NCAA Tournament Possibilities

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (GR_Eagle)

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:11:52 GMT

ORIGINAL: umgoblue14

ORIGINAL: GR_Eagle

I guess the RPI means more then I thought. Talk about a cupcake regional!

But wasn't MSU also a cupcake?

Not in adouble elimination format. This is the season that counts and Hutch will have them ready.

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (mzonefan)

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:07:55 GMT

ORIGINAL: GR_Eagle

I plan on being there this weekend. Anyone else from here going?

Always!

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (umgoblue14)

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:07:01 GMT

ORIGINAL: GR_Eagle

I guess the RPI means more then I thought. Talk about a cupcake regional!

But wasn't MSU also a cupcake?

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (GR_Eagle)

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:10:23 GMT

I guess the RPI means more then I thought. Talk about a cupcake regional!

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (buckeyehater22)

Sun, 11 May 2008 22:45:41 GMT

WOW! We are the #4 seed!!

Ann Arbor Regional:

1) Michigan
4) Wright State

2) Notre Dame
3) Kent State

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (GR_Eagle)

Sun, 11 May 2008 19:33:44 GMT

The bad thing about the B10 tournament..... with Michigan losing, who have you actually played? Iowa is strong but thats it. Thats why, as good as they looked, I don't think beating Minnesota and Ohio State does anything to raise the wildcats' #14 RPI ranking.

I plan on being there this weekend. Anyone else from here going?

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (buckeyehater22)

Sun, 11 May 2008 18:55:33 GMT

ORIGINAL: GR_Eagle

Never a doubt man, never a doubt. It's looking like a six seed, seven at the very worst. The question is..... who gets the 8th? Northwestern (not in my book) or Arizona (probable)?

I came home from work and was looking forward to seeing the brackets. Whats up with a 10 PM start?

Six would be good. I'd like to see NU get the 8th seed, just for the Big Ten's sake. Like you've said, NU's low RPI might hurt them, but the Big Ten Championship will definitely help them. Does the RPI take that into consideration?

The 10 p.m. start is weird, but whatever. Some arrogant UCS poster said that it's only 7 p.m. for the teams that matter. Shame on him for forgetting 2005.

I am planning on attending as many regional games as I can, as well as the SR if we make it.

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (GR_Eagle)

Sun, 11 May 2008 18:26:55 GMT

Never a doubt man, never a doubt. It's looking like a six seed, seven at the very worst. The question is..... who gets the 8th? Northwestern (not in my book) or Arizona (probable)?

I came home from work and was looking forward to seeing the brackets. Whats up with a 10 PM start?

RE: NCAA Tournament Possibilities (buckeyehater22)

Sat, 10 May 2008 15:39:49 GMT

UPDATE:

No. 10-seeded Nebraska uphends Oklahoma, 6-5, sending the Sooners home.

Also, Stanford is down 3-1 in the third to Arizona.

Looks like a top 8 seed is in store for us!!

NCAA Tournament Possibilities (buckeyehater22)

Sat, 10 May 2008 11:12:14 GMT

So the loss to the Spartans certainly didn't help our chances, but after speaking with a couple of people around the college softball world, we should still have a great seed, somewhere in the 5-8 range, which means we would host a Super Regional assuming we win the regional, which we would be hosting as well.

However, to be sure, Nick Mone, a college softball insider at UCS, said that: "At the moment Michigan is definitely hosting a regional, there are no better alternatives in the Midwest. Not only do they have the team, but also the facility and the fans. Michigan did not face many of their competitors for top 8 seeding, and the likelihood that all of them will win this weekend is slim. Though I think in order to be safe they probably need losses by Oklahoma, UNC, and Stanford as Fresno State is probably out of contention with their loss to Louisiana Tech. The loss to Michigan State is not the worst thing in the world, which shouldn't be enough to knock them out unless those teams sweep through the weekend. Even in that worst case scenario with all three of those teams winning Michigan's resume is strong enough to get a top 8 seed. If just one of those teams loses Michigan almost assuredly has a spot. A lot needs to happen for Michigan to lose out on a good seed and even if it does I don't see it happening.”

