2014 NCAA Tournament

[sac]

shut her down!

[madzillagd]

* the let's-find-a-more-convenient-Final-Four-site-than-Salem discussion;

I'd love to get into that one but I'm about ready to leave for the airport so I can arrive in Salem 12 hours from now. 

[nescac1]

On behalf of Virginia residents, I think Salem works just fine!  Besides, at least every other year it seems like there is a team from Virginia appearing in Salem, so it's convenient for at least one conference . 

[Pat Coleman]

I understand that through your involvement and experience with the NCAA, you view this as remote of a possibility as your being able to jump over the moon. However, can you deny that you would absolutely love it if the NCAA would appropriate a little more than the 3.18%, which is no doubt burned into your mind, to fund D3 activities?

I'd love lots of impossible things to happen, yes.

[Pat Coleman]

* the why-does-Pat-corrupt-the-Top-25-poll-by-starting-it-off-in-preseason discussion;

Four words: One, two, three, thirteen.

[HOPEful]

Just for fun, if the final four were to take place at the geographic center of the four schools involved, it would be held on a boat in Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland.

If it were held at the geographic center of the eight schools in the "elite eight", it would have been held 15 miles east of Pittsburgh.

If it were held at the geographic center of the 16 schools in the "sweet sixteen", it would have been held in eastern Ohio, northwest of Steubenville.

Cleveland State's Wolstein Center for future Final Fours? Maybe Duquesne's AJ Palumbo Center?

[bopol]

In addition to the NESCAC-has-an-easy-path-to-Salem discussion and the let's-play-sectionals-at-neutral-sites discussion, there's:

* the let's-find-a-more-convenient-Final-Four-site-than-Salem discussion;
* the why-does-Pat-corrupt-the-Top-25-poll-by-starting-it-off-in-preseason discussion;
* the MIAA-schools-get-jobbed-by-their-peninsularity discussion;
* the why-can't-West-Coast-teams-host-a-sectional discussion;
* the high-academic-schools-have-a-recruiting-handicap discussion;
* the why-the-heck-doesn't-the-WIAC-move-to-D2-where-it-belongs discussion.

NESCAC easy path: Well, there are a lot of conferences in New England that aren't particularly strong, so they might end up on an easier path for the first and second rounds.  I'm glad that the committee seperated Williams and Amherst and I think all the teams had an easier than normal path just because of the sheer number of upsets.  I wasn't sure about Williams but they played fine basketball at Mary Washington and deserved the recognition that the poll gave them.

Final Four Somewhere Else: I do think it should rotate.  They are fine D3 facilities that could host, so I'd be happy to see it move around a little.

Pre-Season Poll: I'm cool with it, but I think they shouldn't do another poll until the clubs are 10 games or so in the season to force the pollsters to reaccess their picks with a lot more data instead of the week to week response to the occasional upset.

MIAA getting jobbed: You know, the Great Lakes are really like big seas.  Michigan should have been more careful during the last Ice Age.

West Coast hosting: Well, Whitman got to host in the women's 2nd weekend, so I wonder how much that is considered.  There just aren't that many great teams in the west at the moment. 

High Academic Schools have recruiting disadvantage: Eh, I don't think so as much. 

WIAC: In my opinion, this is a very smart move.  Too many state universities try to compete at too high of a level and they suck too many resources out of the university to compete at D1, but at a low level.  Wisconsin has a very good system for public higher education and probably should be emulated in more states.

[David Collinge]

OK, thanks. All those topics are now officially retired. 

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

OK, thanks. All those topics are now officially retired. 

When is the ceremony to raise their numbers into the d3 rafters?

[bopol]

OK, thanks. All those topics are now officially retired. 

Hey, you're welcome.  I'm heading over to the Conspiracies forum to answer some of their common themes (spoiler alert: Oswald acted alone and the Loch Ness monster is really just a big log).

[Ralph Turner]

* the why-does-Pat-corrupt-the-Top-25-poll-by-starting-it-off-in-preseason discussion;

Four words: One, two, three, thirteen.

One, two, three, WIAC.   

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

For all the fuss we made about not switching the brackets so Williams and Amherst could meet in the final, I'm actually glad it worked out the way it did.  Whitewater-IWU and Williams-Amherst are both intriguing, exciting games tonight.  I'm much more excited about these than I would be if IWU and Williams were switched.  We're going to get two great games tonight and one more tomorrow.

I'm happy.

[Greek Tragedy]

I will disagree with that. If I were a NESCAC fan, I would want a chance to play a fellow NESCAC team in the Final. I also like the opportunity of East v West semi-finals.

[Greek Tragedy]

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2014-03-18/national-association-basketball-coaches-announces-diii-all

So the NVAA release says two student-athletes from each of the eight regions. There are three from the West Region: Tillema from Point, Cross from Platteville and Kornbaum from Augsburg. Was Kornbaum one of the ones voted in? I cant remember.

Is there a livestats link to any of the games? I just see video links on the schedule page.

[magicman]

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2014-03-18/national-association-basketball-coaches-announces-diii-all

So the NVAA release says two student-athletes from each of the eight regions. There are three from the West Region: Tillema from Point, Cross from Platteville and Kornbaum from Augsburg. Was Kornbaum one of the ones voted in? I cant remember.

Is there a livestats link to any of the games? I just see video links on the schedule page.

Dan Kornbaum from Augsburg was one of the players that got voted in. The other player voted in was St. Norbert guard Brandon Gries.


Regarding your other question...if you go to the D3hoops team pages of any of the Final Four teams you will find a live stats link.

To save you the trouble here's a link for the live stats for the IWU-Whitewater game;

http://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-men/d3/2014/03/21/ill-wesleyan-wis-whitewater


And here's a link to the live stats for the Williams-Amherst game:

http://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-men/d3/2014/03/21/williams-amherst

I'll do the leg work for you. I realize you're probably all tuckered out from practicing with your posters' team of Gleich , Nonemacher and Koehler.