Championship Saturday
Five tickets to Nationals are on the line today.
Fort Valley State earned their first SIAC Tournament championship yesterday and the inaugural SIAC birth to the National Tournament. The rest of the eight-team field has yet to be officially decided. After today, however, we will know all six automatic qualifiers. We are so close to selection Sunday that I can almost taste it.
Bracketology
As I mentioned yesterday, the interesting seeds for the National Tournament are #4, #5, and #6. With UC Irvine defeating Hawaii, I think the at-large bids are locked up. The runner-up from both the MPSF and the Big West will get the at-large bids to the National Tournament. In fact, I think the only seeds that aren’t locked in are #5 and #6. With that in mind, here is a very likely bracket.
Possible Scenarios
The #7 seed will be from the Conference Carolinas. Right now VBelo has Belmont Abbey as the favorite, but North Greenville would also be slotted in at #7 if they win.
So let’s get to the four possibilities with the EIVA and MIVA.
Favorites win = Penn State #5 & Ohio State #6
MIVA Upset = Penn State #5 & Lindenwood #6
EIVA Upset = Ohio State #5 & George Mason #6
Double Upset = George Mason #5 & Lindenwood #6
The double upset would be the most interesting because I could see this going either way. I do think that George Mason has the slightest edge though. Right now, the Lions have a slight edge in KPI and VBelo but are just behind in RPI. The Patriots, on the other hand, have a stronger record and their win over UC Irvine may play a major role. This would be incredibly interesting to see what the committee ultimately decides.
Match Recaps
SIAC Championship
🏆#1 Fort Valley State (74%) def. #3 Central State (26%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-15)
Big West Semifinals
#1 Long Beach (92%) def. #5 CSU Northridge (8%)
3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22)
#2 UC Irvine (31%) def. #3 Hawai'i (69%)
3-0 (26-24, 36-34, 25-15)
ConfCarolinas Semifinals
#1 Belmont Abbey (66%) def. #4 Mount Olive (34%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-23)
#2 North Greenville (80%) def. #6 King (20%)
3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-16, 27-25)
Match Projections
Big West Championship
#1 Long Beach (67%) vs #2 UC Irvine (33%)
ConfCarolinas Championship
#1 Belmont Abbey (64%) vs #2 North Greenville (36%)
EIVA Championship
#2 George Mason (16%) vs #1 Penn State (84%)
MIVA Championship
#4 Lindenwood (29%) vs #3 Ohio State (71%)
MPSF Championship
#2 Grand Canyon (26%) vs #1 UCLA (74%)
NEC Championship
#2 Daemen (27%) vs #1 Saint Francis (73%)
ECC Semifinals
#4 American International (14%) vs #1 St. Thomas Aquinas (86%)
#2 Roberts Wesleyan (42%) vs #3 Dominican (58%)