NCAA Committee Snubs Softball - Big Ten Champs sent to Seattle for Regionals
Games next weekend at University of Washington. U Dub given the #16 seed which means Michigan is the top team not to host. Minnesota is a #2 seed in the UCLA regional and Northwestern a #3 in the Kentucky regional. If we win, the super regional will be against #1 Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend.
Definitely got screwed. Not hosting and if they make it out of the regional they have to face the number one overall seed.
Seems like a lot of unhappy people outside of the SEC.
https://www.azdesertswarm.com/softball/2021/5/16/22439650/pac-12-softball-ncaa-tournament-seed-reaction-candrea-2021-arizona-washington-oregon
The above, from Arizona coach Mike Candrea. Hutch and Candrea are one and two, all-time, in number of Division I victories.
This regional (Washington and Michigan) will feature two teams going in with major chips on their shoulders. As a corollary, I'm sure Oklahoma isn't delighted, either. Regardless of who wins, they're getting a pitcher (or two) that actually has a chance against them in the Super-regionals.
I watched some of the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State game on Saturday. Oklahoma State had the big 12 pitcher of the year and Oklahoma lit her up for 10 runs on 12 hits. The Oklahoma lineup is really good.
What kinda bullshit. 36-6 Michigan gets 17th but a team like Duke who plays vs nobodies goes 42-10 and gets 13th?
Fuck dook.
Hate to break it to you, but the B1G isn’t a stronger conference than the ACC. It’s really not close either. If Duke plays nobodies, Michigan plays more nobodies.
Not only that but Michigan isn't really known for outperforming in the postseason
Outperforming is hard to do, even more so when you get good seeds. Yet, 2012 through 2016 they did a pretty good job of doing so in four of five seasons. The last three postseasons though that's correct, they have failed to outperform their seed and even underperformed slightly losing to 17 seed JMU in 2019. Here's to hoping this weekend is our turn as the 17 seed.
2016- 2nd seed, won a game in OKC and finished top six.
2015- 3rd seed, made final series in OKC.
2014- 24th seed, beat 8th ranked ASU, came within a game of making OKC against 9th ranked FSU in supers.
2013- 8th seed, won a game in OKC and finished top 6.
2012- 18th seed, beat 15th seed Kentucky and made supers against 2nd seed Bama.
Michigan went to the Washington regional in Seattle a few years ago, and they had a poor showing. Let's see if they can get the bats going this time.
Would you rather have Northwestern's draw with a trip to the Kentucky regional ?
Sounds like Washington also got screwed -they were expecting a 10 seed. So even tho M is effectively the 17 seed they're playing a very strong 16 seed and then the winner if this regional probably faces off against overall #1 seed OU. Which kind of also screws the Sooners over since they're probably getting a decent matchup in the super regionals.
Go Blue, it'll be a battle to make it to OKC.
Hutch has been openly worrying this dis would happen and unfortunately she was right. I think Michigan wins their regional and then it will be time to shock the world in the super regional vs Oklahoma.
*diss
Fuck the ncaa
Yes ridiculous. Because of the pandemic we can’t play our normal schedule against the nation’s best teams and get penalized for just playing Big Ten. I hope Hutch or our AD or the Big Ten Commissioner speaks out.
Hutch might.
Warde DEFINITELY will not.
The next time Warde ruffles the feathers of the NCAA or the Big10 will be the first.
Warde has NO SPINE what so ever...hes been totally UNDERWHELMING since arriving
Without Warde, no Juwan Howard. So let's acknowledge one towering grand-slam home run that was considered risky and took guts at the time.
This is hilarious. 2 years ago this board was on fire about Warde and how Howard was a candidate only because the department was unprepared/lacked a succession plan.
But I guess it's true that winning does change everything.
