Quote from: scottiedawg on December 15, 2023, 09:15:02 AM

Quote from: SidelineHero on December 15, 2023, 06:39:33 AM
The LEC is consistently showing that they are a stronger conference than people give them credit for. Between RIC, Mass Dartmouth and East Conn, they have been sending competitive teams to the NCAA's for a while now.

Do people not give them credit?  LEC usually has a very strong top team--it's just not a deep conference.

I guess that is my point. Admittedly, East Conn is having an off year but for the past 5 to 8 years now they have consistently had 2 or 3 strong teams between RIC, Mass Dartmouth and East Conn. All three schools recruit well and have great coaching.

The LEC is consistently showing that they are a stronger conference than people give them credit for. Between RIC, Mass Dartmouth and East Conn, they have been sending competitive teams to the NCAA's for a while now.

Jordan Moretti will be LEC Player of the year. I think she could be overall POY in D3.

Jordan Moretti (UMass Dartmouth) is the best female player in D3. Change my mind.

Quote from: 7express on January 18, 2020, 07:59:47 PM
Looks like this is Eastern's and RIC's conference to lose.  Castleton is protecting the home fort quite nicely, but they still have to play at the 2 Connecticut schools a very long trip for them, as well as playing @ USM.  Doesn't seem like very long since you don't think Vermont and New Hampshire are that big, but it's actually about 190 miles between the 2 schools.

I am going to go with ECU for the regular season.  UMD will take over second place by the end of the season.  Don't sleep on them being the eventual playoff champion. They continue to improve with every game now. 

Quote from: 7express on November 16, 2019, 02:03:16 PM
Eastern has the best player in the conference (Mya Villard) along with valuable role players both in the starting lineup (Julie Keckler) and off the bench (Anna Berry, Jaclyn Santella) so that's why they get my nod as the favorite.  Denise Bierly can probably role 9 or 10 deep with that group she has this year while coach Ducharme probably only has about a 7 or 8 rotation group, those couple extra bodies that Eastern can rely on for important minutes very well could be the difference.

I don't know much about Boston or RIC's rosters from last year to this year to make an educated guess on them.  Boston usually seems to have a high roster turnover from year to year though.

No disagreement from me that ECU is the team to beat this year.  Depth will be an issue for UMD but they are being underrated. They will be there in the end. I disagree with you on Mya being the best player in the conference.  Brown from UMD is head and shoulders better than anyone in the conference. Don't forget Grassi from UMB will also be in the mix. Mya will have to have a special season to finish ahead of either of those two.  Not taking anything away from Villard.  I love watching her play and she is a great young lady.  No doubt this will be a great season for the LEC as there seems to be more parity this year and a lot of talented players.  Kudos to all the coaches for recruiting well and raising the bar for overall expectations for the Little East Conference.

Quote from: 7express on November 01, 2019, 10:10:38 PM
Preseason poll:

https://www.gowarriorathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/releases/lec_hoop_polls

No shock Eastern is the class.  Western is the only school I've currently looked at that actually has the updated roster for 2019-20; they've got a bunch of freshmen & sophomores.  They'll compete as they always do under coach Kim, but not sure they have staying power.  Preseason #1 selection Eastern doesn't have a roster updated, and I'm not sure how many players left from last years team, but I know of one incoming freshmen, Jaclyn Santella, from RHAM, will be a player for them.  I believe they still have PG Julie Keckler who played very well as a freshmen, and of course the last year for Mya Villard.  When I see rosters for all 9 teams I'll make a prediction which will probably turn out horribly, like most of them do.

Everyone is sleeping on UMassD.....again.  Yes, they lost Nakira Eximond but they will have the "Player of the Year" again in Ashley Brown.  UMD's back court will be the best in the LEC and possibly in the Northeast (Yes, I know it is a bold statement). Take a look at UMD vs. MIT stat sheet.  Jordan Moretti did all her damage in 3 quarters before going out with a sprained ankle.  At that time Ashley Brown stepped up and took over game.  They combined for 48 points and won against a potential top 10 in the region.  UMD has 5 6 footers on the team (all of whom can shoot from outside and play inside).  They have a short bench but every player is capable of starting.  Don't forget they have a multiple "Coach of the Year" award winner in Ducharme.  Being ranked fourth in the preseason LEC pole just goes to show you that nobody does their homework when they submit their rankings, not that they mean anything.  Let the season play out and we will see.

