Tournament seedings are set...let the debate begin

[ramerica]

Utah really got shafted. They beat cal poly head to head and beat sonoma, who then went on to win the WCLL. I think the poll voters really missed the boat.

[cricketman]

utah belongs there way more than ucsb. that is not fair

Sorry you're upset but to suggest that is ridiculous!

[Wade]

I'm not a huge fan of rehashing league championships in the early rounds of the tourney, but I completely agree with letting the seedings rank the teams. The pollsters already get enough grief without opening the process to accusations of manipulating brackets to favor a certain team. The road to the final maybe perceived as too easy or too hard, but you still have to win the games to get to the happy ending.

Besides, the novelty of coming to nationals to play someone you've never seen wears off a bit now that so many teams are traveling.

BTW - Upsets are sweet, just look at tonights hockey game!

[WaterBoy]

I would go so far as to say that it stinks that they are just going to get the same matchups that they had at WCLL level, but I think it's also important to remember that the seedings are not set up manually (well, indirectly they are). They are established using the final poll result. No one intentionally set it up this way.

I'm relatively certain that if you interviewed any team in the top 25 that didn't make the tournament, they would tell you that they could beat teams or are better than teams that did. This is not a new and revolutionary mindset. I've seen teams that I think should make the tournament, and I've seen teams that I think shouldn't do exactly the opposite. It's part of the game, and sportsmanship dictates that once the verdict is handed down, to accept it with grace and humility. No one is barring the teams that didn't make it this year from coming back next year with a chip on their shoulder and destroying their competition, but for now the season is over.

This regular season was the most interesting and complicated to follow in my recent memory. Congratulations to all teams, and a thank you to the poll voters that made it all possible. I know that in putting together my personal polls, it takes several hours to do it well, and the number of donated hours of time for the voters (30 for A, 21 for B) is greatly appreciated, even by those who are not directly affected by the poll. Once again, congratulations to all teams on a great regular season.

[oaklandlax]

Oakland and Michigan rematch at nationals in the first round for the 2nd time in 3 years, if I recall correctly

You are correct Sonny

I must agree with SDSU LAX.I would love to see other teams in the same conference play teams that are not in there conference at the tourney. Oakland vs FSU, or BYU maybe even Noma would be great for our program.

But we cant complain

[metallax1]

that's what the loser's bracket is for ha!

really though, i'd rather see fresh match-ups as well, but hey, a chance to play for a national championship, regardless of the opponent, would be enough for me.

[lex]

Utah did get shafted. It's a bummer. No offense to UNH, but I still think it's lame that unranked teams get to go to the championship. They should save their money and put it toward improving their program and let teams like Utah that have been competitive all year have a go at the title. But that's just wishful thinking. There's always next year.

peace out and good luck to all the teams in Plano.

[WaterBoy]

I may be way off base here, but I don't believe any unranked teams made it to the national tournament, including UNH, who lost in the PCLL final to Northeastern (who is going to Plano).

[Tim Gray]

Utah did get shafted. It's a bummer. No offense to UNH, but I still think it's lame that unranked teams get to go to the championship. They should save their money and put it toward improving their program and let teams like Utah that have been competitive all year have a go at the title. But that's just wishful thinking. There's always next year.

peace out and good luck to all the teams in Plano.

UNH isn't going to Plano.

[lex]

You know what I mean, even a team ranked at the bottom end of 25. . . I still wish them all good luck, but of course I'd rather see a higher ranked team go and compete.

[Sonny]

You know what I mean, even a team ranked at the bottom end of 25. I still wish them all good luck, but of course I'd rather see a higher ranked team go and compete.

Debbie,

I doubt the AQ isn't gong anywhere. It has promoted the growth of the MDIA over the last 9 seasons. We have grown from ~65 in 7 conferences to ~200 teams in 9 conferences w/ 2 divisions now.

The national tournament is the MDIA's flagship event. We have tripled in size, due in part to the AQ.

[mholtz]

I'm relatively certain that if you interviewed any team in the top 25 that didn't make the tournament, they would tell you that they could beat teams or are better than teams that did.

I can think of at least one team that beat a team in the tourney very recently that I think was appropriately left out... guess who I'm thinking of.

Yes, on any given day, any team in the top 25 can beat any other team in the top 25, but that doesn't mean that every team in the top 25 should get to go to the dance.

[NomaBlueCollar]

Yes, on any given day, any team in the top 25 can beat any other team in the top 25, but that doesn't mean that every team in the top 25 should get to go to the dance.

well said

[bbandlax]

Utah did get shafted. It's a bummer. No offense to UNH, but I still think it's lame that unranked teams get to go to the championship. They should save their money and put it toward improving their program and let teams like Utah that have been competitive all year have a go at the title. But that's just wishful thinking. There's always next year.

peace out and good luck to all the teams in Plano.

This might be a good idea on the surface, I mean hey, shouldn't we have the best 16 teams at the tourney. However there is a serious flaw in this argument (which is not new this year, or last, or the year before that....) This line of thinking seems to imply that there would be no more arguments about who goes to nationals. In reality what we would be doing is just moving the discussion down 3 or 4 spots. Right now the debate centers around the 11-13 spots in the poll. With no AQ's there would still be the same discussion at the 14-16 spots. Those who got ranked 17, 18, 19, etc, would still brandish their complaints about the injustice of it all. For pete sakes, the NCAA still has this "problem" with a 65 team tournament.

I love the AQ's. As Sonny noted, it has strengthened our league and provided incentive to every conference in the MDIA. Every team in the country has a real shot a going to the national championship tourney (except for Utah State because there is no RMLC AQ .) Maybe there was room for the "no AQ argument" 4 or 5 years ago (and many people were using it) when the bottom half of the tourney was very weak. Thankfully the powers that be had the foresight to keep the AQ's. This year I think there are 11 or 12 teams with a legitimate shot at the title, and all 16 teams could win a first round game (sure Texas, NE and MN are long shots, but not as long as past tournaments.)

I for one say keep the AQ's. We are a national organization (the only truly national organization in college lacrosse) and we need a national tournament. Someday the balance of our league will even out and we will not be a west coast dominated league. Until then the AQ's are vital for our growth and exposure across the country.

[Danny Hogan]

With no AQ's there would still be the same discussion at the 14-16 spots. Those who got ranked 17, 18, 19, etc, would still brandish their complaints about the injustice of it all.

hit it right on the head.

althought it would beef up the message board membership if they eliminated the aq's for a year because teams 17-25 would all sign up en mass to evaluate the top 25 poll.