2024 Men's Div I Bracket | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

2024 Men's Div I Bracket

FloridaCuse said:
Powellfan suggested in the Bracketology Thread that they didn't want to match up Hopkins and Towson. He didn't say way. I assume because they played early in the season. But so did Maryland and Princeton. So who knows. Maybe they thought it would have been unfair to Hopkins to play them at home because so many Towson fans would attend. ??
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My instant reaction was that they didn't want a regular season re-match. I realize now they created one with Princeton and Maryland. Still doesn't mean they weren't trying to avoid another rematch. Admittivity, I would have been very annoyed if Syracuse had been matched up again with a team like Army or any other rematch had other results happened.

I guess what sticks in my craw is that they leapt Denver over UVA based on RPI, but did not do the same for SU and Hopkins. What did Denver do to "deserve" outranking their own RPI? I think it worked out to Syracuse's benefit, but if any team deserved to leap over the team in front of them, it should be Syracuse. Head to Head, more top five wins. Perhaps Head to Head doesn't matter much to committee, but maybe results on the field should in fact matter pretty highly to them.

Ultimately I think it all worked out for SU. It just feels like they should have been a three seed, matched up with six seed Denver in the second round. The way the committee seems to have done things just feels very arbitrary.
 
Powellfan said:
My instant reaction was that they didn't want a regular season re-match. I realize now they created one with Princeton and Maryland. Still doesn't mean they weren't trying to avoid another rematch. Admittivity, I would have been very annoyed if Syracuse had been matched up again with a team like Army or any other rematch had other results happened.

I guess what sticks in my craw is that they leapt Denver over UVA based on RPI, but did not do the same for SU and Hopkins. What did Denver do to "deserve" outranking their own RPI? I think it worked out to Syracuse's benefit, but if any team deserved to leap over the team in front of them, it should be Syracuse. Head to Head, more top five wins. Perhaps Head to Head doesn't matter much to committee, but maybe results on the field should in fact matter pretty highly to them.

Ultimately I think it all worked out for SU. It just feels like they should have been a three seed, matched up with six seed Denver in the second round. The way the committee seems to have done things just feels very arbitrary.
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Seems like an overly aggressive effort to avoid the Towson Hopkins rematch. Thought our lack of bad losses would be a larger factor, along with the head to head victory, but honestly we will take it. I am more scared of the team that went on a tare through the Patriot league (Lehigh) than I am of the one that went on a tare through the CAA (Towson). Michigan is the one wild card. They had some serious speedbumps in their body of work this season (mainly Rutgers and Harvard) but had a pretty dominant Big 10 tourney. Same sort of situation as last year for them. In the end last year they ultimately looked more like they did in the regular season when they lost to Duke in the quarters by 7. Ultimately I would be more scared to play Lars and UVA in the quarters, given their boatload of experience in that spot, Shellenberger in his last go round, etc. Tougher match up than Denver or Michigan would be IMO.

The conference tourneys were all filled with lopsided victories. I think Michigan and Penn State are a lot closer than the sunday tourney result suggests. Feel similarly about the games with Duke v ND, us v Duke, UVA vs ND, and to a lesser extent Penn State v MD since MD is really struggling. The whole body of work for teams this season still suggests that this is a wide wide open year. In most instances you can point to the same match up earlier in the season where both teams were neck and neck. The non ND ACC teams and top big 10 teams have all had some stuggles late. ND will be a big obstacle, but we have an excellent path to the final four.
 
Powellfan said:
My instant reaction was that they didn't want a regular season re-match. I realize now they created one with Princeton and Maryland. Still doesn't mean they weren't trying to avoid another rematch. Admittivity, I would have been very annoyed if Syracuse had been matched up again with a team like Army or any other rematch had other results happened.

I guess what sticks in my craw is that they leapt Denver over UVA based on RPI, but did not do the same for SU and Hopkins. What did Denver do to "deserve" outranking their own RPI? I think it worked out to Syracuse's benefit, but if any team deserved to leap over the team in front of them, it should be Syracuse. Head to Head, more top five wins. Perhaps Head to Head doesn't matter much to committee, but maybe results on the field should in fact matter pretty highly to them.

