Coyne’s Bracket Breakdown: Men’s Division III
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| It appears as though Ryan Finch and Salisbury grabbed
the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Will they Gulls have
enough to pay that off on May 30? © Salisbury Sports Info |
The NCAA Men’s Division III selection committee released
its field for the tournament that will begin on
Wednesday, May 12. The 23-team bracket has plenty of familiar
faces, including last year’s champion (Cortland) and
runner-up (Gettysburg).
Here’s how the tourney breaks down.
LAST TEAM IN
Middlebury
I was speaking with the Middlebury sports information director
about 10 days ago and he asked whether the Panthers would get the
nod if they made the NESCAC finals. It’s been such a
turbulent season for Middlebury that I figured they were probably
already in need of the AQ, but on further inspection the Panthers'
resume would look much like Bowdoin's two years ago when it
was invited with five losses. The win against the Polar Bears in
the conference semifinals was a key win over a regionally ranked
team and what likely pushed Midd over the top.
FIRST TEAM OUT
Lynchburg
The Hornets are starting to be typecast in this role, and their
ommission undoubtedly hurts like the last time this happened. The
strength of schedule, the record, everything, was there, but at the
end of the day the ODAC doesn’t provide the kind of
top-to-bottom power that the Centennial and NESCAC did this year.
It was certainly better, especially with the resurrection of
Hampden-Sydney, but the bottom of the league still needs to raise
its game in order to push the top teams to the next level.
SNUBBED?
Comfortable Wednesday Drives
The committee sent a couple of teams on sizeable, mid-week
excursions this year. Widener was sent on a 260-mile (5-hour) trek
up to Springfield while Goucher received the scenic, 450-mile
(8-hour) sojourn from Towson, Md., to Middlebury, on
Wednesday.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Instead of artificially
seeding the tourney to ease the travel burden, the committee is
letting the seeds play out as they normally would. It means a
restless night of sleep for the Gophers coming back from Vermont,
but it strengthens the overall tournament.
BEST FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP
Ohio Wesleyan at Dickinson
There are a couple of compelling first rounders, but this is the
best of the bunch. Dickinson has been winning games on the strength
of its defense all season, but it'll be severely tested by an
Ohio Wesleyan squad that is finding its offensive stride. The NCAC
programs are having better and better showings in the tournament,
so the Red Devils better not be looking past the Bishops toward a
rematch with Haverford.
UPSET WATCH
Springfield
Widener looks like a cupcake coming out of the MAC, but the Pride
downed the three top seeds on their way to taking the conference,
which was extremely competitive this season. Springfield has to
avoid the temptation of looking at their opponent’s record
(10-9) and their league. If Springfield approaches Widener
like a speedbump on its way to the Salisbury game, the (other)
Pride will get beat.
EASIEST TITLE ROUTE
Cortland
The winner of the Keene State/Castleton State contest will
likely cause few match-up problems for the Red Dragons and the
Conn. College/RIT duo isn’t overly intimidating (although RIT
did take Cortland into overtime). Tufts would be a handful in a
potential semifinal match-up, but they’re all tough at that
point. Salisbury’s draw is a close second, but the way
Haverford is playing these days, the Gulls will be tested in the
quarters.
FIVE BURNING QUESTIONS
1. How did the Centennial get three bids to the
tournament?
It was a bit of a perfect storm, much like the NESCAC last
year. With their record and strength, Gettysburg and Dickinson were
in, but no one (outside of Haverford) expected the Squirrels to
overwhelm the two prohibitive favorites in three days to grab the
automatic qualifier.
The Centennial did have a bit of bad luck by having Haverford and
Dickinson ranked No. 4-5 in the “South” because it
forced a potential second round match-up while the NESCAC has the
potential to send all three of its teams through to the
quarterfinals.
2. Did Salisbury deserve the No. 1 seed over
Stevenson?
Well, obviously, yes. But I had the Mustangs with the stronger
strength of schedule and thought that, along with the most recent
win over the Gulls, would be enough to be slotted first. In the end
it’s not really that big a deal because there’s not
that much of a disparity between the two sides of the bracket. It
just means a third game will be on the Eastern Shore, where
Stevenson is 1-0 this spring.
3. Which team out of those playing in the first round has the
best shot at the quarterfinals?
It’d have to be Middlebury. While Goucher will give them
a test, they should move to the second round where RPI – a
team the Panthers beat two weeks ago, 9-6 – awaits. That
would likely set up a quarterfinal game against conference rival
Tufts, and Middlebury has already shown they can stay close to the
Jumbos.
4. What did the committee say by leaving out
Colorado College in Pool B.
Strength of schedule is not a criterion to be ignored. The
Tigers are obviously hamstrung by their geography and budget from
putting together the kind of schedule that perhaps they’d
like, but the committee wasn’t willing to give them a
discount, selecting Wittenberg – perhaps the only quality win
on Colorado College’s schedule – ahead of them. As odd
as it may sound, the second best win on CC’s slate was
probably in a scrimmage against Colorado State, which is the No. 2
seed in the MCLA national tournament.
The omission stings, especially for the seniors who led the run,
but the Tigers can take some solace in the fact they’ll be
huge favorites to take home the SCAC’s inaugural AQ bid next
spring.
5. Who’s the pick to win it all?
When I predicted
the entire tournament in December, I had Salisbury defeating
WNEC (doh!) in the national championship game, so I’ll stick
with the Gulls. They have the best player in middie Sam Bradman and
home field advantage. If the Gulls can get by Stevenson in a
potential semifinal match-up, I think they’ll pull it
off.
