As we go into the last week of the regular season, I think it's time that we start taking a look at the bigger picture; i.e, the NCAA Tournament and how the MIAC is stacking up with the other conferences. On X (formerly Twitter), I follow Scott Peterson (@scott_peterson4) who provides almost daily updates as to how things are looking.
So, the first picture is a simulated Field of 64 teams that will likely make the NCAA Tournament if the pairings were announced today. As you can see, there are four MIAC teams that would get in if things stood like this come Monday 3-2-26. Concordia (assuming they win both the MIAC regular season title as well as the MIAC Championship Game) would be a number sixteen seed and would at least get to host a 1st/2nd round pod in Moorhead. Bethel as a number 26 seed would presumably get shipped off to one of the WIAC hosts. When it comes to SMU and GAC, my guess is that one of those two teams would get shoved to the pod in Moorhead that Concordia's hosting while the other gets shipped to a WIAC pod (and I'm just guessing that the Tournament Committee would likely place GAC up at Moorhead but that's just me). Speaking of the WIAC, as of today anyway, the again appear to be a five-bid league with UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater and UW-Platteville all in excellent position to host 1st/2nd round pods.
And you should have an idea of the At-Large tiers. You'll see where both Concordia and Bethel are currently listed as "locks" for the NCAA Tournament should either of them falter in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. As of today, no MIAC teams are listed in the "Likely" field which makes things tricky for the next field - the "Bubble In" where both SMU and GAC are listed. As of today, both SMU and GAC would get in but they would be sweating during the Selection Show. Hamline quite obviously from this picture would have to do the impossible and win the MIAC Playoffs to get the automatic bid as they currently have no other path.
Another interesting viewpoint is the Proximity Report which gives you an idea of who could go where for a 1st/2nd round pod that's within the NCAA's "500 Mile" rule where a school has to provide its own transportation for a team to a host site provided the site is at least within 500 miles. If it's 500 miles or more, then the NCAA has to cover transportation costs and we've obviously have seen this happen before (see Whitman out of the NWC from last season). And this obviously would affect any MIAC teams that would find themselves traveling. Again, assuming Concordia wins the MIAC regular season title and the MIAC Championship Game, there presumably would be at least seven teams that would be within the 500-mile range of Moorhead that the NCAA Committee could send there. However, keep in mind that the actual bracketing itself is never easy and, depending on how things turn out elsewhere, they could be forced to cover transportation costs (flight) for a team in Texas or out of either the NWC or SCIAC. Conversely, if Concordia were to falter in the last week of the regular season or in the MIAC Playoffs, the only likely destination for the Cobbers - if you're talking in terms of that 500-mile Rule, would be at UW-Platteville (assuming they're still in a position to host) as both UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater are too far away so the NCAA would have a problem in that kind of a scenario.
I'll be providing updates later on this week......
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