Playoffs -- 2015

[George Thompson]

Pat,

Sorry, I did not see that.    Where was it posted?

No, I figured it was seeded.   But, over the years, people (NCAA) says it was seeded, then it wasn't seeded.    It seems like they change their minds over time.

It is my opinion only, I do not represent any college or conference in saying this, that all the NCAA playoffs are slanted to favor midwest schools.    Probably not purposely, but that is where the votes are.  The MIAC and WIAC are clearly strong conferences.   Texas, the deep South and the West coast just do not have enough conferences to have an equal say in the seedings. 

The purpose of my questions was to see who makes these decisions.     If Regional Rankings are the criteria, The West coast will always get shortchanged if teams on paper appear equal.   I do consider Linfield, St. Thomas and Mary Hardin Baylor very close. 

Being in the Midwest, I am sure you do not like to hear this.    But, there are fair ways to give each team an equal chance for a home game beyond the first one or two playoff games.

1.   Flip a coin each Sunday afternoon, visible to all conference reps.  or,
2.   Make each playoff team beyond the first round have to travel at least once, if possible, before the Stagg Bowl.

Any other system is inherently unfair because it is based on people's opinions.    And those opinions are not free from conference and local bias.    Heck, if I had a vote, of course I would vote for the NWC or SCIAC team to get some home field advantage.   

And as a fan, I love a home game, mainly because it is affordable.     I just bought airline tickets for the Stagg Bowl.    There went my Social Security check for December!    But next Sunday, I am sure it would have been even more expensive.   Very few of us can afford to go to St. Paul and the Stagg Bowl.    Heck, few of us can go to even one.

Pat, you and I may never agree on this, but I do appreciate the job you do.    This is one great website.   Thank you so much.

By the way, who is Ralph Turner?   I have seen his name times over the years.    He does not appear to be a typical poster.

Sincerely,

George

[Pat Coleman]

Pat, you and I may never agree on this, but I do appreciate the job you do.    This is one great website.   Thank you so much.

Glad you said that, because the three back-to-back-to-back posts the other night after the game sure didn't make it sound like it.

I don't think it's necessary to give each team an equal chance at a home game. This is football, it's not a seven-game playoff series. Someone has to host (there's not much support for neutral sites, and that would force the NCAA to travel two schools, which is unlikely).

[jknezek]

DIII football is not really interested, nor should it be interested, in making it affordable for fans. What it is interesting in doing is creating the fairest possible tournament given the money bequeathed by the DI basketball tournament. So while that skews the first round for island teams, and sometimes influences second round match ups, the rest of the tournament is relatively dollar blind.

Why is Linfield travelling to Minnesota? Because the Regional Committee, made up of a representative member of every West conference, ranked St Thomas ahead of Linfield and the national committee, made up of two members of each of the regional committees, chose not to over rule that ranking.

As for your favoritism argument, Whitworth's coach sat on the Regional Committee for the NWC and was also one of two West Region reps on the national committee. He will remain on the national committee through the 2017 season I believe. So if anything, the NWC had a greater voice at the table than any West Region conference except the WIAC, which also had a National Committee member. The MIAC did not have its own voice at the national committee this year.

Of some interest, the OAC also did not its own voice at the national committee this year, with north region reps coming from the IIAC and NCAC. So of the four remaining teams, the schools on the road had the extra voice (WIAC and NWC), not the home teams (MIAC and OAC). That should put paid to at least some of your bias concerns.

[retagent]

We should also recognize that trying to rank teams that have little , or no, reference points, due to the lack of common opponents. is a difficult endeavor. They have to take into account the non conference schedules, and, yes, history of teams/programs when ranking teams. We can quibble over the results, but  it's part art and part science, and I think they do as good a job as would any other group of knowledgeable people. If the staff of d3football ranked the teams, it would have a different look for the initial round, but by the semis, I bet it would look the same as it does right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, Pat.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Why is Linfield travelling to Minnesota? Because the Regional Committee, made up of a representative member of every West conference, ranked St Thomas ahead of Linfield and the national committee, made up of two members of each of the regional committees, chose not to over rule that ranking.

As for your favoritism argument, Whitworth's coach sat on the Regional Committee for the NWC and was also one of two West Region reps on the national committee. He will remain on the national committee through the 2017 season I believe. So if anything, the NWC had a greater voice at the table than any West Region conference except the WIAC, which also had a National Committee member. The MIAC did not have its own voice at the national committee this year.

