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Messages - mlevy128

#1
Region 1 men's basketball / Re: NESCAC MBB
March 19, 2013, 10:44:21 AM
I generally lurk here, mostly because I'm often not sure I know enough about what I'm saying to be worth weighing in, and my thoughts tend to be scattered. So forgive me if that's still the case here. Most of my d3hoops knowledge, aside from attending games at Chandler (Williamstown resident), comes from reading the great opinions on this board and the great site and community you've built.

The problem that is missing here is the multiple purposes the NCAA tournament serves. To crown a champion, sure, but as a method for determining the best team in the country, it's pretty poor. We don't need 62-68 teams just to determine who's the best.

But it's also a reward to teams for their performance in the regular season (and this goes for D1 as well). For the some teams, it's a chance to test your team against the perennial contenders. Regular contenders get a chance to play against the top teams from other regions. For fans/students, these tournament games are frequently the only chance to see how most of the teams from other regions play, unless you really want to commit yourself to watching all the available webcasts during the season.

So I think this goal should be primary in tournament construction (acknowledging uncontrollable travel limitations). I'm more interested watching new opponents than Williams-Amherst IV or Williams-Middlebury III. We already have a pretty good idea how those go. I think its ideal that the three NESCAC teams won't have to play until it is unavoidable. The only downside I see is some people arguing this means something about NESCAC and not just these three schools and their players. I wish all conferences had gotten this benefit, and I'm sorry it wasn't the case.

Just my opinion, though.