I think most of the ACC soccer fans on here have been fair to you. However, you have come to an ACC thread and continue to arguing against the ACC by reusing points you have already made (and have already been validated by those of us here). I would like to ask you to tell me two things: 1) Where do your allegiances lie (team/conference)? 2) Rank the top 5 soccer conferences, in your own opinion.
As far as I can tell, nobody is arguing against the ACC. I've credited the ACC with performing "extremely well" in the tournament against teams from the eastern US. I've been responding to the claim that Akron got a free ride because its bracket consists of teams from weak regions. I've pointed out that teams in Akron's bracket actually have very solid RPIs, and that many of them come from a conference/region that has done very well against the ACC this year. If you accept those points, I'm happy. Judging from other posters' responses, they clearly don't.
fwiw, I thought the "free ride" comment was so moronic and disrespectful that it was all I could do to ignore it.
If that team is from the ACC, it's fine - see, you have to qualify comments around here, there's all these toes that you might step on.
Come on, I consider you a friend of mine, even though we've never met, but if you continue to be smug and exhibit absolutely no sense of humor I might have to terminate our relationship.
I would really like to let this drop. I really would. But since it was my post that initially got you involved in this topic, I feel somewhat responsible to clear the air. I do think Akron had the easiest road to the College Cup. Here is a breakdown of the seeded teams in Akron's bracket. #8 Tulsa is the toughest team Akron will face prior to the semifinals or possibly the finals (if Drake beats UNC). Tulsa had zero quality wins this season. The best team they beat this year had an RPI of 42 and did not make the tournament. #9 Northwestern had no quality wins outside of the Big Ten and lost to three teams who did not make the tournament. Their RPI is #3, but there is no way that is the third best team in the country. #16 UC Irvine should not have been seeded with a record of 13-6 and an RPI of 29 any more than NC State should have. It has nothing to do with which region or conference these teams represent - Akron received an easy draw. I fail to see the logic in this statement. You initially said that the ACC was 1-2 against teams west of the Mississippi, which is true. The two teams "west of the Mississippi" that Akron has/will face are Tulsa (Oklahoma/Conference USA) and Stanford (California/Pac-10). Irvine (California/Big West) and St. Louis (RPI #58, Missouri/A-10) are also in their bracket. The ACC has losses to Drake (Iowa/MVC) and Portland (Oregon/WCC). I would agree that St. Louis and Drake (Iowa/MVC) were in the same region but not the same conference. They beat the two worst teams the ACC had in the tournament, so "done very well" is a relative statement. You also referred to "many of them" in Akron's bracket, when I see one (at most). I am not asking you not to post your opinion here, because it is a free forum. I also enjoy reading posts that don't always agree with mine, because I have found myself incorrect on a number of occasions. I will respectfully ask you to back up your opinions with factual information, though. It's quite obvious (to me, anyway) that you have a chip on your shoulder towards the ACC. You even admitted it yourself, possibly without realizing it. For that reason, I asked you two questions this morning. While you responded to my post, you failed to answer my questions. 1) Where do your allegiances lie (team/conference)? 2) Rank the top 5 soccer conferences, in your own opinion. Heck, I'll back down a little...just give me your top 3.
Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. If you would like to drop it, drop it. If you would like to discuss it, discuss it. Along these lines, if you want to use the RPI to support your points, then use it. Don't rely on it when it suits you and then dismiss it when it doesn't. To give a couple more examples, it's not at all clear how you've concluded that NC State and BC were the two worst ACC teams (is it just because they lost?), or why Northwestern beating Tulsa doesn't count as a quality win. Finally, if you want to make a convincing case that Akron's bracket is the weakest, how about critiquing the seeded teams in Virginia's and Ohio State's brackets (again, applying the same standards to each bracket)?
Overlooking Northwestern's regular season win over Tulsa was an oversight on my part. I will continue to do something you have yet to do - answer the challenges/questions from a post. About the RPI - I really think the RPI is invalid. I used it only because you first mentioned it when defending Akron's bracket as having several teams with good RPIs. About BC/NC State - I concluded that BC and NC State were the two weakest ACC teams in the tournament by following the ACC the entire year. NC State went 2-5-1 in conference and had no quality wins outside of the conference. They were the weakest ACC team in the tournament and unworthy of a seed. Although BC went 5-3 and finished third in the regular season, their six OOC losses cost them a seed. Those losses coupled with their youth made them the second weakest ACC team in the tournament. No. My claim was that Akron's bracket was the weakest. I supported that argument. Since you made the claim that it wasn't, you should support it, not me.
