Atlantic NCAA Tourney

[boatcapt]

#1 seed just announces:

1. Hillsdale

[boatcapt]

2. Charleston
3. WLU
4. Hurst
5. Fairmont
6. Malone

Looks like they discounted the actual results of the two tournaments and went with losses. Hillsdale had 2 losses, UC had 3, WLU had 4, Hurst had 0, Fairmont had 4 and Malone got in via winning their tourney.

Seems like the NCAA "taught Hurst a lesson" about doing the minimum!

[IUPalum]

WL dodges Hurst till region finals... shocking!

[boatcapt]

WL dodges Hurst till region finals... shocking!

They should have done more than the minimum and against BAD teams!

[Columbuseer]

2. Charleston
3. WLU
4. Hurst
5. Fairmont
6. Malone

Looks like they discounted the actual results of the two tournaments and went with losses. Hillsdale had 2 losses, UC had 3, WLU had 4, Hurst had 0, Fairmont had 4 and Malone got in via winning their tourney.

Seems like the NCAA "taught Hurst a lesson" about doing the minimum!

In fairness to Hurst, they had 7 games cancelled, one against #2 daemen. They beat Ashland. Glad they made it!

[boatcapt]

In fairness to Hurst, they had 7 games cancelled, one against #2 daemen. They beat Ashland. Glad they made it!

But they did nothing to try and replace ANY of them. Seems like there game plan was to get to 11 and then stand pat hoping the NCAA would reward them for being undefeated. They chose...poorly. 5 of their 11 victories came against teams that collectively won 7 games. Only good team on their resume was Ashland that they played at Hurst in Ashlands first game of the season back in December.

Maybe they are good and just had a run of bad luck coupled with a poor decision by their coach. But you can't really tell that by their resume which is what the NCAA looks at. They will get a chance to prove how good they are against Fairmont and if they win that, against #1 seed Hillsdale. If they are as good as some people are saying that they are, they should have little problem making it to the Regional finals.

[Columbuseer]

But they did nothing to try and replace ANY of them. Seems like there game plan was to get to 11 and then stand pat hoping the NCAA would reward them for being undefeated. They chose...poorly. 5 of their 11 victories came against teams that collectively won 7 games. Only good team on their resume was Ashland that they played at Hurst in Ashlands first game of the season back in December.

I was not privy to what they did or did not do to find additional games, so I won't speculate. But d2 teams have budget constraints so they cannot play point loma nazarene. No mec, ciaa or psac (vast majority) available and short notice cancelations. Proverbial rock and hard place.

[boatcapt]

I was not privy to what they did or did not do to find additional games, so I won't speculate. But d2 teams have budget constraints so they cannot play point loma nazarene. No mec, ciaa or psac (vast majority) available and short notice cancelations. Proverbial rock and hard place.

You never know for sure. All we do know is who they played, their opponents W/L record and the box score.

[WKYDave]

Interesting difference between the men's and women's selection regarding the "independent" teams. Gannon women were 6th in final poll. Beat Mercyhurst twice this week. Finished with 13-1 record, only loss to NCAA #9/12 Daemen (and handling them there only loss in regular season), and played 6 road games. However upset winner in GMAC bumps Gannon out of NCAA.

On men's side, Mercyhurst was 5th in final poll, finished 11-0, last game 2/27, no games against ranked teams, and only 2 road games. Upset winner in GMAC bumps #3 Findlay out of NCAA.

They were both ranked nationally - Mercyhurst (#3 SID/#14 Coaches), Gannon (#12 SID/#20 Coaches) - so I am surprised that they got in and Gannon was bumped.

[boatcapt]

Interesting difference between the men's and women's selection regarding the "independent" teams. Gannon women were 6th in final poll. Beat Mercyhurst twice this week. Finished with 13-1 record, only loss to NCAA #9/12 Daemen (and handling them there only loss in regular season), and played 6 road games. However upset winner in GMAC bumps Gannon out of NCAA.

On men's side, Mercyhurst was 5th in final poll, finished 11-0, last game 2/27, no games against ranked teams, and only 2 road games. Upset winner in GMAC bumps #3 Findlay out of NCAA.

I get that Mercyhhurst was ranked nationally, I suppose based on reputation, but I am surprised that they got in and Gannon was bumped.

