2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[Mr.Right]

Messiah used to do it. They refused to play on Saturday and Sunday only the Friday / Saturday. In 2006 they forced Williams to play at 11am on a Friday morning. There was no crowd because students were in classes. Meanwhile the coaching staff of Messiah would then go scout the other teams that played on Sunday in a different region. It was a complete joke. They took FULL advantage of it. Finally opposing coaches caught on and put pressure on the NCAA to do something about it. I thought that rule was still in effect. Personally, if these schools cannot conform to the NCAA rules they should not be allowed to play in the tournament. They should start a different tournament

Just curious, but is there something wrong with playing on a Fri/Sat instead of a Sat/Sun?

DID you not read my post. I gave you three good reasons why there is plenty wrong with it.

[PaulNewman]

Some great late action with the two Iowa games and North Park and Elmhurst deadlocked at 1-1.  Loras in OT now and Wartburg up 1-0 late.

[PaulNewman]

Elmhurst advances over North Park in PKs 7-6. 

Is North Park in trouble?  Is North Park better than Luther?

Is Babson better than RPI?

[Off Pitch]

Tufts being below Babson is ridiculous.

FWIW, Brandeis played both teams. While both were 2-0 wins for the Judges, I will say that Tufts could have easily snuck that game (and that was at Brandeis' turf.) The Babson game, meanwhile, could have been 5-0 or 6-0, such was Brandeis' dominance. Granted, Babson has beaten Bowdoin (whom Tufts drew with) and MIT (whom Tufts tied), but they also lost to WPI (at home) and Wheaton. In the end, though, I guess it's results that matter. Still, even then, I think Tufts should be above Babson.

Using Babson and Tufts as an example, the problem for the committee is that they have identical winning % while Babson has a stronger SOS.  Despite the possibly accurate perception that Tufts is the better team, how do you justify ignoring the numbers on the data sheet?  I would imagine that this type of scenario is being played out in other regions as well.

[Mr.Right]

Elmhurst looked to be the better team in that game

[Mr.Right]

The East will be interesting to me. They usually do not go 4 or 5 deep but they may this year. Oneonta,SLU and Cortland are locks. UR with a win over Case will be in and RPI now is squarely on the bubble. What to do if UR lose to Case who according to the new rankings are very much still alive. Does the UAA actually get 6 TEAMS in? They might because top teams are not losing in their tournaments like last year and New England which usually gets the most teams is DOWN. If RPI can get a tie up at SLU they will likely get their bid

[Soccergeek]

No, KnightFalcon, nothing wrong, but does make planning difficult.

And I wonder if KZoo will sneak past Hope in the secret regional rankings after dispatching Hope for the 3rd time in a row (which is not an easy task).  Congrats to KZoo who may have knocked another at-large team off the bubble.

I was at the game between Kalamazoo and Hope.  Unlike their first two meetings, which Kzoo dominated, this one was fairly even from start to finish, with the Hornets' goalkeeper proving to be the difference.  The kid should probably get some All America consideration after the season he's had.  I still can't fathom how the committee placed Hope fourth in the Central this week and left the Hornets completely off the map given their two head-to-head victories.  After finishing third in the conference and failing to reach the title game, I would say Hope's bubble has now burst.

[PaulNewman]

If Hope got in now and Kzoo didn't there should be a federal probe.

[KnightFalcon]

Messiah used to do it. They refused to play on Saturday and Sunday only the Friday / Saturday. In 2006 they forced Williams to play at 11am on a Friday morning. There was no crowd because students were in classes. Meanwhile the coaching staff of Messiah would then go scout the other teams that played on Sunday in a different region. It was a complete joke. They took FULL advantage of it. Finally opposing coaches caught on and put pressure on the NCAA to do something about it. I thought that rule was still in effect. Personally, if these schools cannot conform to the NCAA rules they should not be allowed to play in the tournament. They should start a different tournament

Just curious, but is there something wrong with playing on a Fri/Sat instead of a Sat/Sun?

