Summit Street Slugfest 2: The Sluggening

KENT – SWRC: In Summit Street Slugfest 2: The Sluggening:
Kent def UK 2-1
MSU def Akron 7-0
OSU def Kent 4-0
UK def Akron 3-1
OSU def Akron 7-1
MSU def UK 4-1
Kent def Akron 6-0
MSU def OSU 1-0
MSU def Kent 2-1
OSU def UK 3-1  Continue reading “Summit Street Slugfest 2: The Sluggening”

BOTM: 2015 September

12086881_1041133752604531_1076260122_nSeptember Baller of the Month: Matt Bautch (UWP)

This month’s BOTM goes to Wisconsin Platteville’s star player: Matt Bautch.  As an individual, Matt had a spectacular first month to the season, leading his team to victory over DePaul in the Pioneer Classic, and then performing very well in the Grand Valley Gauntlet a week later.

Matt has proved to be one of the top arms in the league, but his improved catching is what has transformed him into a likely All-American choice.  Playing for am inexperienced team this year, Matt has had to carry much of the load for UWP, and he did just that in games against SVSU and GVSU, where he proved to be the most valuable player on the court.

Here is my conversation with UWP’s star player.  He explains his teams efforts to compete against a variety of teams this year, their successful trip to Nationals in 2015, and a ver bold prediction on how far he believes Platteville will make it at Nationals 2016. Continue reading “BOTM: 2015 September”

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

Perrone Point Awards from the Gauntlet

To elaborate on our evaluation of the Gonzalez results from earlier in the week, this article will focus on the Perrone System. The System has a quality win component that uses the opponent’s Win Percentage to dictate how much Perrone Points a team receives.

I’m throwing a lot of numbers at you, but that’s just the exact thing that happens. Think of it this way: if one defeats an undefeated team, the most points are awarded. If you defeat a team with 0 wins, you get a tinier amount of points. Flip that around for the loser: losing against an undefeated team won’t be so bad. Giving a team their first win will hurt the losing team.  Continue reading “Perrone Point Awards from the Gauntlet”

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”

Grand Valley Gauntlet #1 Recap

On Saturday, September 26th Grand Valley State University played host to Saginaw Valley State and Wisconsin Platteville in an early season round robin tournament.  GVSU went 2-0 on the day with SVSU splitting 1-1 and UWP going 0-2.  The following is a quick recap with my reactions from this event. Continue reading “Grand Valley Gauntlet #1 Recap”

2015 BGSU Invitational

BOWLING GREEN – Perry Fieldhouse: In the BGSU Invitational,
Kent def Akron 6-0
OSU def BW 6-0
Kent def BGSU 2-1
BW def Ohio 7-0 (inducting match)
OSU def BGSU 3-0
OSU def Ohio 5-0
BGSU def Akron 3-0
Akron def Ohio 4-0
Kent def BW 5-1

Ohio U joins the League as #38  Continue reading “2015 BGSU Invitational”

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”

Season Preview: University of Kentucky

Kentucky-LogoLocation: Lexington, Ky

NCDA Region: Kentucky

2014-15 Record: 8-12

National Tournament Finish: Lost to CMU in Quarterfinals

2015-16 Captains: Brandon Engelman – C, Colin Hiatt – A, Blake Sears– A

Returning Varsity Players: 19

Players to Watch: #23 Brandon Engelman, # 37 Drew Greenawalt, #6 Ricardo Menchaca, #7 Zach Parise, and #9 Ben Underwood

Overview: 

When scanning the league looking for a team of intrigue, look no further than the Kentucky Wildcats. Continue reading “Season Preview: University of Kentucky”