This is my biggest issue with Warde - the seeming lack of public support he has for his teams and coaches. Yes, I know he supports them, but he doesn't show it when his voice is needed as either a backup or a leader. He is silent on anything to do with B1G and/or NCAA complaints. Does he do something behind the scenes? Hopefully, maybe, but who really knows? There are times when your athletes and coaches need a public show of support, and it's utterly lacking from Warde.
Other than that, he's been a competent AD in most respects, and above average in others.
So you prefer Warde to act like Josh Whitman, the jack ass from Illinois? No, thank you.
You should talk to the coaches to see if they think they get the support they need.
It is not just Howard that he brought in. He hired Hannah Nielsen, who is going to be great, and worked very hard to keep Bakich when he had a strong offer from Stanford. This year is likely to be one of the best years ever for UM athletic dept with multiple BIG championships and at least one national championship. From what I have heard from a few coaches, they are extremely happy with the support that Warde has given them.
(full disclosure: I worked with him at UConn and has been in touch with him since he came to UM)
I know you have a personal relationship with Warde and I respect that you know him far more than I ever will. So can i ask you a favor? Can you politely ask your friend to every once in a while speak up on our team's behalf when they are getting the screws put to them by either the B1G or the NCAA?
And no, I dont prefer he behave like Josh Whitman. My desired response would be Gene Smith - whenever OSU gets the short end of the stick (which doesnt happen very often) Gene works both privately and publicly to rectify the wrong. And like I said, you'll notice that his methods work extremely well - when was the last time you saw either the NCAA or the B1G do anything that negatively impacted OSU?
Nail meet Hammer...Exactly Correcr!
Congratulations on a great season!
And if the end of the regular season turned rude, I'll fret about that later.
Go, Blue!
I loved how Washington walked out on the announcement. The Pac-12 is still a powerful conference in softball and to rate UW a #16 seed when the coaches ranked them #5 a week ago? Makes no sense.
Meanwhile, the committee comes to the conclusion that the SEC should host 7 of the 16 games? In particular, how does a 32-19 LSU team rate a 7 seed?
The UM softball team started slowly at 6-3 and then went 30-3. I'll take our top 2 pitchers against nearly any squad in the country. Unfortunately, due to this poor seeding, we're going to face a stiff challenge in the first round against Washington before we can even think about the possibility of facing the #1 seed in the Super Regional.
In particular, how does a 32-19 LSU team rate a 7 seed?
I'm sure the facts that NCAA President Mark Emmert was a former president of LSU and that his daughter is married to LSU AD Scott Woodward's son has nothing to do with it.
This is some fucking bullshit, so we dominate the conference and get a terrible draw to potentially making it to OKC and Minnesota and Northwestern seem like they get it somewhat easier?
Mystifying as fuck!
Dropping Minnesota all the way down to 31 and making them go to UCLA is perhaps even worse. Northwestern is a four-seed in their regional, which is solid, but doesn't have a great team. They're not playing very well now, but Williams could catch fire. It's just that four-seeds don't win - I'm sure it has happened, but I can't remember any.
What gets me is the travel for Michigan and Minnesota. Plus Washington isn't a good matchup with their competent lineup and standout ace.
I worried about 16/17 meaning a more-than-difficult potential trip to Oklahoma, who hits everyone and anyone.
But crossing three time zones (again) and you know they'll face no one but Gabbie Plain, who might be the best pitcher in the country. Makes you wonder if Hutch has a nemesis in that NCAA office.
I can understand not hosting. This... not cool.
Michigan got totally SCREWED..not only did they not get to host which they EARNED but then they have to go out west to Washington and if thats not bad eniough they have to play Seattle First which is another HOME TEAM....total lack of respect for ther B10 .....
Really, really bizarre. Michigan ultimately having to go through a team like Oklahoma to get to OKC isn’t that surprising, but having to go through Washington who has the best pitcher in the country before that is ridiculous.
In my opinion, OU, UCLA, and Alabama were all interchangeable at 1-3, and we knew Michigan was in the 15-18 range, so a super regional was going to be extremely difficult no matter what. Washington in the regional before that is just a terrible, terrible matchup for Michigan because the the Huskies have seen great pitching all year in the Pac 12 and unfortunately Michigan has not regularly.