On a side note, anyone going to the Wake Forest/UCLA game on Saturday? Shoot me a PM if you plan on going and want to catch up at the game.
Fine. Let's avoid double standards and follow your focus on the seeds in each bracket. Comparison One: Akron > Wake > Virginia > UNC Comparison Two (Big Ten): Ohio St > Northwestern > Penn St > MSU Comparison Three UCLA > Tulsa > Harvard > Butler Comparison Four UC Irvine > San Diego > NC State > St John's Akron's region matches up very well against the others. Akron itself scheduled the best opponents who'd face it and had a perfect regular season, clearly earning the #1 seed. Factoring in non-conference play, Northwestern was clearly among the best Big Ten seeds. As for Tulsa, it's the best of the mid-major seeds but not as accomplished as Pac-10 champions UCLA. Finally, you've got UC Irvine who crushed UCSB 4-1 in the Big West final. UCSB turned around and won at WCC champions San Diego, while NC State lost at home to a mediocre WCC team. As for St John's, the entire Big East was a disaster this year. To conclude, the strongest bracket is either Wake's or Akron's. That depends a lot on UCLA, who are talented haven't been all that impressive this year. The other two regions had a lot of weak seeds, so they don't really stack up.
What about the non-seeds? The best non-seeded team is playing at UVA tonight. I could've told you they were by far the best non-seed in the tourney. I'm excited and some friends are driving down for the game. But it is true the seeds in UVA's bracket weren't all that great.
I agree about Maryland, although the rest of the unseeded teams in that bracket ranged from mediocre to weak. Portland got a couple of wins, but the top unseeded teams from the far west were in other brackets (UCSB, Stanford).
Good news, Carolina and Drake fans, a free stream is available for tonight's game. It has just kicked off. Still 0-0. http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=156369
This is a reasonable post. Comparison's #2 & 3 are fair. For comparison #1, I would put the top 4 as Akron, Wake, UNC, UVa. Although UVa is the two seed, Wake and Carolina tied for the regular season lead in the ACC, and Carolina beat UVa during the regular season. With comparison #4, I think Irvine and NC State were the two weakest seeds in the field. I would rank them San Diego > St. John's > Irvine/NC State. I would say Wake's bracket is the toughest. Wake tied for the ACC regular season lead. UCLA very well could have been a top-4 seed. There were five legitimate seeds in Wake's bracket, as unseeded Duke is a top 15 team. I think the Ohio State and Virginia brackets are comparable, because there are four legitimate seeds (Maryland should have been seeded, not NC State). I still think Akron's bracket is the easiest, because I do not see more than three legitimate seeds (I don't think Irvine is a top-16 team). However, as has been mentioned by someone earlier, that is the perk of being the #1 seed.
The game sits 0-0 at the half. A few things have become painfully obvious to me while watching this game: 1) Drake cannot penetrate Carolina's midfield. They resort to long ball very quickly. As a result, probably 60% of the half has been played in Drake's end of the field. 2) Carolina will not score on a set piece. UNC must have had seven or eight corners in the first half and didn't come close to scoring. I can see why Drake scored so many goals on set pieces against BC. 3) Carolina may rue their missed opportunities. Drake's keeper had three big saves - fingertip saves on a flick by Dixon and a drive by Farfan, then on a PK from Loyd. MF Urso also hit the crossbar in the first half. Maryland and Virginia about to start.
Carolina leads 2-0 with about 15' to play. Urso scored on a beautiful left-footed shot from the right side that skimmed the bottom of the crossbar into the upper 90 in the 54'. Dixon scored just 4' later. Urso hit the crossbar on a right-footed blast in the 74'. Drake beginning to press forward a little.
Bolowich needs to sub out his starting 11. This game has been getting progressively more physical for the last 15-20 minutes. A guy just horse-collared Schuler, yet the ref fails to call a foul. Fortunately the AR called the CR over and a card was issued.
Haggerty caught flat-footed on a shot from outside of the box in the 90'. It looked like he expected it to be blocked and never make it through, but it sneaked through and went just inside the post. 2-1 Carolina wins and advances to the College Cup. Up next - winner of Akron/Tulsa. Is there a stream for the UVA/MD game?
2-0 UVa by Bates in the 58'. Game now in the 68'. Shots pretty even, per GameTracker (10-8 UVa at this point). Can someone who is watching/watched the game give us a recap?