Tag Archives: ncaa tournament

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

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

Linking Around the NESCAC | February 28

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

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

(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

Men’s Basketball | Amherst, Middlebury lead pack of tournament hopefuls (x-post Tufts Daily)

(via Claire Kemp, Tufts Daily)

The men’s basketball team will kick off its NESCAC Tournament bid on Saturday when, for the first time since 2006, Tufts will have the honor of hosting the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed. No. 1 Amherst, No. 2 Middlebury and No. 3 Wesleyan will also welcome opponents to their home courts as the favorites to advance to next weekend. The fourth through eighth seeds have almost identical split conference records, meaning some close games are likely to ensue — including in Cousens Gym when the Jumbos welcome the No. 5 Bates Bobcats.

While the majority of the teams are evenly-matched, it will be difficult to dethrone the defending NESCAC champion and national semifinalist Panthers, the top-seeded Lord Jeffs or a hot Cardinals squad.

To get you ready, the Daily breaks down the eight tournament hopefuls. Continue reading

Women’s Basketball | Regional Rankings Analysis

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