12-06-2019, 11:48 PM
One other thing about today's games - the again-absurdity of NCAA tournament games being behind the paywalls of conference networks. Especially for those of us in West Coast Comcast-land, you cannot get ACC Network, let alone ACC Network+, without an additional streaming service, like Sling. I actually thought about signing up for it today, because 3 of the 4 quarterfinals were from ACC land.
I know that the production costs and the value to those networks are high. But the NCAA owns the rights to those games. I'm wondering if there can be a mandate in the hosting contracts, at least from the round of 16 on, that requires some form of open stream, or at least not behind a "if your carrier doesn't have our network, you're screwed" paywall.
It also brings up the whole "when are people going to stop giving the ACC every benefit when it comes to tournament seeding" thing. The structure of men's soccer allows eastern and midwestern teams to REALLY play the RPI. There are a lot more mid-major and minor DI conferences in the east, so ACC and B1G powers can schedule the "good, but not too good" teams from small conferences - the ones that will go 8-3 in the Colonial, or 9-2 in the MAC, but not really threaten a Virginia or a Wake Forest.
Here's Wake's non-conference schedule: at home against Central Florida, Creighton, Dartmouth, Houston Baptist, away against James Madison (they lost 1-0), at home against Davidson, at home against High Point, at home against William and Mary, and at home against Loyola Maryland (which they tied 1-1.) So 9 non-conference games, 8 at home, and an 8-1 record, against one team that ended up ranked higher than #37.
In conference of note: a 3-2 win against Clemson at home, a 2-1 loss at BC, wins on the road against NC State and Louisville, and a 1-0 home loss to Notre Dame. They advanced on PKs against Virginia Tech, then lost to Virginia in the ACC semis. Ended the regular season 13-4-2. That just doesn't seem like the #4 national seed to me. They even finished the season ranked #9, and with an RPI of #6.
But they'll never have to play a road game before the College Cup.
Meanwhile, SMU finished 15-1-1, RPI #3, ranked #5, and seeded #8. They lost to UVa 3-2 in overtime at Charlottesville tonight.
VG
I know that the production costs and the value to those networks are high. But the NCAA owns the rights to those games. I'm wondering if there can be a mandate in the hosting contracts, at least from the round of 16 on, that requires some form of open stream, or at least not behind a "if your carrier doesn't have our network, you're screwed" paywall.
It also brings up the whole "when are people going to stop giving the ACC every benefit when it comes to tournament seeding" thing. The structure of men's soccer allows eastern and midwestern teams to REALLY play the RPI. There are a lot more mid-major and minor DI conferences in the east, so ACC and B1G powers can schedule the "good, but not too good" teams from small conferences - the ones that will go 8-3 in the Colonial, or 9-2 in the MAC, but not really threaten a Virginia or a Wake Forest.
Here's Wake's non-conference schedule: at home against Central Florida, Creighton, Dartmouth, Houston Baptist, away against James Madison (they lost 1-0), at home against Davidson, at home against High Point, at home against William and Mary, and at home against Loyola Maryland (which they tied 1-1.) So 9 non-conference games, 8 at home, and an 8-1 record, against one team that ended up ranked higher than #37.
In conference of note: a 3-2 win against Clemson at home, a 2-1 loss at BC, wins on the road against NC State and Louisville, and a 1-0 home loss to Notre Dame. They advanced on PKs against Virginia Tech, then lost to Virginia in the ACC semis. Ended the regular season 13-4-2. That just doesn't seem like the #4 national seed to me. They even finished the season ranked #9, and with an RPI of #6.
But they'll never have to play a road game before the College Cup.
Meanwhile, SMU finished 15-1-1, RPI #3, ranked #5, and seeded #8. They lost to UVa 3-2 in overtime at Charlottesville tonight.
VG