lax tourney

[jtwcornell91]

[Q]jkahn Wrote:

 Does anyone do a Bradley-Terry (KRACH) rating for lacrosse?  I'm curious to see what that would be.[/q]

I did this a couple of years ago, but never got around to it this year, in part because no one asked me after hockey season ended.  IIRC someone had a javascript page which converted the laxpower scores page into a format my scripts were set up to handle.

[Josh '99]

So, now that it's become apparent that our first-round game location wasn't a typo, is anyone going down to Maryland to catch the game this weekend?  I wish I could but it's smack in the middle of exams for me so I can't pull it off, but I'm hoping to be able to go next weekend if we beat Towson.  *fingers crossed*

[KateWithThe8]

If not for an out-of-town wedding this weekend, Jon and I would be there!  (Considering it might as well be in our backyard)  

[Trotsky]

I have to work all weekend, so I'm screwed (it's only an hour or so from my house).

[Jordan 04]

Unlikely to be going this weekend, but I'm sure I'll be at Princeton if we get there.

[Al DeFlorio]

As you'd expect, lots of Cornellians.

http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/article.asp?intID=4260

[billhoward]

Six of ten All-Ivy first team lacrosse players are Cornellians. Only one from Princeton. But six second team and honorable mention, so there's always next year for the Tigers.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[Q]jmh30 Wrote: So, now that it's become apparent that our first-round game location wasn't a typo, is anyone going down to Maryland to catch the game this weekend? [/q]
I gambled and lost: I assumed they'd get a home playoff game and made arrangements to be in Ithaca this weekend. My skin is crawling, I'm so f'ing frustrated.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[Q]billhoward Wrote: Six of ten All-Ivy first team lacrosse players are Cornellians. Only one from Princeton. But six second team and honorable mention, so there's always next year for the Tigers. [/q]
Nice to see CU's seniors get special props. Kyle Georgalas, who didn't exactly start the season on fire, was phenomenal in league games and was one of few unanimous sfirst-team elections. Nee finally gets his reward for playing with pain. And Greenhalgh is a great choice for Ivy POY. He has added a lot to his game the last two seasons, and is so good on the ride.

When Princeton's Cocoziello got the no-brainer Ivy Rookie of the Year award, he became the first defenseman ever to get ROY. Long poles of the world, you have nothing to lose but your chains.

Cornell's women's lax team got two freshmen on the All-Ivy second team.

[ithacat]

I think Cornell got screwed. It's hard for me to argue with that, though I believed they played the fewest number of games against top-10 teams (according to RPI). SOS...hmm, this seems like a Big Red refrain this year. Maybe instead of Binghamton Cornell should play Hopkins or UVA?

I personally think any team that makes it to 22 straight final fours deserves a chance, as long as they meet minimum qualifications and can present an arguement for inclusion. I also do not believe there are 16 teams in the country better than SU (though this year it seems close).

Cornell's wins came against teams with an average RPI of 27, SU's came against teams with an average of 24.6. Cornell's losses came against teams with an average RPI of 11.5, SU's loses were against teams with an average of 6.2. I like Cornell's side of the bracket more than SU's, though Duke is having a special year & Maryland is scary...of course, that's assuming Cornell gets past Towson.

BTW, SU & Towson are the only 2 teams (in the top-10 RPI) without a win vs a top-10 RPI team. As far as Towson goes I hope that streak continues.

I still think Cornell got screwed...again.

[ugarte]

[Q]Hillel Hoffmann Wrote:

 [Q2]jmh30 Wrote: So, now that it's become apparent that our first-round game location wasn't a typo, is anyone going down to Maryland to catch the game this weekend? [/Q]
I gambled and lost: I assumed they'd get a home playoff game and made arrangements to be in Ithaca this weekend. My skin is crawling, I'm so f'ing frustrated.[/q]Don't you live in the DC area, Hillel? I'm sure your Ithaca hosts will understand if you stay at home.

[Al DeFlorio]

[Q]ithacat Wrote:
BTW, SU & Towson are the only 2 teams (in the top-10 RPI) without a win vs a top-10 RPI team. As far as Towson goes I hope that streak continues.

I still think Cornell got screwed...again. [/q]
I agree, although it was easy to see it coming.

There used to be two safeguards against the problem of RPI and strength-of-schedule being too dependent on whom you played as opposed to how you did against them.  One of those safeguards--requiring a winning percentage of at least .500--knocked UNC out of this year's tournament, despite their high RPI and SOS.  The other safeguard--and allegedly the #1 priority criterion for selection--has in the past been wins against top teams, which meant you not only had to play top teams (which boosted your RPI) but actually had to beat one or more of them (anyone can lose to Hopkins, Virginia, and Maryland--as Towson did--but it does pad your RPI and SOS).  This year they apparently disregarded "safeguard" number two in both the selection and the seeding.

I agree that it would have been just plain wrong to leave Syracuse out of a 16-team tournament.  Interesting how the Hopkins partisans on LaxPower were one day saying Syracuse didn't deserve to be selected based on their record but the next day were complaining about how tough a draw they were given (Syracuse or UMass--but primarily the prospect of playing the former) in the quarterfinals.

[billhoward]

>>> [Hillel:] Cornell's women's lax team got two freshmen on the All-Ivy second team.

That's a start.

Too bad the men's sports we care most about these days, hockey and lacrosse, have not done well this year or last on the women's side. Although women's lacrosse did have a national contender three (?) years back.

[DeltaOne81]

It's not an issue of Syracuse not deserving to be there, I agree they did, but it *is* an issue of purposefully modifying their weighting of the criteria from each of the previous years in order to accomplish such. Quality Wins being the only factor that counted is and always was stupid, but it was consistent. To pick and chose your weights and which criterias your consider in order to get the desired end result is exactly what hockey avoids, and exactly what is horribly wrong. It almost makes it a waste to bother having criteria at all.

Using RPI and SOS to keep Syracuse in the tournament makes sense, but consider QW is still (officlally anyway) the *primary* criteria, you could have knocked Syracuse down another peg or two and kept us home, allowing QWs to be primary and actually sensibly use the others. But when the good ol' boys get together in a smokey room, sense doesn't play into it. Heck, you do that and you could end up with a Syr @ Cornell matchup. That'd be fun.

On second thought, I'd rather face Towson

[billhoward]

[Q]Al DeFlorio Wrote: ...   Interesting how the Hopkins partisans on LaxPower were one day saying Syracuse didn't deserve to be selected based on their record but the next day were complaining about how tough a draw they were given (Syracuse or UMass--but primarily the prospect of playing the former) in the quarterfinals.[/q]Gripe, gripe, gripe. Hopkins has the easiest path into the finals of anybody in the Hopkins half of the bracket.

In the other bracket, Towson must be thrilled with home turf (home grass?) but not so pleased with its first-round opponent.