The Daily Snitch--Pool 1 Preview
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the snitch catch in the Cal-Stanford game from Western Cup IV as 70*-60 in favor of Cal. The actual score was 70-60*.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of the IQA.
Today's Daily Snitch will look at Pool 1. Any questions about how teams will fare, email editorial@internationalquidditch.org.
Photo by Deanna Edmunds
Teams
No. 6 Baylor University (Waco, TX)
No. 19 University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS)
No. 33 University of California, Berkeley
No. 48 Virginia Commonwealth University
Qwertyrians Tijuana (Tijuana, MX)
How They Got Here
No. 6 Baylor University qualified for the World Cup as the champions of the Southwest Region. The Bears finished as the top seed following pool play, earning an automatic World Cup bid prior to bracket play. Baylor defeated Silver Phoenixes (College Station, TX), Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK), and University of North Texas (Denton, TX) in pool play. Baylor continued their run in regionals with wins over Austin Quidditch (Austin, TX), Texas A&M University (College Station, TX) and University of Texas (Austin, TX) en route to the title.
No. 19 University of Kansas reached the World Cup by finishing in the top 10 at the Midwest Regional. After a 2-2 record in bracket play, Kansas overcame Loyola University Chicago (Chicago, IL) 110-30* to earn their spot. In the next round of Midwestern Regionals, Kansas fell to Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) 80*-50, failing to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Kansas' victories in pool play came over Denison University (Granville, OH), and Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL), while their losses were to Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH) and Purdue.
No. 33 University of California, Berkeley finished in 8th place at Western Cup IV, the West's regional championship. Cal went 3-1 in pool play, earning the seventh seed entering the bracket. After a victory over rivals Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA), 70-60*, Berkeley was blown out, 170*-50 by Silicon Valley Skrewts (Mountain View, CA), forcing them to attempt to earn a World Cup shot through the consolation bracket. After defeating San Jose State University (San Jose, CA), Berkeley was defeated by Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ), with a World Cup spot on the line. After losing in both the bracket and consolation semi-finals, when a win in either would earn them a World Cup chance, Berkeley fell to Santa Barbara Blacktips 80*-70 in the consolation finals to finish in eighth place. The Western Region was originally awarded six bids to the World Cup, but also held the first priority if another spot were to become open. This opportunity was originally offered to the Blacktips, who were unable to attend. The spot was next opened to Cal, who accepted the spot in Division I at the World Cup.
No. 46 VCU qualified for the World Cup through more conventional means, earning a spot at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. VCU finished second in their pool with a 4-2 record, earning the sixth seed in bracket play. The squad from Richmond then faced Steel City Quidditch Club (Pittsburgh, PA) in a best of three, which they won handily: 150*-30 and 240*-90. VCU fell in the Mid-Atlantic quarterfinals 150-80* to QC Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA).
Qwertyrians Tijuana earned a World Cup spot through one of the slots reserved for International teams.
Outlook
This is very much Baylor's pool to lose. After beating No. 1 Texas A&M University and No. 2 University of Texas at the Southwestern Regional Championship, these opponents should represent a relative cakewalk. Given the performances of the other four teams at regionals, I don't foresee anyone challenging Baylor, and I expect that they should be able to go undefeated.
However, if there is any team that can challenge Baylor, it's Kansas. The Lawrence-based team's biggest challenge at Midwestern Regionals was their seeker play. In their six games at the regional championship, Kansas grabbed just two snitches, and lost to Purdue twice and Bowling Green State by snitch grabs. At the Spring Breakout, Kansas appeared to have remedied their seeking, with a new seeker, the team caught the snitch in all three official games that have reported scores, twice over University of Missouri (Columbia, MO) and once against University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN). However, their seeking game is still inexperienced compared to some of their more established peers.
Baylor's seeking has been one of the keys behind its emergence. The Bears caught the snitch in each of their five matches against World Cup-qualifying teams at the Southwestern Regional Championship. Their victory over Texas A&M resulted from a regulation snitch catch that sent it to overtime, and an overtime snatch, while Baylor's victory over Texas came when the team caught the snitch down by 10 points. Even with Kansas' improved seeking, I don't think they can match Baylor in that department. Their quaffle game may be strong enough, but their seeking is inexperienced.
I see Cal and VCU competing for the third advancing spot. I don't think either has a chance against Kansas or Baylor, and in all probability will fall to both teams by large margins. I also think both teams will probably handle Qwertyrians rather easily. This means the last advancing spot will come down to the Cal-VCU match.
If the Mid-Atlantic Regional had taken place in the spring, I'm not sure VCU would have qualified. They've lost twice to University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), a team that was unable to qualify for World Cup, in the spring, and also to QC Carolinas (Winston-Salem, NC), a team VCU beat in qualifying. VCU's road to the World Cup was fairly easy, as they didn't have to go through many top-tier teams in qualifying.
Cal also looks like a team that barely belongs. Berkeley barely reached the World Cup, as detailed above, and has struggled all year against top teams (which really consists of a handful of games against the Skrewts, and a contest against NAU and Santa Barbara). In fact, Berkeley is winless against peer teams, and have only beaten teams that can be considered vastly inferior.
While I'm skeptical of both teams, I think VCU is the more complete team and I'll pick them to earn the final advancing spot.
Predictions
Baylor: 4-0 (Eliminated in Elite Eight)
Kansas: 3-1 (Eliminated in Round of 32)
VCU: 2-2 (Eliminated in Round of 36)
Cal: 1-3 (Eliminated in Group)
Qwertyrians: 0-4 (Eliminated in Group)
Best Games:Baylor def. Kansas 90*-50
VCU def. Cal 130*-50
