Category: Previews

Previewing Pumpkinfest 2

Time High Seed Low Seed Pre Event Rating Pre Event Rating Predicted Exchange Exchange if Upset
10:00 Towson UMD 44.806 40.985 0.618 1.382
10:00 VCU JMU-JV
10:00 JMU-JV VCU-JV
11:00 JMU UMD 57.207 40.985 0.010 2.000
11:00 Towson Kent 44.806 43.426 0.862 1.138
11:00 PSU VCU 37.644 32.224 0.458 1.542
12:00 JMU Towson 57.207 44.806 0.010 2.000
12:00 Kent PSU 43.426 37.644 0.422 1.578
12:00 UMD VCU 40.985 32.224 0.124 1.876
2:00 JMU Kent 57.207 43.426 0.010 2.000
2:00 UMD PSU 40.985 37.644 0.666 1.334
2:00 Towson VCU 44.806 32.224 0.010 2.000
3:00 JMU PSU 57.207 37.644 0.010 2.000
3:00 Towson JMU-JV
3:00 Kent VCU 43.426 32.224 0.010 2.000

Initial Ratings:

JMU: 57.207 (inc +3 for home advantage) (#3 in Gonzalez Standings)
Towson: 44.806 (#7)
Kent: 43.426 (#9)
UMD: 40.985 (#11)
PSU: 37.644 (#15)
VCU: 32.224 (#24)

JV and B team matches are recorded, but do not count towards primer standings.

You may note there’s a lot of potential exchanges at the minimum, 0.010. This is a sign that those matches are not between teams of similar strength. Over the years, I’ve found our East Coast region to be a sort of microcosm of the entire League. You may also note that JMU’s home rating (57.207) rivals GVSU current neutral court rating (57.357). That’d be a #1 and #2 in Gonzalez rating if GVSU has a chance to visit JMU’s home court again.

Previewing Summit Street Slugfest 2: The Sluggening

Time at Kent High Seed Low Seed Predicted Exchange  Exchange if Upset 
11:00 Kent UK 0.907 1.093
11:00 MSU Akron 0.010 2.000
12:15 Kent OSU 0.713 1.287
12:15 UK Akron 0.121 1.879
1:30 OSU Akron 0.193 1.807
1:30 MSU UK 0.239 1.761
3:30 Kent Akron 0.010 2.000
3:30 MSU OSU 0.138 1.862
4:45 MSU Kent 0.536 1.464
4:45 UK OSU 0.934 1.066
*at GV GVSU SVSU 0.146 1.854

Here’s the possible exchanges for predicted and upset results. Take notice of the underlined games:

  • Kent v UK
  • Kent v OSU
  • UK v OSU
  • and to a smaller extent, MSU v Kent.

The Gonzalez ratings for these teams are very close, which may be an indication of a possible overtime situation. An exchange between two identical ratings is 1, the middle of 0-2 range of possible Gonzalez exchanges.

Initial ratings:

MSU: 52.999
Kent: 47.114*
UK: 46.181
OSU: 45.150
Akron: 36.496

* Kent’s initial rating of  44.114, with a home court advantage modifier of +3

BG Invitational Preview

Written by Adam Hynes

Sunday 27th, 2015 at the Perry Fieldhouse in beautiful Bowling Green, Ohio, the Bowling Green Falcons will play host to the neighboring Ohio schools to kick off the 2015-2016 season for Ohio altogether.  The teams in attendance will be Kent State, The Ohio State University, Akron, Baldwin Wallace, Bowling Green and new comer Ohio University.  This seems to be somewhat of a preview for the ODC to come in the spring and a great chance to see what is to come of the Ohio region early in the season.  As always with any tournament there are storylines to follow such as: who will be the top team coming out of the Ohio region this year, how will both Ohio State and Kent State start this season after both being bounced in the first round of Nationals last year, will Bowling Green be able to prove they are still ODC champion material or how will the younger teams perform to start the season?  Only time will tell and questions soon to be answered at the Bowling Green Invitational.  Continue reading “BG Invitational Preview”

Impact at IM West Preview

Three of the premiere teams of the NCDA meet in East Lansing on Sunday for the Impact at IM West. The Spartans host the two schools that met in the championship game last season for what should be three very competitive games of dodgeball. All three teams open the season with championship aspirations, and probably expectations, with the tremendous amount of talent on their rosters.

Continue reading “Impact at IM West Preview”

Previewing the Pioneer Classic

2015 UWP All Star Matt Bautch previews this weekends opening match! -zm

This weekend at the University of Wisconsin Platteville, the Pioneer Classic is taking place to test the abilities of the new 2015-2016 Platteville and DePaul dodgeball teams. Platteville has been thinking about hosting games and/or tournaments for some time now, and this year we made it happen. It’s tough to get teams to come and play when it’s quite an adventure to get here. We’re ecstatic that DePaul is making the trip to come compete with us. It’s going to be an all-out battle between the two Illinois region teams to see who comes out victorious. It will be very interesting to see how both teams are going to strategize this year. All new members of the clubs will now get a taste of how the NCDA tournaments work, and also how an opposing team may play and strategize differently than ourselves. Whenever Platteville and DePaul meet, no matter which team wins or loses, there is so much respect and enthusiasm for each team when playing.