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 27, 2019, 02:19:32 PM
So you are more than welcome to look these things up yourself and answer your own questions as well: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/02/women-regional-rankings-final

But they were actually pretty close in all the categories (even the ones you made up):

Babson:   21-5 (.808) / 3-4 vRRO / SOS .543
UMD:   22-5 (.815) / 3-4 vRRO / SOS .562

- So the WL is pretty even. Committee probably considers that a draw.
- The vRRO hard number of 3-4 is even, but that isn't a hard number to the committee. "Results" allows them to dive in deeper. Babson may have an edge because their top ranked win in that category is higher ranked (slightly) than UMD. The committee could have also considered this a draw.
- The SOS does favor UMD a bit.
- However, another part of the Primary Criteria is head-to-head and Babson has a win in that category.
- Common opponents: Coast Guard (B 2-0; UMD 1-0). Probably a draw in that category.

All of those are Primary Criteria items. If the committee stopped there, the head-to-head probably tipped the scales. However, if the head-to-head and SOS was considered a win for both and left them "even" in the committee's mind, then they would have gone to Secondary Criteria and the non-conference SOS (since nothing else in Secondary is relevant). That might favor Babson. I don't have the non-conf SOS numbers, but looking at the schedules that could favor Babson.

BTW - "how did Babson do in their their tournament" is not a criteria in the at-large, rankings conversation. So not worth discussing. That option was reflected in the one more win in the WL category for UMD, but, again, I don't think that tips the scales.

I am absolutely not following the "opponents opponents." Because Eastern Connecticut beat Amherst and UMD beat ECSU twice (and lost to them in the one game that guarantees entrance to the tournament), UMD is somehow better? That isn't how this works. Babson would have had to play ECSU for that to matter (and the Amherst game still isn't a factor) and would have had to lose that game for something even close to that to matter.

So looking at it objectively with the facts ... I don't see how Darthmouth is "favored" what so ever.

And while you may not like the "loss" that "came early," newsflash: all games count the same. As we always say, "games played in November mean the same as games played in February." So a loss to Babson on December 31 (which, btw, is NOT early; it is six weeks into the season) is not going to be diminished in any way.

Finally "other factors" are outside the criteria and just your opinion. Committees don't make decisions on "other factors."

You can see all the info here: https://www.d3hoops.com/interactive/faq/ncaatournament

with all that being said....Babson should have gotten in ahead of Middlebury.  Dartmouth ahead of Mount St Mary's.  Or Middlebury ahead of Dartmouth and Mount St Mary's.  The point is the selections are very questionable.  My second point is that the LEC is not being taken seriously enough. On that, you will not change my mind. 

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 26, 2019, 02:21:21 PM
FYI - the Northeast RAC only advises. Rankings are ultimately the responsibility of the national committee. The RACs can give them suggestions they eventually toss out and do completely different. People keep pointing towards RACs as the cause when most RACs versions of rankings are not the final versions.

Finally, there are actually two rankings done in the final weekend. The first is the one the RACs advise on, but the second is a final set that once the first are set the vRRO data is run again and the national committee adjusts again.

Finally, Dartmouth didn't have any data that indicated they should be above either Middlebury or Smith. They were behind Babson who didn't even make the tournament.

Dartmouth's numbers weren't bad ... but their loss to Babson kept them behind the Beavers.

I don't have the brain resources right now to dive into why they weren't ahead of Smith or Middlebury, but again they still probably would have been behind Babson.

How did Babson fair against Regionally Ranked opponents? What was their strength of Schedule?  How did Babson do in their tournament?  Darmouth was better in all of these categories.  So other than the head to head Dartmouth is ahead of Babson.  Not to mention opponents opponents where Dartmouth beat East Conn twice this year.  The same East Conn that beat Amherst in Amherst.  Too many other factors in Dartmouth's favor to say that they belonged behind Babson especially when that loss came early.

Quote from: Caz Bombers on February 26, 2019, 09:59:09 AM
I think your ire should be directed two places; 1) the Northeast RAC for leaving UMD behind all 3 of Smith, Midd and SJC (I would have jumped them over Smith definitely, SJC maybe, but probably not Midd) and 2) the national committee for using what was probably the last Pool C on out-of-left-field selection Mount Saint Mary.

However, 2) requires that MSMC was the last pick and that UMD was on the table at the time. If MSMC was picked before Smith, then return to 1).

This makes sense.

Quote from: 7express on February 25, 2019, 04:22:08 PM
Welp just as I predicted Dartmouth is stranded at the alter for the second straight year.  Sucks, but you beat them twice during the season, and are playing at home, win the damn game!  It was pretty apparent from where they were in the rankings that there was no way this conference was getting a pool C entrant into the field.  Too bad we'll likely never know how far into it the Middlebury selection was because as I correctly pointed out I had Mid sandwiched between the Joes Monks and Dartmouth (or maybe it was vice versa??) I'm guessing neither got selected until late in the process with whoever was lower between the Monks and Mid Panthers likely one of the last teams in the field.  I had my region cut off line at Middlebury (3 pool C's for the region) and they took Mid, so it was likely a last 2 or 3 team.  It's very possible the Monks loss in the GNAC title game kept the Corsairs out.  Not saying they still take 4 region teams, but if everything else plays out the way it does suddenly opens up an extra pool C for the region which would've probably been Dartmouth but both Smith & Babson were in front as well, and we might not ever know what the final regional rankings were.

