Final MDIA Div. A Poll (5/1/06) is out!

[GummI BeaR]

Utah beat noma by one and they aren't even going to Texas and then noma got choked out by BYU . How can they be considered the number 2 team after such a sloppy finish. Utah got robbed.

What does this even mean? "Noma got choked out by BYU." Were they exchanging fisticuffs in a dark alley in Jersey.

Noma deserves the number 2 spot because they won their conference. They had already been accounted for their BYU and Utah loss in the last poll. Who should be there instead? Michigan? Yeah right, they blew that. CU? Probably the most overranked team in the top 6.

Stop wasting my time.

[Hugh Nunn]

The more parity that creeps into the top 5 or 7, the more heated these discussions will become. The fact that there was no continuity of winning in the top 7 makes it even harder THIS year.

It IS too bad fewer people get to see more RMLC games, because there exists a WCLL bias. Any tie will usually go to the WCLL team. It's easily explainable, as they are by far the most dominant conference.

Add to this that there are so many AQ's and that usually at least one team doesn't perform well as the #1 seed in their own conference tourney (FSU last year, Michigan this year). It just becomes that much more important to be in the top ten or win your conference.

The lowest At large bid this year was #11. Oakland and Lindenwood both won their conferences. Utah played well enough to go to Plano. Had Michigan won the CCLA, we'd be talking about another team's "snubbing."

[CATLAX MAN]

It IS too bad fewer people get to see more RMLC games, because there exists a WCLL bias. Any tie will usually go to the WCLL team. It's easily explainable, as they are by far the most dominant conference.

I just can't agree with that statement. There is no WCLL bias, either real or perceived. There are 30 voters in the poll from all over the country reresenting all of the conferences in relative equality. The reason for so many voters is get good geographic coverage to overcome the perception that there is a "bias" for any team or conference. Are you saying that these 30 voters are conspiring to stack the deck in favor of the WCLL?

In addition, there is no tie to be dealt with here. What many people are discussing the relative merits of the #11 team versus the #13 team and who deserves to go to the tourney. The consensus of the voters was that Cal Poly was 26 points and one team better than Utah, despite the fact that we had one voter acknowledge that he was going to vote Utah very high. People need to accept the consensus of the voters and move on.

[umdlax7]

I just can't agree with that statement. There is no WCLL bias, either real or perceived. There are 30 voters in the poll from all over the country reresenting all of the conferences in relative equality.

The WCLL does have more voters than any other conference

WCLL (6)
Mike Annala
Ken Broschart
Doug Carl
Chad Donnelly
Albert Man
Gary Podesta

LSA (4)
Noah Fink
Rene Kozarsky
Karl Lynch
Tony Scazzero

SELC (4)
Buff Grubb
Bill Harkins
Ken Lovic
Sonny Pieper

RMLC (3)
Jason Lamb
Flip Naumburg
John Robinette

CCLA (3)
Todd Boward
Matt Holtz
John Paul

GRLC (3)
Troy Hood
Brian Mosher
AJ Stevens

PNCLL (3)
Brent Hoskins
Joe Kerwin
Dan Wishengrad

PCLL (2)
Tim Gray
Dan Morris

UMLL (2)
Rob Graff
Chris Larson

[Bluevelvet]

WCLL 6 voters, everyone else 24 voters. There is no WCLL bias.

WCLL bashing or even praising are just excuses for not getting it done in some other region. The dominant conference is the RMLC. The most depth is in the WCLL. WCLL teams get high quality opponents in conference and then travel to Utah or Colorado for more top 10 or top 5 opposition. This an advantage that the WCLL has. They have no other advantage.
A few years back the battle still raged about whether teams with good records were better than teams who played better competition. That has been pretty well settled now. Better competition has been proved to produce better teams, even if they lose a few games. So the WCLL plays top competition and they do not have to travel any further than California or the Rockies. That is the advantage. RMLC teams have a very similar advantage. The teams still have to schedule the games and win most of them just like everywhere else.

[Arklax]

I just can't agree with that statement. There is no WCLL bias, either real or perceived. There are 30 voters in the poll from all over the country reresenting all of the conferences in relative equality.

