All chalk tonight.  Skidmore put up a good fight but Vassar had just enough at the end.

Great crowd at Burkman tonight. SLU lost 2 games by 3 points each in the regular season against Ithaca and turned it into a wire to wire win.  Ithaca got it to within 4 at halftime and that was as close as they'd get the rest of the way.  Dudzinski was unguardable and 3 freshmen got valuable playoff experience while chipping in a combined 31 points. 

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on February 22, 2026, 08:13:43 AMYou can google "Liberty League MBB tiebreakers" and get a link to the minutes where tournament expansion was approved in 2012, along with the approved tiebreakers.  It does show, cumulative record against all teams above you is No. 2.

I saw that, but tournament expansion didn't happen until 2017-2018, which according to those minutes should have been effective in 2012-2013 if I read it correctly so was not sure about the tie breakers being applicable.

This board doesn't get any attention these days, but 3 of the top 4 seeds in the E8 were upset in the first round of the E8 tournament today.  Sage, Naz and Poly all go down. Geneseo beating Utica is not an upset according to records but Geneseo getting one by Utica in the tournament is a big step for them as Utica are defending champs. They hadn't won a playoff game in 12 years. Keuka beating Naz on their home court is bonkers.

I've always believed that the 2nd tie breaker was common results against opponents starting from the top down.  If these seedings are locked in that means the second tie breaker is cumulative record against all opponents above in the standings.

Quote from: stlawus on December 29, 2025, 07:21:36 PMOutside a couple seasons under Glenn Miller Conn has never historically been an upper tier team. I wonder if Sweeney is thinking about whether or not the grass has been greener at Conn than it was at Hobart. I'm pretty sure he took the Conn job because he was frustrated about not getting at large selections, but all things considered he had a pretty good thing going at Hobart. His first full recruiting cycle made the sweet 16 (and could have gone further if not for covid) the season after he left for Conn, and it's been fairly mid at Conn outside of 1 season where they still didn't make the tournament.  Now Hixon's protege just took Conn down and seems to be building something at Hartford.  I don't know how much priority the Conn administration places on men's hoops, but one has to wonder about that situation if it doesn't end up great this season.

3 straight losses to end the season, misses the tournament yet again.  Good win against Wesleyan, there is no doubt about job security, but another season of underperformance and no NCAA tournament.

* I edited my previous comment to reflect the final standings according to the website, but I'm pretty sure it's wrong. They have Ithaca as the 5 seed but Skidmore should have the tiebreaker by virtue of a win against RPI.

**All teams on their writeups and schedules are showing Skidmore at Vassar and Ithaca at SLU.  This can't be right.  Ithaca and Skidmore split, and the tie breaker is comparing results from the top down.  Skidmore has a win against RPI, Ithaca lost both to RPI.

Final regular season standings:

1) RPI
2) Union
3) Vassar
4) SLU
5) Ithaca
6) Skidmore
7) Hobart
8) Clarkson
9) RIT
10) Bard

Tuesday: Vassar vs. Skidmore
               SLU vs. Ithaca
Last night SLU shoots 1-22 from 3.  Today shoots 14-20.  What goes up must come down I guess.  Ultimately it didn't matter with Skidmore losing, but SLU picked the right time to play their best and most complete game of the year.

*Ithaca finishes ahead of Skidmore

RPI clinches the #1 seed by virtue of tie breaking results against Vassar.  Since RPI split with Union you compare results from the top down, and RPI swept Vassar while Union split. A Union loss tomorrow and a Vassar win results in Vassar finishing in 2nd. 

SLU puts up another atrocious shooting performance that puts their home playoff game in even more jeopardy.  A loss tomorrow and Skidmore win will send them on the road to Skidmore.  Under no circumstances should you be shooting 1-22 from three at home.  If they were mostly contested that is one thing, but SLU rebuilt Rome with the amount of open bricks they laid. Two games against RPI SLU has overcame 2nd half double digit deficits to tie or take the lead while losing in the end.  SLU tied it with 3 minutes left and went into masonry mode immediately after.

Hobart has life, as a win tomorrow and Ithaca loss results in Hobart getting the 6th seed by virtue of tiebreaking results against Vassar.

