2016 NCAA Tournament

[PaulNewman]

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?

Gonna guess Tufts.  Hard to imagine UMass-Boston after serious consideration of a forfeit and fact that I think they borrow a local high school field with football lines.  If so, NCAA magic continues to find the Jumbos.  I had thought Trinity might have a chance since once you're flying 2 teams how much difference does 3 make, but seeing that Trinity is out because of the women settles that (unless another San Antonio venue is available).  Also would see fair given all the years Trinity is forced to travel.

[Flying Weasel]

None of the four teams have a location given on their schedules.  Kenyon shows their match with Trinity as if it's at a neutral site (in italics).  The other three still listing "@ TBA".  Is it possible it hasn't been decided yet?

[PaulNewman]

None of the four teams have a location given on their schedules.  Kenyon shows their match with Trinity as if it's at a neutral site (in italics).  The other three still listing "@ TBA".  Is it possible it hasn't been decided yet?

Obviously a difficult decision.  Kenyon doesn't make sense even if applied because of 3 flights which would make Trinity no different as a choice.  Presumably Trinity and Kenyon are the top remaining seeds.  All signs point to Tufts, but how many times can the cmte make high seed Trinity come to Massachusetts?  Could Trinity play where they played Final Four???

[OldNed]

Some take aways from the weekend...


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.

I was at both St. Joseph's games this weekend and in my opinion Brandeis was just a better and more dangerous offensive team than Babson.  I think you're right that St. Joseph's ran out of gas a little bit, but I think more of it was due to the quality of play from Brandeis.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Amherst vs. Brandeis.

[Mr.Right]

UMASS Boston played their 4 Home games in their conference at Boston College turf field I believe. Maybe they are waiting to see if BC is hosting in the D1 tourney? Doubtful but who knows...

FYI----1pm NCAA D1 Selection show that relies heavily on a system D3 should use.  The RPI system

[PaulNewman]

UMASS Boston played their 4 Home games in their conference at Boston College turf field I believe. Maybe they are waiting to see if BC is hosting in the D1 tourney? Doubtful but who knows...

FYI----1pm NCAA D1 Selection show that relies heavily on a system D3 should use.  The RPI system

Boston College High School in Dorchester....not Boston College in Chestnut Hill.

[Mr.Right]

UMASS Boston played their 4 Home games in their conference at Boston College turf field I believe. Maybe they are waiting to see if BC is hosting in the D1 tourney? Doubtful but who knows...

FYI----1pm NCAA D1 Selection show that relies heavily on a system D3 should use.  The RPI system

Boston College High School in Dorchester....not Boston College in Chestnut Hill.

Oh is that where they wee playing......Damn BC High has some nice facilities...Then it HAS to be Tufts but why the wait???

[blooter442]

I was at both St. Joseph's games this weekend and in my opinion Brandeis was just a better and more dangerous offensive team than Babson.  I think you're right that St. Joseph's ran out of gas a little bit, but I think more of it was due to the quality of play from Brandeis.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Amherst vs. Brandeis.

Was only at the second game myself, but agree on all fronts. St. Joe's was resolute and had a game plan and stuck to it. The difference between Babson and Brandeis at this stage of the season, in my opinion, is that Brandeis has been a bit more dynamic and opportunistic in its finishing.

Earlier this year, Brandeis had some problems defensively, and I personally didn't see how in the world they would beat teams like Emory and Rochester if they couldn't close a game out against Wheaton (a 5-4 loss in OT). At 3-3-2 in September I figured they were certainly out of the NCAAs Pool C question. That said, the Judges really pulled things together starting in mid-October, and Sam Vinson - a D-I transfer from Loyola Chicago - has been impressive at left-back during that stretch, as has Thales Brito at CB. Offensively, Brandeis struggled for goals for a while, but seems to have become more reliable with finishing during the latter part of the year. And with Vieira and Jastremski firing on all cylinders at the crucial part of the season, it seems like Brandeis is getting its mojo back at the right time.

As for Babson, they're a very functional side and resolute defensively, but they can be anemic offensively at times. They moved Adam Villari from outside back to striker and he did well enough after a slow start, scoring 7 goals and 4 assists, which was good enough for All-NEWMAC 1st Team honors. Yet while it is admirable that he was able to adjust to being a striker, he wasn't by any means an All-American candidate or anything like that IMHO. And that's not to slight Villari, but rather highlighting the fact that Babson's reliance on an outside-back-turned-forward to score their goals was always going to be a problem, and so it proved.

