Home Playoffs

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

FYI, with last nights results, Cornell has clinched a home playoff series.

Even if we lose all four remaining games, the worst we can finish is 7th.  That will require both Harvard and Yale to win out, which IMO is rather improbable.  If we get two points, and Harvard only gets 6, we move up to 6th.  And improbable though it may be, we can still finish in first, too.

I won't go through all the permutations, but I think we most likely will get the 1st round bye, especially if Dartmouth loses to Brown on closing night.  This is even more likely if Yale gets a win against RPI or Dartmouth.  Boola Boola!

Hang on tight...it's going to be a bumpy ride!

JH

[marty]

A lot more bumpy for those wearing the uniforms.;-)


We can just sit back and watch.

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

And hopefully, enjoy the result.

JH

[Chris 02]

Regarding the Ivy title implications, Cornell has done everything in its power the past two weeks, defeating Dartmouth, Yale and Princeton.  

Now for Cornell to get a share of the title, Dartmouth has to defeat Brown and have at least one more loss against Princeton, Yale or Harvard.

[Section A]

Fortunately, the Dartmouth/Brown game is on the final night of the regular season, and we'll know whether we have to root for Dartmouth (to get a share of the Ivy Title) or for Brown (to get a first-round bye over Dartmouth, possibly).

[calgARI \'07]

The most important thing is their destiny is completely in their hands.  Of the four remaining games, three are against average or below average teams (Union, Clarkson, St. Lawrence) and there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't win all three of those games.  The other game will have the biggest effect on the positional outcome of the season.  The RPI game Friday night is a HUGE game.  With Colgate and Brown cooling down, Cornell and RPI are the two hottest teams in the ECAC.  I think the ECAC Post Season Championship will go to either Cornell or RPI.

[kaelistus]

What I want to see (And a few side effects have to cause this)... Is

If Cornell sweeps all of its remaining games, and Brown and Dartmouth lose once this weekend. Then The Brown/Dartmouth games determines our choice of titles! a D win gives us the Ivy, while a B win gives us the bedpan.

Lots of stuff has to happen before this is can come to fruition, but its an interesting thought.

[nyc94]

Felix Rodriguez wrote:

What I want to see (And a few side effects have to cause this)... Is

If Cornell sweeps all of its remaining games, and Brown and Dartmouth lose once this weekend. Then The Brown/Dartmouth games determines our choice of titles! a D win gives us the Ivy, while a B win gives us the bedpan.

Lots of stuff has to happen before this is can come to fruition, but its an interesting thought.

Is this right?  We're three points behind Brown.  If Brown goes 3-1 (and beats Dartmouth) then they still finish one point ahead of us (32 to 31) for the Cleary (assuming we win out) and they win the Ivy title outright.  Brown has to lose twice for us to take the Cleary.

[DeltaOne81]

Bill,

Felix said... "If... Brown and Darmouth lose once this weekend", so the B/D game would then be a second loss for one of them.



Post Edited (02-15-04 15:24)

[nyc94]

DeltaOne81 '03 wrote:

Bill,

Felix said... "If... Brown and Darmouth lose once this weekend", so the B/D game would then be a second loss for one of them.



Post Edited (02-15-04 15:24)

True but it doesn't mean we win a title which is how I interpreted Felix's original statement.  I accounted for a loss this coming weekend, assuming Brown and Dartmouth each go 1-1.  If Brown then beats Dartmouth and also beats Vermont that means they go 3-1 for six points.  With a three point lead they still beat us by a point for the Cleary, even if we take eight points, and they take the Ivy title with 17 points (we have 15 and are done with Ivy games.  Dartmouth would finish out 2-2 and finish with 13 Ivy points).  He's right in that if Dartmouth goes 3-1 in its final four games (all Ivy games) including a win over Brown then Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell all tie with 15 points and we share the Ivy title.  In this scenario Brown will have gone 2-2 and assuming we go 4-0 we would pass Brown in the standings.  I haven't factored in Colgate or RPI in this.  Felix said, "while a B win gives us the bedpan".  The way I see it Dartmouth must beat Brown for us to get the Cleary as well as lose at least one of the next three games - or Brown could beat Dartmouth (and get the Ivy title) while losing two of the next three.

Maybe I'm missing something but your post didn't clarify it for me (and I say that with no disrespect).  Or maybe I should have had a third cup of coffee and a remedial math course.

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

I had three semesters of calculus and that still doesn't help ::help::

If we win out, we finish 1st, 2nd, or third depending on Brown and Colgate.  Reason:  if we win out, that means we beat RPI, so we're at least 2 points up on them.  Also even if Dartmouth wins out, we finish ahead of them if we win out.  

Therefore, the final results depend on Brown and Colgate.  If Brown goes 2-2 we can pass them.  If Colgate loses to RPI we jump them.

And AFAIC, the Ivy title is irrelevant.  Nobody cared about the Ivy title when I was in school - the only thing that mattered then and matters now is winning the conference tourney.

JH

[dodger916]

The players and coaches might view the "irrelevance" of the Ivy title differently.  I believe it's one of their "4 B"s.

[Greg Berge]

Winning a share of the Ivy title was a pretty big deal when I was in school (82-85), but for most of that period ECAC honors were unthinkable so it may have been con-sol-ation.

Ivy update here: http://members.cox.net/tbrw/ivy/Ivy2004.html

The schedule is weird -- Dartmouth has one game remaining against each Ivy except us.  Judging from Princeton this past weekend, that is a Dartmouth win.  To think about a share, we have to posit a Dartmouth win at Brown -- certainly not impossible, especially the way Bruno layed down this weekend.  So, Dartmouth then needs to cough up 2 points combined against Harvard and Yale.  Yale is actually pretty hot and might take care of that all by themselves.

It is a team goal and therefore important, and it's still possible.

BTW, note Yale's shizophrenic season: 1-8 vs Ivies, 9-0 vs non-Ivies, including a sweep of Colgate.

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

Greg,  I also get the sense that the Ivy title was something of a consolation that developed during the down years.  

Additionally, up until the early 80's the consistent strength of the ECAC was usually Cornell, Clarkson, BU, and UNH.   The rest of the Ivy League was usually so weak, it wasn't that much of an achievement to win the Ivies.  It was essentially a given that Cornell would be the Ivy champs or at least be #2.

Besides winning the Ivies didn't get you anything.  Winning the ECAC got usually got you a berth in the NCAAs.

JH

[Greg Berge]

Jeff Hopkins '82 wrote:Additionally, up until the early 80's the consistent strength of the ECAC was usually Cornell, Clarkson, BU, and UNH.   The rest of the Ivy League was usually so weak, it wasn't that much of an achievement to win the Ivies.  It was essentially a given that Cornell would be the Ivy champs or at least be #2.

Not sure about #2, but Cornell won a share of the Ivy title only twice in the nine seasons between 1974 and 1982: http://members.cox.net/tbrw/ivy/IvyChampsIcon.htm