2016 NCAA Tournament

[wingtips2]

LOL was he arrested...Jesus?   I was comparing Amherst bench antics to Umass Boston bench antics which luckylefty mentioned they should not have advanced...Take ur purple and white blinders off...Amherst has not head butted a ref but they are not choirboys over there...

As I was leaving the game I saw their #77 getting driven away in a Cop car. Rumor was it was because he headbutted the ref and thus assaulted the referree. The stoppage of play was because the NCAA was trying to figure out whether or not to end the game with UMB forfeiting for their conduct. I suppose the ref decided to let it continue but truly the most classless performance from a team I've ever seen in my entire life

If somebody assaulted a referee in that manner the match should have been immediately called.

[njf1003]

In an effort to move to a more positive topic, where do we think sectionals are going to be?
Amherst and Chicago obviously.
Bottom left is a mess...
Bottom right Messiah? (or did I read somewhere they couldn't host?) Calvin has to fly to any of the potential sites.

[firstplaceloser]

Tufts really playing well against Rowan, giving them nothing offensively. They have not had a legit sniff all game. Tufts playing some good futbol with a lot of confidence right now.

i was not very surprised about tufts absolutely man handling rowan tonight. rowan does not show up against teams who can challenge them. maybe in the beginning of season
but as of late they have not. looks as if newark is the only team left in the NJAC!

[D3soccerwatcher]

Of the remaining 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament...
13 of 16 were on the latest NSCAA Top 25
11 of 16 were on the latest D3soccer.com Top 25

(someone can double check me on this)

[D3soccerwatcher]

Tufts gets the convincing victory over Rowan 1-0. They go down to Jersey and pick up another 2 shutouts to reach the Sweet 16. They are playing very confidently right now and besides the  Bowdoin losses they have 1 loss in the last 2 months. Certainly they are playing with as much confidence right now as any team in the country. That is why I thought the 2 Bowdoin wins over Tufts was enough to get them into the NCAA's. That is how well Tufts has been playing lately. It is nothing flashy just very workmanlike and playing as a very cohesive unit. Tehy looked much better tonight than they did last night against Springfield where their defense showed some holes

Rowan had definitely been fading in the past few weeks with losses to Rut-Newark and Montclair.  It caught up to them.  When you play physical and rely on that to win games it can sometimes bite you when you play teams that just give it right back as in the two recent losses in the NJAC.  Or when they face a team like Tufts that can absorb it and just play straight up soccer.

[firstplaceloser]

LOL was he arrested...Jesus?   I was comparing Amherst bench antics to Umass Boston bench antics which luckylefty mentioned they should not have advanced...Take ur purple and white blinders off...Amherst has not head butted a ref but they are not choirboys over there...

As I was leaving the game I saw their #77 getting driven away in a Cop car. Rumor was it was because he headbutted the ref and thus assaulted the referree. The stoppage of play was because the NCAA was trying to figure out whether or not to end the game with UMB forfeiting for their conduct. I suppose the ref decided to let it continue but truly the most classless performance from a team I've ever seen in my entire life

If somebody assaulted a referee in that manner the match should have been immediately called.

this game seemed to be rather interesting and i'm pretty mad i missed it

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Some take aways from the weekend...

Midwest Quadrant:

Chicago is elite, but Redlands will not be a pushover and has to be somewhat of a surprise to make it this far after their end of season woes and finishing 3-3-0 before NCAAs.

St. Thomas used the home field advantage and proved they belong. But wow this portion of the quadrant is weak. Winner of the Chicago vs Redlands game will be in the Final 4.

Transcontinental Quadrant:

No real surprises here from the first round winners but we had some quality match-ups in round 2! Rowan vs Tufts proved to be as real as the hype with the Jumbos surviving a nail biter in NJ. Haverford and UMass-Boston provided fireworks and another host team goes down. Trinity and Kenyon advance to provide a dream Sweet 16 match for us fans. This quadrant is a toss up and whoever survives will be battle tested enough to make a push for a title.

Northeast Quadrant:

One of two surprises has to be Rochester's early and bad exit thanks to Eastern. This helps the point many of us make when questioning the NCAA cmte decision on giving at-large bids to teams that aren't playing their best in the last few weeks of the season. UR finished their last 9 games with a grand record of 2-5-2. Tell us again how they were deserving of a bid? Ohio Wesleyan is another good example of this but at least they put up a fight. Does anyone really believe that Loras or Middlebury would have lost to Eastern?

Moving on, St. Joseph's stuns Babson only to run out of gas vs Brandeis. Amherst and Brandeis cruise to a heavyweight bout that everyone will be watching. Newark advances with ease while Oneonta is skating on thin ice. An Amherst vs Newark Elite 8 game is almost inevitable.