The NCAA giveth and the NCAA taketh away. Hurst got in based on their 11-0 record...Then they got punished for only playing the minimum number necessary and playing a number of bad teams. Not all of it their fault but at the end of the day, the NCAA looks at your record and the teams you played...You don't get credit for teams you wanted to play but didn't.

[Scrub]

Interesting difference between the men's and women's selection regarding the "independent" teams. Gannon women were 6th in final poll. Beat Mercyhurst twice this week. Finished with 13-1 record, only loss to NCAA #9/12 Daemen (and handling them there only loss in regular season), and played 6 road games. However upset winner in GMAC bumps Gannon out of NCAA.

On men's side, Mercyhurst was 5th in final poll, finished 11-0, last game 2/27, no games against ranked teams, and only 2 road games. Upset winner in GMAC bumps #3 Findlay out of NCAA.

They were both ranked nationally - Mercyhurst (#3 SID/#14 Coaches), Gannon (#12 SID/#20 Coaches) - so I am surprised that they got in and Gannon was bumped.

It may not have been that the committee had Findlay out, so to speak. It may be that they had Findlay slotted at #5 (with Fairmont at #6) heading into the final days of the tournament. But once Fairmont won the MEC tourney and auto-bid, that no longer made them capable of being bumped by Malone. Hence, FSU moves up to #5 to make room for Cinderella Malone and Findlay necessarily drops down to #7. In other words, Findlay didn't fall from 3 to 7 (a precipitous fall). They likely fell from 3 to 5 (a reasonable fall after a bad loss), but the unexpected auto-bids in both conferences wiped out the possibility of at-large 5/6 slots.

[IUPalum]

In fairness to Hurst, they had 7 games cancelled, one against #2 daemen. They beat Ashland. Glad they made it!

[Scrub]

Teams like Findlay and Glenville have to be absolutely seething about the fact that some 5-4 & 4-3 teams from East are in this tournament. Out of sheer geographical reasons, really good teams like Findlay and Glenville will be sitting home and watching untested--and frankly, according the NCAA's own rules, ineligible--teams from the East play in March. Just a crappy turn of events for a very strong Atlantic field. While St. Thomas Aquinas will just stroll on into the Elite 8 out of the East, the Atlantic will be a bloodbath with some really strong teams sitting at home.

[Columbuseer]

It may not have been that the committee had Findlay out, so to speak. It may be that they had Findlay slotted at #5 (with Fairmont at #6) heading into the final days of the tournament. But once Fairmont won the MEC tourney and auto-bid, that no longer made them capable of being bumped by Malone. Hence, FSU moves up to #5 to make room for Cinderella Malone and Findlay necessarily drops down to #7. In other words, Findlay didn't fall from 3 to 7 (a precipitous fall). They likely fell from 3 to 5 (a reasonable fall after a bad loss), but the unexpected auto-bids in both conferences wiped out the possibility of at-large 5/6 slots.

I think you nailed it. There was only one slot left after Malone won. Fairmont winning took the final slot, leaving Findlay without a landing spot. In an 8 team field, they would have made it. In hindsight, I think they should have kept the field at 8 teams per region, to make it less painful for Findlay and Glenville, when other regions are getting teams in with fewer games played. But 6 teams made sense at the time, as it was proportional to only 16 conferences playing out of 23 total.

[IUPalum]

But they did nothing to try and replace ANY of them. Seems like there game plan was to get to 11 and then stand pat hoping the NCAA would reward them for being undefeated. They chose...poorly. 5 of their 11 victories came against teams that collectively won 7 games. Only good team on their resume was Ashland that they played at Hurst in Ashlands first game of the season back in December.

Maybe they are good and just had a run of bad luck coupled with a poor decision by their coach. But you can't really tell that by their resume which is what the NCAA looks at. They will get a chance to prove how good they are against Fairmont and if they win that, against #1 seed Hillsdale. If they are as good as some people are saying that they are, they should have little problem making it to the Regional finals.

God you are dumb!!! If they were only trying to do the minimum then why did they have 18 games scheduled? So you want them to replace those games... easier said then done! Those teams that canceled had to be willing to reschedule. Saint Rose (2 games) had COVID issues all year and played 7 total games. Kentucky St (2 games) canceled their season after 4 games. Clarion was down to 5 players at the end of the season which is why that game was canceled. Not sure about Daemen but they probably didn't want another loss on their record. Try to find other teams... good luck especially later in the season.