Michigan State Concludes Emotional Week with 2nd Straight MDC Title

EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan State University’s dodgeball club capped off a challenging and emotional week with a Michigan Dodgeball Cup (MDC) on Saturday at IM West. The Spartans (12-0) defeated Grand Valley State (13-6) to win their second consecutive MDC and remain the #1 team in the country. Also in attendance were Western Michigan (finished 2-2 on the day), Saginaw Valley State (1-3), and Central Michigan (0-4).

Below is a recap of each team and the main storylines surrounding them at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup and heading towards the end of the season.

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Pre-Trophy Preview Michigan Region

As time grows closer to the Michigan Dodgeball Cup and Nationals, let’s take a step back and look at all the Michigan Region schools and their seasons so far. The following teams are: Michigan State Univeristy, Grand Valley State Univeristy, Saginaw Valley State Univeristy, Western Michigan University, and Central Michigan University. We asked respondents from each school these questions about how they felt their season has gone and general knowledge about their clubs.

1. Who is your OT6? (please include if they are a captain, rookie, etc.
2. Anything notable go well for you at these tournaments? Anything you need to improve on?
3. Any changes for your team heading into the spring semester?
4. Which tournament are you most excited for this spring?
5. What team would you most like to play?
6. Do you have any rising players on your team you’d like to give a shoutout?
7. How will your team do this spring?
8. Please list 3 players you think should be on AA and womens AA (not including your team)
9. Please list 1 rookie youve been impressed by (not including your team)
10. Please give us your thoughts on 1 team ranked above you and 1 team ranked below you.

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2022 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview

2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview – NCDA

This Saturday, Michigan State University will host three other schools in the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup. In attendance will be Grand Valley State (8-1), Michigan State (5-3), Saginaw Valley State (2-7), and Western Michigan (0-3). Missing from the MDC for the first time since 2007 (prior to their club’s existence) is Central Michigan University.

While eyes will be on the CMU club to see if they can rebuild their program and get back to competition, let’s shift our attention back to the four teams in attendance. To start, here is the schedule for the 2022 MDC, which will be livestreamed on the NCDA’s social channels this Saturday, starting at 10:00 AM.

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Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview

The 2019 Michigan Dodgeball Cup is right around the corner, taking place this Saturday in East Lansing, Michigan on the campus of Michigan State University.  As has been the case for over a decade, the MDC will play host to each school in the state of Michigan for a regular season tournament that will have national title implications.  Below is a preview of this Saturday’s tournament: Continue reading “Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview”

Reviewing the 2016 MDC

Grand Valley State University won the 2016 Michigan Dodgeball Cup with a 3-0 record.
Grand Valley State University won the 2016 Michigan Dodgeball Cup with a 3-0 record.

On Feb. 27th, Michigan State University hosted the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup.  In attendance were all four Michigan schools: Central Michigan, Grand Valley State, Michigan State, and Saginaw Valley State.  The stakes were higher than ever, as all four teams were positioned in the top six of the NCDA Standings.  In fact, the schools had a combined record of 51-21 heading into the event, with exactly zero of those 21 losses coming at the hands of a team outside the state of Michigan.

The dominance of the Michigan Region is still alive and well, and anyone who may try to dispute that should take a look at that fact I just mentioned.  Michigan schools this season are a combined 30-0 against teams from other regions.  And there is a very real chance that at the end of the year, no non-Michigan team picks up a win over a Michigan Region team.  I highly doubt that has ever happened before. Continue reading “Reviewing the 2016 MDC”

2016 MDC Gonzalez Exchanges

The oldest collegiate dodgeball event is the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. This MDC will feature #1, 2, 4, 5 in the Gonzalez Standings.

Let’s start by comparing averages.

League Rating Average: 42.091 and a spread of 25.848
MDC Rating Average: 55.526 and a spread of 9.402
GVSU/CMU/MSU Rating Average: 57.690 and a spread of 1.272.

That top three is a huge fight of the top percentile; all Gonzalez ratings are relatively close and this triumvirate is fighting for 1/2/3 in the overall NCDA Ranking. The “predicted exchanges” do not have a high degree of predictability here, because there certainly is a difference between a technical upset and a statistically influential upset. GV/CMU, GV/MSU, CMU/MSU could go either way with the ratings being so close. There is a lot to gain and lot to lose. but events are rarely this influential.

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The Michigan Region’s Undeniable Parity

On Feb. 27th, four schools will battle it out in the most anticipated Michigan Dodgeball Cup of all-time.
On Feb. 27th, four schools will battle it out in the most anticipated Michigan Dodgeball Cup of all-time.

It is no secret that the Michigan Region has been the best region in the country for a long, long time.  In fact, the national champion has been a team from the Great Lakes State each of the past nine seasons.

In a way, I want to simply state that this season should be no different; as there is a chance the title game features two Michigan schools.  Historically, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup winner enters April as the favorite to win it all.  The difference between this season and seasons in the past is that there is an unbelievable level of parity surrounding the NCDA’s top region.  The Michigan Dodgeball Cup will take place on Feb. 27, and if you have been following the league at all this season, you know that it is going to be impossible to predict.

Here is an inside look at the incredibly confusing 2015-16 NCDA season in the Michigan Region:

 

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2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Recap

The temperature was in the negatives in East Lansing, Michigan on February 14th, but inside IM West, the competition was heated as four of the top teams in the nation squared off in the Michigan Dodgeball Cup.  The 2015 MDC was expect to be a classic, and while only one of the matches was decided by a one point margin, the MDC still was an entertaining tournament. Continue reading “2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Recap”

How I Would Beat a Michigan Team

From Aleks Bomis [MSU Alum]

A team from Michigan has claimed the title of NCDA National Champion eight years in a row.  That is an impressive and undeniable fact.  Unfortunately, my treasured Spartans have no bearing on that; I, at 29 years of age, was on the squad that achieved Michigan State’s sole Michigan Dodgeball Cup victory, a game played against a community college in a church recreation room.  I can still hear the dodgeballs carom off the radiators to the dismay of the building’s staff.  Delta College was kind enough to have purchased the MDC Trophy, and in (I think) 2023 an additional base will be attached to the Trophy.  The MDC is now regarded as a preview of the NCDA Final Four, much to the dismay of the rest of the league.

I am not so arrogant as to call Michigan the heartland of college dodgeball; teams existed in Illinois and Ohio long before anyone of the Great Lakes State showed up to play, and their names are etched in the NCDA Trophy, as is mine. [Ed: The Nationals Trophy -zm] Still, Michigan’s historic performance is remarkable.  Having said that, it’s time someone beat these guys and took home the hardware.  If I were captaining a dodgeball team 10 years younger, here’s how I would go about busting up the established order:  Continue reading “How I Would Beat a Michigan Team”

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”