It’s that time again for another edition of the “Real Bracketology” series. Bracketology is an extremely interesting subject considering we project where every single team will go when the NCAA tournament comes around. The NCAA field is actually looking set in stone after this past weekend, despite a few upsets in the Pool C area. After coming out with my top 10 thoughts yesterday, the Guru has decided it was important to get a Bracketology out as well. Below, we have gone in depth and we should have all the correct Pool A, Pool B, and Pool C teams. If a conference tournament has not been finished, we either put the likely winner or the winner from last year in its place. Because some people have been calling for rules – here is another brief description for the umpteenth time of how this is decided.
There are 32 Pool A teams, who are chosen as winners of their >6 team conference. There are 5 Pool B teams, and they are teams either independent or play in a conference that does not have 6 teams. They are entered based on merit. There are 7 Pool C teams, or at-large bids. These spots are for teams that did not win their conference, but are making the tournament based on their body of work this year. These teams are decided by the NCAA committee. Got it? Okay, let’s hope I don’t have to explain that again. All the teams are listed in their correct pool below.
Pool A:
Allegheny Mountain – Franciscan
American Southwest – UT-Tyler
Capital Athletic – Mary Washington
Centennial – Johns Hopkins
Colonial States – Neumann
Commonwealth – Messiah
Commonwealth Coast – Nichols
Illinois and Wisconsin – Elmhurst
CUNY – Baruch
Empire 8 – Stevens
Freedom – Wilkes
Heartland – Earlham
Iowa – Coe
Landmark – Catholic
Liberty League – Skidmore
Little East – Southern Maine
Michigan – Kalamazoo
Minnesota – Gustavus
Midwest – Grinnell
North Atlantic – Colby-Sawyer
Northern Athletics – MSOE
NCAC – Kenyon
NESCAC – Middlebury
Northwest – Whitman
Ohio Athletic – Otterbein
Old Dominion – Washington & Lee
Presidents – Grove City
SCAC – Trinity (TX)
SCIAC – CMS
Skyline – Yeshiva
UAA – Wash U
USA South – NC Wesleyan
Pool B: UC Santa Cruz, Wisconsin-Whitewater, MIT, Sewanee, Babson
Pool C: Carnegie Mellon, Emory, Amherst, Case Western, Williams, Bowdoin, Pomona-Pitzer
Okay, so there are your Pool A, B, and C teams. Without further ado, here is the latest edition of the bracketology, with hosting sites denoted with an asterisk and in bold. Teams are listed in order of seeding. We apologize this is not in the format that our last one was, but sometimes we gotta save some time.
1. CMS*, Pomona-Pitzer, UT-Tyler, UC Santa Cruz
2. Wash U, Gustavus, Whitewater*, Coe, Grinnell, MSOE
3. Johns Hopkins*, Mary Washington, NC Wesleyan, Baruch, Catholic, Messiah
4. Carnegie Mellon*, Kenyon, Stevens, Wilkes, Grove City, Franciscan
5. Emory*, Whitman, Washington & Lee, Sewanee, Earlham
6. Middlebury*, Bowdoin, MIT, Babson, Nichols, Colby-Sawyer
7. Amherst*, Williams, Skidmore, Yeshiva, Southern Maine
8. Trinity (TX), Case Western*, Kalamazoo, Otterbein, Elmhurst, Neumann
Overall, as I went through in my Top 10 Thoughts, this is a very vanilla year for DIII Tennis. Outside of the top 9 teams, there is a big drop-off and every single two seed other than Case Western is a large underdog. Let us know what you think about this most recent bracketology in the comments. We are open to suggestions on how to make this thing better! Anyways, it is Monday morning… so ASouth, OUT.
Earlham is over the 500 mile limit to journey to Emory? Barely, I believe..
As the crow flies?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe I got to use that. Well, if that’s not allowed we can send Earlham to Carnegie Mellon, someone else to Johns Hopkins/Mary Washington and then someone else to Emory. Those bottom seeds are usually pretty interchangeable.
If that is the case with Babson, I hope they give the NEWMAC an AQ, they have 7 teams now. I looked at it again and they played an agressive schedule, but TCNJ is the only good win they have. Seeing a team that barely had a winning record and got shutout in their conference final make it is rough. Moving the conference into an AQ and then possibly moving a pool B spot (or two) to pool C seems to make sense.
I’m no expert, but I think the teams that qualify in pool B that are in a conference, should win their conference.
I would also think they wouldn’t send two pool B candidates that have already played twice to the same site. I would also think that of pools A and C, but it looks like it would be impossible to spread the NESCACs out.
How is Bowdoin a for sure Pool C bid? Their recent loss to Bates isn’t too hot. Definitely would put Chicago into contention for it.
You are ABSOLUTELY correct! I will have my Pool C Update sometime later this week. However, Bowdoin is the front runner for that last spot right now. More to come.
If you take away Chicago’s loss against Whitewater, you could argue for the Maroons, but that loss is killing them at the moment.
Why wouldn’t they have region 3 hosted by Mary Washington? There facilities are so much better than Hopkins.
Hopkins is a higher ranked team and deserves to host. Maybe they will play in a neutral site near Hopkins if NCAA doesn’t approve Hopkins courts.
Babson in at 10-9? That can’t be real life with 6-3 losses to Conn and Brandeis.
If you know of someone more deserving in Pool B, let me know. My rationale for including Babson was that they have a direct win against TCNJ, a team who has qualified through Pool B almost every year. I’m not well versed on the other independents.