Category Archives: NCAA Tournament

Women’s Basketball | NCAA Tournament Preview (NESCAC style)

Posted on March 2, 2012 by nescacinsider| Leave a comment

Amherst

Pod: vs. St. Joseph’s, Babson vs. Bridgewater State

Prognosis: The undefeated and defending national champion Lord Jeffs enter the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year as the favorites. Their path will likely be one of the easiest of any top seed, as they probably will not have to leave Amherst for the first four rounds of play, and the other high seeds in their region of the bracket are a group with gaudy records but lean resumes. Their potential second-round opponent, No. 13 Babson, is 25-2, but outside of an early season win against a Tufts side still getting its feet on the ground, they have looked poor against top teams, including a 61-39 drubbing at the hands of Williams. No. 15 Juniata similarly played a weak schedule, and is reeling after losing their conference championship game to Catholic, while No. 8 William Patterson could only split a season series with Kean, a team the Lord Jeffs dispatched by 23. Continue reading →

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Posted in Amherst, Bowdoin, NCAA Tournament, NESCAC, Tufts, Winter Sports, Women's Basketball

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Linking Around the NESCAC | February 28

Posted on February 28, 2012 by nescacinsider| Leave a comment

Another day, another batch of links. Let’s go:

Women’s Basketball | Mules snubbed from NCAA Tournament (via Morning Sentinel)

WATERVILLE — Most of the Colby women’s basketball team was gathered in the trophy room, just a short walk from the court at Wadsworth Gymnasium.

But what happens when you’re waiting to find out where to go, and it turns out to be nowhere?

That’s what the Mules faced Monday afternoon as they watched the NCAA Division III selection show. The teams were revealed in groups of eight and, when all 64 teams had been listed, Colby — despite a 19-7 overall record and the sixth-toughest schedule in the country — was not one of them.

Colby senior Jil Vaughan nervously buried her head in her hands before the final eight teams were shown, but when it became obvious Colby’s season was over, everyone in the room was speechless.

“They were in shock,” Colby coach Julie Veilleux said a few hours later. “They might still be in shock right now, to be honest. I know they’re hurting inside. I know they’re upset.” Continue reading →

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Posted in Baseball, Bates, Men's Lacrosse, Morning Links, NCAA Tournament, NESCAC, Spring Sports, Winter Sports, Women's Basketball

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Women’s Basketball | Amherst, Tufts, Bowdoin to NCAA Tourney

Posted on February 28, 2012 by nescacinsider| Leave a comment

(via NESCAC.com)

HADLEY, Mass. – Defending national champion Amherst College will have the opportunity to defend its title when the Lord Jeffs open play in the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday evening at home.

The Lord Jeffs (27-0), who won their third NESCAC title this past weekend, were announced as one of the 64 participating teams in this year’s tournament on Monday afternoon. Also joining Amherst from the conference are Tufts (21-6) and Bowdoin (19-7). The Jumbos will host a first and second round set for the first time ever at Cousens Gymnasium this weekend, while the Polar Bears will travel to Ithaca, N.Y.

All first round games are Friday with second round contests taking place on Saturday. Continue reading →

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Posted in Amherst, Bowdoin, NCAA Tournament, NESCAC, Tufts, Winter Sports, Women's Basketball

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Women’s Basketball | Regional Rankings Analysis

Posted on February 12, 2012 by nescacinsider| Leave a comment

After nearly an entire season’s worth of analysis, predictions and results, the NCAA finally released its first regional rankings on Wednesday. While both the official and D3hoops.com rankings are fun to follow throughout the season, they serve as little more than beauty contest. The regional rankings are the tournament committee’s bread and butter come Selection Monday; a team ranked lower in them can’t earn an at-large bid over one ranked higher.

Keeping that in mind, we can begin to break down the NESCAC squads based on where they fall and what remains on their schedule. For reference, the NESCAC sent four teams to the dance last year, ranked 1st through 4th in the final regional rankings. Bates, ranked 8th, came up just short. Let’s take a look at this year’s sides, where they fall in the rankings, and where that leaves them.

Note: Most of the stats involved in these rankings care exclusively about in-region games, prior to this past weekend. Continue reading →

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Posted in NCAA Tournament, NESCAC, NESCAC Tournament, Winter Sports, Women's Basketball

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Men’s Basketball | Regional Rankings Analysis

Posted on February 9, 2012 by nescacinsider| Leave a comment

The first batch of NCAA regional rankings have been released, the usefulness of which is really limited to speculation surrounding which teams could potentially earn at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.

Accordingly, NESCAC Insider will engage in some speculation of its own, breaking down the NESCAC presence in the Northeast top 12.

The full rankings can be read here.

Right from the start, there seems to be some controversy. Middlebury was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of this season before falling 77-76 to Keene State on Jan. 31. The Owls are currently ranked eighth in the region, and beat Northeast No. 6 Eastern Conn. a week before downing the Panthers. Plus, Middlebury dropped one spot in the latest D3hoops.com top-25 to No. 2 in the nation.

And yet the Panthers are ranked second in the Northeast, one spot behind conference rival Amherst. Continue reading →

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Posted in Men's Basketball, NCAA Tournament, NESCAC, NESCAC Tournament, Winter Sports

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