Division II postseason tough to figure
The selections for the NCAA Division II football playoffs are two days away. Anyone who has a handle on how things will shake out likely should consider purchasing a lottery ticket. On the surface, the selection process the NCAA selection committee uses to pick the top six postseason entrants in each of the four regions seems fairly cut and dried. But the number-crunching that goes on, plus some intangibles that may or may not work their way into the equation, make the process tedious and nonsensical to some.
“I know there are several different types of criteria that go behind it: strength of schedule, wins and losses,” said Texas A&M-Kingsville coach Bo Atterberry, whose 8-2 Javelinas are ranked eighth in the Super Regional Four. “It just goes down a list, head-to-head and all of those things.”
“I think it’s pretty straight forward. I haven’t read it for a couple of years. But there’s a pretty good formula to it as far as I’m concerned,” said Angelo State coach Dale Carr, whose 6-4 Rams are ranked 10th in the region and travel to A&M-Kingsville for Saturday’s Lone Star Conference South Division finale. “I don’t know what people complain about. Best I remember, you get X amount of points for a win at home against a winning team, and for a loss at home against a winning team and vice versa,” Carr said. “Yeah, that changes week to week because teams go from whatever, a 5-3 record to a 5-4 record and that changes as the season progresses. Like I said, I think it’s spelled our pretty clearly.”
Javelinas Notebook Hogs make no excuses for loss at Abilene
The prevailing question following last Saturday’s football meltdown in Abilene was is Abilene Christian that good or was Texas A&M-Kingsville that bad?
The answer, as expected: a little of both. It led to a 47-35 loss that wasn’t as close as the score read thanks to some fourth-quarter window dressing with three A&M-Kingsville touchdowns.
“I think you could say it’s a combination of a lot of things. You can’t make any excuses. The fact of the matter is we went up there and got beat. They were the better team on Saturday,” A&M-Kingsville coach Bo Atterberry said.
The setback came at a most inopportune time for the 8-2 Javelinas, who could have all but cinched a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs and put themselves in a position to grab a piece of their 27th Lone Star Conference title.
NSU hopes to end 2009 with a win over UCO
The President’s Cup will be on the line Saturday when the RiverHawks travel to Edmond to take on rival Central Oklahoma.
“It’s a game that’s become a big, serious rivalry in the state,” said RiverHawks coach Kenny Evans.
In addition to the President’s Cup, the game also has implications in the Lone Star Conference North Division. UCO (3-7, 2-2 LSC North) and NSU are both 2-2 in the division and trail Southeastern Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Commerce. With an SEOSU loss, the winner of the game would have a chance to tie for second place.
“We [NSU and UCO] are a lot alike,” said Evans. “But I don’t know if stats matter when UCO and NSU play.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACU bats away Kingsville in volleyball
Abilene Christian unveiled a secret weapon during Thursday night’s 25-15, 25-23, 23-9 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville in a Lone Star Conference match at Moody Coliseum — a swarm of bats.
After circling the arena during Game 1, the bats swarmed the court during the middle of Game 2 and the Wildcats’ didn’t even bat an eye, so to speak. But the Kingsville players seemed to be flustered a bit.
“The bats, actually, we’re used to them,” said ACU junior Jordan Schilling, who had a match-high 10 kills and 10 digs. “That was bad for the other team. They come out during practice, and they kind just chill with us. We’re used to them diving bombing and stuff.”
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: 'Belles cruise past Texans
Despite missing a key player, the Angelo State University volleyball team won its seventh straight Lone Star Conference match Thursday at the Junell Center. Freshman middle blocker Chelsea Gibson sprained her ankle in practice Wednesday and her return is questionable but the Rambelles still made quick work of Tarleton State, winning 25-15, 25-15, 25-13.
ASU will host Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday in its final regular-season match before beginning LSC tournmament play next Thursday in Canyon. The ’Belles will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed after clinching third place with their win over TSU.
Lady Buffs blast ENMU
The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs have dominated Lone Star Conference volleyball during the past four years.
The No. 5 Lady Buffs (31-3, 13-0 LSC) concluded conference play with their 49th consecutive regular-season conference victory Thursday, a 25-13, 25-14, 25-18 decision against the Eastern New Mexico Zias before 794 fans at WT Fieldhouse. The streak dates to the last regular-season match of the 2005 season.
MSU unable to finish off Bulldogs
Midwestern State failed to cash in on four match points Thursday night as the Mustangs fell to Southwestern Oklahoma State 25-14, 14-25, 15-25, 25-22, 20-18 at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse.
MSU, which fell to 10-23 on the season and to 6-6 in the Lone Star Conference, can still clinch a berth in next week’s LSC Volleyball Championships in Canyon with a win over Central Oklahoma Saturday night at Hamilton Field in Edmond. First service is set for 7 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment