DIIIWest’s HOT TAKE: It’s unfair that at such a prestigious national tournament like the National ITA Indoors, Case Western repeatedly gets home court advantage.
DIIIWest DEFENSE: Granted, it might be the nicest indoor facility DIII can take advantage of AND one of the few facilities that can house two seperate matches, 1-6 singles going on simultaneously, but my God, if you have ever played Case at the Cleveland Racquet Club, you feel like you are being absolutely swarmed by the entire student body AND their parents, friends, and neighbors. It gives Case a massive advantage in these “nothing to lose” matches where they are able to use the crowd with hopes of sneaking out a win. We saw them do just that with their encounter against Carnegie last week and two years ago when they took out the top seeded Wash U. in the first round. In many cases, a loss to Case in February could ruin a Pool-C bid, it’s unfair that these massive matches take place in a hostile, very pro-Case environment year in and year out.
D3ASWomen’s: Thank you for saying this DIIIWest! I have felt this way for years about the fact that NCAAs are in Claremont every other year! Yes the facilities are nice but home court advantage is real. I have never played against the Case men’s team at the Cleveland Racquet Club but I have been heckled by the Case men’s team at the Cleveland Racquet Club and I can see how that would make a difference. But I also agree with what D3CentralW says very eloquently below. If a home court advantage is what it takes to see more upsets, then it’s generally a good thing, albeit frustrating for the visiting team.
NE: I’ll try to play devil’s advocate here for a moment. Let’s remember that Gustavus hosted Indoors last year, so it’s not always Case. However, that just proves DIIIWest’s point because last year’s GAC team had a fantastic Indoors, pushing the eventual champion Eagles to 5-4 in the first round, then smoked both CMU and Redlands in the backdraw. It was a continuation of their coming out party that began at 2017 NCAAs, and I’m sure it helped give them the confidence to put together one of their best regular seasons in the past decade. Another thing to keep in mind is how much time, effort, and money it takes to host a tournament. Whether it’s a fall regional tournament, or a tournament that brings a “national championship”, we should not overlook just how difficult it is to pull off a tournament like this, and both Case and Coach Todd deserve credit for doing so. ALL THAT SAID, of course the home team has an advantage. HOWEVER, it shouldn’t be easy to win a national title, and if you’re telling me that a team can’t go win a big match on the road then they need to toughen up. All in all, I agree with AVZ’s final point below…
AS: Nice take here because I am going back and forth with this one. On one hand, I would agree that the statement above is true. There shouldn’t be a strong home court advantage on a national tournament scale. However, I don’t agree with NE’s point about needing to make it hard to win a national title. I don’t think DIIIWest cares about the winner in this case. He’s talking about the CMU/PP/Wash U’s of the world that have to battle for Pool C and might take a loss to Case on the National Tournament level. I guess it’s the same as battling in a road environment, which they’d have to do anyways, but there’s something about it being a national tournament that doesn’t quite sit right. Either way, I’m fine with it overall, but DIIIWest does have a solid point.
D3CentralWomen’s: This is a great hot take DIIIWest! On the one hand, as a D3 tennis enthusiast, it’s fun to see upsets happen because big upsets rarely happen (although this year is proving to be different!) Upsets are what makes sports interesting. If it’s going to take a massive home court advantage to make it happen then so be it!
On the other hand, from the visiting team’s point of view, you don’t want to lose a pool C bid because of a loss to a team that snuck out a home court advantage win in February only to finish 6th in the conference.
All in all I’m OK with it. D3 college tennis needs more surprises so that it stays exciting for the duration of the season. I’m in for anything that adds to that excitement – shortened formats, home crowd advantage, etc.
As far as hosting goes, it’s great to host but there is also a tremendous amount of work (and complaint-handling) before, during, and after an event that goes along with the territory. I am not sure what’s happening on the men’s side but on the women’s side I believe there is an opening to host but not a lot of takers.
AVZ: Unfair? Maybe. Adds to the intrigue of the tournament? Absolutely. With the state of D3 tennis and the two likely hosts being Gustavus and Case, I am absolutely ok with how things play out. If either of those teams were the top 1 or 2 seeds heading into the tournament, then you might have a gripe to make. Just think when Gustavus year after year hosted and they were in the top echelon of national teams. But giving Case as the 7 or 8 seed a little home court advantage allows upsets to happen. Last year Gustavus was a couple games away from beating Emory. These are the storylines that we as bloggers live for. As long as those two teams are deserving to qualify for the tournament and aren’t taking a spot away from someone just because they get the host bid, then I am fully supportive of them hosting each year. The final option would be to allow us to finally hold the Blogvitational and have us run the tournament. Indianapolis is a central location with plenty of great indoor facilities…. Just saying… Who can get this information to the ITA?
newCentral: Whoever hosts National Indoors will have absolutely have an advantage over the other seven teams. It won’t ever be fair unless it’s hosted at an exclusively neutral site. I’m ok with the hosts enjoying some advantage because hosting an event of this size, caliber, and quality isn’t exactly a picnic and is a large responsibility for the team and athletic dept. to incur. I agree with newWest that the rule creates an unfair advantage for Case (and GAC) because they’re the only two teams that host every year. If Indoors were held at rotating, predetermined sites I’d be more ok with the advantage that Case (and GAC) absorb by hosting because it would be spread out amongst myriad teams. As it stands, I agree with the take: Case and GAC enjoy an unfair advantage when it comes to National Indoors because they’re the only two teams that are considered for hosting duties.
D3NEWomen’s: Ok so I 1000000% agree with DIIIWest and ASW. Home court advantage is HUGE and even though these teams clearly have the best and nicest facilities in the game there are a bunch of other schools / venues that could host. The home court advantage is sweet if it rotates, but what about neutral sites? Could be an option…
NewRegional: Home court advantage is huge, but look at the champions from last year and this year in Emory and Chicago. Both teams withstood tough matches from the home team but came away with the win because that’s what champions do. Beating a top 10 or top 15 team on their home courts in a tough environment gives your team a ton of momentum to start the year. And if you’ve scheduled appropriately the rest of the year, there is plenty of time to make up ground. CMU is by no means out of the Pool C picture with rematches against Case, Wash U, Amherst, Wesleyan and UAAs still to go, they still control their own destiny.
Even though he can’t claim to be an Eagle-lifer anymore, I wholeheartedly agree with the Mac Daddy
As someone who was a participant at Indoors last year and was fortunate enough to play Gustavus, I think this is all a bit ridiculous. To compete against a team at their home courts with a massive fan base that’s constantly heckling you is not something many D3 players get to experience. But its a memorable experience that everyone should want to have. Plus, a team that considers themselves an Indoors or NCAA title contender should be able to mentally handle a home-court advantage.
When is the last time either case or GAC have won the tournament or gotten past the first round? Can’t be that crazy of an adavantge.