2016 NCAA Tournament

[firstplaceloser]

The Tommies will play Friday Dec. 2 in Salem, Va., in the national semifinals against unranked Tufts (Mass.) (13-5-2). Unranked Brandeis (13-5-4) and No. 16-ranked Calvin (22-2) play that day in the other semifinal.

this sentence right here is astonishing in a good way. 2 unranked teams,a #8, and #16 ranking. when was the last time this has happened ? it's amazing that teams like this battle through and survive and advance. no one in their right mind would've picked any of these teams besides Tufts given their past tournament results

[Jump4Joy]

Yes, it's what makes the Beautiful Game a three-act play (pre-season, regular season, post-season), featuring comedy, tragedy, scene changes, foreshadowing, plot twists and a ton of character development. Though I'm usually seated in the upper loge by this time each year (except for 2015  ), it's still quite a show!

[d3fan1]

This is the 4th appearance in the final 4 for Calvin since 2009. They are consistently under rated. This   year is surprising though only because of the tough route they had to get there. Not very people would predict Calvin to beat Messiah at Messiah. One of these year maybe it won't be a surprise when they succeed.

[wingtips2]

While things are a bit calm for the next week or so, I have a "soccer speak" question that I am sure you folks can answer.  It is an "is" and "are" question.  I know that the Jumbos "are" on a roll.  Does that also mean Tufts "are" on a roll?  I know that in the World Cup Germany "are" a good side and the U.S. "are" not so much.  Barcelona is a wonderful city and Barcelona are a good side.  Tufts "is" a great university and the Tuft's University Men's Soccer Team "is" or "are" headed back to the final four??   

Tufts "are" headed back to the Final 4.  It appears to be an English thing to refer to a team in the plural.  Perhaps, even though a team is a singular unit, the reference comes from the fact that the team consists of 11 players.

Tufts is not plural....it is singular - it is one university, not several.
"Tufts University is headed." Same thing as "Tufts is headed."

[wingtips2]

The Tommies will play Friday Dec. 2 in Salem, Va., in the national semifinals against unranked Tufts (Mass.) (13-5-2). Unranked Brandeis (13-5-4) and No. 16-ranked Calvin (22-2) play that day in the other semifinal.

this sentence right here is astonishing in a good way. 2 unranked teams,a #8, and #16 ranking. when was the last time this has happened ? it's amazing that teams like this battle through and survive and advance. no one in their right mind would've picked any of these teams besides Tufts given their past tournament results

Calvin is a surprise? 3 final four appearances in the previous 7 seasons and it is a surprise to see them here?
They come from a weak conference and have an under-represented fan base on here so i understand how it surprising to a lot of people with the inclination to look past flyover country.

[firstplaceloser]

The Tommies will play Friday Dec. 2 in Salem, Va., in the national semifinals against unranked Tufts (Mass.) (13-5-2). Unranked Brandeis (13-5-4) and No. 16-ranked Calvin (22-2) play that day in the other semifinal.

this sentence right here is astonishing in a good way. 2 unranked teams,a #8, and #16 ranking. when was the last time this has happened ? it's amazing that teams like this battle through and survive and advance. no one in their right mind would've picked any of these teams besides Tufts given their past tournament results

Calvin is a surprise? 3 final four appearances in the previous 7 seasons and it is a surprise to see them here?
They come from a weak conference and have an under-represented fan base on here so i understand how it surprising to a lot of people with the inclination to look past flyover country.

i'm not quite sure you read my post right. i literally said it was astonsishing in a good way... and yes calvin is a surprise they haven't had the best of seasons. thy didn't make a lot of noise but now they are which is good like i said. i'm sure i'm not the only one to not pick any of the final four correct. im actually pulling for Calvin this weekend

[firstplaceloser]

also the fact that Calvin hasn't made it to the final four since 2011, makes them pretty surprising to me.

[Flying Weasel]

uhhhh.... Calvin was in last years Final Four.

