SLU Soccer Week 11 Rankings

[SLUBALLS]

I don't think SLU can complain. I thought they were going to be close but that it could end up either way.

This was a very disappointing season. It's the 1st year in McGinty's tenure that I didn't see growth as a whole. I believe Graydon was misused early as we should have had better answers for defensive mid and Graydon never should have been considered at all. It's not like we didn't know Robs was graduating. I didn't see much later in the season but what I did see early and midseason showed a regression in the ability to play the ball through the midfield. We were slow and methodical far too often despite having players that had proven to have the ability to play forward quicker and with more pace.

Not having Robbie and Anthony our two Hermann Trophy finalists didn't help but even without them I felt we regressed. I'd like to hear Mike M's final thoughts on the season.

We were simply careless with a few games that if won (like we should have) or tied, would have put the committee in a difficullt situation: Beat GW and St. Bon and maintain ties with VCU and Lousiville. Those four games were critical. This was essentailly the same team that last year beat Louisville, Creighton, and VCU.. we were 3-2 vs top 25 teams. How we ended up 1-3 this year vs Top 25 (VCU was just outside of it at the time we played them) is confusing to say the least. Including Daytong makes us 2-3 but most thought Dayton was overrated.

I still think McGinty is the right guy and but not making the NCAA this year was so unexpected. Next year we lose our starting goalie, starting left back, seldom used forward, and a playmaker in Sweetin. What remains is not a horrible foundation to begin with. My one concern is that there was not a single freshman this year that even battled for starting time. Maybe that is just reflective of the talent already out there but I was hoping McGinty signed at least one freshman we would see play in multiple games, contribute, and make a case for a starting position. The lack of depth is concerning. I hope we can still sign quality players in the upcoming class after missing the tourney.

I know RPI matters and all but Creighton got in with a 9-8-2 record. Seriously?

[SLUBALLS]

Interesting breakdown:

Who didn't get in (based on GauchoDan RPI seen on bigsoccer.com)?

30. Illinois-Chicago (16-4-0)
36. Alabama-Birmingham (12-5-1)
38. Gonzaga (10-6-3)
39. Temple (10-4-4)
40. Furman (11-5-2)
42. Hartford (13-4-4)
43. Duke (8-5-6)
45. Tulsa (11-6-3)
48. Central Florida (8-5-5)
50. Michigan (8-7-3)
51. Xavier (10-7-2)
52. Butler (11-8-1)
53. Saint Louis (14-5-2)

Teams that did get did get at-large bids.

31. Delaware (14-4-1)
32. North Carolina (9-6-3)
33. Stanford (9-6-3)
34. Creighton (9-8-2)
35. VCU (11-7-2)
37. Old Dominion (10-5-1)
41. Clemson (11-7-2)
44. Northwestern (10-7-3)

[cgeldmacher]

Yeah. SLU are out unless the committee complete disregards RPI and super-emphasizes win percentage. There are 10 automatic bids already earned for teams with a WORSE RPI than SLU (conference tournaments in general have been unkind to any team on the bubble). I would say VCU is in but not SLU. The big problem is that overall the A-10 is the 14th best soccer conference.

The problem is not that the A-10 is the 14th best soccer conference. The problem is that a storied program like SLU wasn't able to win the 14th best soccer conference.

[Bay Area Billiken]

I question how VCU (11-7-2, 3rd Place in A10) received an at large NCAA bid over the A10 Regular Season Champion, SLU, (14-5-2) and SLU's 10 National Championships.

There should be some deference for SLU like there is for a UCLA in men's basketball, especially when SLU lost the A10 Tournament Championship Game on a penalty kick. But there wasn't. As it turned out, the only way for SLU to get in was to win the A10 Tournament and get the automatic bid.

I know about the RPI, which is an archaic but still used tool. I know about the head to head game. Why did SLU agree to play that "non-conference" game on the road?

But I also know who finished first and who finished 3rd in the A10 Regular Season. As it evolved, all that A10 Regular Season was worth was seeding into the A10 Tournament.

The A10, based in Newport News, VA, is sending its #2 and #3 teams, both Virginia State schools, to the NCAA Tournament, while its #1 team, the one with 10 National Championships, was snubbed.

[TheOldie]

I question how VCU (11-7-2, 3rd Place in A10) received an at large NCAA bid over the A10 Regular Season Champion, SLU, (14-5-2) and SLU's 10 National Championships.

There should be some deference for SLU like there is for a UCLA in men's basketball, especially when SLU lost the A10 Tournament Championship Game on a penalty kick. But there wasn't. As it turned out, the only way for SLU to get in was to win the A10 Tournament and get the automatic bid.

I know about the RPI, which is an archaic but still used tool. I know about the head to head game. Why did SLU agree to play that "non-conference" game on the road?

But I also know who finished first and who finished 3rd in the A10 Regular Season. As it evolved, all that A10 Regular Season was worth was seeding into the A10 Tournament.

The A10, based in Newport News, VA, is sending its #2 and #3 teams, both Virginia State schools, to the NCAA Tournament, while its #1 team, the one with 10 National Championships, was snubbed.

Another reason to get the heck out of the A10

[Bay Area Billiken]

I agree that SLU must get out of this A10. As Coach Majerus said, "We need to get the h--- out of this league."

Creighton (9-8-2) gets in the NCAA Tournament, despite losing head to head to SLU. Does Creighton have a spell on someone? 9-8-2? Would one of the Big Red's old 4-9-1's have been enough to get Creighton a bid? (For God, for Country, Four, Nine and One.)

So head to head doesn't matter for Creighton, but matters for VCU?