It's October, and conference play is underway across the nation. Of the 24 conferences, 21 decide their auto bid via conference tournament. Of those 21 conferences, 5 allow all schools to participate. The remaining 16 conferences have formats in which at least one school is eliminated through conference play. Thus begins this year's conference tourney "Clinched/Eliminated" thread. Tonight, we had our first clinchings of 2017. ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE 6 of 7 advance to tournament Clinched FGCU Stetson
10/15 clinchings ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE 6 of 7 advance to tournament Clinched FGCU Stetson NJIT (new) CONFERENCE USA 7 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched Charlotte (new) FIU (new) Kentucky (new)
10/19 elimination (our first) PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE Regular-season champion earns auto bid Eliminated San Diego State
Sacramento State 5-1 over Cal Poly means UCSB clinches BW North Division playoff. Cal Poly is 6 points back of both UC Davis and Sac State with 2 games to play, and with UCD a game in hand tonight at UCSB. I don't know how the tiebreakers work, but Sac State beat Cal Poly both times and UCD lost in their first meeting.
Hofstra clinched a spot in the CAA tournament with a 2-1 OT victory against UNCW tonight. Looks like a happy locker room https://www.instagram.com/p/BaiExLpDNls/?taken-by=hofstramsoc
With the UC Davis win at UCSB tonight, they clinch a conference tournament spot and eliminate Cal Poly.
10/21 clinchings, eliminations AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE 6 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched New Hampshire (new) Vermont (new) Albany (N.Y.) (new) UMass Lowell (new) AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 4 of 8 advance to tournament Eliminated Cincinnati (new) ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE 8 of 13 advance to tournament Clinched Massachusetts (new) VCU (new) George Washington (new) Fordham (new) BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE 6 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched Radford (new) BIG WEST CONFERENCE 6 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched UC Davis (new) UC Santa Barbara (new) Sacramento State (new) CSUN (new) Eliminated Cal Poly (new) COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 6 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched James Madison (new) Hofstra (new) UNCW (new) College of Charleston (new) Eliminated Drexel (new) Northeastern (new) CONFERENCE USA 7 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched FIU Old Dominion Kentucky New Mexico Charlotte (new) HORIZON LEAGUE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Eliminated IUPUI (new) METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Eliminated Saint Peter's (new) MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE 4 of 6 advance to tournament Clinched Western Michigan (new) SUMMIT LEAGUE 4 of 6 advance to tournament Clinched Denver (new)
10/22 elimination PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE Regular-season champion earns auto bid Eliminated San Diego State Oregon State (new)
10/21 clinching (late addition) ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE 6 of 7 advance to tournament Clinched FGCU Stetson NJIT Lipscomb (new)
10/25 clinchings/eliminations BIG EAST CONFERENCE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Clinched Butler (new) Georgetown (new) BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE 6 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched High Point (new) Radford Campbell (new) Liberty (new) BIG WEST CONFERENCE 6 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched UC Davis Sacramento State UC Santa Barbara CSUN Cal State Fullerton (new) Eliminated Cal Poly METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 6 of 11 advance to tournament Clinched Rider (new) Manhattan (new) Canisius (new) Fairfield (new) Eliminated Saint Peter's Niagara (new) PATRIOT LEAGUE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Clinched Loyola Maryland (new) Boston U. (new) Eliminated Navy (new)
Man, the Steve Sampson experiment at Cal Poly sure isn't going well. After a good first season - mostly with the previous coach's players - in 2015, he's had two straight losing seasons and hasn't even made the conference tournament. 2015: 11-5-5, 5-1-4 – NCAA Tournament 1st round 2016: 5-9-3, 3-5-2 – failed to make Big West Tournament 2017: 6-10-1, 2-6-1 (one game remaining) – failed to make Big West Tournament TOTAL: 22-24-9, 10-12-8 It ain't like the Big West is the Champions' League right now. They got one bid last year and will again this year. (Big West had two bids in 2014, three in 2015.) Sampson has won an NCAA title, an MLS Cup and US Open Cup, qualified for a World Cup and beaten the reigning WC champions and made a Gold Cup final and a Copa America semifinal. He knows how to coach and has a history of getting results, especially when he first joins an organization. But he also has a history of losing his lockerrooms and his methods and messagess tend to grate on teams. Was 2015 his "good initial result" and the past two seasons part of his pattern of losing his teams? Or is it just bad luck and/or growing pains on the path to building a strong program?
He is still getting money as a "Technical Consultant" to a youth club (Camarillo Eagles) where he supervised coaches as Technical Director before he took the Cal Poly job. Some parents of kids in that club suspect that he was the author of an obnoxious "contract" sent out to players and their parents on some of their better teams in the middle of the season. The cover e-mail threatened to cut players who did not agree to the post hoc demands. Discussion and copy of the contract here -- http://www.socalsoccer.com/threads/mid-season-eagles-dpl-contract.4421/
My dad, a Southerner, had a phrase for my annoying and obnoxious friends/teammates/family (and sometimes myself) - "That boy could piss off the Pope." Seems apt about SS.