Of some interest, the OAC also did not its own voice at the national committee this year, with north region reps coming from the IIAC and NCAC. So of the four remaining teams, the schools on the road had the extra voice (WIAC and NWC), not the home teams (MIAC and OAC). That should put paid to at least some of your bias concerns.

Hey, don't let silly things like facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.

#MidwestBias

[art76]

Why is Linfield travelling to Minnesota? Because the Regional Committee, made up of a representative member of every West conference, ranked St Thomas ahead of Linfield and the national committee, made up of two members of each of the regional committees, chose not to over rule that ranking.

As for your favoritism argument, Whitworth's coach sat on the Regional Committee for the NWC and was also one of two West Region reps on the national committee. He will remain on the national committee through the 2017 season I believe. So if anything, the NWC had a greater voice at the table than any West Region conference except the WIAC, which also had a National Committee member. The MIAC did not have its own voice at the national committee this year.

Of some interest, the OAC also did not its own voice at the national committee this year, with north region reps coming from the IIAC and NCAC. So of the four remaining teams, the schools on the road had the extra voice (WIAC and NWC), not the home teams (MIAC and OAC). That should put paid to at least some of your bias concerns.

Hey, don't let silly things like facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.

#MidwestBias

+K

[Pat Coleman]

We should also recognize that trying to rank teams that have little , or no, reference points, due to the lack of common opponents. is a difficult endeavor. They have to take into account the non conference schedules, and, yes, history of teams/programs when ranking teams. We can quibble over the results, but  it's part art and part science, and I think they do as good a job as would any other group of knowledgeable people. If the staff of d3football ranked the teams, it would have a different look for the initial round, but by the semis, I bet it would look the same as it does right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, Pat.

Presumably, if the teams were set up to make this possible -- this is certainly about as close to the "correct" final four teams as our voters would have had it.

[cubs]

Glad you said that, because the three back-to-back-to-back posts the other night after the game sure didn't make it sound like it.

Which have since been deleted?  Took a gander to see what was written and couldn't find them. 

Or maybe I was looking in the wrong spot?

[pg04]

I know I was nosy too and didn't find them LOL. I presume someone probably came to their senses. Or not.

[skunks_sidekick]

George, and a few of his brethren, having been preaching for more than a few years that Mount should have to travel "just because".

It's one of the stranger notions, based on non-facts, and personal feelings, that has been put out there.

To supposed that the only reason Mount is home until the Stagg is based on some conspiracy just spits in the face of their undefeated regular season record in the last nine years.  There have been times when Mount would have had to travel in later rounds if the higher seeded team would have held serve, but in each instance they didn't (which has been referenced many times in the past).

Anyway...back to reality.

[pg04]

Would Mount have traveled had UWO won? UWO would have had the better win and presumably the better resume. This has probably been asked already but I'm late to the party.

[Pat Coleman]

I know I was nosy too and didn't find them LOL. I presume someone probably came to their senses. Or not.

Nope, I decided I wasn't going to take more crap and hit delete three times.

I am confident Mount would have hosted this weekend no matter who advanced. At least the No. 2 overall national seed. (Indeed, UST might be No. 1.)

[pg04]

I know I was nosy too and didn't find them LOL. I presume someone probably came to their senses. Or not.

I am confident Mount would have hosted this weekend no matter who advanced. At least the No. 2 overall national seed. (Indeed, UST might be No. 1.)

I'm not sure I agree with the committee on that point if that's the case (which if you say it is, I'm sure it is) but it's definitely not something I'd argue more about, especially now.

[MasterJedi]

I know I was nosy too and didn't find them LOL. I presume someone probably came to their senses. Or not.

I am confident Mount would have hosted this weekend no matter who advanced. At least the No. 2 overall national seed. (Indeed, UST might be No. 1.)

I'm not sure I agree with the committee on that point if that's the case (which if you say it is, I'm sure it is) but it's definitely not something I'd argue more about, especially now.

Mount was #1 in its regional rankings, UWO was #3, I'm 99.9% sure UWO wouldn't have hosted as well.

[pg04]

I know I was nosy too and didn't find them LOL. I presume someone probably came to their senses. Or not.

I am confident Mount would have hosted this weekend no matter who advanced. At least the No. 2 overall national seed. (Indeed, UST might be No. 1.)

I'm not sure I agree with the committee on that point if that's the case (which if you say it is, I'm sure it is) but it's definitely not something I'd argue more about, especially now.

Mount was #1 in its regional rankings, UWO was #3, I'm 99.9% sure UWO wouldn't have hosted as well.

That's true but the "strength" of the regions are not equal. Alas, this would be the reasoning used.