Spartans Anticipate Nationals Brackets

The field for Nationals, specifically the opponents for State, are starting to be more clearer with Nationals only two months away. MSU’s stellar play so far this season has virtually assured them of at least a two seed in the pool play portion of Nationals, and could even get them a one seed. They are currently #3 in the Nation, despite only going 1-2-1 at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup in February. With the BEAST II yet to be played still however, they will likely be somewhere from 4th to 6th in the standings going into Nationals. The current projection is that there will be either five or six pools for Saturday, meaning MSU may be cutting it close on being that one seed.

It will likely come down to State or #6 Saginaw Valley for the last spot if there are only five pools. If State isn’t a one seed, they’ll have a tougher game first day than they’d originally expected. There are a clear cut top six teams in the league right now who are considered to be National title favorites, then there is a middle tier of teams that are considered dark horses. If there are only five pools, then one pool will have two of those top six teams in it, and that’s something MSU would prefer to avoid. Outside of their 4-0 loss to UK in the first game of the season, MSU is 3-4-2 against the other top teams in the country, with all 4 losses coming by one point. Against the rest of the competition they’re 7-0, giving up a total of three points.

If MSU does get a one seed, they will avoid playing the other top tier teams first day. While that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to sleep through Saturday of Nationals, it does mean that they’ll have an easier chance to go undefeated and have a top four seed for Sunday. If State gets the #6 overall seed, and thus ended up being a two seed, they will likely draw either UK, JMU, or Kent State on Saturday. While MSU has beaten Kent State twice this season already, they have improved greatly since they played last. JMU and Kentucky have both beaten MSU once this season. The Spartans had to go through that last year, when they played JMU on the first day and the loss to the Dukes threw them into the same half of the bracket as GVSU, CMU, and SVSU.

Potential two seeds that the Spartans could draw as a one seed include OSU, Maryland, WKU, and Towson. MSU defeated the Buckeyes 4-1 in Columbus earlier in the season and beat WKU at Nationals last year, but have never faced either Maryland or Towson. Central Michigan is also a potential two seed, but it would be unlikely that they would be placed in the same pool as MSU.

If the season were to end today, and there were no upsets in the pool play, then MSU would be looking at the #3 seed overall in the Sunday pool of the bracket. They would play the winner of RIT and one of the teams who hasn’t played a game this season, which would lead into a battle with likely SVSU in the National Quarterfinals. This year’s Nationals will be more hotly contested, and there is more parity, than the last few years. Whereas last year the case that the four best teams were in one half of the bracket could be made, this year there is no “clear cut” top four teams. There’ll be tough matchups for everyone starting in the Quarterfinals.

2013 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview

mdc-2013The oldest and most prestigious regular season tournament for the NCDA will meet again this Saturday at IM West. Hosted by the #4 Michigan State Spartans, the tournament also includes #5 Grand Valley, #6 Saginaw Valley, and #7 Central Michigan.

MSU is coming off a slightly disappointing result at the 2013 Chicago Dodgeball Open, where a 14 man squad couldn’t take down the #3 JMU Dukes. However, the last time the team had a full 20 man roster, they were inches away from defeating Grand Valley for the first time in school history. State also got great news in that Alex Acton (MSU #72) is cleared to play and ready to go for the tournament. With the probablility that Eric Paul (MSU #9) will be out for the weekend, Acton’s return comes at a good time for MSU. He’s a do-it-all player who has historically played well against GVSU. It’s going to take a team effort however to take down the three foes they’re getting this weekend though.

The first opponent for MSU is Central Michigan, a team the Spartans dispatched 7-1 in November. However, that Chippewa team was playing with 10 men, and their best all-around player, Bryce Corrion (CMU #00-A) wasn’t playing up to his best. The key to MSU’s success in the first match against CMU was their catching. CMU may have the best catching lineup in the country, but the Spartans turned the tides on the Chips. After a disastrous first point in which State threw a handful of catches, MSU turned it around and began to play smarter and catch the Chippewas’ solo throws. If CMU has a full 20 man roster, or even 15, they could be tough for MSU. But if MSU plays as a team, then they should be able to handle CMU.

After that Michigan State will take on the Cardinals of SVSU, who will definitely want payback for their loss earlier in the season to MSU (5-0 at Ohio State.) Led by Max Siler (SVSU #38-C), the Cardinals have had an up and down season so far, starting the season off 0-2, but they’ve won 4 of their last 5, including a victory at home over GVSU. The main weapons for the Cards are Spencer Jardine (SVSU #77) and Jordan Elliot (SVSU #11), their two best power throwers and in Jardine’s case, a top five player in the NCDA. The Spartans will need to limit their damage and force the other players to either beat them or make mistakes, and MSU needs to capitalize on their mistakes.

The Spartans’ last game will be against GVSU, a team they have never beaten. They also have never been as close to beating them as when they played last, a 3-2 OT loss that came down to literally inches. It was the first time the Spartans had forced overtime on the Lakers, and only the second time they’d held a lead on GVSU in the last five seasons. State will need to play a complete game to beat GVSU, and all 20 players will need to play to their ability. The three captains for GVSU are the main threat to MSU, but they are definitely not the only threat. The Lakers go 20 deep with talent, and can produce outs many different ways.