Richmond at Virginia

[MDlaxfan76]

Watched game with my son; though a fan of UVA due to his grandfather, he was grumbling early that Richmond should at least try a zone. No way they were going to stay with UVA in big little 2 man game on slippery field.

Strategy going in had to be keep scored down, you have a good tender...and conditions weren't favorable to change of direction.

Of course, UVA might have picked it apart, but when they started up the second Q and didn't try zone he called it coaching malpractice to do nothing at all.

Agree, disagree?

He also grumbled a lot at the ND Utah first Q (left after that to hit a golf ball), saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

[jrn19]

If the AQ wasn’t available you can say goodbye to like 60% of D1 so that’s why it’s there. Which teams that got left out were gonna put up a better showing?

Denver played a tournament team last weekend and lost by 9 goals. Only tournament team they beat was Utah. Penn beat 3 tournament teams. They also went 7-6. North Carolina looked just as helpless against UVA and Notre Dame as Richmond and Utah. Cuse got blown out by UVA just the same.

Complaints about construction of the tournament are tired and silly on both sides. It is perfectly fine just the way it is.

[wahoomurf]

Espn News channel better be covering games today because this lightening delay seriously mess up the whole day

I cop to being a luddite.Please tell me where I might find ESPN + and ESPN +News..The weather can wreak havoc on the schedules. And the closed captioning during the UVA-Richmond was wacky to say the least.

[pcowlax]

Watched game with my son; though a fan of UVA due to his grandfather, he was grumbling early that Richmond should at least try a zone. No way they were going to stay with UVA in big little 2 man game on slippery field.

Strategy going in had to be keep scored down, you have a good tender...and conditions weren't favorable to change of direction.

Of course, UVA might have picked it apart, but when they started up the second Q and didn't try zone he called it coaching malpractice to do nothing at all.

Agree, disagree?

He also grumbled a lot at the ND Utah first Q (left after that to hit a golf ball), saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

If that frustrates you, try D3 where 28/38 teams are AQs. Now, they do have 12 of them play in 6 “first round” i.e. play-in games but there are still a ton of beatings in the first real round with numerous teams who would clobber at least 20 of 28 AQs sitting home. There are so few conferences in D1, I don’t see it as that big an issue.

[Brownlax]

The field conditions were ridiculous!! They needed oars out there

[Farfromgeneva]

Watched game with my son; though a fan of UVA due to his grandfather, he was grumbling early that Richmond should at least try a zone. No way they were going to stay with UVA in big little 2 man game on slippery field.

Strategy going in had to be keep scored down, you have a good tender...and conditions weren't favorable to change of direction.

Of course, UVA might have picked it apart, but when they started up the second Q and didn't try zone he called it coaching malpractice to do nothing at all.

Agree, disagree?

He also grumbled a lot at the ND Utah first Q (left after that to hit a golf ball), saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

I’m with eliminating conf tourneys. It’s an at large gaming system and nothing more. Not the AQ however. Unless your son would enjoy 35-40 lacrosse programs in D1 as the NIL and BCS landscape dictate changes.

[Farfromgeneva]

Espn News channel better be covering games today because this lightening delay seriously mess up the whole day

I cop to being a luddite.Please tell me where I might find ESPN + and ESPN +News..The weather can wreak havoc on the schedules. And the closed captioning during the UVA-Richmond was wacky to say the least.

+ is digital delivery via the ESPN app

news is a typical pet of the standard cable package for a lot but no idea where you are

[Farfromgeneva]

Watched game with my son; though a fan of UVA due to his grandfather, he was grumbling early that Richmond should at least try a zone. No way they were going to stay with UVA in big little 2 man game on slippery field.

Strategy going in had to be keep scored down, you have a good tender...and conditions weren't favorable to change of direction.

Of course, UVA might have picked it apart, but when they started up the second Q and didn't try zone he called it coaching malpractice to do nothing at all.

Agree, disagree?

He also grumbled a lot at the ND Utah first Q (left after that to hit a golf ball), saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

If that frustrates you, try D3 where 28/38 teams are AQs. Now, they do have 12 of them play in 6 “first round” i.e. play-in games but there are still a ton of beatings in the first real round with numerous teams who would clobber at least 20 of 28 AQs sitting home. There are so few conferences in D1, I don’t see it as that big an issue.

Yes, you can see every year of this in football and see many blowouts Into the quarters every year in a 32 team football field.

https://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2022/bracket

[CU77]

He also grumbled a lot ... saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

Wow, strong disagree on all points.

The games are primarily for the participating student athletes, not the spectators. And the primary purpose of the games is competition for all, not determining an overall champion.

The conference tournaments give a much larger number of the student athletes something to strive for at the end of the season, they are a good thing.

And I'm much happier having NCAA tournament participation determined on the field by AQ than by the smoke-filled room of the kommitty.

[10 10 2]

Watched game with my son; though a fan of UVA due to his grandfather, he was grumbling early that Richmond should at least try a zone. No way they were going to stay with UVA in big little 2 man game on slippery field.

