We asked some of the Posting Up bracketology and NCAA criteria gurus to take their best shot at pairing the teams that the NCAA has selected. Here’s the first response, from David Collinge:
The committee made Miss. Coll an orphan, as I calculate that Maryville is about 502 miles away. Plus, they re-orphaned Trinity TX by adding Oxy and giving us a So-Cal round 1. (I’m assuming that geography will override the desire to keep conference members apart.) Although I think Wooster should be the higher seed, for travel reasons I’ll bow to giving that regional to York. So here’s my draw:
National top seeds: 1. Lawrence 2. Amherst 3. Wittenberg 4. Hope
First round byes for Lawrence, Amherst, Mississippi College, Trinity TX and Puget Sound
Amherst sectional:
Seeds: 1) Amherst 2) Lincoln 3) Tufts 4) St. John Fisher
Amherst regional: #3 Endicott at #2 WPI; winner to #1 Amherst
Pittsford regional: #4 Elms at #1 St. John Fisher; #3 Plattsburgh St. vs #2 Hamilton
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
Lincoln* regional: #4 Norwich at #1 Lincoln; #3 Ursinus vs. #2 William Paterson
Boston regional: #4 Bridgewater St. at #1 Tufts; #3 UMass Boston vs. #2 Gordon
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
*I assume throughout that there are no hosting problems, but I read somewhere that there may be a hosting problem with Lincoln. If so, the regional would be held at William Paterson.
Wittenberg sectional:
Seeds: 1) Wittenberg 2) Mississippi Coll. 3) Trinity TX 4) Va. Wesleyan
Springfield regional: #4 Maryville MO at #1 Wittenberg; #3 Bethany vs. #2 Calvin
Norfolk regional: #4 Christopher Newport at #1 Va. Wesleyan; #3 Widener vs. #2 Alvernia
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
Clinton regional: #3 Maryville TN at #2 Transylvania; winner to #1 Mississippi College
San Antonio regional: #3 Catholic at #2 Randolph Macon; winner to #1 Trinity TX
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
Hope sectional:
Seeds: 1) Hope 2) Baldwin-Wallace 3) Carnegie Mellon 4) York PA
Holland regional: #4 Wisc. Lutheran at #1 Hope; #3 Lake Erie vs. #2 Ill. Wesleyan
York regional: #4 Messiah at #1 York PA; #3 Villa Julie vs. #2 Wooster
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
Berea regional: #4 Scranton at #1 Baldwin-Wallace; #3 Baruch vs. #2 SUNY-Cortland
Pittsburgh regional: #4 York NY at #1 Carnegie Mellon; #3 SUNY Farmingdale vs. #2 Utica
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
Lawrence sectional:
Seeds: 1) Lawrence 2) UW-Whitewater 3) Augustana 4) Puget Sound
Appleton regional: #3 UW-La Crosse at #2 North Central; winner to #1 Lawrence
Tacoma regional: #3 Occidental at #2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; winner to #1 Puget Sound
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
Whitewater regional: #4 DePauw at #1 UW-Whitewater; #3 Carleton vs. #2 Carroll
Rock Island regional: #4 Buena Vista at #1 Augustana; #3 St. Thomas vs. #2 UW-Stout
Winners meet in Sweet Sixteen
D3hoops.com bracketologists (yeah, we’ll accept this as a word, ESPN-types) huddled for a few hours and broke down Pool C for the men in advance of the tournament projections we’ll release tomorrow. Here’s where things stand at this hour, in the order we chose them:
