Midwest Regional - Women's Bracket

[Bballfan]

Ferris defeated Northern as expected. Ferris should pretty much have the #2 seed locked up now. Even a loss to Grand Valley shouldn't hurt them too much.

Wayne State defeated Parkside. Big win for Wayne State. They should win their last two games comfortably now.

Thomas More righted the ship and handled Tiffin easily this time. They will continue to hold on to the 8th seed.


I am going to be real curious where the committee ranks Northwood and Wayne State. I know Northwood beat Wayne State, but that was clear back in November. Northwood has 4 losses to GLIAC teams (GV, Ferris, Northern, Tech). Yet Wayne State only has 3 losses to GLIAC teams, despite having over double the matchups with those teams in conference. Put Northwood in the GLIAC and they probably have 3 more losses.

Here is where I would rank the teams as of today:

1) Grand Valley State
2) Ferris State
3) Wayne State (MI)
4) Northwood
5) Northern Michigan
6) Malone
7) UMSL
8) Thomas More

I do think there is going to be a GLVC upset to displace Thomas More from the 8th seed.

[Bballfan]

First batch of official rankings....

1) Grand Valley State
2) Ferris State
3) Northwood
4) Wayne State
5) Northern Michigan
6) Malone
7) UMSL
8) Thomas More

Ferris would LOVE if the rankings ended up this way. They don't have to face Wayne State or Northern in the semis, and they beat Northwood at Northwood earlier in the year.

Games to watch this week:

GLIAC:

• 02/26 - Ferris at Grand Valley. Ferris hung with GV for a half the first time, but I see GV winning pretty easily.
• No other games of interest.

GLVC:

• 02/26 - Missouri St. Louis at Drury. A win here and UMSL should punch their ticket to the tournament. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Drury pulls the upset.
• No other games of interest.

GMAC:

• 02/28 - Thomas More at Kentucky Wesleyan. Both these teams have been under-performing recently. Will go with KWC.
• 02/28 - Malone at Walsh. Rivalry game.

[Bballfan]

Grand Valley took care of business against Ferris. Wasn't a game... again.
Missouri St. Louis couldn't get it done.

Big winner tonight: Maryville. Michigan Tech lost so they should move up the board.

[Bballfan]

Malone picked up a big win. The 6th seed should be locked down for them.

UMSL lost, but so did Thomas More to Kentucky Wesleyan . So status quo for 7 and 8 seed.

So in the GLIAC tournament Wayne State is the #2 seed over Ferris.

In the Midwest region Wayne State is the #4 seed behind Ferris. If Ferris and Wayne State matchup in the semis next Saturday, Ferris can secure the #2 seed, but what if they lose?

[TSU_Mike59]

GLVC tournament (at UMSL):

First Round
Thursday -12pm: #1 Missouri-St. Louis vs. #8 Upper Iowa
Thursday - 2:15pm: #2 Maryville vs. #7 Quincy
Friday - 12pm: #4 McKendree vs. #5 Lewis
Friday - 2:15pm: #3 Drury vs. #6 Truman

[Bballfan]

Thanks!

Some good semi matchups potentially!

[Bballfan]

The GLIAC women don't start their tournament until Wednesday the 4th.

The GMAC do start on Tuesday, March 3rd however. Matchups:

(5) Hillsdale @ (4) Walsh
(8) Ashland @ (1) Northwood
(7) Kentucky Wesleyan @ (2) Malone
(6) Findlay @ (3) Thomas More
Northwood and Malone should be safe in the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens this week. Thomas More on the other hand...I wouldn't want to be on line 8 knowing that if anyone other than UMSL wins the GLVC you are at risk to miss the tournament.

[Bballfan]

All higher seeds in the GMAC prevailed except Thomas More. The one team I thought was most at risk and the one team that needed a win in the worst way.

The door is cracked for another GLVC team now. Maryville? Drury prevailing in the championship game for an autobid?

Big winner tonight was UMSL. They are now a lock to make the tournament.

[Bballfan]

Last pre-selection rankings:

1 Grand Valley State
2 Ferris State
3 Northwood
4 Wayne State
5 Northern Michigan
6 Malone
7 Missouri-St. Louis
8 Thomas More
9 Michigan Tech
10 Maryville (MO)

GV will be the #1 seed.

Ferris should stay #2 although they are #3 seed in the GLIAC and play Wayne State Saturday. These post-season tournaments typically do not create a lot of bracket movement but I can't help but think Ferris will want to beat Wayne one more time to secure the #2 seed.

Northwood. I think they are pretty locked in at 3 although I think Wayne State is more deserving of the #3 seed given what they have done. But Northwood (and Malone) beat Wayne State early in the season so that hurts them.

Wayne State. 4th in the region but with wins over Grand Valley and Ferris (nobody else can say that), arguably the second best team in the region.

Northern Michigan. Locked into 5.

Malone. Should be safe at 6. However, would a UMSL GLVC conference tournament win coupled with a Malone loss in the GLIAC tournament make a difference?

UMSL. I don't see them falling any further than 7th seed.

Thomas More. They are trying their best to fall out of the tournament. Since the beginning of February they have 4 wins and five losses including losing in the first round of the GMAC tournament to a bad Findlay team. In my opinion they do not deserve to get into the tournament, but who else?

Michigan Tech - lost in the first round of GLIAC tournament. They are done.

Maryville - I still think Maryville has a decent chance to get in the tournament if they make the GLVC finals. Obviously winning the tournament, but what if they drop a close one to UMSL? I am hoping to see two GLVC teams get in. I think that is warranted as I am confident Maryville or Drury would beat Thomas More head to head.

[Bballfan]

Updates:

GV will be the #1 seed.

Ferris pretty much dominating Wayne State at the half of the GLIAC semis. Absent a big comeback in the second half, Ferris is the #2 seed.

Northwood won the GMAC. Good for them. They will get the #3 seed.

Wayne State. Doesn't look like they are beating Ferris today. #4 seed.

Northern Michigan. No shot at Grand Valley today. #5 seed.

Malone. Made the GMAC finals but no match for Northwood. #6 seed.

UMSL. Made the GLVC finals. Should be #7 seed regardless.

Maryville beat Drury and will play UMSL in the GLVC final. Win or lose, I think they have done enough to make the tournament now and will be the #8 seed. In a head to head matchup they would beat an overrated Thomas More school.

[Bballfan]

Maryville wins the GLVC in double OT, securing the last regional spot.

Better luck next year to Thomas More. I didn't think they earned a spot this year and glad two GLVC teams got in.

[Bballfan]

UMSL's 15 minutes of fame is over.

I am sure Ferris still feels sick.

[crazznewt]

UMSL's 15 minutes of fame is over.

I am sure Ferris still feels sick.

Because at this point, any GLVC win is a fluke right?

[Bballfan]

Well a GLVC team hasn't won a women's regional tournament game since Drury in 2023, so I definitely was surprised they beat a veteran Ferris team. Ferris was probably looking ahead, which is a big no no this time of year.

[crazznewt]

Well, Ferris had their 30 minutes of Fame. I am sure UMSL is sick their season is over.