Strategy going in had to be keep scored down, you have a good tender...and conditions weren't favorable to change of direction.

Of course, UVA might have picked it apart, but when they started up the second Q and didn't try zone he called it coaching malpractice to do nothing at all.

Agree, disagree?

He also grumbled a lot at the ND Utah first Q (left after that to hit a golf ball), saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

I'm pro conference playoffs and AQs. Seems like a good thing for D1 as a whole, and is really the best thing a lot of these lower-mid tier programs have to hope for. Wouldn't mind seeing a couple more NCAA Tournament play-in games added though.

[Farfromgeneva]

He also grumbled a lot ... saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

Wow, strong disagree on all points.

The games are primarily for the participating student athletes, not the spectators. And the primary purpose of the games is competition for all, not determining an overall champion.

The conference tournaments give a much larger number of the student athletes something to strive for at the end of the season, they are a good thing.

And I'm much happier having NCAA tournament participation determined on the field by AQ than by the smoke-filled room of the kommitty.

Can have an AQ and not have conference tourneys. Outside the ivies and NESCAC just about every single conference has changed dramatically since AQs such that the conference relationships have become highly diluted and serve to provide an AQ opportunity more than true institutional matching so more OOC would be far preferable to me over a conference tourney. Especially since they can be games themselves by conferences.

[CU77]

Conf tourneys are a good thing, with or without AQ.

[Farfromgeneva]

Conf tourneys are a good thing, with or without AQ.

That’s where we part ways. I’m sure you don’t mean this in absolute terms but I don’t see conferences the way they were 15-20yrs ago. They have little value. I can see IVY fans having a different view but look at the conference shopping landscape. Oh the NEC is back next year. How many schools will jump around? What if Denver falls back spot Tierney and leave the Big East? Maybe the Big Ten doesn’t like it if Hop wins 2-3 AQs and suddenly they’re out. Requiring 3-4 other conference moves. Conferences are so artificial now there could be any number of alternatives to support an AQ system. Look at the composition and changes over the years. PL, ECAC, NEC, CAA, MAAC, SoCon, Asun etc. all the programs comprise probably 65-70% of total D1 participation and they just bounced around every few years out of convenience for an AQ. There’s no value there anymore. Just like we will see in FBS in 5 or so years.

[CU77]

I too lament the constant conference re-alignments, but the kids love to be able to play for a championship, no matter who the opponents are. That's why I support conf tourneys.

[Farfromgeneva]

I too lament the constant conference re-alignments, but the kids love to be able to play for a championship, no matter who the opponents are. That's why I support conf tourneys.

I can appreciate this but it could be constructed without the facade of conferences and another layer of admin, middle management, expenses, rules etc. Has to be a much cleaner and more optimal way to generate the same excitement that can be developed. Six team leagues playing once each then having a tourney hosted by top seed where travel and home fields can matter (look at Asun and A10 travel) to determine who goes into the larger field seems off. Hence I’d just prefer more games and make them OOC.

We’ve heard of the UAA? For years the schools had dual affiliation in D3. Univ of Rochester still does w Liberty League and UAA and believe the rest as well like NYU, Wash U, Carnegie Mellon, U Chi and Case Western. Really great schools but affiliation that had limited value. I still hate Union and RPI but Hobarts shared conferences with them for 25yrs now and are both 2hrs down the road. I may not like Bucknell (old PL rivalry), UMass (ECAC and now A10) and Bryant/St Joes but it’ll never be real liek it is with other programs out of conference.

To me it all broke down back when BC/Miami/Cuse left the Big East if not earlier with the merger of the SWC & Big 8.

[MDlaxfan76]

Watched game with my son; though a fan of UVA due to his grandfather, he was grumbling early that Richmond should at least try a zone. No way they were going to stay with UVA in big little 2 man game on slippery field.

Strategy going in had to be keep scored down, you have a good tender...and conditions weren't favorable to change of direction.

Of course, UVA might have picked it apart, but when they started up the second Q and didn't try zone he called it coaching malpractice to do nothing at all.

Agree, disagree?

He also grumbled a lot at the ND Utah first Q (left after that to hit a golf ball), saying the AQ process is ridiculous. Expand the field if you have to include AQ's, but get rid of conference playoffs as waste of a weekend and use it for weak AQ's to play good games against one another. Too many of these teams this weekend haven't won any games against other tourney teams, whereas there are teams which did who are out...

Agree, disagree?

I’m with eliminating conf tourneys. It’s an at large gaming system and nothing more. Not the AQ however. Unless your son would enjoy 35-40 lacrosse programs in D1 as the NIL and BCS landscape dictate changes.

I believe I mischaracterized his opinion; he'd eliminate the conference tourneys as they're a waste. AQ's ok, but a few more total spots and let the lower ranked AQ's earn in against one another. Win your conference. Tie? Go to head to head, etc. But the best 16 teams should make the tourney.

Fantastic win by Army!
The Yale Georgetown game was a barn burner as well.

[HowieT3]

The field conditions were ridiculous!! They needed oars out there

UVa, UNC, and Duke are the only D-1 teams that still play on grass.