Jolly Roger wrote:Top seed are the usual suspects. Will MiSt perform well under new leadership? We'll know by the middle of March
While I was very saddened to see Coach Hicks get fired, it seems that MSU has the talent to do very well this year. I would expect Sparty to be there on Tuesday night fighting for a spot on Thursday.
Duluth's bid (no AQ this year) hinges on their being able to win 3 out of 5 vs ASU, MiSt, CSU, CPSLO & Illinois.
While they had a tough year last year, they took the #1 seed to Double OT before losing. I bet the Bulldogs will earn a spot.
Of the GRLC teams, only Illinois has a schedule tough enough (MiSt & SFU)to prepare them for Nationals. Madison barely leaves the state of WI and does not travel outside any adjacent state for D1 out of conference play. I don't think this schedule adequately prepares them for the GRLC tourney, let alone Nationals.
From what I have heard this conference is wide open. Can Indiana or Kansas push Illinois/Wisconsin to get the bid?
SMU, CONN and Cal are nice conversation pieces, I'm interested to see what their play on the field tells us. 2 out of the PCLL would be a surprise to most.
VaTech actually leaves the eastern seaboard for quality games for the first time in 2 years. Need excellent results to earn the top half seed. Pitt could use a similar trip rather than to SELC-land
I think all four of those teams are going to be players on the National scene. I would be surprised if all four aren't in the mix come selection time.
Is this the year that Sonoma finally gets over the Cal/Cal-Poly hump?
Of course we hope so, but Cal and Cal-Poly are going to be stout opponents not to mention how much better Chico & Stanford are getting. WCLL will be a tough conference again this year.