NCAA TOURNAMENT 2024

[Mr_November]

SUNY Cortland vs Messiah - Historical View (3 meetings)
2014 - Messiah 6-0 Cortland
2018 - Messiah 2-2 Cortland
2018 - Messiah 3-2 Cortland (NCAA Sweet Sixteen)

SUNY Cortland vs Williams - Historical View (1 meeting)
2024 - Cortland 0-1 Williams

Williams vs Messiah - Historical View (3 meetings)
2009 - Messiah 2-1 Williams (NCAA Final Four)
2013 - Messiah 4-0 Williams (NCAA Final Four)
2022 - Messiah 0-0 Williams*(NCAA First Round)

Wiliams win 4-3 on PKs

[PaulNewman]

Every game Jay Martin has from here on out could be his last.

Will OWU overlook a solid Catholic side in its eagerness to knock off D3s best team this year...and desire to avenge a loss to MWU a couple of years ago on the MWU pitch?

If OWU does get past Catholic I expect OWU to empty the clip, so to speak, in a valiant effort to pull off the upset and keep the Martin tenure alive at least another week, but alas, I just think MWU has too much talent and poise.  Becomes far more dicey if OWU is level or ahead with 20-25 minutes to go when the pressure might start bothering the Eagles just a bit.

[FanofNescac]

I was checking Catholic's stats and #18 Woodings has 15 goals. He's a D1 transfer from UNC Greensboro. The next goal scorer has 2..

[SierraFD3soccer]

F&M and Cortland (and maybe Stevens) always seem to get brutal 2nd round games.  And yes, F&M has a test against a tough West Conn team first and would not be shocking to see WConn advance.  If F&M gets there to meet Conn I think it will take at least 3 goals to win while I suppose one could hope for a PK advance after 2-2.  Of course Conn's record in PKs is legendary.  I do think F&M is good enough to knock out Conn but I wouldn't bet on it.  You can never rule out weather causing a move to turf from grass but at a quick glance I don't see major weather events on the horizon at least in the Northeast.

F&M and Cortland even played each other in the second round in 2022 where Cortland won on pks 7-6 after tying 3-3. Cortland at that time had several really good transfers from D1 programs.

[Gregory Sager]

Historical view of the St. Olaf pod
home teams in italics
* neutral-site games

North Park vs. UW-Superior (0 games)

North Park vs. St. Olaf (5 games, NPU 4-1)
2000 -- North Park 2, St. Olaf 1
2010 -- St. Olaf 2, North Park 1
2012 -- North Park 1, St. Olaf 0
2021 -- North Park 1, St. Olaf 0 (NCAA Sweet Sixteen) *
2022 -- North Park 4, St. Olaf 2 *

North Park vs. Wartburg (5 games, WC 2-1-2)
2006 -- Wartburg 3, North Park 1
2006 -- Wartburg 2, North Park 1 (NCAA First Round) *
2007 -- North Park 2, Wartburg 0
2023 -- North Park 0, Wartburg 0
2024 -- North Park 0, Wartburg 0

St. Olaf vs. Wartburg (10 games, SOC 6-4)
1988 -- St. Olaf 2, Wartburg 0
1991 -- St. Olaf 5, Wartburg 1
2004 -- St. Olaf 1, Wartburg 0
2005 -- Wartburg 3, St. Olaf 1
2006 -- Wartburg 1, St. Olaf 0
2007 -- Wartburg 4, St. Olaf 2
2008 -- Wartburg 2, St. Olaf 1
2009 -- St. Olaf 2, Wartburg 1
2015 -- St. Olaf 1, Wartburg 0
2019 -- St. Olaf 1, Wartburg 0

Wartburg vs. UW-Superior (1 game, UWS 1-0)
2015 -- UW-Superior 1, Wartburg 0

St. Olaf vs. UW-Superior (8 games, SOC 6-1-1)
2009 -- UW-Superior 0, St. Olaf 0
2010 -- St. Olaf 2, UW-Superior 1
2011 -- UW-Superior 1, St. Olaf 0
2012 -- St. Olaf 4, UW-Superior 0
2013 -- St. Olaf 1, UW-Superior 0
2014 -- St. Olaf 1, UW-Superior 0
2021 -- St. Olaf 6, UW-Superior 1
2023 -- St. Olaf 7, UW-Superior 1 (NCAA First Round)

[oacalum]

An interesting first round storyline. Longtime ONU head coach, Brent Ridenour (who led ONU to the national championship game in 2012), is now the head coach of Franciscan. Current ONU head coach, Chris Matejka, played at ONU for Ridenour as a senior on that 2012 team. Teacher vs pupil matchup.

[Gregory Sager]

Another interesting first-round storyline is that former UW-Platteville head coach Enzo Fuschino, who left the Pioneers to take over at North Central in 2019, is going up to St. Peter, MN to play his former team in the Gustavus Adolphus pod. It'll be the first time he's faced UW-Platteville since his inaugural season at NCC.

