May Madness Tournament Challenge

[upandin]

There is no time like tournament time.  Well before those anticipated conference tournaments start how about a little fantasy fun.  Let’s talk a mythical central region tournament. 

16 teams:  5 CCIW,  4 IIAC,  3 MWC, 3 SLIAC, 1 IND.  I seeded them the best I could trying to have a rep from each conference in the 4 brackets.  This is single elimination played over 5 days, so each team would pitch their #1, then #2, then #3, then #4, and #1 back in the championship game.
 
Throw out the central region voting formula and have fun with it!!! Head to Head matchups!   I anticipate some spirited banter and it will be fun to see how people predict these one and done matchups. 

1   North Central   CCIW   25-5                                    
4   Wash U   IND   17-15                                    
2   Greenville   SLIAC   23-9                                    
3   Coe   IIAC   20-13                                    
                                             
1   Webster   SLIAC   28-7                                    
4   Central   IIAC   24-10                                     
2   Carthage   CCIW   21-11                                     
3   Grinnell   MWC   17-11                                    
                                             
1   Beloit   MWC   20-9                                    
4   Augustana   CCIW   21-12                                    
2   Wartburg   IIAC   18-15                                    
3   North Park   CCIW   24-11                                    
                                             
1   Buena Vista   IIAC   20-10                                    
4   Fontbonne   SLIAC   16-15                                    
2   St Norbert   MWC   14-9                                    
3   Wheaton   CCIW   20-15                                    

[TheSportsFan]

I'll throw out some predictions on this thing.  I also will go with what you said and assume that pitchers will not be throwing on 2 days rest no matter what (i.e. #1's cannot come back until championship).

1st Round
--------------
North Central over Wash U.....North Central throws out one of the better 1-2 punches in the region.  I would assume they would throw Kloss in this one so he'd be able to come back for the championship.  Don't know much about Wash U.  But I would assume they wouldn't be able to hold back that dangerous North Central lineup that finds a way to win.

Coe over Greenville......despite Coe's struggles this year, they (I think no doubt) have the best 1-2 in the IIAC, if not the region.  If I were Coach Cook, I would throw out Cody Raisch in this one.  Raisch has struggled to win games this year, but will find a way to keep Greenville under 3.  Coe battles to score 5 runs and win.

Webster over Central.....I don't know a lot about Webster, but will take them (despite their easy schedule).  Central has one a lot of games this year, but doesn't have much of a pitching rotation, despite what the numbers might suggest.  Central's lineup vs. a #1 pitcher isn't all that scary of a lineup either.

Carthage over Grinnell........is this a serious matchup?

Beloit over Augustana.......Augustana continues to do all they can to wreck their great start and not make the CCIW tournament.  They are coming off of a sweep by Carthage.  Hotter of the two teams prevails here.  Beloit's won 9 of last 11, good enough for me.

Wartburg over North Park.....Wartburg would likely throw out Watson here, that'll do.

Buena Vista over Fontbonne.....This is a very scary first round for BV.  Fontbonne has a nice lineup with a lot of pop.  Just judging from how highly BV is thought by everyone and their nice upper classmen, I will take them.  Looking at the numbers, Probasco looks like a legit #1 as well.

St. Norbert over Wheaton......coin flip, heads it was, so I went with St. Norbert

2nd Round Matchups
--------------
North Central Vs. Coe

Webster Vs. Carthage

Beloit Vs. Wartburg

Buena Vista Vs. St. Norbert

[BigPoppa]

Wartburg over North Park.....Wartburg would likely throw out Watson here, that'll do.


2nd Round Matchups
--------------
North Central Vs. Coe

Webster Vs. Carthage

Beloit Vs. Wartburg

Buena Vista Vs. St. Norbert

I'd take NPU over Wartburg based on Giovenco on the bump for the Vikings.

[wartburgalum]

Come on Big Poppa, it's been a tough enough year on us Wartburg alum, can't I at least pretend like we have a chance with Watson. HAHA.

[BigPoppa]

First Round Winners listed below:

North Central Vs. Coe- North Central... just too much fire power on the mund and at the plate.
Webster Vs. Carthage- Carthage over Webster... Scott Danly is nasty on the hill and will eat up the Webster hitters. Also, Carthage hammers the ball better than anyone that the Gorlok pitchers have seen.
Beloit Vs. North Park- This is a coin-flip game to me... NPU (Sparacino 7-1, 3.82 ERA) va Beloit (Norman 4-1, 3.42 ERA). Even the starting pitchers in this game appear to be relatively equal. If I take NPU I get labeled a CCIW homer, but if I take Beloit, I think I lose this game. I'll take NPU in a 4-3 11-inning game.
Buena Vista Vs. St. Norbert- Buena Vista... tougher competition in the IIAC than in the MWC gets the Beavers ready for this matchup.


My Round Three matchups:
North Central vs Carthage: Neither I, nor the Carthage coaches, can seem to nail down a #3 starter as of this point. I think this game comes down to who swings the bats best. Though it is hard to think anyone swings it better than the Redmen, I’ll take NCC in a 14-12 game.
NPU vs Buena Vista:  NPU (Hollinsaid) vs BV (Wuebker)… Hollinsaid has better numbers in a tougher hitting conference. NPU wins this game, but it is a dog fight.

Championship game: (I assume #1s can go again)
North Central vs North Park- NCC (Kloss) vs NPU (Giovenco)… last time these two arm hooked up, Giovenco was hit hard giving up 10 hits and 8 runs in six innings of work. I’ll give the nod to the NCC Cardinals.