Final Div. A Top 25 poll is out (5/25/05)

[John Paul]

We used to play out the consolation brackets. It still presented the same problems. Many teams, once they lose in the winners bracket, don't really care where they finish. Playing for 8th place vs. 12th place just doesn't motivate the same way as playing for a national championship, and we found that most teams still treated those games more like scrimmages. It would also require playing at least one consolation game on Saturday, something we've worked hard to avoid in order to place the entire emphasis of the day on the three championship games. Also, by playing out the brackets some teams could end up playing a conference opponent again for the third or even fourth time in the season. We've found teams have been more interested in playing consolation round games against opponents selected in consultation with coaches and tournament staff, so more interesting matchups are guaranteed, whether or not both teams are taking the game seriously.

[jtlax]

JP, I understand your point of view, but my personal opinion is that it would be a little more fun if the consolation games had a bracket format to them. Even if teams do play their entire bench, I feel that it would place a little more importance on the games.

[BIGJONSSON42]

And let the fun begin...I can't wait for all the Oregon clowns to get on here and complain about not being ahead of BYU. This should be fun.

Actually TrainerDan, Oregon players have nothing to complain about. We finished higher than our team ever has before, and we beat the team ranked above us. Any real athlete knows that rankings don't mean a thing if you can't win on the field. I do think that Colorado was the team in the top 8 that got screwed. They won a tight game over us in Michigan and played Sonoma to a 3OT loss, I think. But like Timbalaned said, we didn't finish 1st, so it doesn't really matter. And by the way TrainerDan, if the Oregon v BYU game was so meaningless, why did you guys play your starters the whole time? Why not let the players who have supported your team the entire season get some time? It worked out pretty well for us. (That was sarcasm) It ain't no fun if the homies can't have none. Congrats to everybody in Blaine, I hope we earn a spot there again next year.