East Quadrant:

As expected in this quadrant too. SLU vs W&L was the blockbuster first round game that provided nothing short of a great game. W&L early season hype slowly faded after getting dismantled by Messiah and they never recovered. Cortland cruises and provides us with a great Sweet 16 match vs F&M. Flip a coin for that one.

Calvin quietly advancing to face their toughest test yet vs a confident but slightly nervous Messiah team. Look for Calvin to make the most of this game.

OWU and ONU with big disappointments, but to be fair both drew very difficult first round games. Newport thrashed Montclair but apparently scored too much as they couldn't find the back of the net vs Messiah. Messiah now has 15 shut outs in 22 games. Who doesn't want to see a Messiah vs Chicago final?!

Will we see a Mid-Atlantic championship game to advance to the Final 4 from this region? One can only hope 

Overall Thoughts:

Chicago has to be the overall favorite right now with Messiah close behind. The Midwest is a breeze for them while the Transcontinental is a toss up. Amherst is a slight favorite for the Northeast as is Messiah in the East. Should be a fun weekend of games!!

[firstplaceloser]

Some take aways from the weekend...

Midwest Quadrant:

Chicago is elite, but Redlands will not be a pushover and has to be somewhat of a surprise to make it this far after their end of season woes and finishing 3-3-0 before NCAAs.

St. Thomas used the home field advantage and proved they belong. But wow this portion of the quadrant is weak. Winner of the Chicago vs Redlands game will be in the Final 4.

Transcontinental Quadrant:

No real surprises here from the first round winners but we had some quality match-ups in round 2! Rowan vs Tufts proved to be as real as the hype with the Jumbos surviving a nail biter in NJ. Haverford and UMass-Boston provided fireworks and another host team goes down. Trinity and Kenyon advance to provide a dream Sweet 16 match for us fans. This quadrant is a toss up and whoever survives will be battle tested enough to make a push for a title.

Northeast Quadrant:

One of two surprises has to be Rochester's early and bad exit thanks to Eastern. This helps the point many of us make when questioning the NCAA cmte decision on giving at-large bids to teams that aren't playing their best in the last few weeks of the season. UR finished their last 9 games with a grand record of 2-5-2. Tell us again how they were deserving of a bid? Ohio Wesleyan is another good example of this but at least they put up a fight. Does anyone really believe that Loras or Middlebury would have lost to Eastern?

Moving on, St. Joseph's stuns Babson only to run out of gas vs Brandeis. Amherst and Brandeis cruise to a heavyweight bout that everyone will be watching. Newark advances with ease while Oneonta is skating on thin ice. An Amherst vs Newark Elite 8 game is almost inevitable.

East Quadrant:

As expected in this quadrant too. SLU vs W&L was the blockbuster first round game that provided nothing short of a great game. W&L early season hype slowly faded after getting dismantled by Messiah and they never recovered. Cortland cruises and provides us with a great Sweet 16 match vs F&M. Flip a coin for that one.

Calvin quietly advancing to face their toughest test yet vs a confident but slightly nervous Messiah team. Look for Calvin to make the most of this game.

OWU and ONU with big disappointments, but to be fair both drew very difficult first round games. Newport thrashed Montclair but apparently scored too much as they couldn't find the back of the net vs Messiah. Messiah now has 15 shut outs in 22 games. Who doesn't want to see a Messiah vs Chicago final?!

Will we see a Mid-Atlantic championship game to advance to the Final 4 from this region? One can only hope 

Overall Thoughts:

Chicago has to be the overall favorite right now with Messiah close behind. The Midwest is a breeze for them while the Transcontinental is a toss up. Amherst is a slight favorite for the Northeast as is Messiah in the East. Should be a fun weekend of games!!

Chicago vs messiah final will be a repeat of the 2013 National Title game. although i do wish i would've played against this 2016 team and not the 2013 boys.

[PaulNewman]

I missed that 2013 Chicago-Messiah national final.  Was it a good one?

[blooter442]

Northeast Quadrant:

One of two surprises has to be Rochester's early and bad exit thanks to Eastern. This helps the point many of us make when questioning the NCAA cmte decision on giving at-large bids to teams that aren't playing their best in the last few weeks of the season. UR finished their last 9 games with a grand record of 2-5-2. Tell us again how they were deserving of a bid? Ohio Wesleyan is another good example of this but at least they put up a fight. Does anyone really believe that Loras or Middlebury would have lost to Eastern?

I believe FW stated a while back that "recent performance" is not part of the NCAA's selection criteria. Regardless, at the risk of being labeled the Resident Rochester Curmudgeon (if I haven't been already), I have said repeatedly that Rochester's 7-0-1 start to the season was potentially deceptive, as the only real test they had was against RPI - the lone draw in that stretch. UR got found out during the second half of its regular season, going 2-4-2 (2-3-2 in the UAA and a 3-0 drubbing against Vassar). The one thing that UR did have going for it was its RvR (4-3-1) and SoS (.616), both of which are very good, and I can perhaps understand why they were chosen this year, although they have certainly been chosen in dubious circumstances in the past.

