The Committee Responds: A Q&A with Ken Lovic
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| Ken Lovic, the chair of both the MCLA Divisioni I and Division II selection committees, says quality wins are what matter most. |
The MCLA selection committee released
the seedings and pairings for the national tournament on
Sunday evening, producing the typical griping and questioning from
those teams who were not fortunate to make the tourney, which will
be held in Denver starting on May 11.
Ken Lovic, the chair of both selection committees, agreed to field
five questions (via email) that I posed to him. Lovic, who is also
the head coach at Georgia Tech, has been instrumental to the growth
of the MCLA in various administrative roles.
Lovic: First off, we will produce our selection committee report
this summer – a document of what the committee will be using
for criteria for at-large bids. Wins was our first motive. That
breaks down to number of wins, quality wins, top 10 wins and top 25
wins. Notice I am not saying losses. Wins.
Coyne: I'm assuming there was a discussion about including
Colorado, a team that had a strong schedule but lost more games
than it won, in the tournament. Walk me through the debate and
expound on the factors that led to the committee's final
decision.
Lovic: We had a group of nine teams we were looking at for
at-larges and established their records versus Top 25 teams using
the April 28 poll. Colorado had some nice wins versus Top 10 teams
- BYU, Simon Fraser, Michigan, and Michigan State. They also had a
win over Lindenwood, another ranked team. When compared to other
teams in the conversation, those wins earned them a positive
note.
We then looked at schedule. Colorado clearly has the best schedule
out there. It’s a product of being in a top conference, yes,
but also not shying away from top teams. Basically, we are valuing
wins and quality wins. That set them apart from some other teams in
consideration.
Coyne: Grove City played
nine games, including the conference tournament, and barely
traveled. Was the committee worried at all about setting a bad
precedent for admittance to the tourney? Has the committee tacitly
eliminated the need to travel or schedule above the bare
minimum?
Lovic: Yes, they only played a small schedule and that was
a concern, but again quality wins are there. They beat the SELC
champ and a top ranked team in SCAD. We want people to know that
travel is important and want teams to continue to pursue that to
give the selection committee a better image nationally about what's
out there, but you can't argue with their wins compared to others
we were tossing them up against.
Coyne: It's clear that schedule strength is the most
important aspect for the committee. What other factors would you
list as primary criteria?
Lovic: Strengh of schedule is not the most important. It
factors in. You can't have quality wins without a quality schedule
is one way, but you need to win. Strength of schedule comes into
play down the line as criteria when we have lock-ups for at-large
spots.
Coyne: There are a lot of coaches on the committee who are
in the hunt for at-large bids and involved in the seeding process.
For those on the outside there appears to be a potential for
conflict of interest. How do you handle that situation?
Lovic: We have a committee that serves to find the best
six or seven at-large teams for our national tournament. We ask
respected coaches to serve on our committee and have them check
their team affiliation at the door. It is a great group of men that
look at numbers, results, etc. There is no lobbying. When it comes
to seeding in Division I we actually excuse any coach from the
seeding process. This year, [Florida State's] Bill Harkins,
[Minn-Duluth's] Rob Graff, [Colorado State's] Alex Smith and
[Oregon's] Joe Kerwin were not involved in seeding the DI
tourney.
Coyne: This is the second year of the committee format in
the MCLA. If you had the opportunity to dispel a myth or two about
the selection process, what would they be?
We look at wins, most importantly. Also, in awarding
at-large bids we look at a body of work, not how you ended your
season. Any team can get on a hot two or three-game run in a
conference tourney, but does it back up their season of work?
