Time for a mini-musing:
Credit to University of New Haven Head Men’s Basketball coach Ted Hotaling, the chair of the East Region Men’s basketball committee, who did an excellent job this week. There’s nothing that needs to be said about the rankings on the men’s side:
Rank/School/Overall DII Record
1 Saint Anselm 21-4
2 Daemen 22-4
3 New Haven 18-7
4 Le Moyne 16-8
5 Merrimack 18-9
6 STAC 21-5
7 Adelphi 19-8
8 Bentley 18-9
9 Bloomfield 17-9
10 Jefferson 19-7
The same cannot be said for the members on the women’s committee, who apparently follow a different game than everyone I've come across.
Let’s look at the rankings:
Rank/School/Overall DII Record
1 Sciences 26-1
2 Bentley 25-2
3 Jefferson 24-2
4 Le Moyne 21-4
5 STAC 24-3
6 Stonehill 18-8
7 Saint Anselm 18-7
8 Southern New Hampshire 17-10
9 Merrimack 18-9
10 Daemen 16-9
What’s important is that the top eight teams make the field, and these rankings do not include Tuesday’s games, so we are just looking at results through last Sunday. I care about the right team hosting and the correct eight teams in the field. The seeding doesn’t matter all that much as the best team will usually prevail. It’s also possible the National Committee overturned the rankings. Also, this all should be irrelevant after SNHU lost at home to Assumption on Tuesday and Merrimack defeated St. Michael’s, but as promised, let’s go deeper into the numbers and show just how mind-boggling this decision is.
In-Region winningh %: This is a primary category that favors Merrimack. 1-0 Warriors.
Overall Win %: See Above. 2-0 Warriors.
Strength of Schedule: .540 Merrimack; .521 SNHU. 3-0 Warriors
RPI (rank in region): Merrimack 8; SNHU 11…. 4-0 Warriors
Performance Indicator: Merrimack 13.704; SNHU 12.963 5-0 Warriors
DII Results vs. .500 or Better: Merrimack 7-8; SNHU 8-7 Warriors 5-1
Head to Head: 2-0 SNHU… 5-2 Warriors
It’s not like the boxes that Merrimack wins are close. Last season, SNHU defeated Bentley twice in the regular season but it clearly wasn’t enough to put them in the field. This is where common sense comes into play. I would love for the Penmen to get into the field, as I picked them before the season. However, Merrimack getting the eight seed is a no-brainer. I talked with several coaches and not one tells me that SNHU is the better team. There isn’t a person in the region who doesn’t love Karen Pinkos, the leader of the Penmen, but this isn’t about likes, this is about what’s right, and the right thing to do is put Merrimack into the top 8. Monique LeBlanc, who is in her eighth season as Merrimack head women’s hoop coach, and her team, are looking to make their first NCAA tournament since the 2004-2005 campaign.
Merrimack is leaving for Division I and the Northeast Conference after the season, but until then we should treat them with the respect they deserve.
Until Monday, Happy Hooping!!