#1 seed for the Western Conference playoffs, obviously. As far as I know there is no seeding for the national final four.
Sure it is. Proximity and crowd support denote a higher probability of advancing - something which falls in line with protected seeded. ERGO: give higher seeding to teams more likely to advance.
Everywhere I've ever seen seeding done seeds teams based on on-field results. In most tournaments/leagues, getting home-field-advantage is a result of being awarded a higher seed, not the other way around. Think of the NFL, who also holds their championship game at a pre-determined site. If Seattle is selected one year to host the Super Bowl, nothing is done (nor should it be, in my opinion) to the regular season schedule, or the playoff seedings, to help them get to the Super Bowl. To earn a high playoff seed, a team has to show it deserves it by its play during the regular season.
Man, that's a great theory, and it sure works when you're matching teams with common opponents, but how do you do that in a league with absolutely ZERO overlap between schedules? None of the Final Four participants will have played ANY common opponents. I doubt they will have even played someone, who played someone, who played each other. So how exactly will "on-field results" matter then?
Milwaukee Bavarians are the first team to claim a berth in the NPSL Final Four Clinched the Midwest Division title last night Just FYI, this is an Under-23 team for the Bavarians, not their Majors team that has made several appearances in the U.S. Open Cup in recent years. So no former pros on the roster, all college players.
No, their Majors team plays in the Wisconsin Major League. I know, it's odd that the top team plays in a state league while the younger team plays in a regional league.
^^^^ This. Seems like the best way to do it, because of what you mentioned...records and game results are apples & oranges because everyone played a different amount of games against different opponents. Even using points per game could be skewed if one team had an easier schedule. But it seems like a better option than awarding seeds based on geography.
Here's my take, that the college kids are probably much more avaiable for weekday and travel games then the guys on the Major team. Granted we're not talking major travel. But the Major guys are used to just weekend games and very limited travel. So these also have just finished a spring season and probably all have regular day jobs. So the college kids provide a little more flexibility. Just a thought.
A little look at the West, Southeast and Northeast contenders for Final Four berths I put together for my website Three spots left in NPSL Final Four
The Morris County Colonials had a tough week against two of the most prestigious sporting organisations in the north-east, facing the New York Red Bulls and New York Athletic Club (NYAC) in the space of five days as the close-of-season schedule heats up. The Red Bulls squad, which is in the NPSL for its second successive year after an excellent season in 2010, gave the Colonials an even game though managed to claim a 1-0 win despite an excellent second-half performance against the Colonials. Meanwhile, NYAC would build on an early 2-0 lead despite a spirited Morris County comeback to win 3-1 in the blistering sun of Travers Island, New York. Head coach John Ryan said of the performance: "Even though we're out of reach of the league title now, we'll be putting in some solid performances against the Red Bulls and Italians to shake up the table this week and make it an exciting end to the season."
The summer is only half over and yet the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season is nearing its completion. Despite the Twin Cities having a Division 2 soccer team in the NASL’s NSC Minnesota Stars, we also have two NPSL teams: The St. Paul Twin Stars, who are the oldest team going back to 2005, and the Minnesota Kings who started in NPSL play last year. This year the Kings have moved to St. Michael, Minnesota, about 30 miles from downtown Minneapolis. Looking at the Midwest division of the NPSL and with 1 game yet to be played for the Twin Stars** and 2 games for the Kings, the Twin Stars (5-1-5) find themselves in 4th place with 16 pts. The Kings sit 2nd from bottom at 7th place with 8 points and a 2-2-6 record. Last weekend both teams made the trip to Quad City and Chicago, Illinois. The Kings were shutout in both games being defeated by the Chicago Fire NPSL team on Saturday 3-0 and against the Quad City Eagles on Sunday by a score of 6-0. The Twin Stars split their games, losing to Quad City on Saturday, 3-1 and defeating the Chicago Fire on Sunday by a score of 3-0. Igor Stosic and Keido Pour each contributed a goal in the first half and Adama Diawara scored in the 58th minute of the second half. The Twin Stars finish their regular season up at home this weekend at Prairie Seeds Academy High School where they will play their across-town rival, the Kings. That game is Saturday, July 16th with a 7:00 pm kickoff. The Kings will finish their season off on Sunday, July 24, with a home game against the first place Milwaukee Bavarians (7-2-1) who have 23 pts.** That game will be played at Community Education Field Stadium with kickoff at 1:00 pm.