I do think that SoS and RvR should be accounted for in terms of teams getting into the tournament: both Brandeis and Tufts had SoS and RvRs that were - comparatively speaking - better than their winning percentages, and are both in the Sweet 16, which I think speaks to both squads' abilities as NCAA teams. That said, we see other teams like Babson and Rochester who were selected for Pool C bids based on those factors this year, yet fell in the 1st Round. Since 2012, Rochester has advanced to the 2nd Round on 3 of 4 occasions, but has only gotten to the Sweet 16 once during that stretch (2013), while Babson has hosted in 3 of the last 5 years (albeit 2014 was supposed to be at SUNY Cortland) yet has fallen in the 1st Round in all 3 home and all 4 total tournament appearances during that stretch. In fact, looking back on it, Babson has not advanced past the 1st Round since 2011, which is surprising to me.

Bottom line: SoS and RvR are and should be factors in tournament selection, but perhaps too many teams are being selected on the basis of those two criteria, as evident by consistent early exits.

On another note - for a conference that gets as many bids as the UAA - it is mind-boggling that, in the last five years, the UAA has only gotten teams to the Sweet 16 on two occasions other than Brandeis' five-year run between 2012 and 2016: 2013 (Rochester) and 2016 (Chicago). Certainly, the geographic diversity of UAA teams has something to do with it, and perhaps partially explains why UAA teams tend to have more early exits than if those teams were concentrated into one or two quadrants of the bracket, but part of it come downs to a sheer lack of execution. This year, Chicago could well be the first UAA school to advance to the Final 4 and possibly even win the national title since NYU in 2006 and Brandeis in 1976, respectively (although it should be noted that Brandeis was not a member of the UAA when it won the 1976 NCAA title). However, even as a UAA supporter, I think the UAA as a whole has to perform more consistently on the biggest stage given its prestige.

[lastguyoffthebench]

After watching the Redlands-Washington game, I'm rolling with the upset pick in Chicago.     

[Shooter McGavin]

I think the argument MAF is hinting at, if I may take a guess, is that end of year performance should be a possible edition to the decision making process. We see it often with soccer and college basketball that a team getting hot at the right time tends to be discussed more for a potential bid rather than a team with a hot start and poor finish.

Now this is where arguments have come up last year...why punish a team for a good start but poor finish? Or why reward a team for a poor start but good finish to a season? Which is why the season is looked at from an entire seasons perspective, as it should be, BUT I can definitely see the point MAF is making. Unfortunately I don't have a solution to offer. Also doesn't help that the East Region was a mess this year and basically guaranteed a spot for Oneonta and UR despite average resumes.   

A team like UR is a good example of why the debate even exists though.

[blooter442]

Now this is where arguments have come up last year...why punish a team for a good start but poor finish? Or why reward a team for a poor start but good finish to a season? Which is why the season is looked at from an entire seasons perspective, as it should be, BUT I can definitely see the point MAF is making. Unfortunately I don't have a solution to offer. Also doesn't help that the East Region was a mess this year and basically guaranteed a spot for Oneonta and UR despite average resumes.   

I agree with you, but I think that if Team A and Team B have identical winning %, SoS, RvR, etc., and Team A started hot but faded and Team B the reverse, you'd be hard-pressed to choose Team A over Team B considering the timing of the postseason. Of course, such a situation is merely hypothetical, and it is unlikely that two teams will have exactly identical resumes, but all things equal I think the team peaking at the right time should be rewarded over the team squeaking into the tourney by the skin of its teeth.

A team like UR is a good example of why the debate even exists though.

Yup. That's why I was glad that they didn't get a bid last year: just to prove to the non-UR folks that the Yellowjackets don't have a divine right despite having gotten into the tournament with questionable resumes on numerous occasions in recent years.

[Flying Weasel]

Men's Sectional Hosts:
Midwest - Chicago
Transcontinental - ? ? ?
Northeast - Amherst
East - Messiah

Still haven't heard who's hosting the far-flung Transcontinental Sectional.  Anyone hear anything?  The Trinity women are hosting their sectional, so that should rule Trinity out.  Tufts or Mass-Boston would mean only two teams flying in instead of three.  It was mentioned that Kenyon may not have bid to host.  Kenyon would mean three teams flying in, so even if they bid, you'd think this is going to Tufts or Mass-Boston.


Women's Sectionl Hosts:
Atlantic - Williams
West - UW-Whitewater
Central - Trinity (Texas)
Northeast - Brandeis

I'm very curious as to why William Smith is not hosting the women's Northeast Sectional.  Perfect 18-0-0 record.  All team within 500 miles of each other, so no flights either way.  Did the powerhouse program not bid to host?

[Falconer]

I missed that 2013 Chicago-Messiah national final.  Was it a good one?

I missed that one, too.