[TheWolf]

The storyline in the Kenyon pod could become especially intriguing if Kenyon and Hamilton meet on Sunday. Kenyon has not faced a NESCAC team since their 2022 loss to Williams in the Elite Eight, after which they took to Twitter to say, "playing for set pieces is not the Kenyon way". While Hamilton does not rely on set pieces to the same extent as Williams or Amherst, their familiarity with the physical, strategic NESCAC style could pose a significant challenge for the Owls. If Hamilton can get past Calvin in the first round, expect them to be a very tough second-round matchup for Kenyon if they bring the NESCAC style to Ohio.

[CACDaddy]

I really like the Bowdoin Polar Bears to easily bury Hardin-Simmons and follow that up with a win against Trinity to assert nationwide NESCAC dominance. Tyler Huck is an incredible goal scorer and play creator and Carlton Steinberg has been phenomenal at outside back. He beautifully combines speed and poise to carry the Polar Bear squad on his shoulders. He's the emotional leader of that squad and the first Filipino American with a mullet to enter the NCAA Tourney.

[mngopher]

The St Olaf pod is the most wide open to me. UW Superior is a team not to be taken lightly. Very weak conference that they dominated it thoroughly, and when they stepped up the competition they showed they could play with top level teams. 2-1 losses to both Gustavus and UW-Platteville in games that were statistically pretty even. The Wartburg program isn't what it once was, but still isn't going to be an easy out. Just tied Platteville a few weeks ago. North Park is always solid as well. The host Oles have the most firepower, but their bend but don't break defense has had a little more break this season. I expect tight games in this pod.

[rdanie03]

I really like the Bowdoin Polar Bears to easily bury Hardin-Simmons and follow that up with a win against Trinity to assert nationwide NESCAC dominance. Tyler Huck is an incredible goal scorer and play creator and Carlton Steinberg has been phenomenal at outside back. He beautifully combines speed and poise to carry the Polar Bear squad on his shoulders. He's the emotional leader of that squad and the first Filipino American with a mullet to enter the NCAA Tourney.

As someone who got to see Steinberg play twice in the last month, his development has been a sight to behold. He's a phenomenal two-way back who could pose problems to the teams in the Trinity pod.

[paclassic89]

He's the emotional leader of that squad and the first Filipino American with a mullet to enter the NCAA Tourney.

Finally getting the NCAA trivia that matters in this thread.

[BTXCru18]

How does Cortland, who won the SUNYAC and had several incredible wins get such an unfavorable draw? Messiah and Williams is quite a gauntlet and for me is the toughest pod in the tournament.

I mean, Messiah is ranked 36th in the NPI, which is about what the 22nd ranked team should expect to see in the 1st round. Williams is a bit of a tough second round draw though.

Hmmm, interesting thought, but have you looked at the opponents of other teams ranked oround Cortland?
17 vs 131
18 vs 52
19 vs 60
20 vs 55
21 vs 71
Cortland vs. 36
23 vs 59
24 vs 80
25 vs 75
26 vs 41
27 vs 72

.

I made a bracket on a spreadsheet that has the teams listed with their rank 1-64 based on their NPI rank and how far off they are based on a perfectly seeded bracket. Obviously the seeding won't be perfect due to geographical limitations but it's not too bad.

10 teams are exactly where they should be.
11 teams are 1 seed off
9 teams are 2 seeds off
20 teams are 3-5 seeds off
9 teams are 6-9 seeds off
5 teams are 10+ seeds off (C-M-S is the furthest off. Should be seeded 31 but is in the 48 slot for geographic reasons)

1st round matchup extremes (ranks should add to 65)
55: 37 Otterbein vs 18 Wash & Lee
56: 48 Belhaven @ 8 Trinity
56: 34 Messiah vs 22 Cortland
58: 38 Emory @ 20 Lynchburg
58: 53 Suffolk @ 5 Conn College
59: 31 C-M-S vs 28 Oglethorpe
...
71: 54 St Mary's vs 17 Dickinson
71: 46 WestConn vs 25 Frank & Marsh
71: 44 UW-Superior vs 27 North Park
74: 42 DePauw vs 32 Hope
75: 63 Spalding @ 12 Kenyon
76: 62 Anderson @ 14 Denison
83: 50 Thomas vs 33 Buffalo St

I took a look at that as well but didn't reseed anyone... #1 Middlebury vs. #339 Hunter made me laugh. Reminds me of some of those UEFA qualification matchups. Basically anytime a world power plays San Marino.

[SKUD]

Reminder that 2 pods play Friday/Saturday due to religious observance.

[Freddyfud]

I figured November Madness referred to the action in the games which have not yet begun.  After reading much of the content on these boards this week I guess I was wrong.

Looking forward to an exciting tournament hopefully on par or even better than last year.