After throwing wrenches at our new freshman recruits to teach them how to dodge, we feel that we are ready for anything, except maybe dodging traffic. When we do start dodging traffic, we will start here in Platteville, hopefully working up to Chicago-level traffic so we will be just as good as DePaul. We will get there eventually. After workouts, we drink our own urine because it is sterile and we like the taste. The nutritional value is still being researched. In addition to the physical game, we have been trying to instill the five D’s of dodgeball into every players mind. We even have them on the backs of our shirts as reminders. After all this hard work and nutritional supplements, we feel that this will be the match of the century.

Season Preview: Michigan State

Location: East Lansing, MImsu-logo

NCDA Region: Michigan

2014-2015 Record: 17-18

National Tournament Finish: Lost to SVSU in the Quarterfinals

2015-2016 Captains: Colin O’Brien – C, Alex Zajac – A, Kameron Caldwell – A

Returning Varsity Players: 14

Players to Watch: Colin O’Brien, Kameron Caldwell, Noe Galaviz, Wes Peters Continue reading “Season Preview: Michigan State”

Season Preview: James Madison

Location: Harrisonburg, VA

 jmu-logo

NCDA Region: East Coast

2014-15 Record: 22-3

National Tournament Finish: Lost to CMU in OT in the Final Four

2015-16 Captains:  Derek Pierce – C, Joe Bringuier – A, Tanner Weaver – A

Returning Varsity Players: 10-13

Players to Watch: Doug Schilling, Tanner Weaver

 

Overview: When it comes to JMU I normally know exactly what to say and what to expect out of them this season. I’m not so sure this season and consider the Dukes as a bit of an enigma heading into the 2015-16 season. Coming off an overtime loss to the eventual runners up in Central Michigan, the team looks to avoid the rebuilding label early in the season. Continue reading “Season Preview: James Madison”

Season Preview: Grand Valley State University

Location: Allendale, Mich.

NCDA Region: Michigan

2014-15 Record: 37-1

National Tournament Finish: NCDA Champions

2015-16 Captains: Kevin Bailey-C, Aaron Terenzi-A and Austin Morley-A

Returning Varsity Players: 13-15

Players to Watch: Austin Morley, Kurtis DeYoung, Anthony Incrocci


Overview:  The Three-Time Defending Champs are looking for another title for a record-tying fourth straight championship, but without a couple of their better known players.  Continue reading “Season Preview: Grand Valley State University”

Season Preview: Central Michigan

Location: Mount Pleasant, Mich.cmu-logo

NCDA Region: Michigan

2014-15 Record: 31-9

National Tournament Finish: Lost to GVSU in Championship Game

2015-16 Captains: Shane Willette-C, Zach Bachner-C, Tyler Prill-A and Ian Ryan-A

Returning Varsity Players: 17

Players to Watch: Everyone… but to name a few: Brett Hadwin, Michael Riley, Michael Heller, Alex Holzgen and Ian Ryan


Overview:  The National Runner-Ups from 2014-15 are back and likely better than they were a year ago.   Continue reading “Season Preview: Central Michigan”

2015-16 Way Too Early Top 20

The 2015-16 NCDA season is still many months away, but it’s never too early to talk about dodgeball.  While their won’t be a single match played for roughly four more months, I have still decided to give my thoughts on where teams stand heading into the new year of dodgeball.  Here is my way too early top 20 for 2015-16: Continue reading “2015-16 Way Too Early Top 20”

Which Region is the Best in the NCDA?

Written by BGSU’s Adam Hynes

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Even with the NCDA not having conferences or anything we still have each team placed into a category according to where the teams are located; this obviously being the regions.  In no particular order we have the Ohio, East Coast, Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky regions.  These regions have their top teams, middle teams and low tier teams as any other league with conferences would have.  With there being so much talent spread throughout the league and schools being spread apart it can be very difficult to say who the top region truly is.  With Nationals coming this week, and the exciting pool play games on Saturday, it will be a good indication of who the true top region is.  In this article I wanted to say what each region must do in order to stack up against every one and say that their region is the true top dog. Continue reading “Which Region is the Best in the NCDA?”

Nationals 2015 In-Depth Preview

10891568_10153061471740972_7448666028323906080_nNCDA Nationals is always an eventful weekend, but this year in particular, the league’s season-ending tournament seems destined to be an exciting one.  There is so much to talk about when previewing what will be another great NCDA tournament.  Below is my “In-Depth” preview of Nationals which takes place April 11-12 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  This preview will include a brief summary of the storylines to follow, round-by-round game previews (with a prediction for each individual match!), and lastly, I will have my predictions on the results of the final day’s bracket.

Continue reading “Nationals 2015 In-Depth Preview”

Preparing for February 14th

This coming Saturday, two National Collegiate Dodgeball Association tournaments will take place.  The 11th annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup will be held at Michigan State University, while James Madison University will host their 4th Big East Appalachian Super Tournament (BEAST IV).

It’s safe to say that this will be the biggest weekend of dodgeball for the NCDA this season outside of Nationals.  Seven of the top nine teams in the current NCDA (Champ/NHL) standings will be competing this weekend.  It’s easy to see that the results of this weekend will have a huge impact on the NCDA.  Here are a few storylines to follow as we prepare for a fantastic weekend of dodgeball: Continue reading “Preparing for February 14th”

Jacob Leski’s MDC Preview with Predictions

MDC TrophyAt the beginning of each season, every Michigan team has two goals in mind, one is obviously to win Nationals, but the other is to win the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, considered by many to be the most competitive tournament all season long. If you are looking for heated competition all day long, then I highly recommend you attend this tournament on good ole Valentine’s Day.
Continue reading “Jacob Leski’s MDC Preview with Predictions”