Conferences

[camosfan]

They need to think about making all final conference games on the last day of competition start at the same time.  The system as it currently stands can be manipulated by teams.

[Gregory Sager]

 

[camosfan]

Does not make any sense to you?

[Gregory Sager]

No, it doesn't. Please explain.

[camosfan]

No, it doesn't. Please explain.

On the final day of conference play with teams fighting for playoff spots, teams can sit back and let a team they prefer advance rather than another. All games on the final day of EPL start at the same time, the same goes for world cup first round.

[Ejay]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgrace_of_Gijón

[Hopkins92]

Things are getting weird on here.

[Gregory Sager]

No, it doesn't. Please explain.

On the final day of conference play with teams fighting for playoff spots, teams can sit back and let a team they prefer advance rather than another. All games on the final day of EPL start at the same time, the same goes for world cup first round.

Ah, OK. Got it.

There are several problems with your proposal:

1) I'm not sure to whom the word "they" refers in your original post. (That was part of the impetus behind my question-mark emojis.) If you were referring to the NCAA, that organization only controls scheduling for the national tournament. Each individual conference controls the schedule of the h2h competition within that conference. In other words, there's over forty "theys" that you need to persuade.

2) Even within conference scheduling, I know that, in many (if not all) D3 conferences, start times can be adjusted by the two teams in question. This is of major importance, because -- depending upon the league and the schools in question -- facilities and staffing are issues that can affect start times. If you're in the middle of hosting a women's volleyball tournament at the same time that everybody else in the conference is starting the last games of the conference season in men's soccer, you might not have enough game staff to start your men's soccer game because they're working volleyball in the gym. Or if, as is the case for a large number of D3 schools, your football team and your men's soccer team share the same field, you might have to start your soccer game later than other schools because your football game runs long. These sorts of issues are commonplace. Every week of the fall, every year, they affect start times.

3) Weather and field conditions can play a big factor in men's soccer at this time of year. They can make it unfeasible for everybody to start their games at the same time, because there might be a lightning delay or a degraded field that needs fixing in Collegetown at the same time that the weather and the field are both pristine in University City.

There are all sorts of variables at work that make D3 men's soccer so very much unlike EPL or the World Cup that the mind reels.

[Coach Jeff]

Something else that you need to consider is that some conference don't have a conference tourney.  For example NWC regular season winner gets the automatic bid.  They other teams have about a week off with out any games.

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, another good point. The UAA is another example of a conference that doesn't have a tourney.

[Ron Boerger]

No, it doesn't. Please explain.

On the final day of conference play with teams fighting for playoff spots, teams can sit back and let a team they prefer advance rather than another. All games on the final day of EPL start at the same time, the same goes for world cup first round.

The chance of a D3 team sitting around and letting another win a conference championship - and very possibly  costing themselves the chance to host in the first round, impacting their first-round matchup, or even cheating themselves out of a playoff bid altogether given the vagaries of Pool C selection - is effectively zero. 

[PaulNewman]

^^^^^This.  Just imagine a team messing around and manipulating their way right out of a Pool C bid.

[Coach Jeff]

^^^^^This.  Just imagine a team messing around and manipulating their way right out of a Pool C bid.

It reminds me of when players in the MLB were betting on their own games (ROSE) you still would have to have a lot of buy in by other players.  Especially if they are not in agreement.  Coaches would not be able to make it look too obvious by sitting their top players and starting ones that never did during the regular season.  If any team would try it now in this day of social media and technology IMO it would be uncovered by many outsiders.  Just my thoughts

[MessageBoardMessi]

^^^^^This.  Just imagine a team messing around and manipulating their way right out of a Pool C bid.

It reminds me of when players in the MLB were betting on their own games (ROSE) you still would have to have a lot of buy in by other players.  Especially if they are not in agreement.  Coaches would not be able to make it look too obvious by sitting their top players and starting ones that never did during the regular season.  If any team would try it now in this day of social media and technology IMO it would be uncovered by many outsiders.  Just my thoughts

I couldn't imagine a coach seeking to tank gamesIt's the time of year to rally the troops  - and have the urgency and energy (and confidence) that theoretically its anyone's game.....Lots can happen in single elimination play.  Any other strategy has so many chances for backfire....

[Hopkins92]

And even when you have buy-in, those schemes often blow up because too many folks are in the know... Black Sox scandal... Italian match fixing in the 2000s... etc.

(It's why boxing fixes were, and maybe still are, so common and difficult to bust... Only need a couple of people, possibly only one, to pull off. Same reason basketball has seen a lot of scrutiny. A good, involved player can absolutely mess with the spread.)