One Last Attempt: The Brackets
By Jac
Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive
Originally, I was just going to keep the individual pages updated,
but there has been so much movement in all three of the brackets
I'll be handling this evening that I decided to just start fresh
with my projections.
If you want to follow along, you can use the brackets set out in
the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Handbook (Pg. 41) and the
NCAA Women's Division III Lacrosse Handbook
(Pg. 32). I'll be working from the top to the bottom in each
case.
Men's Division III
This weekend was not kind to bubble teams. The top three ranked
teams (in the weekly poll) lost and Wesleyan snagged the NESCAC
title, flooding Pool C with quality teams and bouncing several
squads that looked good on Friday.
Roanoke (17-1), Middlebury (13-2) and Stevenson (15-1) are virtual
locks for at-larges, leaving two spots. I have Tufts (13-4) picking
off one of those spots, leaving Ithaca (14-2), Geneseo (13-2) and
Haverford (13-3) vying for the last spot. When the smoke clears, I
believe it will be the Fords.
Denison and Ohio Wesleyan are looking fine in Pool B, but the third
spot has been a revolving door for me. After passing through
Goucher and Whittier, I've settled on Merchant Marine (11-5) after
the Mariners won the Landmark.
Here's what I've got for MD3 pairings.
Wednesday, May 6
Game 1: Eastern Conn. at Springfield
Game 2: Montclair at WNEC
Game 3: Mt. Ida at Wesleyan
Game 4: Merchant Marine at St. Lawrence
Game 5: Haverford at Cabrini
Game 6: Ohio Wesleyan at FDU
Saturday, May 9
Game 1 winner at Cortland
Game 2 winner at Tufts
Nazareth at Middlebury
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Game 5 winner at Roanoke
Salisbury at Denison
Washington & Lee at Gettysburg
Game 6 winner at Stevenson
Women's Division III
Just like the men, my women's bracket was decimated by conference
tourney upsets - not only because new teams entered the mix, but
also for seeding purposes. Instead of trying to tweak things, I
just started over.
Pool B hasn't changed - I've still got TCNJ (15-2), Drew (10-7),
Catholic (15-3), Claremont (12-1) and Adrian (10-4). The at-larges
have shifted. Despite losing to Williams in the NESCAC semifinals,
Tufts (14-2) is in, and the Jumbos are joined easily by
Gettysburg (14-3) and Union (14-3). I believe St. Mary's (12-5) has
the numbers to get a fourth bid. That leaves a bunch of quality
programs vying for two spots.
Stevens losing to St. John Fisher drops them to 15-2. Buffalo State
dropped the SUNYAC title game to Cortland, dropping to 16-2.
Elizbethtown lost to Messiah in the MAC championship contest,
falling to 16-3. Do any of those teams play a tough enough schedule
to swim in Pool C? Is Williams at 12-5 and with a brutal schedule
more worthy? How about Middlebury at 9-5?
I've gone over the numbers too many times, and it will boil down to
what the committee wants to emphasize: wins or strength. I think
they'll probably blend the two, taking Stevens and Williams.
Here's how they bracket up:
Wednesday, May 6
SALISBURY BRACKET
Claremont at Cabrni
Drew at St. Mary's
Christopher Newport at Gettysburg
HAMILTON BRACKET
Cortland at Stevens
St. John Fisher at Catholic
COLBY BRACKET
Endicott at Babson
Keene at Williams
F&M BRACKET
Farmingdale at Union
Messiah at Roanoke
Adrian at Wooster
Second Round - May 9
SALISBURY BRACKET
Claremont/Cabrini winner at Salisbury
SMC/Drew winner vs. CNU/Gettysburg winner (at Salisbury)
HAMILTON BRACKET
Stevens/Cortland winner vs Tufts (at Hamilton)
RIT/Catholic winner at Hamilton
COLBY BRACKET
Endicott/Babson winner at Colby
Keene/Williams winner vs. TCNJ (at Colby)
F&M BRACKET
Farmingdale/Union winner vs. Roanoke/Messiah winner (at
F&M)
Adrian/Wooster winner at F&M
MCLA Division I & II
In what is a testament to the MCLA, there were a lot of good
programs that will not be participating in the national tournament
in Denver in both Division I and II. As I've written on numerous
occasions, we're all flying blind as the league transitions from
having a season-ending coaches poll determine the at-large bids and
seeding to an NCAA-style selection committee.
The committee will face some grueling questions. Does Colorado
State, which has easily played the toughest schedule in the
country, deserve to go with an 11-8 record, or should a Florida
team with a couple of good wins and a 9-4 record go? The same
questions apply to Division II, as well.
This is how I see it (the PNCLL title game starts at 3 p.m. PDT, so
I'm assuming a Simon Fraser win).
MCLA D-I Bracket
First Round - May 12 - Denver,
Colo.
#1 Michigan (16-0) vs. #16 Texas (16-3)
#2 BYU (16-3) vs. #15 Michigan State (15-2)
#3 Chapman (13-2) vs. #14 Lindenwood (14-4)
#4 Simon Fraser (13-1) vs #13 Colorado State (11-8)
#5 Minn. Duluth (12-3) vs. #12 Cal Poly (12-3)
#6 Colorado (13-6) vs. #11 Virginia Tech (14-3)
#7 Boston College (11-2) vs. #10 Cal (13-3)
#8 Florida State (16-2) vs. #9 Sonoma (10-6)
MCLA D-II Bracket
First Round - May 12 - Denver, Colo.
#5 Northern Colorado (13-0) vs. #12 Stonehill (6-8)
#6 Emory (9-1) vs. #11 Western Oregon (12-3)
#7 Elon (11-1) vs. #10 Cal State-Fullerton (13-3)
#8 Southwestern (11-4) vs. #9 Missouri State (12-2)
Quarterfinals - May 13
SW/Mizz St. winner vs. #1 Dayton (9-0)
Elon/CSF winner vs. #2 St. Thomas (13-1)
Emory/WOU winner vs. #3 Davenport (13-3)
No. Colorado/Stonehill winner vs. #4 St. John's (10-2)