DID you not read my post. I gave you three good reasons why there is plenty wrong with it.

Yes, I'll admit to having read your post, and it is apparent that you have an old grudge. But what I was really wondering was how any team that plays on a Friday/Saturday has an advantage or disadvantage compared to one that plays a Saturday/Sunday schedule

[Mr.Right]

I do not have an old grudge. It simply was not fair. The advantage is being able to scout your next opponent on the SUnday after your games. It is a major advantage on the east coast. Coaches across the country were complaining that Messiah's coaches were doing this

[KnightFalcon]

So you are saying that you can't scout on Friday or send someone to scout ...or watch video? And what are "coaches across the country complaining" about now? Seems like having to play on a Sunday hasn't impacted Messiah a bit.

Sorry - I'm just not seeing this big advantage from playing F/S over S/S. Ask Wheaton if it gave them an advantage last year... or Kenyon

[Mr.Right]

You are missing my point. If Messiah plays on Friday and Saturday and the other 4 teams from a different pod play on Saturday and Sunday, Messiah can watch the winners play on Sunday. On a Friday no coach is going to watch 2 different games if 1. they have not even played yet and 2. will be at practice getting ready for their games. Meesiah would finish their pod and win it then go scout another pod on Sunday. It is a distinct advantage

[KnightFalcon]

Apparently, not much of a "distinct advantage". Otherwise, how do you explain Messiah's greater level of success AFTER they started playing on Sunday than before? And do you really think the Kenyon coaching staff, after playing in Wheaton, IL late Saturday night last year then suddenly made the 15 hour+ drive to Salisbury to watch Messiah & Salisbury play Sunday afternoon in person? Or that the Messiah & Salisbury coaching staffs completely ignored the video feed of that Kenyon/Wheaton game on Saturday night? And isn't it possible that they sent someone else to watch in person?

I will say, however, that this would make an interesting thesis - assuming you could get a large enough sample size - to check the winning % of F/S teams the following week vs teams that had played S/S

[Domino1195]

"Also another National Player of the Year candidate is Brian Potocnic from John Carroll. Sitting on 20 goals and 12 assists currently. 40 goals and 34 assists in his career. He is a special player who is carrying that JCU team which is very capable of making a deep run in the tournament. Should have been an All-American last year but JCU not making the tournament didn't help his case."

He had three chances yesterday - made two. He reminds me of Ethan Finlay of the Columbus Crew - give him an inch . . . both scoring strikes yesterday were technically beautiful. His read of the game - where to sit in, find spaces, receive the ball - is sooooo good. He can handle himself physically - not a whiner when receiving contact - keeps playing. Would love to have him on the Crew!

JCU can attack for sure, but if not for two goal line clearances - one by the keeper and one by a defender - they would have lost this game.  Strong statistical dominance can be easily undermined by momentary lapses in the back.  This will be - and perhaps always has been - the story of winning the tournament: defending your net and making the fewest mistakes.

[Ryan Harmanis]

I'm going to back Mr. Right on that point, even though it's moot now.  Messiah was notorious for claiming a religious exception to playing on Sundays then coming to watch opposing teams live.  And just because they've remained successful doesn't mean it was acceptable or fair - the New England Patriots stayed toward the top of the NFL after SpyGate but that doesn't mean it was okay.

And it was a big advantage.  If your team plays Saturday/Sunday, you're not going to drive to watch a team on Friday (the day before your game) or Saturday (the day of your game).  Yet Messiah got to watch your team live, which as a coach is an absolute advantage.  Adding insult to injury, IMO, is that they were claiming a religious exception to playing and then using it to scout.  I have no issues with the religious aspect, but if you want Sundays off then you should be taking Sundays off and not using religion as an excuse for a competitive advantage.

However, while I'm not up to date on the current rules I know OWU has hosted Friday/Saturday pods as recently as 2011.  So it could have changed to letting schools pick Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday.