The Monday Snitch--February 25
Three tournaments featuring top teams from four re...
Southwest Regional
Recap: Notice has officially been served; there's a new sheriff of the Southwest. Although they felt overlooked by their counterparts in the Southwest, the No. 13 Baylor University Bears (Waco, TX) captured their first Southwest championship with a 100*-80 victory over No. 4 University of Texas Austin (Austin, TX). No. 1 Texas A&M University (College Station, TX), No. 21 Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), No. 31 Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA), No. 34 University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR), No. 35 Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK), No. 52 Austin Quidditch (Austin, TX), No. 75 Roadrunner Quidditch (San Antonio, TX), and No. 78 Silver Phoenixes (College Station, TX) all also qualified for the World Cup.
Baylor proved to be the dominant team of the region consistently throughout the tournament, entering pool play as the top seed and winning both the semifinals and finals in dramatic fashion. The finals saw both teams keep the match within snitch range for the entirety of the contest before Baylor ultimately prevailed.
Baylor reached the finals with a dramatic 140^*-110 overtime victory over the hosts, previously unbeaten No. 1 Texas A&M (College Station, TX). The Bears sent the match into overtime with a snitch catch, and then earned the spot in the finals with a snatch with just 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime.
While Baylor had to squeak into the finals, UT Austin had no such problems earning a championship berth with a 210*-30 victory over No. 21 Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), the champions of pool 1. While UT's semifinal victory was certainly impressive, their quarterfinal victory over the Silver Phoenixes (College Station, TX) may have been more so, as the eventual finalists won 300*-0.
Baylor, Texas, Texas State, and Texas A&M each won their respective pools and entered bracket play seeded in that order. No. 31 Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA), No. 34 University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR), No. 78 Silver Phoenixes, and No. 52 Austin Quidditch (Austin, TX) all finished second in their respective pools, earning the fifth through eighth seeds, and won their first match of bracket play to qualify for the World Cup.
LSU was unable to overcome A&M either in pool play or in bracket play, bowing out in the quarterfinals after qualifying for the World Cup with a 140*-30 win over No. 89 Loyola University New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) in the round of 16. A 200*-40 victory by Arkansas over No. 35 Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK) sent them through to the World Cup before Texas State knocked them out in the quarterfinals 90*-30. Before being crushed by Texas, the Silver Phoenixes qualified for the World Cup with a 90*-30 win over Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX). The final team to advance to the quarterfinals (and in the process, the World Cup) was Austin Quidditch, who went through with a 170*-90 victory over University of Northern Colorado (Greeley, CO).
No. 75 Roadrunner Quidditch (San Antonio, TX) earned one of the two spots in the consolation finals, and in the process a World Cup berth. After entering bracket play as the 13-seed, and being knocked out in the first round by Texas A&M, Roadrunner overcame Loyola 150*-70 and Northern Colorado 180*-110 to qualify for the World Cup. In the consolation finals, Roadrunner defeated Oklahoma State 200*-140. Oklahoma State qualified for the World Cup with stellar defensive play in the consolation rounds, beating the Denver Dementors (Denver, CO) 90*-30 and Sam Houston State 70*-30.
At the Southwest Regional Championship, Baylor alerted the world that they are a contender for the biggest prize of them all: a World Cup title. Similarly, the University of Texas has nothing to hang their head about; their offense and defense were especially skillful against the Silver Phoenixes and Texas State. Texas A&M, while obviously disappointed at being knocked out in the semifinals, still remain a favorite to go far in the World Cup. LSU, Texas State, and Arkansas all seem to have a shot to escape pool play, while the other four World Cup qualifiers will be thrilled to earn a spot in the biggest tournament of them all; although Austin Quidditch perhaps could have captured the top spot in Pool 1 over Texas State.
Sam Houston State should be disappointed in not qualifying after starting 2013 so well with a win in the Bottom of the Bracket invitational. Similarly, Loyola could have been expected to perform better. Finally, I picked Northern Colorado to make the World Cup, and although they finished 11th and will qualify if the Southwest earns another bid, they still can be disappointed not to qualify.
Winners: BAYLOR, Texas, Texas State, Arkansas, Roadrunner
Losers: Texas A&M, Austin, Northern Colorado, Sam Houston State, Loyola
Empire Classic
Recap: Six teams from three regions (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Canada), all of whom had previously qualified for the World Cup, descended upon Hempstead, New York for the Empire Classic. Ultimately, No. 2 University of Maryland (College Park, MD) justified their lofty ranking, taking the title 100*-30 over an unofficial group from No. 11 McGill University (Montreal, QC). Prior to the championship match, teams engaged in a round robin competition with the top two competing for the title.