Ultimately I think it all worked out for SU. It just feels like they should have been a three seed, matched up with six seed Denver in the second round. The way the committee seems to have done things just feels very arbitrary.
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I agree with you. Look at the Patrick Stevens article this morning about grading the committee and especially his discussion with the chair about deciding the nos. 3 & 5 seeds. At the end of it he seems to say re Va/Denver decision it was because Va has a poorer record. Like maybe that they've lost 4 in a row? Wouldn't that really be the dreaded "eye test" that is verboten? As I've said elsewhere on here I am really surprised they set up the bracket so all 4 ACC teams can make up the Final Four. I doubt that's what the committee wants. And as you may have said, maybe they made Hopkins 3 so they could send Towson to Syracuse & avoid Hopkins/Towson for what ever reason. Thanks.
 
Per Terry Foy of Inside Lacrosse in his article summarizing his interview with the Committee Chair:

"In terms of what was actually surprising relative to bracket projections, Hopkins getting the No. 3 seed over Syracuse, who got the 4-seed, and Virginia getting the No. 6 seed over the Terps, who got the 7-seed, were the only deviations from my Final Look."

"Hopkins’ RPI was plus-1 vs. Syracuse, their SOS was minus-3, they had two fewer Top 5 wins but one more Top 20 win and a non-Top 20 loss, while the Orange did not have a Top 20 loss. Syracuse beat Hopkins. On the podcast, Colagiovanni seemed to suggest that the Committee spent more time comparing Hopkins’ résumé up to Duke’s at No. 2 than down to Syracuse’s at No. 4."

"Virginia’s RPI was plus-2 vs. Maryland, their SOS was plus-3, they had one fewer Top 5 wins but one more Top 20 win and neither had a non-Top 20 loss. The Cavaliers beat the Terrapins."

"Looking at those two choices, it seems fair to conclude that Committee’s primary considerations were RPI and volume of Top 20 wins. Keep that in mind for next year."


[Bold is mine. My Comment: if that is true, one can reasonably conclude that the committee was grossly negligent in not giving proper consideration to Cuse vs. Hopkins for the No. 3 Seed. Has anyone seen it being suggested that Hopkins be considered for the No. 2 Seed over Duke? I haven't. I guess the committee didn't have sufficient time to do a proper job. (sarcasm)]
 
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If T.Foy is saying it. I'll chime in, although I'll be called a Terps' homer.
I really felt the Terps should be the 6th seed, once Princeton won the Ivy League and moved up to #8 in the RPI. This gave the Terps 3 top ten wins, 1 that was top 5.

The trouble with using top 20 wins so much, is the teams near the bottom of the top 20 are not that strong - and are thus not a good measure of beating top teams - which the NCAA champion has to do.

"Virginia’s RPI was plus-2 vs. Maryland, their SOS was plus-3,"
Virginia's "good" losses served them very well. Why should losing 5 games to top 5 teams help a team so much.

Anyways, I'd just as soon be playing Princeton.
 
get the committee not wanting rematches. i always feel denver gets love cuz they're trying to expand west. that said you gotta beat who's in front of you. and if you can't don't cry.
 

Towson at Syracuse​

Sunday 7:30pm, ESPNU, Drew Carter & Ryan Boyle, (SU -3.5 26.5)

The Sunday late time slot has a history of wild games, fantastic finishes and epic upsets.

Congrats to Towson. The Tigers dominated the CAA title game 15-6 over Delaware. They march into the NCAA tournament on a 9-game heater. Towson is defensive based under coach Shawn Nadelen. Losses to Johns Hopkins, Loyola (7-8) and Virginia toughened them for league action.

Towson beat SU in the 2017 quarters. This 2024 Towson team is well balanced with excellence at each position group – Nick DeMaio, Mikey Weisshaar, Matt Constantinides and Colby Barsz. Nadelen is no stranger to engineering tournament upsets.

