Bracketology Issue #3

Before I begin, I will say that I received a couple of e-mails after my last bracketology issue. I received two pieces of information that were fairly important. The first said that Hopkins entered a bid to host but they were turned down due to poor facilities. The second said that the Emory men and women have an agreement that they switch off years for hosting NCAAs. This is supposed to be the women's year, so I was told that the Emory men would not put in a bid to host. That being said, I know both Williams and Amherst hosted men's and women's last year. Both of those teams also have 12 or 18 court outdoor facilities where the matches can take place simultaneously. If anyone has reliable information about whether or not Emory will host, please let me know. I have done the bracket with and without Emory hosting. I have a lot of commentary afterwards.

ASC - UT Tyler*
CAC - Mary Washington*
Centennial - Johns Hopkins*
CUNYAC - Staten Island
Colonial States AC - Marywood*
Commonwealth Coast - Salve Regina*
Commonwealth - Elizabethtown
Empire 8 - Ithaca
Freedom - Wilkes
Heartland Collegiate AC - Transylvania*
IIAC - Luther
Landmark - Drew
Little East - Western Connecticut
MIAA - Kalamazoo*
Midwest - Grinnell*
MIAC - Gustavus
NESCAC - Middlebury
NCAC - Kenyon*
Northern Athletics - MSOE
NWC - Whitman*
Ohio AC - Ohio Northern
ODAC - Washington & Lee*
Skyline - St Josephs LI*
SCIAC - CMS*
SCAC - Trinity (TX)*
St. Louis AC - Westminster*
USA South - NC Wesleyan*
UAA - Emory*

Pool B
1. Santa Cruz
2. Vassar
3. MIT
4. TCNJ
5. Eau Claire
6. Whitewater
7. St. Lawrence
8. Carthage
9. Skidmore


Pool C
1. Cal Lutheran
2. Wash U
3. Amherst
4. Carnegie Mellon
5. Williams

The teams with asterisks have already won their conference tournament. The teams without are just the top seeds entering the conference tournament.

Without Emory hosting:

1. Middlebury*, Vassar, MIT, Salve Regina, Staten Island
2. Emory, Washington & Lee*, Transylvania, Ithaca
3. CMS*, Cal Lutheran, Santa Cruz, Whitman, UT-Tyler
4. Amherst*, Williams, St. Lawrence, Skidmore, Western Connecticut, St. Josephs LI
5. Wash U*, Kalamazoo, Luther, Grinnell, Westminster, MSOE
6. Carnegie Mellon*, Mary Washington, TCNJ, Ohio Northern, Wilkes
7. Kenyon, Trinity (TX), Gustavus, Eau Claire, Whitewater*, Carthage
8. Johns Hopkins, NC Wesleyan*, Elizabethtown, Drew, Marywood

With Emory hosting:

1. Middlebury*, MIT, Skidmore, Salve Regina, Staten Island
2. Emory*, NC Wesleyan, Washington & Lee, UT-Tyler, Transylvania
3. CMS*, Cal Lutheran, Santa Cruz, Whitman
4. Amherst*, Vassar, St. Lawrence, Western Connecticut, St. Josephs LI
5. Wash U*, Kalamazoo, Luther, Grinnell, Westminster, MSOE
6. Carnegie Mellon*, Mary Washington, TCNJ, Ohio Northern, Wilkes, Marywood
7. Kenyon, Trinity (TX), Gustavus, Eau Claire, Whitewater*, Carthage
8. Johns Hopkins, Williams*, Drew, Ithaca, Elizabethtown

One important thing to note is that there's a tough choice in Pool B. Skidmore versus UW-Lacrosse could determine a lot. If Lacrosse makes it, things get messed up because there are too many teams in the Midwest region. The next closest host site is Pittsburgh and none of those teams could go there under the 500 mile rule. So for simplicity, I had Skidmore make it and stay in the Northeast. Things could get quite complicated if the committee gives the nod to Lacrosse instead. Emory hosting and not hosting obviously mixes things up quite a bit as well. With them not hosting, I gave the benefit to the next highest team in line to host which is NCW. Emory is then forced to travel to W&L because that's the only other place they could go without being flown.