Mid-Atlantic Region 2016

[Mr.Right]

After seeing  both teams this past weekend I have to favor F&M over Cortland St. I was impressed with F&M this past weekend and to be quite honest they have a much easier game then Messiah does v Calvin who i think can stifle Messiah offensively and that game might come down to Pk's...

[Falconer]

After seeing  both teams this past weekend I have to favor F&M over Cortland St. I was impressed with F&M this past weekend and to be quite honest they have a much easier game then Messiah does v Calvin who i think can stifle Messiah offensively and that game might come down to Pk's...

I entirely agree with your analysis here, Mr Right, except the part about Cortland--only b/c I haven't seen them play myself and cannot apply the eye test.  The other three teams are all top caliber, worthy of making the Final Four. Perhaps Cortland is also. 

I've felt for weeks that Calvin, Messiah, and F&M were all superior in talent and coaching to Rowan, but I kept that to myself b/c the objective data did not support such a claim.  IMO Rowan relied too much on overly physical play, which doesn't usually work against the best teams--and can actually backfire, when officiating in the tournament (usually but not always superior to what you find in the regular season) calls the fouls and gives the free kicks and PKs that are in the rules.  I didn't see the Rowan-Tufts game, but others have said Tufts wasn't intimidated.  I imagine they weren't.

I don't expect to see much physicality in this sectional next weekend.  (Actually a business trip probably means I won't see it at all.)  I expect those teams to play soccer at a very high level.  It might indeed come down to PKs.  If Messiah ends up playing F&M, it will be a coaching battle between former college teammates.  They run their programs in a similar way and their teams play similar styles.  That game would feature Messiah vs their mirror image. 

[njf1003]

Sites have been updated.
Messiah is Fri/Sat
The rest (Tufts, Amherst, UChicago) are Sat/Sun

http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/soccer-men_d3_2016.pdf

[rudy]

F&M has a legit shot with the games being at Messiah.  However, I'll pick Cortland St in this clash.

Are the sectionals definitely at Messiah?  Have not seen that posted yet.

[njf1003]

F&M has a legit shot with the games being at Messiah.  However, I'll pick Cortland St in this clash.

Are the sectionals definitely at Messiah?  Have not seen that posted yet.

yes.
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/soccer-men_d3_2016.pdf

[Sherlock Holmes]

Messiah announced it on their Twitter feed late last night, if you're looking for further confirmation...

https://twitter.com/MessiahSports/status/798011423787917312

[rudy]

F&M has a legit shot with the games being at Messiah.  However, I'll pick Cortland St in this clash.

Are the sectionals definitely at Messiah?  Have not seen that posted yet.

yes.
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/soccer-men_d3_2016.pdf

Thanks. I saw that link just after I posted the question. Did not  see the Twitter post though. I like Messiahs chances playing on home field better than away on Turf so this is good news

[njf1003]

F&M has a legit shot with the games being at Messiah.  However, I'll pick Cortland St in this clash.

Are the sectionals definitely at Messiah?  Have not seen that posted yet.

yes.
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/soccer-men_d3_2016.pdf

Thanks. I saw that link just after I posted the question. Did not  see the Twitter post though. I like Messiahs chances playing on home field better than away on Turf so this is good news

I like F&M playing on turf better, so this is not good news! (lol)
But the NCAA seems to have a preference for grass and Messiah was regionally ranked higher so I have no actual problems with this decision!

[Flying Weasel]

Messiah was the highest seed in the sectional so as soon as the Messiah women didn't get to host (they weren't the highest seed in their sectional), the men were going to get to stay at home.  Who knows, given the men's Sectional is Fri/Sat, they may have been selected to host even if the women hosted Sat/Sun. 

Chicago hosted both men and women this past weekend, which was easier since Chicago men had a 1st Rnd bye, but it still meant 3 games on Saturday as both men and women played a Sat/Sun schedule.

[2xfaux]

Can you explain what you mean by highest seed in the section? 

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Can you explain what you mean by highest seed in the section?

Think of it like the NCAA tournament for college basketball. Messiah is essentially the #1 seed in the quadrant so they would have the first chance at hosting.

[Flying Weasel]

The NCAA has the teams seeded to some extent as that factors into who hosts.  For the 1st/2nd Round pods, the team at the top is the high seed in that pod regardless of who ends up hosting (that's stated in the Pre-Championships Manual).  Beyond that you can't know for sure the seeding.  However, in this case, Messiah was #1 and ahead of F&M in the final Mid-Atlantic regional rankings.  Calvin was only at #4 in the Central regional rankings and has inferior win pct., SOS, RvR to Messiah.  Cortland State at #1 in the East regional rankings could potentially be the highest seed in the sectional.  Messiah has a slightly better win pct., and little better SOS, and the RvR it's hard to say (Cortland 4-2-0, Messiah 2-0-3).  The assumption that Messiah was the highest seed seems to be validated by Messiah being named the host, but there could be other reasons for that (e.g. Cortland didn't bid to host).

[2xfaux]

Messiah hosting makes perfect sense to me but if the NCAA really has seeds then it would make sense to me that they should announce them rather than having to assume Messiah is the top seed because they are hosting.  In the end travel seems to trump (ugh!) seeds which would explain why the Inter-Galactic Quad is at Tufts and not Trinity or Kenyon.  There will be lots of interesting games this weekend where ever they are.

[blooter442]

Messiah hosting makes perfect sense to me but if the NCAA really has seeds then it would make sense to me that they should announce them rather than having to assume Messiah is the top seed because they are hosting.  In the end travel seems to trump (ugh!) seeds which would explain why the Inter-Galactic Quad is at Tufts and not Trinity or Kenyon.  There will be lots of interesting games this weekend where ever they are.

Inter-Galactic Quad. I like it. I vote we use that term with the same commitment as "Giant Slayer Goal." 

Additionally, Boston is one of the most affordable air markets in the country, which - in addition to only having to fly two teams instead of three - perhaps also explains why it was chosen. I have flown to five different U.S. cities in the past six months alone for $99 or less round trip.

[Flying Weasel]

Well, the men's Transcontinental Sectional is not at Trinity foremost because their women are the high seed in their sectional and being an even-numbered year, women have hosting priority for sectionals. 

I think there's probably a host of reasons to not announce seedings.  First and foremost, I don't think they do a full, formal seeding down through all the teams like the D-I Basketball.  The seeding does not really factor into the formation of brackets and pairings.  Geographical proximity and avoiding pitting teams from same conference in the first round seem to be the over-riding factors, combined with avoiding pitting top team against each other in the first round.  With the brackets formed, then they decide who hosts, at which point I think they look at seeding, or rather determine who would be the higher seed, consulting the final regional rankings.  Once they have determined the high seed in a pod or sectional, they try to reward that team with hosting privileges if (a) they bid to host, (b) have satisfactory facilities/hosting capabilities, (c) doesn't require excessive flying-in of other teams, and (d) their men's/women's team doesn't have hosting priority.  Now, I can imagine as they form the brackets, they already are thinking about who will host.  So I don't think they have an overall seeding, rather just seeding the teams with each pod and then in each sectional.  If they do have some broader seeding, since that seeding doesn't drive the bracketing, listing those seeds would broadcast in black and white where geography forced two top teams to play each other earlier than their seeding would justify.  Why announce that and draw attention to that?  To be clear, I am guessing here a bit and trying infer a bit from the language in the Pre-Championships Manual which doesn't spell this type of stuff out.