Re: More RPI news

by **Stonehouse** on Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:40 pm

AWESOME news about WSU. Way to go Cougs!

But but but... I heard a bit of disconcerting news yesterday. I don't know if it's 100% true, but the rumor I heard is that the NCAA considers Washington State to be either 354 or 357 miles away from Portland, putting it OUTSIDE of the 350 mile radius. Can you believe it?

Again, I don't know if this is true or not, but I think we should be focusing on winning a #1 seed instead of counting on a WSU bid allowing us to host.

I swear to God, if we don't get a one seed, WSU makes it in, and we STILL have to travel, I will probably strangle someone.

by PurpleGeezer on Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:09 pm

I've been doing some reading . The NCAA counts airport to airport, and WSU flies from Spokane, just within the limit. The admins got a ruling on that.

Here's some quotes from the NCAA tournament handbook, allegedly the official guide.
http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/soccer/2007/2007_d1_w_soocer_handbook.pdf

Selection Criteria
The following criteria shall be employed by a governing sports committee in selecting
participants for NCAA championships competition [Bylaw 31.3.3; Criteria for Selec-
tion of Participants]:
• Won-lost record;
• Strength of schedule; and
• Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships;
In addition to Bylaw 31.3.3, the women’s soccer committee has received approval
from the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet to consider the following
criteria in the selection of at-large teams for the soccer championship (not necessarily
in priority order):
1. Won-lost Record (25 percent)
2. Strength of Schdeule (50 percent)
3. Opponent’s strength of schedule (25 percent)
4. Bonus/penalty system
(Committee use of the RPI is provided in Appendix I)
• Head-to-head competition.
• Results versus common opponents.
Secondary Criteria
If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision, the secondary
criteria will be reviewed. All the criteria listed will be evaluated.
• Results versus teams already selected to participate in the field (including
automatic qualifiers with and RPI of 1-75)
• Late season performance - defined as the last 8 games including
conference tournaments (strength and results).

Pairings
[Reference: Bylaw 31.1.3 in the NCAA Division I Manual.]
The top 16 teams identified by the committee will be seeded in the bracket. The
seeded teams will all be a separate first and second round sites. The committee has been
given approval by the Championships Competition Cabinet to place the top 16 seeds in
pods of four. There will be four number ones, four number twos, four number threes,
and four number fours. The remaining 48 teams will be paired geographically. First-
round conference matchups will be avoided. The commitee will use www.mappoint.
msn.com when establishing the mileage for travel. Teams withing 350 miles of each
other will be required to drive.

1)A couple interesting things to note- The rpi, etc is selection criteria, not necessarily seeding of pairing criteria.

2) The pairings are based on the 16 top seeds, they are to be at separate sites. It is the bottom 48 teams that are to be paired geographically, NOT the top 16 seeds They have been doing it wrong all along

3) the 350 mile rule just specifies that teams within the 350 mile radius have to use ground transportation---NOTHING ELSE

There may be other rulings that are doubleTopSecret we don't know about, but these are the ones that are published.

by PurpleGeezer on Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:13 pm

And a little more reading makes it quite clear what the criteria for venue selection are to be.....

Dates and Sites
[Reference: Bylaw 31.1.3 in the NCAA Division I Manual.]
General Requirements. All games will be played at sites and times determined
by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee. The actual playing times of
preliminary-round games of the championships shall be determined by the women’s
soccer committee. All rounds of the championship (except the semifinals and final) will
be conducted on the campus of one of the participating institutions.
To assist the committees in selecting sites, an evaluation will be made of institutional
facilities to determine if they are acceptable for championship play.
A facility-evaluation form is available on the NCAA Web site at www.ncaa.org/
sports/champadmin.
In addition to the quality and availability of facilities, the Division I Women’s
Soccer Committee applies the selection criteria to assist in determining the host
sites. Institutions who desire to host one or more rounds of the championship (except
semifinals and final) must complete the budget packet (online) by October 12.
Neutral sites (i.e., off-campus sites or facilities not used during the regular season)
are not permitted unless approved in advance by the Women’s Soccer Committee.

It's in the second paragraph--

the criteria to be used are
1) suitability of the site for championship play. there is no better site than Merlo
2) selection criteria That to me means the higher seeds get preference

Again, there is no mention whatsoever of selecting due to geographical proximity of any of the institutions. There is only suitability of the site for championship play and selection criteria mentioned.