MVC SB Tournament

[flyingMoose]

Championship Game

Loyola 7-8 Bradley

The Braves win the Conference Tournament and will be the Valley representative in the NCAA Tournament. They took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first with a three-run homer. But three Brave errors in the fourth led to four unearned runs, and Loyola took a 6-3 lead. Gardner, who pitched every inning for Loyola in the tournament, finally ran out of gas in the fifth inning. She walked in one run and then gave up a grand slam homer, allowing Bradley to take an 8-5 lead. Jaelen Hull, who had come on in relief in the fourth, allowed a run in the sixth, but the Braves held on for the win.

[WSUwatcher]

Especially in this single elimination format.

I realize this is the Valley we're talking about, but how in the world do you play a softball tournament as a single elimination event?

[ShockTalk]

I realize this is the Valley we're talking about, but how in the world do you play a softball tournament as a single elimination event?

For those in the know, just how common is the Valley's setup for this tournament among other conferences?

[flyingMoose]

For those in the know, just how common is the Valley's setup for this tournament among other conferences?

The SEC uses exactly the same format, qualifying ten teams into their tournament. But then again eleven!! teams of a possible thirteen from the SEC made this year's NCAA Tournament. Neither the Pac 12 nor the Big 12 play a tournament. I would have to research other conferences. I think I would find that qualifying a larger number of teams into a single-elimination tournament is more common than qualifying fewer teams into a double-elimination tournament.

Bradley is in the Columbia Regional, playing #15 national seed Missouri in their first game. Kansas and Nebraska are also in this regional which begins Friday. Oregon is the #1 national seed.

[1972Shocker]

I realize this is the Valley we're talking about, but how in the world do you play a softball tournament as a single elimination event?

My guess is that all the Valley is really interested in is having a single championship game that will be televised. Even at that it is hard for me to believe this tournament is much of a money maker especially when the host team only played one game in the tournament.

I would much prefer for a sport like softball that they drop the post-season tournament and send the regular season champion to the NCAA Tournament. The Valley will get one team in the tournament. The almost sent their 7th place team this year. They avoided that although the are sending their 4th place team.

OTOH they do reward the top 2 regular season teams fairly significantly giving them a double-bye into the semi-finals. The top two teams only need to win 2 games to win the tournament.

[flyingMoose]

Neither the Pac 12 nor the Big 12 play a tournament. I would have to research other conferences. I think I would find that qualifying a larger number of teams into a single-elimination tournament is more common than qualifying fewer teams into a double-elimination tournament.

I got curious. The Big East uses a four-team, single-elimination tournament. Creighton as a four-seed lost to eventual champion DePaul. They are the only Big East representative, but DePaul with an RPI of 29 would have received an at-large bid.

The Big Ten does not have a tournament and placed five teams in the NCAA Tournament (as did the Pac 12). Four teams qualified out of the Big 12.

The American Athletic Conference, who qualified four teams (Louisville, UCF, two more), uses an eight-team, single elimination tournament.

The SWAC uses a format similar to the WCWS: two four-team, double-elimination pods with a crossover. The two pod winners then meet in a single game for the championship. The SWAC is a one-bid conference.

Okay, more information than either you or I wanted to know.

I suspect @1972Shocker: is correct - our current format sets up a one-game championship for television. The SWAC format does also, but it is more expensive since it must start on Wednesday.

[WSUwatcher]

If a tournament is going to be played at all -- really the threshold question, considering that it can't possibly be a money maker and turns the league into a crapshoot -- then something that is as much a pitcher's game as softball is should use double elimination so more games get played and there's a greater need for more than just one pitcher. It's not like they're playing four hour games, so why not?

Really, the best alternative is probably to skip the tournament altogether, which is cheaper, quicker, and easier. Let the regular season actually decide something -- what a concept! The double bye is nice, but you can still be out if you run into a hot pitcher on an otherwise mediocre team. How is that good for anything except randomness?

[WuShock16]

The other thing is that softball isn't a horribly physically taxing game (other than the pitcher and even then, it is not nearly as bad as baseball), so getting a game (or two) in the day before can actually be a bit of an advantage so that you can get a feel for the field, maybe get used to the batter's view, get rid of any tournament nerves, etc. Regardless, driving all that distance to play one game is a waste of time and resources for those teams who are one-and-done.

[1972Shocker]

Really, the best alternative is probably to skip the tournament altogether, which is cheaper, quicker, and easier. Let the regular season actually decide something -- what a concept! The double bye is nice, but you can still be out if you run into a hot pitcher on an otherwise mediocre team. How is that good for anything except randomness?

I agree with skipping it altogether. If they must hold a single-elimination Tournament follow the 6-team format used by Volleyball. Top 2 seeds with a bye into the semi-finals, #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5 play one game to reach the semi-finals. In softball, you could easily play the 1st round and the semi-finals on Day 1 and the championship game on Day 2.

[flyingMoose]

The Valley has played several formats in recent years.

1995-2000: Eight-team, double-elimination (won by 1, 3, 5, 2, 2, 4 seeds)

2001-2006: Six-team, double-elimination (won by 1, 4, 4, 2, 3, 2 seeds)

2007-current: Eight-team, single-elimination, double-bye (won by 1, 4, 6, 3, 5, 2, 4, 4 seeds)

With only one #1 seed winning the tournament in the single-elimination era and only three in the twenty years provided, we are definitely not the first team to decry the use of a tournament. In fact (small sample warning), over the eight years of the current format, only two double-bye teams have won the tournament - the same number of teams who have received no bye. Maybe @WuShock16 is onto something.

[1972Shocker]

I'm just generally not a big fan of Conference Tournaments for most sports and that includes softball. A 27-game round-robin league schedule is not enough to determine which team is most deserving of the automatic bid for the Conference? Play another weekend tournament in the non-con portion of the schedule to try to build up your at-large resume for the teams that don't win the auto-bid.

I thought the Valley league race was pretty exciting this year going down to the final weekend of play. But what did it really count for? All-Sports Trophy points I guess. Worthwhile, but certainly not enough of a reward for a full season of work.

[1972Shocker]

Cacy Williams adds 1st team NFCA All-Midwest Regions honors to her cache of post-season awards and Brittany Fortner picks up 2nd team honors.

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=209496608

Cacy's biggest problem is how is she going to top the numbers she put up this year. That will be very tough, especially if teams start pitching around her. The good thing about this young Shocker team though is that the seem to have the fillies to protect their best hitters. So pitch around Cacy and Brittany at your own peril.