The rest of my article talking about the NCAA Tournament is located here:

http://umgoblue.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=531&z=1

The loss is no doubt shocking. No way around it. Am I worried? Yes. How can we only score one run against a team against which we put a combined 21 runs on the board in two games earlier in the season? However, we'll be fine.

It was just one of those fluke games – like the Drake defeat earlier in the season. If anything, this might actually light a fire under the Wolverine women. They can do two things with this loss: let it get to them and let their confidence suffer, or look it as no team can be taken for granted. We will still host an NCAA Regional in Ann Arbor and face some teams that are not up to our level (like MSU), so it could be good because we won't overlook them. I still hope we have a high enough seed to host the Super Regional, the round after the regional which determines who will advance to the College World Series.

If you remember correctly, last year the Wolverine baseball team suffered a similar fate. Michigan entered the 2006 Big Ten Tournament as the #1-seed and was ousted in two games in the double elimination format. Rich Maloney’s group later claimed a stunning upset of #1 national seed Vanderbilt in the NCAA Regionals.

Back to the ladies…

Many softball pundits believe that Michigan will still have a seed that hosts the super regional (No. 1 – No. 8 seeds nationally). This is because of the Wolverines’ high RPI (#4) and because other teams in the top eight have lost early in their respective tournaments as well, like #6 Arizona State. Nick Mone, contributor at Ultimate College Softball, chimed in on Michigan’s potential future in the NCAA Tournament: “At the moment Michigan is definitely hosting a regional, there are no better alternatives in the Midwest. Not only do they have the team, but also the facility and the fans. Michigan did not face many of their competitors for top 8 seeding, and the likelihood that all of them will win this weekend is slim. Though I think in order to be safe they probably need losses by Oklahoma, UNC, and Stanford as Fresno State is probably out of contention with their loss to Louisiana Tech. The loss to Michigan State is not the worst thing in the world, which shouldn't be enough to knock them out unless those teams sweep through the weekend. Even in that worst case scenario with all three of those teams winning Michigan's resume is strong enough to get a top 8 seed. If just one of those teams loses Michigan almost assuredly has a spot. A lot needs to happen for Michigan to lose out on a good seed and even if it does I don't see it happening.”

This is definitely reassuring; however, you never know exactly where the NCAA Selection Committee will place Michigan. I think the committee will look at the Wolverines as a pretty good pick. They are loaded with young, bright, and talented stars across the board including veteran Samantha Findlay, who wrote her place in the NCAA memory books with her homerun in the 2005 Women’s College World Series. Michigan has also made it to the WCWS eight out of the last 13 seasons. As Nick noted, the new Alumni Field is one of the finest softball facilities in the country, and Wolverine fans have packed it for big games this year.

So what are Oklahoma, UNC, and Stanford doing?

In the Big 12 Tournament, the No. 2 seed Sooners are playing Nebraska today at noon. If they win that, they will play the winner of the Missouri/Texas Tech game at 5:30 later this evening (on FSN if anyone is interested). The Big 12 Tournament game is on Sunday at 1 p.m. on FSN.

In the ACC Tournament, the No. 1 seed Tarheels play at 4:30 today in the semifinals of the now-single elimination tournament (it was double elimination, but rain caused a few cancellations). UNC plays No. 5 NC State at 4:30 today. If they win that, they will play in the ACC Tournament Championship game on Sunday at noon against the Virginia Tech/Florida State winner.

The PAC 10 does not have a conference tournament, so regular season games will be played this weekend. Stanford lost Game 1 against Arizona on Friday by a convincing score of 8-0 in six innings. That should eliminate Stanford's chances at a SR hosting bid. The Cardinal and Wildcats will take the field again at 3 p.m. today.