[Mr.Right]

For New England fans / Nescac fans we have a great opportunity to catch a pod as 2 of the 4 pods will be hosted by Nescac teams and both in Massachusetts. One interesting side note is that NCAA.COM has posted that Amherst will play the 11am game v Brandeis. Usually they choose to play the later game so that is interesting. I think i would like to catch both games so I will be relying on 2 good streams at Amherst and at Tufts. Messiah's stream is obviously very good but I cannot remember Chicago's stream quality. Looks like for us neutrals all the streams will be top quality and the weather looks to be very good this week-end in New England. Sometimes wind and rain and snow can really affect the stream and announcers.

[blooter442]

For New England fans / Nescac fans we have a great opportunity to catch a pod as 2 of the 4 pods will be hosted by Nescac teams and both in Massachusetts. One interesting side note is that NCAA.COM has posted that Amherst will play the 11am game v Brandeis. Usually they choose to play the later game so that is interesting. I think i would like to catch both games so I will be relying on 2 good streams at Amherst and at Tufts. Messiah's stream is obviously very good but I cannot remember Chicago's stream quality. Looks like for us neutrals all the streams will be top quality and the weather looks to be very good this week-end in New England. Sometimes wind and rain and snow can really affect the stream and announcers.

Chicago's stream is very good. I think you have to sign up once but it is free and after that you can just log in. Chicago announcers are very good from what I can recall. I like the Amherst announcer, too, he is pretty neutral and certainly very entertaining. Some of his metaphors are an absolute riot: he commented last year that Trinity's bench "was sitting like they're waiting for a bus." Only thing about the Tufts stream, which has been good in my experience, is that the color guy is incredibly drab and boring in my opinion - I think he was the color guy at MIT last year and was equally bad - so I will either go in person or watch on mute.

[oldonionbag]

Tufts will host the next round, confirmed:
http://gotuftsjumbos.com/sports/msoc/2016-17/releases/20161114jmrw2z

[PaulNewman]

Tufts will host the next round, confirmed:
http://gotuftsjumbos.com/sports/msoc/2016-17/releases/20161114jmrw2z

Great for us NE and MA folks and obviously a big boost for Tufts in addition to getting a depleted opponent.  Not saying UMass doesn't have a chance but would have been more exciting/entertaining if UMass had their go-to stud available. Seems a little unfair to Trinity to always have to travel so far even when highly seeded.  Second time in two years Trinity is sent to NESCAC-land for Sectionals.

[PaulNewman]

Any Tufts folks or NE fans know why Tufts is playing at Bello (turf) instead of Kraft (grass)?

First thought on Messiah-Calvin.  Calvin will not beat themselves nor lose control.  Should be a good game.  However, Messiah home field obviously a big advantage and I think the large size of the field helps Messiah as well.  Calvin will not be able to swarm the middle of the field and close down as effectively as they did against ONU and CMU.  That will be key to game IMO with Messiah also having more dangerous offensive threats coming from all directions and positions than Calvin can produce.

[rudy]

Any Tufts folks or NE fans know why Tufts is playing at Bello (turf) instead of Kraft (grass)?

First thought on Messiah-Calvin.  Calvin will not beat themselves nor lose control.  Should be a good game.  However, Messiah home field obviously a big advantage and I think the large size of the field helps Messiah as well.  Calvin will not be able to swarm the middle of the field and close down as effectively as they did against ONU and CMU.  That will be key to game IMO with Messiah also having more dangerous offensive threats coming from all directions and positions than Calvin can produce.

Probably because Tuft's men play all their home games on Bello so they are used to it.  Tufts women play on the grass so I assume the coach prefers the turf for his team.   

[blooter442]

Probably because Tuft's men play all their home games on Bello so they are used to it.  Tufts women play on the grass so I assume the coach prefers the turf for his team.

Up until this year, Tufts actually played all of its games on grass, at Kraft, so I think NCAC was speaking to the switch in general rather than to the location of the tourney. Not sure what prompted the switch, but I do think it perhaps makes sense given Tufts' propensity to play possession-based futbol on the ground where turf can provide a quicker surface.