[augie77]

The Tommies will play Friday Dec. 2 in Salem, Va., in the national semifinals against unranked Tufts (Mass.) (13-5-2). Unranked Brandeis (13-5-4) and No. 16-ranked Calvin (22-2) play that day in the other semifinal.

this sentence right here is astonishing in a good way. 2 unranked teams,a #8, and #16 ranking. when was the last time this has happened ? it's amazing that teams like this battle through and survive and advance. no one in their right mind would've picked any of these teams besides Tufts given their past tournament results

Calvin is a surprise? 3 final four appearances in the previous 7 seasons and it is a surprise to see them here?
They come from a weak conference and have an under-represented fan base on here so i understand how it surprising to a lot of people with the inclination to look past flyover country.

I guess it's hard to imagine that any of the farmers in "flyover country" could actually play soccer?? 

[firstplaceloser]

uhhhh.... Calvin was in last years Final Four.

my mistake, i didn't really follow much of the season last year. but regardless i never stated that Calvin wasn't good enough or shouldn't belong. he took my comment and just took it in whatever direction he wanted.

[Mr.Right]

I think of the 4 teams left Calvin is the best side based on what I have watched and you can see that in my odds / predictions....However, make no mistake any team can win this thing with 2 solid efforts in 2 games. It will be interesting to see how Brandeis comes out against Calvin in the 1st Half. They went at Amherst without any fear but by the end of the game they were getting gassed IMO. Will they sit and counter 1st Half and reserve energy or do they try to snag the 1st goal of the game? The Tufts v St.Thomas game will also be interesting...St,Thomas from what I have only seen 0on the stream looks like a big workmanlike side just like Tufts. Tufts might have a bit more talent but the game could go either way. If the field is 120 x 80 then Tufts might be able to spread them out but as I have said about 3 times already I really see Tufts weakness being at LB. McMillian to me can be beaten and again I would overflow that flank and go right at him.

[Christan Shirk]

Apologies that D3soccer.com's tournament coverage this year has been running behind schedule.  Lots of OT at my paying job and family life have made it impossible for me to keep up this year, and it seems all our staff/contributors have less time to devote to the site this year.  Anyway, we just published the first of four interviews with the Final Four men's head coaches.  Ryan does an excellent job with these.

November 30, 2016
Interview: Jon Lowery, St. Thomas men's coach
By Ryan Harmanis

[PaulNewman]

Wow.  The interviews are always excellent but that may be the best one yet. 

In my mind Tufts and Calvin go in as co-faves, with Calvin perhaps by a nose based on Tufts catching a couple of unexpected breaks (UMass issues, home field) and Calvin at least on paper coming through the most difficult overall gauntlet all on the road.  We know Brandeis can beat either or both, and then especially for us East Coasters STU is the wild card/longshot.  The Tommies have been able to come from behind in the tournament so far but that would not seem to be a winning strategy versus Tufts.  Maybe they should look to Kuplic early rather than late.  The STU coach clearly has a great pedigree so again we've got four outstanding coaches leading their squads.

[Mr.Right]

Yes but i have been around long enough to see a team that is just "happy" to be in the Final 4 with the rest being gravy. This is where I give Tufts a major edge in this game. I am Nescac biased but this advantage cannot be understated. Tufts will know how to handle the long break off and basically all the intangibles that Tufts will know how to deal with better than St.Thomas. The 1st goal in this game will be key as in most games. I think Tufts will have a real good chance to score 1st and early in the game if St.Thomas is not focused and "ready to go". The longer St.Thomas stays 0-0 or even grabs a quick lead the better chance they will have to advance. However. being down in 3 of their 4 NCAA games does not speak well for a great start to the game. Their determination and focus was in play to come back and win all those games. I do not think it would behoove them to go down in this game as Tufts is a different beast when they go up 1-0. Let us not forget that Tufts has 4 straight shutouts in 4 NCAA games so far against some pretty good competition. This game should be very telling if St.Thomas is "just happy to be in the Final 4" or if they are ready to WIN this whole thing.

[Christan Shirk]

And the second of the four interviews with the Final Four men's head coaches is posted . . .

November 30, 2016
Interview: Josh Shapiro, Tufts men's coach
By Ryan Harmanis