Tag: gvsu

Chaos Continues…

Who Benefits Most from the MDC & BEAST?

 

GVSU Dodgeball won the Michigan Dodgeball Cup on Feb. 27th.
GVSU Dodgeball won the Michigan Dodgeball Cup on Feb. 27th.

Anyone who follows the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association closely knows that saying this season has been confusing is an understatement.  There have been huge shifts in the NCDA Standings throughout the year, and as we prepare for them to come out on Tuesday, March 1st, there are certain to be some big changes in store.

This past weekend, the Michigan Region teams competed in the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup hosted by Michigan State.  Over on the East Coast, the second half of their season finally kicked off, as five teams took part in the rescheduled BEAST V tournament held at James Madison.

Both of these tournaments involved some exciting match-ups, and both had upsets.  While we all are trying to recover from another stellar weekend of dodgeball, let me help pick up the pieces from this confusing set of tournaments by giving you my list of five teams that benefited most from this weekend of chaos:

Continue reading “Chaos Continues…”

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.

Continue reading “2016 MDC Gonzalez Exchanges”

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:

 

Continue reading “The Michigan Region’s Undeniable Parity”

King of the Mountain Recap

This weekend Central Michigan University hosted the King of the Mountain dodgeball tournament.  At this event we saw schools from Michigan, Ohio, and even Wisconsin in attendance.  There were a lot of questions heading into the event, and I came away with quite a bit of insight on the teams that made the trip to Mt. Pleasant for a great tournament.  Below I have the scores from the tournament and some of my takeaways from the event as a whole: Continue reading “King of the Mountain Recap”

King of the Mountain Dodgeball Tournament Preview

On February 6th, Central Michigan University will host their second home tournament in as many weeks with the “King of the Mountain” Tournament.  In attendance will be a good variety of schools from around the Midwest.  CMU will welcome Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State from Michigan, Kent State, Ohio, and Akron from the state of Ohio, and Wisconsin Platteville will also be making the trip to Mt. Pleasant for this event.

All in all, this will be a great mix of teams both in terms of the NCDA region they represent, and they level of talent which they possess.  There should be some very entertaining games during this event.  Here is a brief team-by-team preview: Continue reading “King of the Mountain Dodgeball Tournament Preview”

2015 Spartan Invite Film

We had MSU’s journalism/broadcast program come out and do a live production for the Spartan Invite. What ended up is four fine games caught on film. A big thanks to that program for their work and effort, and another special thanks to MSU Dodgeball. Please make sure you check out the credits at the end..

MSU def Kent 3-0 [YouTube]
MSU def DePaul 4-0 [YouTube]
CMU def GVSU 2-1 OT [YouTube]
CMU def Kent 3-0 [YouTube]

Check out the full results if you don’t remember what happened at IM West in November.

 

2015 Spartan Invite

EAST LANSING – IM West: In the Spartan Invite,
GVSU def MSU 2-0
BGSU def DePaul 3-1
CMU def MSU 3-1
GVSU def Kent 3-0
MSU def Kent 3-0 [YouTube]
GVSU def BGSU 4-0
MSU def DePaul 4-0 [YouTube]
CMU def BGSU 3-0
CMU def GVSU 2-1 OT [YouTube]
Kent def DePaul 3-1
CMU def Kent 3-0 [YouTube]

Continue reading “2015 Spartan Invite”

Spartan Invite Preview

*This is the first of three previews for the Spartan Invite.  Previews from Colin O’Brien and Jacob Leski will be published in the near future.

The Michigan State Spartans are off to a great start this season. The Spartan Invite will be yet another opportunity to prove they are one of the best teams in the nation.
The Michigan State Spartans are off to a great start this season. The Spartan Invite will be yet another opportunity to prove they are one of the best teams in the nation.

This Sunday, Michigan State University is set to host the annual Spartan Invite at IM West.  Michigan State along with Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, DePaul, Bowling Green State, and Kent State will take part in a big-time tournament.

As we close in on the end of the fall semester, this tournament will likely determine who the top dog in the NCDA is at the halfway point in the season.  All eyes will be on the matches that take place between MSU, GVSU, and CMU.  Each of these teams has beaten the others at least once so far this fall.  The circle of parity at the top of the league is more severe than in years past, but there is still over half a season left.  If any of these schools has plans of distancing themselves to become the #1 team in the league, this tournament will certainly be a strong stepping stone in that effort.

Bragging rights will be on the line Sunday when MSU, GVSU, CMU, BGSU, DePaul, and Kent face off in the annual Spartan Invite.  Here are my predictions for this weekend’s matches:

Continue reading “Spartan Invite Preview”

Grand Valley Gauntlet Part 3

ALLENDALE – GVSU Fieldhouse, Grand Valley Gauntlet
UK def BGSU 2-1
GVSU def CMU 2-1 OT
CMU def SVSU 2-1
GVSU def MSU 1-0
UK def GV-JV 2-0
MSU def SVSU 2-1 OT
CMU def BGSU 4-1
MSU def BGSU 2-0
GVSU def UK 4-1
SVSU def UK 3-0
BGSU played GV-JV

Continue reading “Grand Valley Gauntlet Part 3”

Gonzalez Rating Exchanges

Since the Rugby World Cup is going on, i’d thought we’d highlight the Gonzalez exchanges for yesterday’s matches. The Gonzalez System uses the same rating exchange system that the International Rugby Board (IRB) uses to determine rankings for its teams. World Cup games are worth double just like our Nationals games are.

First, the initial ratings before the day’s first match:

  • GVSU = 59.202, a historically strong team and top rank at #1.
  • MSU = 51.009, still up there at #5 in Gonzalez Standings.

With home court advantage, GVSU gains 3 rating points to bring them to a hefty rating of 62.202 versus MSU’s initial rating of 51.009.  Continue reading “Gonzalez Rating Exchanges”