Author Topic: Women's Lacrosse: Discussion/ News  (Read 47396 times)

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Re: Women's Lacrosse: Discussion/ News
« Reply #495 on: May 08, 2018, 11:45:14 am »
http://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/snubs-surprises-why-stony-brook-is-a-no-5-seed-and-more-from-women-s-ncaa-di-bracket/52199

Quote
Here's what I was surprised most about:

-The committee dropped the Seawolves THIS low. Stony Brook boasts wins over USC, Stanford, Denver, Northwestern, Towson, Johns Hopkins and Penn State—all but one are NCAA Tournament teams this year.

-The committee seemingly didn't take into consideration losses as much as "quality" wins (i.e. North Carolina's 3 vs. a combined 3 between BC, JMU, MD & SB; more on that below.)

-Stony Brook being an America East team hurt them as much as it did. While I understand RPI and what goes into factoring these rankings, I think it's somewhat antiquated and not in-tune with this sport's growth. It's fantastic that teams from nontraditional power conferences are making waves in the DI ranks, but often these teams are punished when it comes to seeding in this tournament. I also think this hurt teams out west, namely Stanford.

-The national polls didn't mean anything. Hey, I get it. They rarely ever do in this conversation annually. But when an expert poll—especially that of the IWLCA Poll, comprised solely of voters that are college coaches, playing these teams week-in and week-out—has been voting a single team as the nation's top for the majority of the season, I think that says something.

So to close this one out, because of RPI and quality wins I didn't think that the NCAA would reward Stony Brook with the No. 1 seed... but I did think they'd be in the No. 2-4 discussion, with a potential to host in the quarterfinals.

I think Boston College at No. 4 is the biggest snub of the bracket, with I suppose Stony Brook at No. 5 as the second biggest.

Should BC and Stony Brook advance, it's also crazy to think that the two teams that have been receiving the most first place votes this spring—outside of maybe only Maryland—won't even be meeting in a Final Four setting.

For what it's worth, here's how I would've seeded the top five:
1. Maryland, No. 2 Stony Brook, No. 3 Boston College, No. 4 James Madison, No. 5 UNC

You know who else are quality wins? Notre Dame, Navy, USC, UNC, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, Denver, Syracuse, Virginia—all teams that Boston College and Stony Brook recorded wins over this season.
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