The New Jersey Blaze men's team were unable to take any points from last week's two match-ups, falling to FC Reading Revolution and Pocono Snow away from home as their close-of-season schedule proved to be as tough as expected. Despite a spirited comeback that saw the Blaze fight back to 3-2 after the Revolution went 3-0 up, the clash against Reading finished 4-2 after a late goal from the hosts. "We played some excellent, fluid attacking soccer at times and it's a real shame we couldn't take anything from the game," said head coach Rob Napier after the game. Meanwhile, the match-up against Pocono Snow in PA was tough from the first minute as the Blaze team were forced to start with ten men. The boys were able to hold on until the 44th minute when the Snow fired a ball home, and were unable to prevent a second being converted from the penalty spot after 60 minutes. Despite creating several chances, the tie finished 2-0.
So we've got three of the Final Four West: Hollywood United (13-2-1) Midwest: Milwaukee Bavarians (8-2-2) Southeast: Jacksonville United (6-4-0) Northeast: Brooklyn Italians (7-2-1) or Erie Admirals (10-1-1) Seeding for Final Four goes on points per game. But I don't know if playoff matches are included or if it's just regular-season. Hollywood United 2.43 ppg (or 2.5 ppg if playoff games included) Erie Admirals 2.58 ppg or Brooklyn Italians 2.2 ppg (could change if playoff games count) 3. Milwaukee Bavarians 2.17 ppg 4. Jacksonville United 1.8 ppg
Yep. We've played 17 competitive games this year - 14 regular season NPSL games, 2 in the Western playoffs, and the USOC game against LA Blues - and now we're guaranteed two more, with the National Semi Final, and then either the final or the third place game. 19 total.
The Colonials were able to make up for a past defeat against the New York Red Bulls by holding the world-famous organisation's NPSL team to a 2-2 draw in Newark. However, they were unable to keep the Italians from claiming the title in their final game of the season. The Brooklyn Italians would end up coming away with the Atlantic Conference title and a place in the playoffs as the Colonials allowed two late penalties to hand the visitors a 2-0 win. However, head coach John Ryan was keen to stress that work would be done in preparation for a more successful season in 2012 - one that would be more reflective of their hard work. "We had so much to offer, though a number of aspects of our game need a lot of work before next May," he said. "It was great working with the boys. I hope I was able to offer as much to the table as they were able to give on game day."
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Knowing that a win or a tie would clinch a first place in the Atlantic Conference, Brooklyn Italians defeated Seacoast United 4-0 on Sunday and captured the Atlantic Conference Championship. The Italians move on to the Conference Finals versus Keystone Conference Champions Erie Admirals. The game will be played this Saturday July 23 at Dollinger Field in Erie, PA and game time is 7 PM. The Conference winner will travel to the NPSL Championships, to be held in Madison, Alabama July 28-30.
Is there any talk of a longer season out there? Maybe for the teams that aren't relying so much on college talent.
Not sure. We already have a team in the Los Angeles Premier League (some of our older guys have been playing in that too), plus the Over-35s play in the Coast Soccer League senior league (that's where some of our celebrity players play), and I heard something about how we are going to join another local league in the fall, but I didn't catch all the conversation so I'm not sure which league that is. And then there are various local tourneys and cups like the International Cup of Iran, and a few LA Metro tourneys, but nothing as formalized or pro-run as the NPSL. Santa Ana played in the L5 USASA Coast Soccer League for years before joining the NPSL, and as far as I know they are still intending to field a team in it after the NPSL season is over. Hasental played in the Liga Gran de Oxnard (another L5 USASA league) and will probably play in that again once that season re-commences. No idea what the Rattlers or the two San Diego teams are doing, though.
Erie Admirals 1:0 Brooklyn Italians in NPSL Northeast final. Lone goal on a late penalty. Italians Twitter/FB says it was questionable. I think the Final Four pairings, based on points per game, are: 1 Erie Admirals (11-1-1) vs 4 Jacksonville United (6-4-0) 2 Hollywood United (13-2-1) vs Milwaukee Bavarians (8-2-2) 1. Erie Admirals 2.58 ppg 2. Hollywood United 2.43 ppg 3. Milwaukee Bavarians 2.17 ppg 4. Jacksonville United 1.8 ppg These PPG are regular-season league matches only. I don't think playoff games count.