PNCLL OOC Games 2006

[Dan Wishengrad]

Doing a quick read of the master schedule now posted I see that Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Simon Fraser and Gonzaga of the A Division are all playing more than three OOC games this year, and that all five of us will be travelling down to the WCLL in 2006. I was kind of surprised that Boise State is not playing any OOC games, but then with all those road games the Broncos are having to play this is understandable.

But why is PLU the only B team playing OOC games? Yes -- I see that Linfield and Western Oregon are playing Dominican at Oregon's tourney -- but this doesn't qualify as an OOC game. Why aren't Montana (especially), UPS, Western Washington, Whitman and Linfield getting out and playing some OOC games? Anybody care to speak for these teams? Not scheduling any of these games sure won't help these schools prepare for the National Championship tourney in 2006...

[EDITED 12/6]

[BallinOnAbudget]

Griz play UVSC in late march. Traveling for the marjority of our season(again) makes it tricky to find open dates and come up with extra flow.

[PNWLaxer]

I could be wrong but if only 8 teams make it to the B championships my guess would be teams are putting most of their resources into winning the division. Winning OOC games will not help any team out unless they win the PNCLL. The PNCLL B div is a tough one to win, there are at least 4-5 teams that could potentially win it. Budget concerns are probably one big obstacle especially for the B south with the travel associated. Injury may be another Linfield was pretty much decimated when they played in the playoffs, that being said injury can occur during conference play as well.

If the B championships have expanded to definately include more than the AQ's then the PNCLL teams are SOL except for the champion. When the tourney does increase the # of teams then I think you will see travel by a larger number of the teams that think they have a shot at winning the PNCLL or receiving an At-large bid.

[osulax]

You forgot us, Dan. We have 6 or 7 OCC games this year, which is a bit of an improvement over last year.

Mitch Hutchinson
Oregon State Head Coach

[Dan Wishengrad]

Sorry, Mitch -- yes I meant to have OSU on the list of course. In fact it was noticing your OOC schedule which helped spur me to start this thread. Good job getting out there in 2006, and best of luck representing the PNCLL.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Keep in mind that the Pioneer League has enough B teams this year to qualify for an AQ in the B division, which gives us 9 teams that will automatically qualify for the B division championships. My hope is that the MDIA Board increases the number of teams in the championships by 4 to give us a 12-team B division tourney. When the #2 team in the country (Claremont from the WCLL) doesn't get an invite because they happen to be in the same league as a dominant team like USD, it's really an injustice in my opinion. If that is the case, and the same rules apply to the B division, then only PLU and Montana would be eligible for an at-large bid in 2006. PLU has 3 OOC games scheduled against B division teams, and Montana is slated to play UVSC and Montana State this spring.

If the field is increased to 12 or 16 teams this year, I would certainly expect that any teams that are annual contenders would increase their budgets and find ways to get two OOC games onto their schedule. One trip to Utah or California can very easily accomplish this goal.

I agree that the B division in the PNCLL is one of the toughest in the country, second only to the WCLL at this point. With 5 teams in the final top-25 last year, our conference offers great B division competition and hopefully we'll be able to attract teams from other conferences ( like the RMLC and WCLL) to continue to make trips to the Northwest for their OOC games.

It's great to see the A division teams in this league stepping up to play tough games against other top teams. I think the commitment by PNCLL teams who travel out of conference every year has blossomed and now other conferences are sending their best teams to the PNCLL for some great intra-division contests. I hope this commitment to travel grows in the B division as well.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

For the record, I was just informed by Tim at Linfield College that they have UVSC on the schedule, and while they're in Logan they will also take on Utah State and Ft. Lewis.

That is an impressive road trip there. Nice work Tim.

[Kyle Berggren]

The PNCLL B absolutely has PLU, Montana, & Linfield travelling. I'm not sure of WWU or Whitman... UPS has elected not to travel this year. With increasing league dues, new field costs to us, and our hunt for new uniforms and team equipment, we're going to try and win the league, not fight for an At-large bid.

I know that's not the goal of what we'd like to do in the end, but we should be ahead of game for next season (fundraising comes in just before nationals). Essentially, what may appear as short sighted to many, is actually our opportunity to catch up on our fundraising, and more importantly get ahead for the future, travelling & at-large bids.

[Hi-Line Lax]

Montana and Linfield will both be playing UVSC. Montana is also playing Montana State and hosting a match between Montana State and Western Washington.

[Bronco1]

Boise State is playing two OOC games next season. We will be playing University of Utah in Salt Lake, and Utah State in Logan, both in March. I haven't updated the league scheduler yet so that's why the games aren't on the master schedule.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Glad to see all these other teams are, in fact, scheduling some OOC games. Lots of these didnt show on our own schedule, and with conferences like the RMLC being slow on getting their schedules up it is obvious why I missed some of these games. Good luck to all of us representing the PNCLL in 2006...

[ben012685]

Winning OOC games will not help any team out unless they win the PNCLL. .

I have to disagree.
Even though you may not be playing for a trophy, OOC games give your team valuable insight into your actual skill level.

When PLU played UVSC last year, we had a good idea of where we stood and what we had to do to play well in a champion situation. The experience was invaluable. We all know Montana took the honors though.

I think to get better, you have to examine what makes a champ. Playing the champs (and a bunch of other great California teams) will be invaluable to PLU this year before we make a run at the champs.

[laxsk13]

this is not far from topic, but it has recently been brought to my attention that oregon was supposed to go to chico this year, but is unable to, and chico will have to go up to oregon to play them. what is the deal here? what happened that this change of location occured?

[Dan Wishengrad]

I have no idea, and it is true Chico did travel to Eugene last year also.

For Oregon to go to Chico is not a long trip --- going to Gonzaga or Simon Fraser for a PNCLL game is a longer road trip for the Ducks, in fact.

[PNWLaxer]

Ben

My point was not fully explained to the extent I would have liked. OOC games will almost always help a team gain experience either by playing other top ranked teams or by gaining exposure to other conferences, other systems of play or other referee styles etc. My point was if the National Tournament Committee does not increase the number of B div teams playing for the National Championship then for this year it does not matter how many OOC games you play or how much experience you gain from it. An example say a PNCLL team beats USD or Claremont etc. but fails to win the PNCLL and there are no At-large teams invited the my point about winning OOC games will not help that team is true.

As it stands right now and I may still be corrected you have to win the division to go to the dance. It does not matter how many wins you have at the end of the year or who they are against. When there are at larges the OOC games are even more important as they will be used to pick the extra teams and that is what I was trying to get at.