The WCLL does have more voters than any other conference

WCLL (6)
Mike Annala
Ken Broschart
Doug Carl
Chad Donnelly
Albert Man
Gary Podesta

LSA (4)
Noah Fink
Rene Kozarsky
Karl Lynch
Tony Scazzero

SELC (4)
Buff Grubb
Bill Harkins
Ken Lovic
Sonny Pieper

RMLC (3)
Jason Lamb
Flip Naumburg
John Robinette

CCLA (3)
Todd Boward
Matt Holtz
John Paul

GRLC (3)
Troy Hood
Brian Mosher
AJ Stevens

PNCLL (3)
Brent Hoskins
Joe Kerwin
Dan Wishengrad

PCLL (2)
Tim Gray
Dan Morris

UMLL (2)
Rob Graff
Chris Larson

Put it in context, though.

The WCLL has 18 teams, .333 votes per team.
The RMLC has 5 teams, .6 votes per team.
(Consequently, the PCLL (.2) and UMLL (.222) have the most complaining to do.)

I believe Utah should have been in instead of Cal-Poly, simply for the fact that they beat them head to head, which is end-of-discussion in my book. But to say Cal-Poly is in because of WCLL bias is unfounded.

[CATLAX MAN]

I believe Utah should have been in instead of Cal-Poly, simply for the fact that they beat them head to head, which is end-of-discussion in my book. But to say Cal-Poly is in because of WCLL bias is unfounded.

Using that reasoning, then Michigan State should be in instead of Michigan and Arizona State should be in instead of UCSD. Sorry, you cannot judge a team's season based on one game. It doesn't work that way.

[Arklax]

Using that reasoning, then Michigan State should be in instead of Michigan and Arizona State should be in instead of UCSD. Sorry, you cannot judge a team's season based on one game. It doesn't work that way.

If Michigan/Michigan State and UCSD/Ariz. St. were close to each other in the polls like Utah/Cal-Poly are, then, yes, they would deserve to go. As it stands, the debate was between Utah and Cal-Poly, and so the team with the head to head victory should be in Plano.

[WaterBoy]

Using that same argument, however, teams like UCSD and Arizona State or Michigan and MSU are different from each other in the polls because of the balance of the rest of the season and what they've done.

I'm not a poll voter (and I'm certainly not all 30 of them) but isn't it possible that they thought that Poly had done more with the rest of their season? Certainly if they had only played one game all season there wouldn't be any need for debate...

[WaterBoy]

And actually as a post script, there isn't any need for debate at this point.

[GummI BeaR]

I believe Utah should have been in instead of Cal-Poly, simply for the fact that they beat them head to head, which is end-of-discussion in my book. But to say Cal-Poly is in because of WCLL bias is unfounded.

Using that reasoning, then Michigan State should be in instead of Michigan and Arizona State should be in instead of UCSD. Sorry, you cannot judge a team's season based on one game. It doesn't work that way.

This is the most ridiculous comparison I have ever heard. Maybe USD should replace UCSD in the A bracket. Don't bring that absurd comparison to the table... they were close in comparison so the voters should have looked at the head to head but instead there were 6 WCLL voters to the 3 RMLC so Cal Poly got the nod. Utah got robbed.

BTW- What is a Cat Lax.... Man??

[TrainerDan]

I'm curious...how many conference games did Utah win?

[CATLAX MAN]

This is the most ridiculous comparison I have ever heard.

That was the whole idea. Slowly, you learn.

[GummI BeaR]

So then you are admitting that Utah got kicked in the shins... Or maybe you confirm you would like to talk about how UCSB got in, same story, 6 WCLL voters voting on a 9-6 record. This wouldn't fly with any other team. The only reason that SB won last year was cause CSU got ousted by JP voting NO.

[WaterBoy]

Also of note, Cal Poly received 428 points, Utah got 402. That's a 26 point difference for those of us who aren't math majors. That essentially means that they average voter had Utah a rank below Cal Poly. I don't think the difference of three voters would be responsible for the 26 point difference, unless you think all three of them had Cal Poly ranked at #6, which is essentially what it would take for just the WCLL voters to pull Poly over Utah.

Being on the bubble sucks. No one is contending differently. I just think it's important to remember that how any person reacts, especially when they are representing an organization such as a team, will always reflect upon that team.

As an example, a year ago I was sick and tired of Lindenwood posts. They've tamed, and I'm definitely over it. I would hate to see some new teams step into the spotlight of being the "Honorary Recipients of the Rolled Eyes." It's a position that doesn't need to be taken.