Orange occupy the Sunday late timeslot because of graduation and Dome availability. SU’s last title was won in 2009, their last championship game appearance in 2013 and last quarterfinal appearance in 2017. This is their first NCAA tournament bid since 2021, when they got blasted 18-8 by Georgetown in a penalty riddled game. The Orange have not won a playoff game in seven years.

Coach Gary Gait has seen his team make incremental improvements in face-off win percentage, clearing, scoring defense and have been in every game except for their last outing in the ACC semifinal against Duke.

The offense is a treat to watch with dynamic passers Joey Spallina, Owen Hiltz, Christian Mulé and company spraying the ball around the horn with flair and precision. Billy Dwan III anchors the defense and runs the field in transition. The SSDM position is subpar. Otto averages nearly 15 goals per game but the defense has slumped the last five games. Orange need to bring the juice.
 
OrangeXtreme said:

Towson at Syracuse​

Sunday 7:30pm, ESPNU, Drew Carter & Ryan Boyle, (SU -3.5 26.5)

The Sunday late time slot has a history of wild games, fantastic finishes and epic upsets.

Congrats to Towson. The Tigers dominated the CAA title game 15-6 over Delaware. They march into the NCAA tournament on a 9-game heater. Towson is defensive based under coach Shawn Nadelen. Losses to Johns Hopkins, Loyola (7-8) and Virginia toughened them for league action.

Towson beat SU in the 2017 quarters. This 2024 Towson team is well balanced with excellence at each position group – Nick DeMaio, Mikey Weisshaar, Matt Constantinides and Colby Barsz. Nadelen is no stranger to engineering tournament upsets.

Orange occupy the Sunday late timeslot because of graduation and Dome availability. SU’s last title was won in 2009, their last championship game appearance in 2013 and last quarterfinal appearance in 2017. This is their first NCAA tournament bid since 2021, when they got blasted 18-8 by Georgetown in a penalty riddled game. The Orange have not won a playoff game in seven years.

Coach Gary Gait has seen his team make incremental improvements in face-off win percentage, clearing, scoring defense and have been in every game except for their last outing in the ACC semifinal against Duke.

The offense is a treat to watch with dynamic passers Joey Spallina, Owen Hiltz, Christian Mulé and company spraying the ball around the horn with flair and precision. Billy Dwan III anchors the defense and runs the field in transition. The SSDM position is subpar. Otto averages nearly 15 goals per game but the defense has slumped the last five games. Orange need to bring the juice.
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Dang. Gotta stay in the moment, but that reality right there is still tough to read.
 
GM2IeWOWoAEIPt_
 
First to 20 wins? 6-4 UVa 3 min left in the first. I don’t think either goalie has made a save yet. St Joes FOGO has taken a few shots but no flags. UVA has no answer for the ride.
 
bjred said:
First to 20 wins? 6-4 UVa 3 min left in the first. I don’t think either goalie has made a save yet. St Joes FOGO has taken a few shots but no flags. UVA has no answer for the ride.
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St. Joes can't match up defensively, if they don't force a turnover UVA is getting whatever they want
 
SkyTopBus44 said:
Virginia players just look bigger
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Bigger, faster, stronger. Also doesn't help that shellenberger is likely pissed off about the PLL draft. If you can't limit him or Cormier you have absolutely no chance unless your dropping 18 like SU.
 
UVA gonna roll here but man their defense is just not as good as recent years. Kind of strange cause they returned a lot this year at least when it comes to poles. I don’t know about SSDM. Their offense and goalie are MDW caliber but don’t think their D is
 
JeremyCuse said:
Bigger, faster, stronger. Also doesn't help that shellenberger is likely pissed off about the PLL draft. If you can't limit him or Cormier you have absolutely no chance unless your dropping 18 like SU.
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St. Joe's has some solid size from what I see but yeah their team speed can't compare to UVA as you would expect.
 
First time watching St Joe’s this year and they’ve been scrappy AF in the second half.

Too much talent from UVA but I enjoyed watching SJU
 
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