The DPOY award has often times been baffling. Sometimes it's been obvious and the right choice, but you never know with these coaches. Dudzinski has caused a lot of havoc on the wing in the zone, deflecting and picking off passes, and he's a much better rim protector than one would think with his slight frame. But DPOY worthy? I'm not sure, Anderson is good at the top of the zone and has picked many a guard's pocket this year, but SLU's defense didn't really turn around until the middle of January. Picking someone like Scalisi from RPI would be a safe choice given their defensive metrics. With Vassar's pretty drastic turnaround in terms of team defense I don't think anyone would have an issue with one of their players getting it.

There are several worthy for POY, but Plesser's volume stats as well as FG% will probably make it unanimous. First team will probably be 2 Union players in Tedesco and and Plesser.  Other 3 I think will be Dudzinski, Fitzgerald and Cabral. Could easily see Gooden but missing the last 5 games might result in him making 2nd team. 

And as I expected, SLU's road inconsistencies cost them a bad game. 16-57 from the field, with only 5 two point baskets.  Their rebounding problems also cost them, giving up 2 consecutive offensive rebounds on missed free throws in the final minute.  Even had 2 wide open looks from 3 at the end to tie it, not even close.  They just cannot play offense on the road. Very real chance they lose a home playoff game next week if they get swept.  One win guarantees the 4th seed, but with both games against RPI and Union the terrible loss today could loom large.

Clarkson now probably out after getting swept.  I thought they were going to finally put it together, but seems like another year coming up short.

Another great night of basketball, this is such a tough league. Vassar now in 2nd place due to the sweep of Union.  It wasn't a buzzer beater, but for once Union on the wrong end of a 3 point shot in the final seconds to send it into OT. 

Skidmore gets a critical win against Clarkson to move up into the 6th spot.  Hobart and Clarkson are going to be in the fight for their lives tomorrow.

I was worried about SLU with their road shooting woes and playing a cornered animal type team in Hobart who were desperate to break their losing streak in front of big home crowd.  Suriano got in early foul trouble, so the SLU freshmen had to step up.  There were several times in the game where all 5 players on the court for the Saints were freshmen. Aside from some spotty free throw shooting they showed great poise to get a big road win. I feel for the Statesmen who are now on an 8 game losing streak. They are in desperate need of a ball handler, as the SLU press was a big reason why they took over in the 2nd half forcing turnovers as a result. Tomorrow's game between Hobart and Clarkson could end up being one of the most physical games of the year as it is a must win game for both.   

Quote from: UfanBill on February 12, 2026, 07:02:29 PM

Quote from: stlawus on February 11, 2026, 05:18:02 PMWhy am I not surprised to see Frank Rossi be quite literally the only person defending Flo Sports on social media.

Not sure if you are aware of this but Frank in addition to his role with "In the D3fb Huddle" podcasts with James Baker, Frank also refs flag football and serves as Mayor of Ballston Spa, NY. I believe he can handle himself quite well since he's also an attorney. I respect and admire the guy.   

Pretty much everyone is against the Flo Sports model and putting d3 sports behind a paywall.  So far he's the only voice of "authority" I've seen that non ironically defends it. It has nothing to do with his credentials.

Quote from: saratoga on February 12, 2026, 01:02:53 PMAll I can say to that is:

The NCAA better revert back to the eye test. 
Either mens basketball as a whole is horrible this year (which I don't think is true) or...
Scranton is way, way over-rated (which I think is true).
I mean my God, they're barely beating teams with 2 conference wins right now. 

If you look at their rating on Massey their actual rating is 50 spots higher than their power rating. So far it hasn't happened yet but a disparity that big usually means regression to the mean. Just something to keep an eye on.

Why am I not surprised to see Frank Rossi be quite literally the only person defending Flo Sports on social media.

All of the top 6 have rather significant injuries.  The aforementioned RPI and Union personnel, but Vassar also hasn't had Avery Lee since the beginning of January. Was averaging almost 17 a game until then. SLU lost starter Chris Downs Jr for the rest of the season after a shoulder injury sustained against Hobart several weeks ago. They have already played the whole year without Troy McPherson who was going to be the starting shooting guard.  Ithaca didn't have their best player Evan Cabral against Clarkson yesterday, not sure the extent of his injury or situation.  Skidmore looks like they have lost their leading scorer and likely rookie of the year winner Jacob Gooden to what looked like a very nasty shoulder injury last week.

Teams are going to have to dig deep in the final stretch.