[W. Hoops] 3-way tie for the Championship!

[bandit1]

Cornell won the bye...by virtue of a coin draw.  Quarters from NY, NH, and Mass. were placed in a bag and out came the NY quarter first.  Interesing way to decide who gets to rest Friday.  Nice to see the women win!  Congratulations!

[djk26]

Congratulations to the women's program, and good luck on Sunday.

But this just seems like a lousy way to determine who gets a bye.  Each of the three teams had 1-1 records against each of the other two.  Cornell's other loss was to Columbia, which finished 7-7 in the league.  Dartmouth's other loss was also to Columbia.  Harvard's other loss was to Yale, which finished 7-7 in the league.  So there's no way to say that a loss to Columbia is "better" than a loss to Yale (and even if there were, Cornell and Dartmouth would still have been tied.)

A coin draw is an unsatisfying way to determine who gets a bye, even if Cornell did come out ahead (and I think that using state quarters does have its own charm.)  Using margin of victory would have also been imperfect, but at least (pardon the pun) marginally better.

Cornell had a +21 margin in games against Harvard, and a +5 margin against Dartmouth.  Harvard had a +8 margin against Dartmouth.  This would mean the same result as the actual result: Cornell gets a first round bye.  This probably wouldn't work as it encourages teams to run up the score.

Any other ideas, or is a random draw the best solution?

[KeithK]

Point differential or totals is a really bad way to break ties, IMO.  The fact is in the current situation the teams are basically identical in results.  Saying that Cornell deserves a higher seed because they scored a couple more points than the other teams is silly.  You're talking about statistical noise.

The best way to break ties is on the playing field, which will happen.  Three way ties pretty much require a bye.  *shrug*

[Chris '03]

Ticket info now up: http://cornellbigred.com/News/wbball/2008/3/11/031108wbbx.asp?path=wbball

In short, tickets are $5. Students are free with ID and don't need a ticket.

Athletics is also sending a bus for $40 round trip. http://cornellbigred.com/News/wbball/2008/3/11/0311wbb.asp?path=wbball

No bus to Schenectady...

Don't see any broadcast info yet.

[Adara]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/bracketology

Bracketology is predicting the Ivy winner gets a 15 seed and plays against Rutgers in Connecticut.  The best travel scenario for me would be the men going to DC, and the women winning Sunday and ending up in Maryland. CT wouldn't be a bad drive either.

[Chris '03]

[quote Adara]http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/bracketology

Bracketology is predicting the Ivy winner gets a 15 seed and plays against Rutgers in Connecticut.  The best travel scenario for me would be the men going to DC, and the women winning Sunday and ending up in Maryland. CT wouldn't be a bad drive either.[/quote]

Note that the Bridgeport group will include UConn and make tickets scarce outside of a potential CU allotment.

[djk26]

I agree, Keith, scoring margins is certainly a flawed method.  It's too flawed, from what you are saying.  At least it's tied to effort on the court, but I think you have a valid point about statistical noise.

Hey, if Cornell, Harvard or Dartmouth wanted to avoid this, the team should have won one more game.  Good luck to Cornell; having TWO basketball teams in two NCAA tournaments from one school would be fantastic.