NCAA Tourney Belongs to the ODAC
by: Jarrod Ficklin ‘11
What do Hampden-Sydney and Georgetown have in common? Besides being outstanding academic establishments, both finished the 5th highest ranked team in their conferences. Those respective conferences happen to be the best conferences in their respective Divisions of NCAA basketball (granted, one could make the argument that the Big XII is better than the Big East this year, but for recent history’s sake, we’ll stick with the Big East as the best). That means the Old Dominion Athletic Conference is Division III’s Big East.
In case anyone has not been keeping up with Division III’s version of the Big Dance, here is an update. The ODAC had four teams go dancing (the most of any conference), a 4-0 first round record, three teams reach the Elite 8, and two teams make the Final 4. It is safe to say that the ODAC has the best dancers at this ball.
Virginian Wesleyan defeated Richard Stockton in their first round matchup, 75-72 before succumbing to #1 seed St. Mary’s in the second round, 72-69. Making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament is quite an accomplishment… if your team is not in the ODAC. Eastern Mennonite, Guilford, and Randolph-Macon showed up Virginia Wesleyan by all making it to the Elite 8. Eastern Mennonite beat Centre 63-53, Wilmington 85-71, and Whitworth 74-71. Guilford downed Christopher Newport 83-59, John Carroll 85-82, and Wooster 75-67. Randolph-Macon knocked off Cabrini 95-66, Clark 70-60, and DeSales 68-55.
The ODAC made up nearly half of the Elite 8 field by having three teams in; however, the best conference in the land could only muster up two teams in the Final 4, to no fault of its own. The Elite 8 matchup in the Greensboro, NC region eliminated the ODAC’s chance at getting 3 teams in the Final 4 because it featured two ODAC teams: Eastern Mennonite vs. Guilford. EMU defeated the Quakers at Guilford 90-63 earlier this season, but Guilford earned some redemption when it mattered most by downing EMU 90-80 in the regional final for a second straight Final 4 appearance. Not to be outdone, the Yellow Jackets (to the chagrin of many Tiger fans) defeated Franklin & Marshall 73-65 in their regional final securing Randolph-Macon’s first ever trip to the Final 4.
The Final 4 will be held in Salem, VA (the same location as the ODAC Tournament) on March 19th and 20th. Guilford and Randolph-Macon will hope to have a rematch of the ODAC Championship in the same location. In order to do so, Guilford will have to beat Williams and the Yellow Jackets will have to beat UW-Stevens Point.
So what does all of this have to do with Hampden-Sydney? The fact of the matter is finishing in 5th place of the ODAC, although in a way disappointing, is quite an accomplishment. Add in the fact that Hampden-Sydney defeated Eastern Mennonite and Randolph-Macon this year and lost two games to Guilford by a combined 7 points, and Tiger players and fans can certainly hold their heads high.
Related posts:
Loading ...