Well, the day seemed to be starting off alright for Pool C hopefuls. Amherst jumped out to a 15-0 lead on Williams at home and appeared to be ready to run past their archrivals.
Uhm, no, not so much. Williams reacquired the hot shooting touch it had on Saturday at LeFrak and took its first lead with 6:39 left, holding off the Lord Jeffs with a Joe Geoghegan putback with 16 seconds left. Dan Wheeler couldn’t convert and after a missed Williams free throw, Andrew Olson couldn’t hold onto the ball in traffic.
Much like Trinity had two possessions with a chance to beat Williams the day before, in fact.
That sound you hear was Guilford’s bubble popping.
Immediately after this game ends on D3Cast, I flip over to the Coast Guard/WPI game, where Mark Simon has been keeping me apprised. (All the while, as I’ve been trying to finish women’s projections, watch/listen to two games, a D-III insider has decided to berate the selection and seeding process. Like I don’t already know how awful it is?)
Coast Guard won only two games in NEWMAC play all season. The Bears were the bottom seed in the seven-team conference. And they held off WPI at WPI to win 71-66 and claim an automatic bid.
Pop goes the Stevens, at least in our projections.
It’s shaping up to be a crazy day.
going to be a lot of bids for New England in both men’s and women’s.
Exciting times.
The waiting period has officially begun. Will Dickinson and/or McDaniel still get in after Ursinus won the Centennial women’s AQ?
WPI beats Coast Guard by 8, then 10, but loses by 5. Amherst beats Williams by 19, then 21 but loses by 1, VA Wesleyan over HS by 26, 18 but falls by 3. Okay, upsets happen, but the idea that a team can play knowing they’re in raises ???
Elmhurst 21-6 with victories over Augustana and Oshkosh loses on Augie’s floor and might miss. Hood 21-7 (not ranked) loses to Catholic but is projected into the field. Wittenberg 23-5 and last years runner up disappears from the radar, but Messiah misses the final but still is in C.
How many times does St. Thomas have to stomp St. John’s before the Johnnies are excluded? And you want to send 4 from the UAA even without NYU.
And WPI bumped John Carooll (19-9).
After picking on the NCAA for the math error, now would be a good time for the “make up call”
Having access to the latest QOW through this weekend’s championship teams, here are my thoughts on the Men’s pairings…
Northeast
1 Amherst
2 Salem State – MASCAC
3 Rhode Island College – LEC
4 Keene
5 Brandeis
6 Williams – NESCAC
7 Coast Guard – NEWMAC
8 bye
Atlantic
1 Ramapo – NJAC
2 Trinity
3 WPI
4 Manhattanville – SKY
5 Elms – NAC
6 Rivier – GNAC
7 Wentworth Tech – CCC
8 York (N.Y.) – CUNYAC
Middle Atlantic
1 Johns Hopkins – CC
2 Catholic – CAC
3 Alvernia – PnAC
4 Lincoln – Pool B
5 Hood
6 Villa Julie – NEAC
7 Widener – MAC-C
8 bye
South
1 Mississippi College – ASC
2 Va Wesleyan
3 Maryville – Pool B
4 Centre – SCAC
5 DePauw
6 Averett – USAC
7 Hampden-Sydney – ODAC
bye
Great Lakes
1 Lake Erie – AMCC
2 Wooster – NCAC
3 John Carroll
4 Hope
5 Capital – OAC
6 Westminster -Pool B
7 Calvin – MIAA
8 bye
East
1 St. John Fisher – E8
2 Brockport
3 St. Lawrence – LL
4 Rochester
5 Messiah
6 King’s – MAC-F
7 NYU
8 Plattsburgh State – SUNYAC
West
1 UW-Stevens Point – WIAC
2 St. Thomas – MIAC
3 St. Johns
4 Occidental – SCIAC
5 Whitworth – NWC
6 Loras – IIAC
7 La Crosse
8 OshKosh
Midwest
1 Augustana – CCIW
2 Washington U. – UAA
3 Chicago
4 Aurora – Pool B
5 Transylvania – HCAC
6 Carroll – MWC
7 Fontbonne – SLIAC
8 West bye