10/27 clinchings/eliminations MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE 4 of 6 advance to tournament Clinched Western Michigan Akron (new) WEST COAST CONFERENCE Regular-season champion earns auto bid Eliminated Gonzaga (new) WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 7 of 11 advance to tournament Clinched Air Force (new) Seattle (new) Eliminated Houston Baptist (new)
10/28 clinchings/eliminations Mads Rismoen scored with 31 seconds to give Gardner-Webb a 2-1 victory over Longwood, triggering 2 clinchings and 3 eliminations which finalized the 6 participants in the Big South Conference tournament. BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE 6 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched High Point Radford Campbell Liberty Presbyterian (new) Gardner-Webb (new) Eliminated UNC Asheville (new) Winthrop (new) Longwood (new)
10/28 clinchings/eliminations (cont.) AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 4 of 8 advance to tournament Eliminated Cincinnati Tulsa (new) ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE 8 of 13 advance to tournament Clinched Massachusetts VCU George Washington Dayton (new) Fordham Eliminated George Mason (new) Duquesne (new) Saint Joseph's (new) ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE 6 of 7 advance to tournament Clinched (1) Stetson NJIT FGCU Jacksonville (new) North Florida (new) (6) Lipscomb Eliminated USC Upstate (new) BIG EAST CONFERENCE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Clinched Butler Georgetown St. John's (new) Xavier (new) Eliminated DePaul (new) Villanova (new) Seton Hall (new) BIG WEST CONFERENCE 6 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched (N1) UC Davis (S1) Cal State Fullerton (S2) CSUN Sacramento State UC Santa Barbara (S3) UC Riverside (new) Eliminated UC Irvine (new) Cal Poly COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 6 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched (1) James Madison (2) UNCW (3) College of Charleston (4) Hofstra (5) William & Mary (new) (6) Elon (new) Eliminated Delaware (new) Drexel Northeastern CONFERENCE USA 7 of 9 advance to tournament Clinched FIU Old Dominion Kentucky New Mexico Charlotte Marshall (new) HORIZON LEAGUE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Clinched Green Bay (new) UIC (new) Milwaukee (new) Wright State (new) Cleveland State (new) Eliminated Belmont (new) IUPUI IVY LEAGUE regular-season champion earns auto bid Eliminated Princeton (new) Harvard (new) Penn (new) METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 6 of 11 advance to tournament Clinched Rider Fairfield Canisius Manhattan Quinnipiac (new) Iona (new) Eliminated Niagara Saint Peter's Siena (new) Monmouth (new) Marist (new) MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE 4 of 6 advance to tournament Clinched Western Michigan Akron SIUE (new) PATRIOT LEAGUE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Clinched Boston U. Loyola Maryland Lehigh (new) Eliminated Navy SUMMIT LEAGUE 4 of 6 advance to tournament Clinched Denver Western Illinois
Should have noted that Western Michigan is the #1 seed in the MAC and will host the MAC Tourney in Kalamazoo. Akron is the #2 seed.
10/29 clinchings/eliminations AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 4 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched SMU (new) Eliminated Cincinnati Tulsa IVY LEAGUE regular-season champion earns auto bid Eliminated Yale (new) Princeton Harvard Penn NORTHEAST CONFERENCE 4 of 8 advance to tournament Eliminated Sacred Heart (new) WEST COAST CONFERENCE Regular-season champion earns auto bid Eliminated Gonzaga Loyola Marymount (new) WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 7 of 11 advance to tournament Clinched (1) Air Force Seattle UNLV (new) Eliminated Houston Baptist
10/30 clinchings NORTHEAST CONFERENCE 4 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched St. Francis Brooklyn (new) LIU Brooklyn (new)
Meaning seven teams still fighting for four tournament seats. Gonna be fun to watch.... Loss forbidden.
11/1 clinchings/eliminations AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE 6 of 8 advance to tournament Clinched (1) Vermont (2) UMass Lowell (3) New Hampshire (4) Albany (N.Y.) (5) UMBC (new) (6) Stony Brook (new) Eliminated Binghamton (new) Hartford (new) ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE 8 of 13 advance to tournament Clinched (1) Massachusetts (2) VCU (3) George Washington (4) Dayton (5) Fordham (6) Rhode Island (new) (7) St. Bonaventure (new) (8) Saint Louis (new) Eliminated Davidson (new) La Salle (new) George Mason Duquesne Saint Joseph's BIG EAST CONFERENCE 6 of 10 advance to tournament Clinched (1) Butler (2) Georgetown (3) St. John's (4) Xavier (5) Providence (new) (6) Creighton (new) Eliminated Marquette (new) DePaul Villanova Seton Hall
METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (1) Fairfield (2) Rider (3) Canisius (4) Manhattan (5) Quinnipiac (6) Iona