Just got done watching the NCAA Tournament Selection Show here not quite a half hour ago and am still trying to digest a lot of how things were done here. But we'll get to that in a bit. Our first order of this day is to shout out huge congratulations to both GAC and Bethel for securing tournament bids as expected. The Gusties will indeed host a pod at Lund Arena on Friday 3-7 and Saturday 3-8 and here's what it looks like:
Wartburg (25-2) vs UW-Stevens Point (18-8)
GAC (26-1) vs Wisconsin Lutheran (21-7)
So Wartburg out of the ARC will take on UW-Stevens Point out of the WIAC in the first game at Lund Arena. I would likely have to go with Wartburg on this one. GAC I think would have to be a prohibitive favorite over Wisconsin Lutheran in the second game on Friday night. The two winners would then meet Saturday evening for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.
Bethel meanwhile gets shipped off to the pod hosted by UW-Oshkosh and here's how that pod shapes up:
Bethel (22-5) vs DePauw (20-6)
UW-Oshkosh (23-4) vs Calvin (18-10)
On paper anyway, this looks like a favorable matchup for the Royals to at least advance to the second round. UW-Oshkosh (b'gosh) will take on a hot Calvin team that knocked off Trine in the MIAA Championship Game in the nightcap on Friday evening with the two winners meeting on Saturday evening for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.
Beyond that, there's a ton of questions I have regarding about who got placed where in this shindig.
1. How does UW-Stout; which was listed at number 23 in the NPI rankings that came out yesterday (four spots below Bethel which is 19 BTW) get to host a pod? Look, don't misunderstand me here - absolutely the Blue Devils belong in this thing and that's not being disputed. But being four spots below Bethel and getting to host while the Royals are forced to take their show on the road at the UW-Oshkosh pod doesn't make a lot of sense to me here. If it's pure geographics, I get it - well, sort of. But if it's indeed purely based on geographics, how then does UW-Stout get the nod to host over Bethel? And mind you, UW-Stout lost to UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Semifinals while Bethel made it to the MIAC Championship Game where they lost to a higher-ranked team. Make it make sense here, NCAA.
2. So, if the idea is that two conference opponents are not supposed to meet until the Sweet 16 round, can someone explain to me how UW-La Crosse wound up in the UW-Whitewater pod for a potential second round matchup? Not saying that that's how it's going to play out, of course, but it's certainly a possibility.
3. And, speaking of the UW-Stout pod, how does Whitman out of the NWC, get flown to Wisconsin for this? Whitman, mind you, has a number 5 ranking in the last NPI rankings that came out yesterday yet the NCAA Tournament Committee decided to fly them to play in the UW-Stout pad at Menomonie? Again, make this make sense, almighty NCAA. You have FIVE teams from the WIAC getting in but instead of flying either UW-Stevens Point or UW-La Crosse down south, out west or out east, you instead choose to keep them all in-region and take the number five team in the country and place them in the UW-Stout bracket of all places. You can bet that there's a lot of unhappy people out in Walla Walla, WA right now and I can't say as I blame them. They deserve better than this.
I'm guessing I'm not the only one with a lot of questions right now. But, for the time being, let's all raise our glasses to the Gusties and the Royals!
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