The Monday Snitch: Western Cup Special Edition

by Andy Marmer | February 15, 2013

Welcome to a special edition of the Monday Snitch. It's not Monday and I'm not snitching, but we will take a look at the Fourth Annual Western Cup, which will serve as the Western Regional Championship and determine the six teams that earn a berth to World Cup VI. No. 5 University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) Something good is brewing in Southern California for the Bruins. UCLA boasts an 8-3 record on the year, with their only losses coming to No. 20 University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), No. 10 University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) and No. 4 University of Texas. Further, the Bruins avenged two of those losses, dominating USC in the only game either school has played this semester and also beating Texas. Against teams travelling to the Western Cup, it's impossible to name six that can outlast UCLA. No. 20 University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) Although the Trojans have a lower ranking than their crosstown rivals, they actually boast a better record at 8-2. We already covered one of their losses, a 110-point shellacking by the Bruins in January, but their other is a real mystery: a 20-point defeat to No. 51 Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA). Prior to their two losses, the Trojans were on an eight-game winning streak, with wins over the Bruins and two victories over Miami. Against teams headed to the regional tournament, the Trojans are 5-2, and much like their cross-town rivals, are a shoo-in to make the top six teams. In fact, other than their fluky loss to Stanford, no team in the West besides UCLA has even remained close. It may be left to the Bruins and Trojans to Fight On. The Contenders: No. 8 Silicon Valley Skrewts (Mountain View, CA) The Skrewts have played in just five official games this season, with four coming in the spring. They earned blowout victories over San Jose State Owls (San Jose, CA), Santa Barbara Blacktips (Santa Barbara, CA) and Stanford, narrowly defeated Lost Boys (Lomita, CA) and were edged by No. 7 University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) in the fall. I don't think we can really learn much from the Berkeley game since it was so early in the season, while beating San Jose State, Santa Barbara and Stanford doesn't say much other than that the Skrewts are much better than at least three of the teams that are heading to regionals. A narrow victory over Lost Boys bodes well for the Skrewts as the Lomita squad may be one of their chief competitors, but a 20-point win there does not prepare one for contests against UCLA and USC. No. 7 University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) The Berkeley team's relative inactivity has rendered them opaque to much speculation with regards to their upcoming matches. Outside of their victory over the Skrewts, Berkeley is 4-0 this season with two wins over their “B” team the Golden Snitches (Berkeley, CA) and two wins over rival Stanford, which as far as I know did not feature any members of the band getting involved in the game. Based on their seeming somnolence in match selection, it's tough to tell how good this Berkeley team is, but they did handle Stanford easily which should prove them as one of the better teams in California and therefore a likely enough team to qualify. No. 42 Lost Boys (Lomita, CA) For a more accurate name, this group could consider calling themselves the “We just Lost to UCLA and USC Boys.” Located in Southern California, they often play the region's two juggernauts, which does their record no favors. Still, against teams headed to the West Regionals, they are 5-1 with blowouts victories over Remus Riverside Runners (Riverside, CA), Santa Barbara Blacktips, San Jose State, and Hollywood Harpies (Los Angeles, CA). Their other two matches were a close win over Stanford, and a narrow loss to the Skrewts. A newcomer, they've shown themselves to be one of the tougher teams in California and hence the West. The Last Spot: In my mind there are five teams in the West that are head and shoulders above everybody else, which should make the battle for the sixth spot very interesting. No. 50 Utah Crimson Fliers (Salt Lake City, UT) The Crimson Fliers haven't played many games against teams that will be making the trip to Roseville. Their only contest against such a foe is narrow victory over the Santa Barbara Blacktips. They did however beat Northern Colorado Golden Griffins twice (Greeley, CO) twice, and Northern Colorado beat No. 41 Northern Arizona University Narwhals (Flagstaff, AZ) in the only meeting between those two squads. With little direct information, I'm forced to use the transitive property to predict that Utah Crimson Fliers earn the final World Cup spot. Other Contenders: No. 41. Northern Arizona University Narwhals (Flagstaff, AZ) The Narwhals are clearly the best team in their state that is making the trip. The group from Flagstaff is a combined 4-1 this year against University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) and Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ). They very well may have a shot at making the top six, as it's tough to truly judge the non-California teams because of a lack of games against top-flight competition. Based on common opponents, I'm going with Utah Crimson Fliers over Northern Arizona. No. 39 Santa Barbara Blacktips (Santa Barbara, CA) They are clearly the sixth best team in California. They own blowout wins over San Jose State and Remus Riverside Runners, and a solid win over Stanford, but were handily defeated by Lost Boys and Silicon Valley Skrewts. No. 51 Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) Stanford's sub-.500 history implies a dubious fate for their World Cup chances. They own a 4-5 record this year, with two victories coming over the Golden Snitches, and one over San Jose State. They've lost to Santa Barbara Blacktips, twice to University of California Berkeley, to Lost Boys and to Silicon Valley Skrewts. Yet they beat USC. I have no idea how, but if they can pull off a win of that magnitude, anything is possible for them in Roseville. Predictions: Pool records are predicted as follows: Pool 1: USC: 3-0 Blacktips: 2-1 Riverside: 1-2 Arizona State: 0-3 Pool 2: UCLA: 3-0 NAU: 2-1 Hollywood Harpies: 1-2 Oxy Doxies (Los Angeles, CA): 0-3 Pool 3: Lost Boys: 4-0 Cal: 3-1 SJSU: 2-2 Golden Snitches: 1-3 University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC): 0-4 Pool 4: Skrewts: 3-0 Stanford: 2-1 Crimson Fliers: 1-2 Arizona: 0-3 Seeds entering bracket play: 1.     UCLA 2.     Lost Boys 3.     USC 4.     Skrewts 5.     Cal 6.     NAU 7.     Blacktips 8.     Stanford 9.     SJSU 10. Crimson Fliers 11. Riverside 12. Harpies 13. Snitches 14. Arizona State 15. Arizona 16. UBC 17. Oxy Doxies UCLA, Lost Boys, USC, Skrewts will advance to the semi-finals UCLA will beat USC in the finals. Cal and Crimson Fliers will advance to the World Cup via the consolation finals. NAU will take seventh in the case of an extra bid being awarded to the West.