NCAA lax backets - easier path to title game

billhoward · May 20, 2007, 02:44:04 PM

There was some discussion about how, except for maybe possibly Albany and of course Duke, Cornell has a relatively straight shot into the title game. Who still feels we have the easier bracket? Right now Hopkins fans, drooling at the prospect of playing an unranked Delaware team Saturday, are staking out barbecue spots in the parking lot for Monday's game.

Beeeej · May 20, 2007, 04:22:00 PM

[quote billhoward]There was some discussion about how, except for maybe possibly Albany and of course Duke, Cornell has a relatively straight shot into the title game.[/quote]

That's "except for" two of the three games we have to play on the way. How is that an easy path?

mnagowski · May 20, 2007, 04:45:40 PM

Going by the RPI:

#1 Cornell has had to play a #14 and a #4 team.

#2 Duke has had to play a #44 and a #7 team.

#3 JHU has had to play a #11 and a #6 team.

and #12 Delaware has had to beat a #5 and a #13.

Al DeFlorio · May 20, 2007, 04:49:21 PM

[quote metaezra]Going by the RPI:

#1 Cornell has had to play a #14 and a #4 team.

#2 Duke has had to play a #44 and a #7 team.

#3 JHU has had to play a #11 and a #6 team.

and #12 Delaware has had to beat a #5 and a #13.[/quote]
Do you mean KRACH?

mnagowski · May 20, 2007, 05:07:40 PM

No. RPI.

http://www.laxpower.com/update07/binmen/rpi01.php

ben03 · May 20, 2007, 05:27:29 PM

well i think the FF is something for the NC$$ seeding committee to be proud of ... the #1 seeded and #2 ranked Duke team is playing the #4 seed and #1 ranked Cornell in the top half of the bracket and the other half has #3 seed and #5 ranked JHU playing unseeded and #15 ranked Delaware. I have to say I love the balance i think this should be the new model moving forward. the only fitting finish at this point would be Cornell playing Delaware in the championship.

Al DeFlorio · May 20, 2007, 06:09:12 PM

[quote metaezra]No. RPI.

http://www.laxpower.com/update07/binmen/rpi01.php[/quote]
Not sure I'd pay any attention to laxpower's RPI calculations. The NCAA's RPI rankings--the only ones that count, I regret to say--are here, as of the end of the regular season: http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2007MLArpi1.html

RichH · May 20, 2007, 06:35:50 PM

[quote billhoward]There was some discussion about how, except for maybe possibly Albany and of course Duke, Cornell has a relatively straight shot into the title game. Who still feels we have the easier bracket? Right now Hopkins fans, drooling at the prospect of playing an unranked Delaware team Saturday, are staking out barbecue spots in the parking lot for Monday's game.[/quote]

No. The discussion was about the "path to Baltimore," meaning the Final Four for the top-seeded teams. Nobody ever mentioned a waltz to the final game, because had the top 4 seeds held, they're all difficult.

#2 didn't even make it to the QF; I'd say that's strong enough evidence that UVa had a difficult path to Baltimore. #3 Hopkins won in OT in Round 1 before having a surprisingly easy time with a strong Georgetown team, but remember that the possibility existed of them playing Princeton at Princeton. Similarly, #1 Duke had the potential of facing Navy at Navy. Neither happened, but they did have to play a team that saw them twice this season already.

You have to look at the regional brackets as a whole. The most difficult matchup on Cornell's side of the bracket came to fruition, and that was facing two teams that lost 3 of 5 and 2 of 3 to end the season respectively. Albany proved that they were as awesome as advertised. But they did have to prove it.

Also, remember that this is the freaking NCAA tournament. 15 of the 16 teams were at the very least really good lax teams. Nobody said this is easy. After failing in the QF round what...3 times in recent years, it shouldn't be a secret that making it to the Final Four is a big mental obstacle we just got over.

Yeah, Hopkins has what is considered the least-feared member of the Final Four (I really wouldn't count out the Hens after UMass's march to the 2006 Final), but that was UVa's spot, and neither they nor MD got the job done. Yes, it sucks that we get Duke lined up in the semis, but the poor seeding criteria and lack of re-seeding has been discussed at length and will continue to be discussed after the tournament is over. Worry about fixing things on May 29.

In summary: Stop whining and quit playing your usual "if only this...if only that" games, Bill. Let's Go Red and let's kick some Blue Devil ass.

DeltaOne81 · May 20, 2007, 07:42:52 PM

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote metaezra]No. RPI.

http://www.laxpower.com/update07/binmen/rpi01.php[/quote]
Not sure I'd pay any attention to laxpower's RPI calculations. The NCAA's RPI rankings--the only ones that count, I regret to say--are here, as of the end of the regular season: http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2007MLArpi1.html[/quote]

Laxpower vastly improved their RPI calculations once the NCAA started releasing theirs. It may not be exactly right, but it should now be close.

Hillel Hoffmann · May 20, 2007, 09:53:55 PM

[First things first: A thousand blessings upon Bill for saving my sorry ass by lending me 20 bucks so I could get into Saturday's game. Don't ask.]

I don't recall anyone saying Cornell had an easy path to the championship.

I still maintain that Cornell's path to the final four offered a more favorable menu of likely match-ups for Cornell than the paths offered to the top three seeds.

billhoward · May 21, 2007, 08:05:44 AM

I had no choice because a) Hillel really needed to get in to see the game and b) I always wanted to be in the Guinness Book: First recroded instance, journalist buys ticket for PR guy.

... and was Hillel ever right about what an amazing middle Jordan Levine was.

Al DeFlorio · May 21, 2007, 09:39:25 AM

[quote billhoward]... and was Hillel ever right about what an amazing middle Jordan Levine was.[/quote]
Interesting that, in the OT, Belisle was marking Levine--not Resetarits.

billhoward · May 21, 2007, 11:28:12 AM

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote billhoward]... and was Hillel ever right about what an amazing middle Jordan Levine was.[/quote]
Interesting that, in the OT, Belisle was marking Levine--not Resetarits.[/quote]
... dangerous for fans to play coach but one guess is: If Levine got free to pass off to Restarits camped on the goalie circle, or get off a pretty fair shot, it's game-over. We wuz lucky. But then after losing a pair of one-goal games we could have won (or lost) the previous two years, the gods of statistics were with Cornell.

So now we're thinking, can the Cornell defense do to the Duke attackmen what it did to the Albany attackmen? At the end of the Duke-North Carolina blowout, the TV guys said, "Right now, Duke looks unbeatable." At that point in time, it was hard to disagree. I don't think McMonagle will put in an own-goal, though.

scoop85 · May 21, 2007, 01:44:49 PM

[quote billhoward] At the end of the Duke-North Carolina blowout, the TV guys said, "Right now, Duke looks unbeatable." At that point in time, it was hard to disagree. I don't think McMonagle will put in an own-goal, though.[/quote]

I'm glad to have the public perception that Duke is unbeatable. Maybe we can loosen up a tad (I think we were pretty darn tight to open the game against Albany). Getting over the quarterfinals hump was huge, so I'm hoping we're a bit more relaxed on Saturday (although playing before a full [or almost full] NFL stadium might be a bit unnerving).

ugarte · May 21, 2007, 01:53:22 PM

I think the switch was because Albany had adjusted to playing through Levine instead of Resetarits and Cornell adjusted back. After being marked by Belisle all day, Resetarits was probably a little more ragged anyway.

It seemed like every adjustment Tambroni made over the course of the game worked (except the stall...). Any adjustment he wants to make is fine with me.