Selection Monday Fallout - Augsburg (& UW-La Crosse) Gets Royally Hosed

I didn't get to watch the DIII Selection Show earlier this afternoon when I was at work but shortly after 2:00 P.M., I pulled up the D3 Hoops website to check the pairings when they were released and my worst fears were confirmed when I saw that Augsburg had inexplicably been left out of the NCAA Tournament; much to my fear, shock, utter disbelief - and anger as well.  As I write this, I'm just kind of numb because I was so sure that the Auggies were going to get in and the people I spoke with on the Augsburg side after the MIAC Championship Game on Saturday felt confident as well.  So I'm trying to figure out how/why things went so awry so quickly when it came time for the NCAA DIII Tournament Committee to make their selections.  And I'm doing some comparisons between Augsburg and two teams that did get in - from the ARC and WIAC - which would be Loras and UW-Whitewater to see how these teams stack up. 

Let's take a look first at Loras out of the ARC.  The Duhawks finished with a very similar record to that of Augsburg's 22-4 (16-2 in conference play) as they were 22-5 overall and 14-2 in conference play.  The thing that likely had Loras over Augsburg in this case was that Duhawks did have a stronger non-conference schedule as they played WIAC Champion UW-Oshkosh (loss) and said UW-Whitewater team (won).  They were swept by Wartburg in the regular season and then lost to the Knights again in the ARC Championship Game.  I don't have that big of a problem with Loras getting in and I even predicted they'd get in (as did the D3 Hoops wonks). 

Now let's take a look at UW-Whitewater out of the WIAC.  The Warhawks are arguably something of an enigma here as they finished with a somewhat pedestrian (among top teams anyway) overall record of 18-9 and 10-4 in WIAC play.  What sets UW-Whitewater apart from Augsburg is their non-conference schedule which saw them play a number of regionally-ranked opponents including said Loras team (loss), Illinois Wesleyan (win), Thomas More (loss) and Trine (loss).  Then, of course, you get the meat of the WIAC regular season schedule where they split with UW-La Crosse and swept eventual WIAC champ UW-Oshkosh.  Then they won the rubber match with UW-La Crosse in the WIAC semifinals before losing to UW-Oshkosh in the WIAC Championship Game yesterday.  But let's also take a closer look at that schedule and "drill down" into some of those results.  I won't argue that the number of regionally-ranked opponents is impressive and probably what got them over the top when it mattered but, at the same time, the Warhawks also had some bad losses as well.  They lost to Coe at home in early December and got hammered at UW-Eau Claire shortly after the first of the year 85-58.  That was followed up by a loss at UW-Stout four days later 78-68 before one of those losses to UW-La Crosse 60-49 (at HOME IN WHITEWATER).  Then there was a loss in the regular season finale at UW-River Falls 59-52.  They met UW-Oshkosh for a third time in the WIAC Championship Game yesterday and the Titans, obviously seeking a measure of revenge, absolutely crushed this UW-Whitewater team by almost thirty at 69-40.  So I won't dismiss the notion when it comes to all the regionally-ranked teams they played.  BUT, there's also a bad, toxic mix in there of some really bad losses as well; most notably just yesterday in the WIAC Championship Game.  And yet the NCAA Tournament Committee somehow conveniently overlooks this and gives the nod to the Warhawks anyway.  I really, truly have a problem with this and I'm willing to bet that I'm in good company here.  I mean, you have to ask yourself at times when you compare them against Augsburg exactly what they're rewarding/punishing.  Maybe Augsburg doesn't have the number of wins against regionally-ranked opponents (save for UW-Superior and they mysteriously dropped out altogether of the West Region rankings BEFORE they were upset by Bethany Lutheran) but they sure as HELL did NOT have the kinds of bad losses that UW-Whitewater absorbed during the season; much less so in the MIAC Championship Game.

I felt badly for UW-La Crosse as well this afternoon as I felt the Eagles were dealt a bad hand in this mess.  They split with said UW-Whitewater team during the regular season but were swept by UW-Oshkosh.  The only really "bad" loss they had was right after the first of the year when they lost at UW-Stout.  A very similar record to that of both Augsburg and Loras as they went 22-5 overall and 10-4 in WIAC play and they lost a heartbreaker to UW-Whitewater in the WIAC semifinals 53-51 over the weekend.  So what would have got them over the top?  Beating UW-Whitewater this last weekend?  Splitting with UW-Oshkosh?  Having that game back with UW-Stout?  You can say a lot of the same things about Augsburg in all this.  Maybe had they beaten Trinity shortly before Christmas, that might have been enough to get them in.  Or perhaps beating said La Crosse team over Thanksgiving weekend or an upset over mighty UST in the regular season. 

Again, I'm probably not the only one feeling this way so feel free to fire away with thoughts.  I'll have more on the pod being hosted beginning this Friday night at UST later on in the week.