Thomas in the first round?  Or were they in the field ahead of PLU?

They don't match up teams from the same conference in the first round unless they have to for travel purposes.

Thanks WW, I gathered that.  But they could just as well have flown PLU to CLU and NC to Linfield and honored both criteria.  That would be two flights with a real possibility of PLU to Linfield in the second round, granted maybe a third flight.  This way they are still guaranteeing two flights anyways.

[speedybigboy]

Incidentally, last year Redlands and CLU both made the field and they did not match them in the first round.

[thrunt01]

I'm just confused why UST is playing SNC in the first round while UWO is playing CSS. Can anyone explain the reasoning there?

[Pat Coleman]

Last year the NCAA took Benedictine and sent it to Mount Union, then took Albion and sent it to UW-Whitewater, even though the reverse would have been shorter.

[MonroviaCat]

Incidentally, last year Redlands and CLU both made the field and they did not match them in the first round.

Yeah--but they had to fly someone North and to Texas as well (I don't thing there was a driveable team for MHB).

[bluenote]

Great Post.
As a PLU Alum, I'm ready to party like it's 1999.  Let's go Road Warriors!

LOL! you're showing your age HaHaHa!!!!

[Deveto]

I'm looking forward to the Adrian v. Franklin game seeing that this will be Adrian 1st ever home playoff game and coming in with a big win over Huntingdon last week I think it shall be a good one. That Adrian defense has been very tough this year.

[speedybigboy]

Incidentally, last year Redlands and CLU both made the field and they did not match them in the first round.

Yeah--but they had to fly someone North and to Texas as well (I don't thing there was a driveable team for MHB).

maybe I didn't think it all the way thru............oh well I'll work on it.

[speedybigboy]

Great Post.
As a PLU Alum, I'm ready to party like it's 1999.  Let's go Road Warriors!

LOL! you're showing your age HaHaHa!!!!

Oh believe me, knowing that song makes me look younger than I am.

[MonroviaCat]

Incidentally, last year Redlands and CLU both made the field and they did not match them in the first round.

Yeah--but they had to fly someone North and to Texas as well (I don't thing there was a driveable team for MHB).

maybe I didn't think it all the way thru............oh well I'll work on it.

Ha--neither did I--they could have driven someone to MHB and kept Redlands at CLU and flown someone to Linfield last year.....but last year they did use an extra flight.  But if you listen to Pats interview with the committe chair--it's pretty clear that they didn't like PLU to Linfield and LC to MHB but costs are a bigger factor this year.....

[ncc_fan]

Incidentally, last year Redlands and CLU both made the field and they did not match them in the first round.

Yeah--but they had to fly someone North and to Texas as well (I don't thing there was a driveable team for MHB).

maybe I didn't think it all the way thru............oh well I'll work on it.

Ha--neither did I--they could have driven someone to MHB and kept Redlands at CLU and flown someone to Linfield last year.....but last year they did use an extra flight.  But if you listen to Pats interview with the committe chair--it's pretty clear that they didn't like PLU to Linfield and LC to MHB but costs are a bigger factor this year.....

The chair also implied that cost played a role in determining which 8-2 team is flying to CLU.