McCaffrey’s Musings:
By: Tim McCaffrey
Reasonable Rapid Regional Ranking Reaction
Congratulations to all the teams and institutions that will be participating in the NCAA Tournament. No matter what opinions are below or anywhere else, nobody can take the honor away.
Men’s Top 8
1) Saint Anselm - Host
2) Bentley
3) Southern New Hampshire
4) New Haven
5) Pace
6) Saint Thomas Aquinas
7) Dominican
8) Caldwell
This bracket is perfect and credit goes to the National Committee, headed by West Texas A & M Director of Athletics Michael McBroom and East Regional chair Mike MacDonald. The final at-large spot, to my calculation, came down to Dominican and Daemen. I thought Dominican was the clear choice, but sources tell the Musings the decision was pushed to the national committee where it ended up being one of the most difficult decisions of the entire bracket.
This means that for the second consecutive season, Daemen is the last team out. Heartbreaking. While MacDonald isn’t part of the discussion for his own team, imagine being that close, serving as the chair and not being able to state your case. It is a helpless feeling. MacDonald is a class act. He is a tireless worker who always goes by the motto 'do what is right, not what is easy.' Integrity comes in a large supply when in this process. and perhaps next year MacDonald will only have to drop off the call when it comes to seeding his team!
Congrats to first-year Caldwell coach Dean Johnson as his Cougars are young and energized. That’s the good news! The problem for the Cougs' is the host Hawks have a Top 10 RPI in all the land and have one of the best coaches at any level in Keith Dickson.
Bentley only fell off the one-line after the Hawks won the last head-to-head match-up, so the Falcons end up opposite Dominican. The Chargers deserve this seeding and everyone can take a big breath because nothing caused Joe Clinton and company to lose their spot in the field. This is a very difficult assignment for the CACC North’s third-place team. Bentley ran over Dominican, 95-58 in November.
I picked the Penmen to win the regional preseason, so I’ll stick with that, but never. ever. ever count STAC out. The unique style combined with the easy-going personality of its coach, Matt Capell, makes STAC an upset possibility. SNHU is playing some high-level basketball and will be competing in its home city!
The most interesting contest is Pace versus New Haven. First team to 50 wins? Expect defense and toughness and physicality. If the referees call this the way it’s supposed to be, advantage UNH. The Chargers foul the least among any team in the nation. If the game is a bit more open, then advantage Pace.
Women’s Top 8
1) Assumption -Host
2) Southern New Hampshire
3) Jefferson
4) Le Moyne
5) Bentley
6) Daemen
7) St. Thomas Aquinas
8) Dominican
Last season, the committee decided to make sure every game was a non-conference NCAA Tournament affair, but this year the brackets appear slightly imbalanced, with a huge edge to the two-seed, SNHU. The last teams out were Holy Family and Southern Connecticut. SCSU’s argument is that if strength of schedule is a higher-weighted metric this year, then why does it hold more weight at the top of the field than at the bottom? What ultimately hurt for the Owls, despite the #6 RPI and a SOS .056 (that’s a lot) higher than STAC, is that the body of work from the Spartans carried the day in the opinions of the National Committee.
Holy Family has a legitimate question as to why it would be dropped out of the field despite being on the 6-line last ranking. The school have a case. The Tigers went 1-1, as did the Spartans. STAC defeated #28 in the region RPI Queens and lost to #7 RPI Daemen on the road. Holy Family defeated #25 RPI Felician at home and lost to RPI #12 Post on a neutral floor. This shouldn’t have been enough alone to alter the rankings, so why the change? Could it be because the Spartans beat Dominican in Orangeburg? The Chargers ended up 9th in RPI in the Region and Holy Family couldn’t match that. I don’t think so. For me, what it came down to was a desire to make sure there were two ECC, two CACC and four NE 10 teams, in the hopes of making everyone happy. The categories didn’t move enough for there to be a change UNLESS the committee was wrong last week. Whatever the case at the end of the day…. Drumroll… this committee from national and regional got it right-ish. The bottom of the field is such a mess. It’s hard selling out for a SCSU that struggled so against top teams.
I don’t see a #7 vs. #8 regional final like we had last year, but maybe Karen Pinkos deserves some good fortune. Last season, her team was not at full strength at this stage of the season, and if you believe in karma, the Penmen did nothing wrong and handled their situation with class. The Spartans fell at home to SNHU in December and are a year ahead of schedule.
The Jefferson-Daemen game is fascinating. These are not teams that will likely find each other in a non-conference game. Both are well coached, but only one can win, obviously. Jefferson struggles from the perimeter and is susceptible to teams packed into the paint, but can the Wildcats play an effective zone? I’m really excited about this game as it will be a validation win for either program. Make no mistake, Daemen has earned its way into the field and this seed.
In November, Dominican traveled to Worcester and the Greyhounds thumped them by 23. But this is March, and if you believe and execute, it is where dreams are made. The counter is that Assumption is crisp and displays an attention to detail. Hosting can bring added pressures, but with a veteran staff captained by Kerry Phayre, this could be a tough assignment for the CACC Tourney winners.
Finally, it’s Le Moyne and Bentley. Two rising coaching superstars in Mary Grimes and C White. Incredible that these two squads found each other in the bracket because the Dolphins will be playing their second game in 20 days, while Bentley will be playing its sixth game over that span. Hard to know if that will be a factor, but it’s a tidbit. I picked Bentley in the preseason to win the Regional and Jefferson to host, so I’m at least 0-1!
Good luck to all. At press time, there were no times listed for either regional. Stay Tuned!
Be well, stay safe and we’ll see you at the games!
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This was written by Tim McCaffrey, to write to him, try t.p.mccaffrey@gmail.com, he returns every e-mail!