Welcome to another Midweek Musing! We have the breakdown of the new rankings. Remember, they only reflect games through last Sunday.
Take a gander at the Men’s NCAA East Region Rankings:
1 Bridgeport
2 St. Thomas Aquinas
3 Jefferson
4 Saint Anselm
5 Le Moyne
6 Stonehill
7 Daemen
8 Dominican
9 Franklin Pierce
10 Pace
It’s another great week for the East, as the regional committee (RAC), guided by Ted Hotaling, has the definitive top 10. I just don’t see anyone outside the top eight getting an at-large. After Daemen and Dominican won their initial games in each’s respective conference tournament, both are solidly in the field. If the DC Chargers win in the Semifinals Saturday and play Jefferson in the CACC title tilt, they can lose that game as long as Molloy doesn’t cut down the nets in the ECC and New Haven drops the NE10 Final in Manchester against St. Anselm. If Dominican plays Wilmington in the CACC title clash, then the game becomes a win-to-get-in affair. If the Chargers lose to Bloomfield Saturday, hope still isn’t dashed as long as Jefferson wins the CACC and Molloy and UNH don’t steal a bid. So, here are the four teams that could eliminate the current six, seven and eight:
Wilmington (CACC)
Bloomfield (CACC)
Molloy (ECC)
New Haven (NE10)
As for Daemen, the Wildcats can’t have two of the above teams win their conference autobids. That would mean if UNH and either Bloomfield or Wilmington get the AQ, Daemen would have to win the ECC.
To be clear, if Dominican wins the CACC tournament, Daemen still isn’t out of the woods. The Wildcats would need to root for St. A’s and hope Molloy doesn’t repeat as ECC champs. Stonehill is on the most solid footing, but you can bet Chris Kraus will have some anxious eyes on the events of Saturday. The Skyhawks don’t want to see this scenario: New Haven wins the NE10, anybody besides Jefferson wins the CACC and Daemen wins the ECC. In that situation, UNH would be 7/8, CACC winner (not Jeff) would be 7/8 and Daemen would be 6. Stonehill could also miss the field with a UNH win Saturday and Dominican and Daemen hoisting trophies in each of their respective leagues. Things are a little bit complicated, but hopefully this helps everyone understand.
The women’s basketball RAC has released its top 10, and while I have two disagreements, they are both relatively minor.
1 Adelphi
2 Stonehill
3 University of the Sciences
4 Saint Anselm
5 Le Moyne
6 Bentley
7 St. Thomas Aquinas
8 Molloy
9 Daemen
10 Pace
The committee, led by Karen Haag, did an excellent job sorting out a messy bottom half of the top 10. I can understand why Le Moyne is five, though I’m not sure they will stay there with a loss at Stonehill Thursday. The 2-0 season sweep over Bentley proved to be enough for the committee and I can’t disagree entirely, but both games were in Syracuse. This bodes very well for Stonehill, because if it wins the NE10 and clips Adelphi in the process, it should be a Skyhawk-hosted regional. It’s hard to understand why Pace is the 10, but it’s probably irrelevant. The Setters defeated New York Tech at home in an opening weekend contest at the Goldstein Center. That result is nice, but it shouldn’t be enough to overcome a 6-1 column deficiency. The only category that Pace wins is Strength of Schedule. The school formerly known as NYIT is a CLEAR 10 as it stands today, following a tight win over Bridgeport Wednesday. But with a victory by Molloy, I can’t see a path for the Bears to garner an at-large.
While I’ll be broadcasting the CACC Tournaments, the most exciting games this weekend involve the teams that are left standing in the ECC. It’s four teams fighting in a winner-take-all should USciences not win the CACC. Yet if Sciences does hold serve in the Devil’s Workshop, then two teams would come from the ECC.
Here’s how the ECC semis shape up:
#1 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. #4 Molloy
#2 Daemen vs. #3 New York Tech
If the tournament is winner-take-all, we don’t need to explain the scenario, however let’s pretend two teams will come out of the ECC. STAC would need a win in the semis and would be in regardless of the title result. STAC still will get in if the Spartans lose to Molloy and Molloy wins the ECC, but a loss to Molloy and an ECC title for Daemen or Tech complicates things. That would be some kind of tough decision, but it would likely favor the Spartans. That means Molloy probably can’t afford to lose in the final. It would just be too dicey that even with a win over STAC, a loss to NYIT or Daemen would leave the Lions on the outside. I think you can make an argument for Daemen at eight if it defeats the Bears and loses to St. Thomas Aquinas in the final. It wouldn’t be a limb I’d want to put much weight on, but it could be up for discussion. And this is what makes this tournament so fascinating. Molloy has a better shot of advancing to the NCAAs if it loses in the semis than if it loses in the finals. As for Tech, just win baby!!
Extra points:
I want to invite everyone to an awards show!! In the next musings, I’ll honor some of the best. We’ll call them “The Musies.” We’ll be spotlighting some of the sung and unsung people of the region!
Once again, some wonderful officiating in the CACC. I witnessed a very physical men's game between Georgian Court and Dominican in a first-round tourney game in Rockland County, and the referees were on point. It’s no surprise that three veterans of many big games were making the calls! Credit to Tom Courtney, Dave Fernandez and Dave DeYong as they were all awesome.
Speaking of officials, how is it possible only two referees showed up in University City for a CACC women’s hoops playoff game? Sciences and Nyack waited until a third appeared, and the game was delayed over 30 minutes as a result. I can’t wrap my mind around how that’s even possible. It’s a playoff game, for crying out loud.
If you didn’t watch the UNH vs. Stonehill NE10 men’s basketball semifinal, then you missed out on the best game of the season so far. The crowd was loud, the action was furious and the decision wasn’t rendered until 55 minutes or three OTs. Make sure to read Chris Granozio’s write-up!
I’ll be back Monday (or maybe Tuesday, due to heavy travel) for my usual column, during which I’ll break down the NCAA Field! Make sure you stick to twitter @d2easthoops on Sunday as I’ll disclose my expected field on both the men’s and women’s sides!
If you happen to be in Philadelphia this weekend for the CACC Tourney, please come up and say hello! This shapes up to be a very exciting weekend. Happy Hooping, everyone!