I just want to know how in the world Smith AND Middlebury got in ahead of UMassD.  Dartmouth had a better record.  Had a higher strength of schedule.  They had a winning record (assuming here but I think I am accurate) against regionally ranked opponents, which was the knock on them last year.  They checked off every box and still got snubbed for 4 teams out of the NESCAC and 2! out of the NEWMAC.  The LEC is far better than they are getting credit for.  Dartmouth beat East Conn twice.  That is the team that beat Amherest in Amherst.  Top 5 teams in the conference had winning records.  Where is the respect?

Quote from: ECSUalum on February 25, 2019, 10:55:35 AM
This ref you refer to made some pretty crappy calls against Eastern as well so he was an equal craportunity ref!  Eastern's played good D and scored enough to beat Dartmouth!  The Dartmouth coach and bench looked like spoiled brats as ECSU players received their medals, ie not one clap for the Warriors!  Show some sportsmanship!

We are in agreement on how the end of the game played out.  Both teams should have lined up after the game.  Dartmouth players definitely did not take the loss well and it showed.  I was not referring to the same ref you are referring to.  Eastern did play good D.  Absolutely was max effort out of both teams.  The Refs fouled out too many players and made a call every trip down the floor.  They need to understand that this is the playoffs at the college level.  They treated this game like a regular season high school game.  Mya V is an amazing player BTW. I love watching her play.  She seems like a great person as well.

Quote from: 7express on February 23, 2019, 11:21:47 PM
For the second straight year Dartmouth shoots itself in the foot in the LEC championship game against a team it had beaten twice during the regular season.  Last year I think they had better numbers and missed will definitely be a stressful 36 hours or so for the Corsairs.  I'm guessing they do not make the cut again this year.  Tufts/Bowdoin loser will get 1 in the region, Amherst will get a second.  St. Joes will likely be next up and should get a bid.  I doubt Middlebury drops below Dartmouth in the next rankings (they were 6 last week, Dartmouth was 8) and they will be next in line.  I think that's where the cut off in the region is.  In the Pool C thread I said the region gets 3 pool C bids and I'm sticking to that: the NESCAC final loser, Amherst & St. Joes.  I'm guessing Dartmouth isn't even at the table for consideration as I see Middlebury as the team up when selecton ends.

I disagree with you saying that UMassD shot themselves in the foot.  This loss falls squarely and unequivocally at the feet of the referees in this game and one in particular that I will not single out. If you watched the game in it's entirety then you know which Ref I am referring to.  You don't make a call every trip down the floor.  It was so bad that the other Ref's were speaking to this Ref, asking to calm down on the calls as this was a playoff game.  East Conn is a great team and they capitalized but they did not win this game without external help.  Dartmouth did noting to lose this game.

Saint Josephs lost and will drop like a rock in the Regional Rankings.  They may drop right out as their strength of schedule.  Smith and Middlebury also lost as well as Babson.  UMassD has a chance and it would be good to see two teams from the LEC get into the tourney.  The LEC is really becoming a strong conference, worthy of being a two team entrant.

Quote from: 7express on February 08, 2019, 09:56:20 AM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 06, 2019, 02:39:11 PM
First women's regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/02/women-regional-rankings-first

I think Dartmouth is in decent shape for a pool C.  Once again like last year, the 2 losers in the NESCAC of: Tufts, Bowdoin, Amherst will come off the board fairly quickly, likely within the first 5 picks, if not top 2 or even top 3, and unlike last year where they started ranked like 7 or 8, this year they are 5.  Assuming they keep winning into the LEC semifinals or even better the LEC finals, and Joes of Maine and Babson win the pool A, they could be the 3rd team at the table from the Northeast, and could possibly be there at the start of the 3rd round.

It appears that way so far. I have my eye on UMassD at UmassB next week.  UMD HAS to win that game to have a chance in pool C.

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 07, 2019, 01:36:59 PM

Quote from: SidelineHero on February 07, 2019, 08:36:41 AM
Curious - why do we not see more news releases from the LEC in daily news releases from around the country?

Schools have to release or send them to the D3hoops.com system. If they choose not to, they won't show up.

Okay. Thank you. I wasn't sure of how that all worked.