With the GMAC conference tournament out of the way and the controversial finish in the books, it's now time for the Tiffin Dragons to turn their sights on the NCAA Division 2 tournament. The selection show took place yesterday and I have to admit, I am a bit annoyed at the way it all played out.
Here's the thing, I understand why the schedule turned out the way it did, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. You see, the field of sixty four teams or whatever it is are split up into different regions. My assumption is they do this to keep teams from having to travel exceptionally long distances in the early rounds of the tournament.
It's no surprised that D2 schools don't have the same funds available to them as D1 schools, so throwing all the players on a plane isn't an option like it might be for those other schools. In fact, most of the time the Tiffin team doesn't even travel on a bus, they have a small contingent of vans that they travel in.
The problem with this comes into play when you have a conference like the GMAC where three teams from the same conference make it to the tournament. This means that instead of watching your favorite team play some new talent from across the country, you have to watch them play the same teams they played during the regular season.
It starts to feel like Groundhog Day after a while...
So, in the Midwest 1 Region we have my alma mater SVSU as the one seed playing 8 seed Ferris State, and 4 seed Findlay playing 5 seed Drury. Then in the Midwest 2 Region, we have 2 seed Tiffin playing 7 seed UIndy, and 3 seed Hillsdale playing 6 seed Lewis.
Are you seeing the problem here. This means that if Tiffin wins and Hillsdale wins, we are going to be forced to watch another Tiffin/Hillsdale match up. Granted, The Dragons might be looking forward to getting some retribution after the sham of a loss they were handed in the conference tournament. Make no mistake, Hillsdale is a good team and things could just as easily turn out bad for the Dragons.
Personally, I would just as soon the games get spread out a bit more and teams have to play schools from other parts of the country in the early rounds, but I guess that just isn't meant to be.
Games start in just two days on May 8th, so you better believe I will be checking to see if there is a way for me to stream the games. You also better believe that I will be giving you all the updates here in my blog!
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