2014 NCAA Tournament Dark Horse Predictions

[oldonionbag]

Agreed. If the Jumbos play to their potential (there it is again- POTENTIAL) I think they will reach at least the Sweet 16.

LOL well wingtips, if we're tooting our own horns...

[wingtips2]

Agreed. If the Jumbos play to their potential (there it is again- POTENTIAL) I think they will reach at least the Sweet 16.

LOL well wingtips, if we're tooting our own horns...

It's all us old has-beens have, so we might as well....

[wingtips2]

Oneonta and Wheaton showing they were deserving of their top seeds. 
Tufts showing themselves as a talented 'dark horse' and knock off the champs.
Can CNU pull off the win against the dreaded OWU?

[Mr.Right]

way to state the obvious wingnips

[lastguyoffthebench]

I'm thinking Wheaton over CNU at this point... 

[wingtips2]

CNU loses their upset bid against OWU in pk's.

I was doing well on picks into the 16, but I only end up with a few in the 8 and none of the final 4.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Only have 2 final four correct after hitting 6 of 8 for elite 8

I like Wheaton over Oneonta St, even though the Red Dragons have stamped itself as a top 5 program over the last 4 years (2 final 4 appearances), IMO.

OWU/Tufts PKs...

Wheaton wins it all.

[wingtips2]

Wheaton - OWU final
OWU in OT

[KnightFalcon]

I've seen Wheaton, OWU and Tufts play this year in person and Oneonta last year. I do think the champ will come from the Wheaton/Oneonta side but I'm still wrestling with who that will be. And I think if Tufts has a chance to get settled (ie., they don't fall behind early), they will beat OWU. The speed Tufts has on the outside will be very tough for OWU to handle with their outside backs. Martin won't be able to scheme that advantage away.

[Brother Flounder]

I've seen Wheaton, OWU and Tufts play this year in person and Oneonta last year. I do think the champ will come from the Wheaton/Oneonta side but I'm still wrestling with who that will be. And I think if Tufts has a chance to get settled (ie., they don't fall behind early), they will beat OWU. The speed Tufts has on the outside will be very tough for OWU to handle with their outside backs. Martin won't be able to scheme that advantage away.

I also will go with Tufts on that side of the bracket due to the speed and SOS.  The other side is a toss-up.......

[PaulNewman]

You keep mentioning the SOS as though the SOS correlates with winning games, or, by itself, makes someone a favorite.  That's not my understanding.

[Brother Flounder]

You keep mentioning the SOS as though the SOS correlates with winning games, or, by itself, makes someone a favorite.  That's not my understanding.

NCAC, I may be confused but doesn't playing a harder schedule prepare you better for playing harder opponents in the NCAA.... If I am mistaken, please let me know......

[PaulNewman]

Sort of, but I don't think it's actually predictive.  I certainly wouldn't pick a team because they are at .605 and another team is at .565.  And at this point every team in the final four has come through the fires.  OWU's SOS may be lower than Tufts, but do you know how many huge games OWU has played over the last 4 years, and the experience in big games that many of their starters have?  Now I'm not picking OWU here because of any of that, but just sayin'.

[Mr.Right]

What huge games? The last 2 years they have been knocked out in the 1st round. Ill give you 2011 but that was 3 years ago

[Flying Weasel]

You keep mentioning the SOS as though the SOS correlates with winning games, or, by itself, makes someone a favorite.  That's not my understanding.

NCAC, I may be confused but doesn't playing a harder schedule prepare you better for playing harder opponents in the NCAA.... If I am mistaken, please let me know......

So is a 4-10-2 team that played a .585 SOS more prepared for the NCAA tournament than a 11-3-3 team that played a .545 SOS?

SOS by itself mean little because tells you nothing about the team of interest and only something about their opponents.  Messiah has never had the SOS of the NESCAC or UAA schools, but they haven't seemed underprepared for the tournament.  Over the past decade, Dominican has made Sweet 16 and Elite 8 runs with SOS's only a little over .500; would Bates or Colby-Sawyer have done better with their SOS's over .550?