There were more great games than one could count this weekend, so Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman took some extra time to go through them all. What does the weekend mean for Mary Hardin-Baylor and who is the third-best team in Division III after Mount Union and UW-Whitewater?
Oddly enough, we discussed the final play of the Trinity/Millsaps game, like everyone else. What does Pool B look like after Salisbury’s first loss? Is there ever a good way to take a late-season defeat?
Great podcast as always, guys. I would not be quite as glib in awarding the SCAC championship to Trinity just yet. For one thing, they’re still half a game behind Millsaps and need to win at home against Centre and up in Sherman against an Austin College team that will present some challenges in order to clinch a tie for the conference championship. Second, they have to get over the “miracle” and all the media attention it has brought. Millsaps remaining conference game is at Colorado College and I think the Majors will be bringing the heat come Saturday.
Even after the slacking vs. Alfred, NCAA looks still look pretty bleak for Hobart
I was there … it was a great play. The mood at Trinity this week is this: we’re having fun with the media stuff, but we’re ALL ABOUT beating Centre. I don’t see a let-down by the TU Tigers. They’ve come too far and too close to elimination to lose focus on the goal. I do see Austin College being a tough one because it’s in Sherman, but I have confidence in Trinity. Time will tell. Good luck to Millsaps and we wish them well after a tough and emotional loss.
dcfb – Are you certain? Hobart was ranked 9 in the East region BEFORE the Alfred win, with Alfred #1. Above them were #8 Union (up next) and #7 Cortland (who plays Ithaca and Rowan back to back). I think that if they win out, they are no worse than 6th in the region-and probably better. They are looking like they may control their fate.
Good point RES, I didn’t see it that way…
Res:
Hobart doesn’t control its own fate. RPI, who has already beaten the Statesmen, would clinch the Liberty League with two more wins. If they win those games, it doesn’t matter what Hobart does against Union and Rochester.
If you’re considering Hobart a contender for an at-large bid, that’s fine. But they are given out on a national basis, not a regional one. So the Statesmen’s relative ranking in the East isn’t a clear indicator of anything. Teams with two-loses have made the playoffs in the past, but that’s very unusual.
Bottom line — Hobart could win the Liberty League with help from RPI’s opponents. Hobart could get an at-large bid if the selection committee gives them one. But they don’t control their own fate anymore.
Gordon:
I think Res meant they control their own at-large bid destiny. After the thumping of Alfred and the great ball they are playing I guess Res is confident that Hobart may get an at-large win if they win out, which won’t be an easy task versus Union and U of R… It would have been great for the Statesmen if WPI could have pulled off the upset vs. RPI and the RPI lost to either Union or U or R. Hobart could have won out and won the automatic bid outright by being co-champs with Union and winning the head to head… The opposite of last yr when Union did it to Hobart… As shaky as RPI has been playing lately, I do not think they will lose 2 games in a row, or even one for that matter… Their playoff lives are on the line and they are not going to give it up that easily… The LL is very competitve now, with RPI, Union, U of R and Hobart ALL still in the race…
I don’t think anyone controls their own at-large bid destiny. The nature of the at-large bid prevents that, aside from a Pool B team going 10-0.
I did mean that they control their own fate to get an at large bid. I was going on the assumption that if they are the 3rd, 4th, or 5th ranked team in the East that they would get an at large. Of course, at large bids are not locks, so saying that they control their own fate entirely is misleading. But if they win out against decent competition, their prospects for an NCAA bid will certainly not be “bleak.” I think that they would deserve a bid given the fact their two close (one OT) losses are to teams that have 2 combined, and that they will be hot going in. In the event that they are left out, it will be interesting (and perhaps painful to us Pumpkinhead faithful) to see who takes their place.
Last year Cortland was 9-1 and was left out of the NCAAs. An 8-2 Hobart could have the same fate.
How come every thread turns into a LL discussion? Does the LL board not leave any room to actually talk football? 🙂
LoL, good point… Posting here is a little bit wasier tho… HaHa
easier*