Big Div. A Weekend

[eto'o]

The 2006 season is quickly approaching the GRLC playoffs and the upcoming weekend brings some big conference games...

Lindenwood comes off a tough trip from Michigan to play a struggling Missouri State. Missouri State is on a two game win streak. Will Lindenwood be affected by the Michigan and Arizona losses positively or negatively?

Washington University has a huge weekend playing Illinois State and rival Missouri on back-to-back days.
Illinois state looks to be threatening, but have had few challenging games to prove themselves.
Missouri comes off spring break to play perennial rival Wash U in St. Louis. Will Mizzou's tough road schedule help them get through the GRLC?

And finally Illinois hosts Kansas. The Jayhawks have been looking to breakout this season but have been on a 5 game skid. Like Lindenwood and Missouri, Illinois returns to the region after coming up short against tough OCC opponents.

Comments? Thoughts? Keys to winning? Something a little more that just picks...implications of games, etc.?

[pstirling]

In my opinion, the Mizzou - Wash U rivalry has lost a lot of it's fire in the past couple of years. The games have remained very competitive, but there doesn't seem to be the burning hatred that there was a few years ago. It seems to be a bigger game for the alumni now. I know a lot of the Wash U alumni are scattered across the country, but they usually make it back to St. Louis for this game, and I hope that happens again this year. I could be wrong, and maybe David Douglas can provide some insight from the Wash U perspective.

As far as how Lindenwood will be affected by a couple of close losses to quality opponents on the road, I think they will rebound fine. I think it's always good to test yourself to see where you stand against good teams, and to find out what your weaknesses are so you can work on improving those areas.

[eto'o]

I think that any conference game between two good teams will have fire. And an interesting note, last year Mizzou beat Wash U in the last few seconds of the game with a goal from then freshman Mark Wolf, who has recently been injured and won't be playing this weekend.

[Maverik]

Looking at the GRLC website it looks as though Kansas and Missouri State are pretty neck and neck in the Big XII division. What happened to thier game against each other? Will it be re-sceduled? That game would have told alot.

The next 2 weeks or so will basically make or break some of the bubble teams throughout the conference. I believe Mizzou, Wash U, Illinois, and Lindenwood should be good to go, but like listed above it looks like Kansas will probably have a better conference record by the end than Missouri State. But Kansas State should end above Kansas. There will need to be some huge upsets if certain teams want to make it to playoffs.

[beckner11]

The KU vs. Missouri State game is rescheduled for April 23 @ 2pm. It was cancelled due to tornados hitting Lawrence, KS.

Can someone tell me exactly how the playoffs work again? Is it the top 2 teams in each subdivision then the next 2 best in conference records....and the top team in each subdivision gets the first round bye? Am I anywhere close to correct on that?

[bste_lax]

If it is the same as last year, top teams from the Big XII/Big Ten (who also get byes) then the next top 4 teams regardless of which sub-division. They are ranked and 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 then winner of 4/5 plays 1 while 3/6 plays 2.

I could be wrong on this so anyone else can chime in but I thought that is how it was last season.

[A.J. Stevens]

If it is the same as last year, top teams from the Big XII/Big Ten (who also get byes) then the next top 4 teams regardless of which sub-division. They are ranked and 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 then winner of 4/5 plays 1 while 3/6 plays 2.

I could be wrong on this so anyone else can chime in but I thought that is how it was last season.

The highest six seeded programs shall receive bids to the tournament based on overall required GRLC record. The first round bye goes to the 2 teams with the best record in required GRLC games regardless of regional Division. Each Div A team is required to play 4 games in their regional sub-division along with 3 crossover games. Seeding is based on the results of the 7 combined games.