i've gotta second trey's picks. SUNY-M seems to be the toughest team out there. And chicago's definitely in the Top 5. But with 8 losses they'll end up being a #4. But they can have the title of scariest #4 seed in the tourney.

Vassar stands out to me. If you have a pick, then make it, but don't sit on the fence with a bunch of teams, then knock a guy's pick. If you have an issue with my pick, polo, just call the Lasell ticket office's customer service department, wait on hold for hours listening to XM 27 - The Bridge, and cry into your Zima.

no issue what so ever and not knocking your pick. simply curious. most folks made picks. you made vassar the "obvious" pick because they are "scary-good".

so it got me curious, why? Is there any rhyme or reason to this? or did you just pick the #1 RPI team and assume they were the best team in all the land.

anyway, not meant to pick a fight, but more start a discussion. many apologies kind sir. sorry to distress you in any way

Is it just me, or is the west bracket the toughest bracket ever in the history of d3?!! Good luck to all especially those of us in the west. We're going to need it.

i was just thinking the same exact thing.  its just dirty

edit
*six teams with an RPI of 15 or better*

and just want to announce my official protest to the selection committee. RP not making the tourney with an RPI of 48 is outrageous. There were six teams with worse RPI's getting at-large bids.

Good call, norm. 7 of the top 12 on the dynasty list in the same region...

And yes, polo, a big part of why I picked Vassar was their RPI. They aren't just the #1 RPI team. They have been the #1 RPI team since day 1, and their lead has been pretty big throughout. This has only happaned 4 times since I've been coaching here, and 2 of the other 3 times, the team has won the title: MBBC in season 34 and Lasell in season 33. The time it didn't happen--Beloit in season 36--I believe I picked the National Champion correctly (Chicago, a 9-seed) before the tourney started.

Quote: Originally posted by norm24 on 11/18/2009Is it just me, or is the west bracket the toughest bracket ever in the history of d3?!!  Good luck to all especially those of us in the west.  We're going to need it.

Absolutely - this is just a brutal-looking bracket. Well, here we go - good luck to all!

Final Four picks:

Midwest - Vassar over Finlandia
East - St. Mary's over McMurry
South - Oberlin over Hobart
West - Chicago over SUNYM

Some strange seedings and omissions this year in the bracket. More so than in other years.

Based on the eyeball test, it would appear that wins were given more weight than RPI for the bubble teams. Same with some of the top seeds (1 - 3) versus the mid-range seeds (4 - 7).

Quote: Originally Posted By bradshaw3001 on 11/17/2009Vassar stands out to me. If you have a pick, then make it, but don't sit on the fence with a bunch of teams, then knock a guy's pick. If you have an issue with my pick, polo, just call the Lasell ticket office's customer service department, wait on hold for hours listening to XM 27 - The Bridge, and cry into your Zima

Wow, hilarious. Hahahaha. Give me UW-Superior.

so, the south has seeds 1-3 of Hopkins, Anderson, Oberlin, and the #6 and 9 RPI teams as the 4-5 seeds (Lake Forest and me).

anyone else have a potential second round matchup with total RPI ranking lower than 15? even close? don't think i've ever seen one.

I'm thinking that this is the year that a #6 or higher seed wins the NT. Too many really good high seeds to bet against this possibility. Anybody know what is the highest seed to win the NT? In recent history?

WOW - the vaunted Upstate got steamrolled in round one.

DOUBLE WOW - Vassar got beat in round 1 - by the RNG...errrrr, I mean by a SIMAI!

11 of the 32 remaining are from the "other" power conferences of the NAC, Midwest, and MIAA - kudos, guys.

11 of the 28 double digit seeds won first round games - haven't seen that in Wooden since I arrived.

Dirtyjerk - wish you wouldn't have lost that non-conf game to the Johnsons - you're way too good of a #10 seed to be facing in the second round. GL tomorrow.

UP-YOUR-STATE-ER (clap clap clap-clap-clap)