One can think of the UCLA loss to UC Irvine this way: Adjusted for home field advantage, the RPI rating difference between UCLA and UC Irvine, going into the game, was 0.1230. With that rating difference, the UCLA had a win likelihood of 93.1%, tie 4.2%, and loss 2.7%. So, rounding off, if the two teams were to play 100 times, one would expect UCLA to win 93, tie 4, and lose 3. This was just one of those 3 games.
Well, if you read some posts here on BS, there are some excuses given for why Santa Clara won the 2020 championship, rather than giving them credit for being deserving.
Wow, some people need to put their head down on their desks and take a break. Too long on this forum being bothered by trolls and idiots. Need to ignore them. I will say this another way. I have too much respect for Santa Clara to ever put them in the discussion that we were having about upsets. In a far greater discussion, I don’t consider Santa Clara a mid-major in women’s soccer anyway. To me, their history is too rich and they have been too good for too long in women’s soccer to get that tag. I guess some people will consider anyone outside the P5 as a mid-major which is fair in the greater context.
That's the literal definition of mid-major. But of course you are correct that in women's soccer, Santa Clara is hardly what one thinks of as being a mid-major. Same with Georgetown, Pepperdine, BYU, and a few others who have earned it.
I watched Brown vs St John's, having not seen either team all year. With all their recent success, I was pretty disappointed with Brown. Physical kickball soccer, lump it forward at every opportunity, nothing resembling a build up or passing or rotations, etc. I guess they got some strong athletes and have dominated the Ivy that way? Or am I being too harsh, as admittedly this is the only game of theirs I've seen?
Rutgers just won 2-0 over Bucknell. Really hard to quantify how dominant RU was in the second half. The only shots from Bucknell in the second half came from one trip down the field. I counted only five trips down the field in the second half for Bucknell. Of note, Gabby Provenzano, B1G defender of the year, was starting today after being carried off the field in the B1G tournament final.
Here is the conference breakdown from the weekend. Interestingly, no game went to penalties. AAC 2-1 ACC 7-2 Big 10 5-1 Big 12 1-1 Big East 2-3 Ivy League 1-2 Pac-12 2-2 SEC 4-3 WCC 3-0 1 Bid Leagues 5-17
Some paper tigers got exposed today. Harvard and their #12 RPI and South Florida and their #20 ranking both got dusted pretty comfortably. I need someone to explain Ivy League RPIs to me. Harvard's best win was, what - Monmouth?
Looking ahead to Round 2 matchups, and NC State and Pepperdine - did anyone know this about Pepperdine head coach Tim Ward? From his bio: 'An accomplished musician, Ward is a talented singer and acoustic guitarist. He was a member of the band "Your Moose," a group that performed original contemporary folk rock and released its first compact disc in 1997. His group "Ward & Egertson" released a CD in 2009.' I think that's pretty cool! So many head coaches are single-minded, driven, all work types. Pretty neat to see this kind of thing. Someone should get FSU to crank some "Your Moose" during pregame.
I’ll say again: the committee is not allowed to be a seeding slave to RPI when it comes to most schools but be arbitrary with others.
The committee can essentially do what they want when it comes to seeding teams. They have a very specific set of guidelines for selecting at-large teams, but are given no criteria for seeding teams. It is left up to the committee’s discretion on how they would like to seed teams.
The ACC/SEC rivalry is fun as long as its not Football . Alabama and South Carolina beating their biggest ACC rivals a consolation prize in an otherwise abysmal first round showing for the SEC.
I recommend that you listen to the “College Soccer Nation” Podcast. The Ole Miss and SMU coach host it and give good insight into the selection/seeding/matchup process. The Ole Miss coach is on the NCAA tournament committee and had another Tournament committee member on as a guest on the Nov 8th show. Apparently, the committee selects the seeds and at-large teams but then a computer does all the bracketing using the NCAA travel and no in conference matchups in the first two rounds criteria. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/college-soccer-nation/id1531816877 https://collegesoccernation.podbean...e-to-the-2021-ncaa-women-s-soccer-tournament/
It certainly makes sense. It probably would be a bit of grind for the committee to sort out the travel requirements. Once they set the seeds and identify the at-large teams, they have done their bit.
I still feel like basic exclusions should include no first round games between opponents that faced each other in the regular season and no potential in conference clashes until at least the third round.
The second part of what you said already occurs. No in conference matchups are allowed in rounds 1 and 2. This weekend there is only 2 possible in conference matchups for the 3rd round. Both ACC and when you get 9 teams it gets hard to avoid the possibility in round 3. The first part is a bit more problematic as it would make it more difficult to follow the travel restrictions they are given. They probably would never add this since a lot of the more regional matchups are games that have high probability of being scheduled in season. I do get the gripe, though. I am sure a school like South Alabama would love to get a new experience rather than play in Tallahassee again.
Here is a dumb question - is SMU flying or driving to FSU for Friday's game? Is this one of those things that the NCAA will cover flights for teams during the tournaments?
Best regional to watch this coming weekend? The FSU quadrant looks daunting after first round play. Every team that advanced did it comfortably. The Duke and UVA quadrants have blown open a bit after just the first round. Will see if that makes them exciting or boring going forward. FSU, Santa Clara and Notre Dame* are the last blue bloods remaining after UCLA, UNC, and Stanford bowed out early.