Maryland earned a spot in the championship with a 4-1 record during the round robin. The Terrapins displayed excellent defense throughout the day, holding opponents to an average of 28 points in their five wins (including the championship victory over McGill). Their offense proved similarly gifted as they hit the century mark in four of those five matches, with the fifth seeing them score 90 points. Maryland's lone loss in bracket play was to the unofficial McGill side, but as far as the standings are concerned, this group went 4-0 on the day. Those victories were over some talented teams, as the Terrapins squashed No. 16 Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) 180*-60, No. 24 Tufts University (Medford, MA) 90*-30, No. 38 New York University (New York, NY) 100*-20, and No. 57 Macaulay Honors College (New York, NY) 100*-0.
McGill earned the second championship slot in dramatic fashion. With Maryland already in the clubhouse at 4-1, a 3-1 McGill side squared off against Macaulay, while a 3-1 Tufts squad took on a 2-2 Hofstra unit. With Hofstra overcoming Tufts 120*-20, and McGill winning their match, the Canadian team earned the right to compete for the title.
Tufts gave McGill its lone loss in pool play, finishing in fourth place at 3-2 after their defeat to Hofstra. Likewise, the hosts finished 3-2, losing just twice to the two finalists, and they took third place in the process.
NYU took fifth, earning just a single win against Macaulay, while the Marauders finished 0-5 on the day.
The top four teams were impressive and should all be potent forces come World Cup time. I suspect that depending on their draw, Tufts and Hofstra should both advance to bracket play and maybe win a game there, while McGill and Maryland are both threats to make a much deeper run.
Winners: Maryland
Losers: None
A Cup Worth Fighting For
Recap: Those that named this tournament obviously forgot to consult No. 9 Villanova University (Philadelphia, PA). The champions of the Mid-Atlantic showed up in Charlottesville, VA with just one of their starters, and consequently finished fifth out of seven teams with a 1-3 record.
No. 51 Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA) took home the title, besting hosts No. 61 University of Virginia Whomping Wahoos (Charlottesville, VA) in the finals 40*-10. VCU earned a World Cup berth with a sixth place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, while UVA narrowly missed a spot, finishing ninth, when only eight spots were awarded.
In the semifinals, UVA knocked out No. 103 QC Carolinas (Winston Salem, NC) 60*-10 after the latter went 4-0 in pool play. QC Carolinas defeated James Madison (Harrisonville, VA), No. 65 Virginia Tech University (Blacksburg, VA), Villanova, and UVA in pool play, registering a +150 point differential in the four matches. Impressively for the World Cup qualifying squad based out of Winston-Salem, they caught all three of the snitches that decided matches during pool play.
VCU knocked out crosstown rival No. 44 University of Richmond (Richmond, VA) in the other semifinal match 70*-30. Richmond entered bracket play as the second seed after a 3-1 record in pool play, while VCU finished 3-1. Richmond suffered their lone loss to VCU, with impressive wins over Villanova, UVA, and Virginia Tech.
Finally, let's turn our attention to Villanova. I wonder why they chose to attend this tournament, four-and-a-half hours from their campus, rather than the Empire Classic, which was half that distance, and that featured higher ranked teams. Furthermore, I find it interesting that Villanova chose to bring what is essentially a B-team when rankings are so influential in the seeding process for World Cup. While I certainly respect that they may have wanted to give players that don't always have the opportunity to play a chance, I can't help but wonder what the impact of such a decision could be come April.
Two final matters are worth discussing: first, the scores from this tournament were in aggregate very low. I'm not going to republish them all here, but they can be found on Twitter or Facebook. I can think of three factors that may have impacted this: exceptional chaser defense from both sides (this seems unlikely given most of these teams are well-established and have scored considerably more points in the past); excellent seeker play causing quick snatches (once again, I'm skeptical); and snitches being caught quickly, possibly due to tournament conditions. Regardless of the reasons, shorter games, may be a reason not to read too much into the results from this tournament, as the best teams may not have had the time to exert their dominance.
Finally, while it's impossible to compare the Mid-Atlantic teams to other regions based on this tournament (early rumors suggested that No. 37 Ohio State University was going to attend), it seems to me that some of the lower qualifying teams in the Mid-Atlantic may have real trouble at the World Cup. While certainly the University of Maryland and a full-strength Villanova squad could be major threats, this region doesn't seem to possess many true threats. Based on their recent performances, VCU, QC Carolinas, and Richmond don't seem to pose any danger, while No. 30 Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) and No. 26 Penn State University (State College, PA) have yet to play in 2013. While based on the results of the regional tournament Penn State is the better of the two, I'm skeptical of how good either will prove to be on the national stage. Overall, it looks as though the Mid-Atlantic may be in for a rough trip to Kissimmee, with Villanova and Maryland as the only two possible contenders, and Q.C. Pittsburgh and Penn State as the only other ones that have a shot to make it out of group play (although honestly, that will depend a lot on who is in each pool).
Winners: VCU, Virginia, QC Carolinas
Losers: Villanova, Virginia Tech
Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed VCU as 2-1. This has been corrected to 3-1. The article also listed Villanova as 1-2, when they were in fact 1-3.
Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly refered to the University of Richmond as Richmond University. The editorial team regrets this error.
