2018 Season - National Perspective

[mondomike]

is there a proper link for the selection show?

https://www.ncaa.com/video/soccer-men/2018-11-05/diii-mens-soccer-2018-selection-show

[TheGreenKnight920]

is there a proper link for the selection show?

https://www.ncaa.com/video/soccer-men/2018-11-05/diii-mens-soccer-2018-selection-show?sf201594643=1

[Gregory Sager]

Well, NPU didn't make it. I'm extremely disappointed, but I have no complaints. The Vikings knew what they needed to do, which was to win on Saturday and avoid the bubble, and in spite of dominating the match against Carthage they didn't get it accomplished. It is what it is. NPU's SoS just wasn't high enough to get the Vikings on firm ground for a Pool C.

[gustiefan04]

Definitely surprised to see St. Thomas, GAC and Augsburg all get Pool C bids. That makes 4 teams from the MIAC in the tournament this year. Amazing!

[Flying Weasel]

The North Region was the hardest to figure out what order teams would end up in, and I never thought so berths would come from there.  Four teams from the MIAC is crazy.  Not sure how anybody could have predicted that.

[MinnesotaSoccer10]

Definitely surprised to see St. Thomas, GAC and Augsburg all get Pool C bids. That makes 4 teams from the MIAC in the tournament this year. Amazing!

This is a huge surprise and I'm not sure if it is very deserved? Non the less it is exciting for the conference, which I am partial too. Very tough draw for Carleton, who got the AQ but has to go to U Chicago. UST hosting is a bit of a head scratcher, but they do have a very nice facility and location so that maybe played a part?

Side notes: I can't help but feel bad for St. Norberts here, and the soccer purest part of me is happy to not see Loras make it with their terrible soccer brand. I will admit I haven't watched them this year so I do not know if much has changed and all my ill feelings are based of of years past.

[Ejay]

Augsburg isn't ranked in 3rd regional poll and loses MIAC title in PKs. Definitely a bit surprising IMO.

[blooter442]

Augsburg isn't ranked in 3rd regional poll and loses MIAC title in PKs. Definitely a bit surprising IMO.

2319, did you get your EB removed?

[lastguyoffthebench]

I'm surprised to see Southwestern get in at 12-5-3.  Picking up 3 RvR wins over Colorado and taking Trinity to PKs salvaged their season.

Seeing NP, C-M-S, and SNC all fail to earn a Pool C just stresses the importance of SOS.

I still cannot believe the love for MIAC and the North Region...

[TheGreenKnight920]

Seeing NP, C-M-S, and SNC all fail to earn a Pool C just stresses the importance of SOS.

I still cannot believe the love for MIAC and the North Region...

Not even a surprise at this point, over-emphasized metric in SOS, combined with an affinity for a particular conference by the committee, will produce results like this. Same story for pretty much every other sport, and its quite sad, really. The field, as well as fans like us, will miss out on seeing teams who really deserve to be there and would put up a fight against anyone. The old cliché is that "someone has to be the last one out," well, sure, but subjectivity always is a product of bias (whether unconscious or not) and in this case, we get teams like Middlebury, Williams, St. Thomas, Platteville, etc... win out due to factors that you won't find on a stats sheet.

[TheGreenKnight920]

Augsburg isn't ranked in 3rd regional poll and loses MIAC title in PKs. Definitely a bit surprising IMO.

I mean, good for them for sneaking in, but this might be the most laughable selection yet. They could prove me wrong, certainly, but this is exactly why I sound like a broken record railing against some of this selection criteria.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Losing to Calvin 2x and getting bumped.    There is no HOPE.

[TheGreenKnight920]

Losing to Calvin 2x and getting bumped.    There is no HOPE.

This one baffles me as well...you're telling me that Hope wasn't a better team than Augsburg, St. Thomas, etc....yikes

[Gregory Sager]

I'm surprised to see Southwestern get in at 12-5-3.  Picking up 3 RvR wins over Colorado and taking Trinity to PKs salvaged their season.

Seeing NP, C-M-S, and SNC all fail to earn a Pool C just stresses the importance of SOS.

NPU was to some extent the victim of down years for a number of programs that have typically done better. (Yeah, I'm looking at you, Thomas More, Carthage, and Elmhurst.)

There's only so much that you can do with regard to scheduling when it comes to SoS. Some of it is simply crossing your fingers and hoping that your opponents do well when they're not playing you (or, in the case of your conference rivals, when they're playing non-conference opponents). It just didn't work out in NPU's favor this season.

[Gregory Sager]

Losing to Calvin 2x and getting bumped.    There is no HOPE.

This one baffles me as well...you're telling me that Hope wasn't a better team than Augsburg, St. Thomas, etc....yikes

... and it sucked for NPU, too, because, although I haven't seen the final ranking, I doubt that NPU passed Hope -- which kept the Vikings from ever getting to the table.