Weekend Watch: The Inches
Opinion
| Air Force
| Boston College
| BYU
| Colorado
| Colorado State
| Florida
| FAU
| FGCU
| Florida State
| Georgia Southern
| Georgia Tech
| GVSU
| Illinois
| Iowa State
| Kennesaw State
| Michigan State
| Minn-Duluth
| Minnesota
| Montana State
| NDSU
| Northeastern
| Oregon
| Oregon State
| Purdue
| South Carolina
| St. Johns
| St. Thomas
| Texas
| Utah
| Utah State
| Western Michigan
(Photo by Bob White)
by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us
LA CROSSE, Wis. – On Sunday, we found out that a team missed out on its conference tournament by a lone goal.
The first three tie-breakers were burned off and it came down to total-goals scored against conference opponents.
One goal.
SCHEDULE: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
Night and day.
Diving that deep into tiebreakers is extremely rare, but it happens and it emphasizes the importance of every game, every faceoff, ground ball and goal.
Now we’re about to enter the part of the season where every inch counts. No play is unimportant because it could lead directly to advancing to Round Rock.
Or staying home.
What is the Division I Game of the Week? #mcla22
— 2022 MCLA National Tourney (@MCLA_Tournament) April 19, 2022
Some teams already know they are heading to nationals. They have the ranking and the resumé that has locked them into the final 16.
There are plenty of other programs that need to win a couple of games in their respective conference tournament or are simply trying to shoot the moon via the automatic qualifier.
It’s those outfits that need to be nearly flawless.
That’s why you’ll see gut-wrenched reactions on the sidelines when a garden-variety pass sails out of bounds or a FOGO moves too early.
In and of themselves, they are small plays. But stacked one upon another, they can add up to the difference between watching the national tournament or playing in it.
It’s cruel in many ways. Typically, I’m not for orange slices and participation trophies, but it’s tough not to look at this year’s student-athletes through the prism of what they’ve endured for the last two years.
What is the Division II Game of the Week? #mcla22
— 2022 MCLA National Tourney (@MCLA_Tournament) April 19, 2022
All of our players have looked forward to this spring and the tournament time of year for 700 days. For it to come to an end will be jarring and emotional.
But that’s sports. Only one team in each division will have a great summer.
All the rest will be hitting the wall and getting ready for 2023.
That’s why those inches are so important.
GAMES I’M FOLLOWING
Let’s be honest: I follow them all. And now that we’re in conference tournament season, the scrutiny is intensified.
UMLC-II Tournament
Four of the six teams in this tournament are locked into heading to Round Rock and St. John’s has a puncher’s chance of winning the AQ. I wouldn’t mind if the seeds played out and we got a St. Thomas-Grand Valley State matchup in the finals.
We were deprived of this game during the regular season, so it would be nice to perhaps get an appetizer for nationals this weekend. Yes, Kennesaw and College of Idaho are currently in the top two spots, but one should never sleep on this conference.
UMLC-I Tournament
There is some quality new blood in this tourney that will be fun to watch, but it really boils down to whether Michigan State can unseat Minnesota. If they can, it will throw a huge monkey wrench into the committee’s deliberations. Otherwise, the Gophers will send a perfect record into the committee room where a tasty seed could await.
RMLC-I Tournament
I haven’t sat in on any of the committee’s deliberations to this point, but I would think that BYU is the only lock for nationals. If they roll to the RMLC title, Colorado, Colorado State and Texas will all be squarely on the bubble with some pretty sizable gaps in their respective CVs. The Longhorns are the most intriguing of the trio after hanging 16 on a stout Cougars defense last week.
RMLC-II Tournament
With the schedules they played and the traveling they did, Utah State and Montana State should be in the tournament. With wins over both of them, you’d have to think Utah is in a pretty decent spot, too. The Utes would do themselves a big favor by winning the whole thing to help their seeding. Montana State is probably the team to beat.
Northeastern at Boston College, Saturday – 5 p.m.
Not only is this the Red Bandana game, which has its own transcendent importance, but this will be the start of Northeastern’s final push to the CLC top seed. With UNH awaiting on Sunday in Durham, it will be a rugged two-day stretch. Emotions are always high when it comes to honoring Welles Crowther and UNH is sniffing a backdoor AQ into nationals. Huskies will have to be sharp.
Oregon at Oregon State, Saturday – 5 p.m.
This is always a rivalry, but it will mean more to Oregon State. If the Beavers win, they are the No. 2 seed in the PNCLL playoffs. A loss and they’re out. The Ducks are in either way and the PNCLL will only send its AQ to nationals, so Oregon will likely be just gearing up for next weekend. On paper, these teams look pretty even.
SELC-I Tournament
South Carolina, Florida and Georgia Tech all look pretty safe for Round Rock, but seeding is always an issue. Especially with a Division I bracket that will likely be stacked. And a magical run from Florida State could send four teams to nationals.
SELC-II Tournament
I mean, I guess so. Sure, Kennesaw hasn’t played FAU yet this year and the Atlantic Owls are a dangerous bunch, but the comparative scores don’t lead one to the assumption that anyone is catching KSU. We’ll see.