As others have said though, this sucks just as much for the Sooners and Huskies.
But hey, if Michigan plays it’s best game and beats a pissed off Washington team, that could be exactly the confidence boost they need to go shock the Sooners.
Wow! The cry-baby comments here put the bad travel draw to shame. Everyone who retained any semblance of rational thought understood that it was a very long shot that Michigan would host. Here, the draw is fair-the travel sucks.
Softball is a sport where you can make and maintain your own bubble. This team has done well down the stretch-on the road...they just need to continue to stay strong.
." Everyone who retained any semblance of rational thought understood that it was a very long shot that Michigan would host"....WRONG!!! Everyone? Michigan earned a top 16 seed by winning the confrence and dominating it..Michigan is not some unknown in NCAA , its a powerhouse with one of the best pitching staff in the country...the NCAA totally ignored Michgan and the Big Ten, so in essence they did what they said they wouldnt do...they Penalized Michigan and the BIG TEN for only playing conferebnce games...so they lied they said they wouldnt do that
Everyone?
Well even Hutch knew.
She's been fussing about this for weeks as it started leaking that because Michigan played a conference schedule only that would impact their seed.
It's not the hosting question; it's the opponent. Washington was ranked fifth going into last week. They are even more frustrated by the seeding. Probably more at being lined up against Oklahoma than having Michigan visit.
Giving the SEC 7 home games shows me that the NCAA isn't even trying to hide a bias. I don't follow softball very much, but I know there are more deserving teams that could have had a home game outside of the SEC.
I am seriously wondering given that Seattle U and Portland State are in the same regional if Michigan not getting to host was as much a matter of the NCAA wanting to save on flights, which also sucks for Michigan too.
Well, guess there's nothing left to do but shock the world. Well, the world that hasn't been watching Michigan play softball this year at least.
Going by the rankings and ratings, Michigan (sadly) ended up about where they should've. Hosting a regional would've been a stretch, going strictly by the numbers.
May 9 coaches poll: Michigan's rank was 18
May 15 RPI: ranked 31 (!) as the highest-rated Big Ten team
ESPN: ranked 18
D1 Softball: ranked 18
Softball America: ranked 19
The screw job is that they will likely end up playing criminally underseeded Washington. Other than the RPI (#16), every human poll has the Huskies in the top 5. Yikes.
Most human polls also have Arizona, Arizona State, and Oregon between #8 and #14, with AZ generally considered a top 10 squad. Arizona ended up with an 11 seed, ASU with a 15 seed, and Oregon unseeded. I can see why the Pac 10 is pissed.
Also, the SEC is loved by the RPI and you have to figure that went into the decision-making process. Tennessee is generally ranked around 17 (either just ahead of or just behind Michigan), although Softball America doesn't even rank them. Yet the RPI has them at #9 and they have a 9 seed.
Again, Missouri is typically ranked in the 15-20 range, but RPI has them at 12. That said, it doesn't follow that the committee seeded them 8 for some reason.
Northwestern is playing host Kentucky in the first round so they are the #4 seed in that regional, which means they were one of the last at-large teams in. MAC champ Miami (OH) is the 3.
First game is Friday at 8:00 Eastern time against Seattle Univ on ESPN2.
Full schedule:
Friday, May 21
Game 1 -- #2 seed Michigan vs. #3 seed Seattle, 8 EDT/5 PDT
Game 2 -- #1 seed Washington vs. #4 seed Portland State, 10:30 EDT/7:30 PDT
Saturday, May 22
Game 3 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6 EDT/3 PDT
Game 4 -- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 8:30 EDT/5:30 PDT
Game 5 -- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 11 EDT/8 PDT
Sunday, May 23
Game 6 -- Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 8 EDT/5 PDT
Game 7 (if necessary) -- Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 10:30 EDT/7:30 PDT