Bracketology later this evening, but first my quick take on Pool C. As it stands right now…
Williams, Bowdoin, Cal Lutheran, Pomona-Pitzer, Middlebury, Wash U, Redlands (vomit)
Redlands is so undeserving of this spot it makes me sick (d3tennisguy is going to hate me). They haven’t done anything remotely impressive in over 2 months, yet teams (Carnegie) somehow managed to lose enough matches for the Bulldogs to grab the 7th spot. People may say that Wash U doesn’t have a great resume, but when their backs were against the wall a couple days ago, they came back from a huge deficit and won. They are an excellent team that had close losses to very good teams the entire season and they clearly deserve a spot in the postseason. When Redlands’ backs were against the wall a few weeks ago against PP, they managed to blow a huge lead in singles.
The other way to think about this situation is what purpose does Redlands serve in the NCAA tournament? They’re going to lose in the California regional. In the first round to PP most likely. Bates, Carnegie or Case Western are dangerous teams that play great dubs who could at least contend in whatever region they end up in. If the Bulldogs finish 3rd or above in SCIACs, I’ll change my mind about this situation, but frankly I don’t see that happening. I’m going to do my bracketology with Redlands as the 7th Pool C team, but I hate it that I’m doing it that way.
The Carnegie situation this past weekend is tough. I feel for them. I think they’ve had a great season, but they weren’t able to bounce back from the Wash U loss because they ran into a Case team that wanted it more and played an easy match the day before. I think they are the most deserving of the 7th Pool C spot, but I’m pretty sure they won’t get it. I’d even like to see Bates or Case in before Redlands. If Carnegie beats Case yesterday, there’s no question in my mind that they go. Also, if Bates beats Midd in the NESCAC quarters, they should definitely go as well, but I don’t know how likely that is. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but Redlands will probably make it because other teams played their way out, not because the Bulldogs played their way in.
Tournament selection committee, if you’re reading this, exclude Redlands from the tournament unless they finish 3rd or above in their conference tournament. Carnegie has put together a much more complete season. So has Case Western and so has Bates. All 3 are more deserving of a tournament spot. If the NCAA selection and ITA rankings really aren’t correlated, let’s find out. Do the right thing.
I kinda get the hate on Redlands, but the same time looking at their record, their only losses come to teams ranked 12 and higher, and they beat Bates, Washington and Lee, Whittier, Swarthmore, and Mary Washington. They have the head to head vs. Bates and no bad losses, it’s not the greatest of all resumes with no top 14 win, but it is pretty solid for a Pool C spot
I think the hate is mostly based on the fact that all those good wins you mentioned (with the exception of the 5-4 win over Whittier) came in February and early March. I don’t really know what goes through the minds of the D3 Tennis NCAA Selection Committee, but when it comes to basketball, they often ask, “What have you done for me lately?” Unfortunately, none of the other teams (except perhaps Case Western who I believe has no chance) have done much lately either.
Truthfully though looking at Case’s season, imagine if they hadn’t lost to Wash and Lee then we could be talking about them leapfrogging over the others for last pool C because of Carnegie win. As it stands now I would say there is an extremely slim chance they could be mentioned for it but doubt it would happen unless the NCAA is really desperate for logistical reasons.
That being said the Redlands bashing is probably overstated on here but it is a little odd that everything they did was early in the season and you have to agree with D3 in saying that anytime they had a chance to get a breakthrough they folded especially as the season went on. I also think their wins aren’t as impressive as everyone makes them out to be aside from the Bates win early and Wash Lee can count as a good one as well but really Whittier, Swat and Mary Wash aren’t really that impressive when looking back on it at the end of the year.
Now that the Redlands bashing is done it is completely true that their record while unimpressive in reality is probably the best because their schedule really didn’t have any trap matches in the grind of the season and thus they don’t have a bad loss or more like all the other teams trying to get that last Pool C spot. Truthfully I think the Bates demolition of Hopkins is still the more impressive win either has on their resume. If everything holds and neither pulls off the upset in SCIACs then Redlands probably will get the final bid because of the aforementioned no bad losses and direct wins. That being said I totally believe in Bates having grown over the season and now being the better team and think they deserve and hope they get that spot
100% on board with this. Well said.
Trinity (CT) should be strongly considered for Pool C if they beat Bowdoin in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament.
Did this site suddenly become a comedy forum with the above two postings?
I believe you are wrong on 7 Pool C bids. I think it is 6 and I also think that Bates or Redlands gets the 6th and final spot.