I have no problem admitting when I am wrong. I even thank the person who pointed out my mistake or oversight. I am human, and mistakes happen, much as I try not to make them.
Sacred Heart boys basketball assistant coach Jay Seay informed me that all Division I boys basketball teams make the state tournament. That is indeed correct, and I reported it incorrectly. Thank you Jay for your help!
There are 20 teams in Division I, which means a much smaller bracket than divisions II-V. It will mean that some teams may not even win 40 percent of their games and will still be in the state tournament. That is something that just has to be dealt with, even though I personally don’t like it.
As for divisions II, III, IV and V, a team must win 40 percent of its games to make the state tournament. If it were me, it would be 50 percent, but that’s just me.
In girls basketball, teams qualify until there are 32 of them in each bracket. No byes, and everyone plays in the first round. Throw the 40 percent rule out the window. In 2017, that meant that the Crosby girls qualified with a 5-15 record. Their reward was a No. 32 seed and a game against No. 1 Holy Cross, which was 19-1 in the regular season. The Bulldogs lost 83-31 to the Crusaders that night. It was the third time Crosby lost to Holy Cross this season.
Crosby wasn’t the only team to get into the 2017 Class L state tournament with a 5-15 record. Foran, Branford and Jonathan Law also qualified in Class L with five wins. Of those four teams that qualified, only Foran lost by less than 20 points, and Pomperaug beat them by 19.
I’m not a fan of teams getting into the state tournament when they win 40 percent of their games. Filling out a state tournament bracket with teams that have won less than 40 percent of their games is just ridiculous. Forty percent should be the minimum, no less. Filling out brackets to avoid byes isn’t a good enough reason when it screws with the quality and the integrity of the game.
Kevin there are many down sides to the way the tournaments are structured. First, even though they finally got beat last year they are still in a class of their own. Play the top eight or 12 schools only in Fivision 1.
Another thing that needs to get done is place the Tech and small magnet schools into their own Division come tournament time. Look at history and see how many games they actually win when the tournament starts. Exclude when they play each other. You will see what I mean. Their records are high because the level of play isn’t the same. So a strong Cromwell team with a 10-10 record more than likely will beat am 18-2 tech team.
Good points across the board Mike. Tough for the tech teams to compete, for the most part, against non-tech teams.