The Daily Snitch--Pool 10
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 10. Any questions about how teams will fare, email editorial@internationalquidditch.org.
Photo by Deanna Edmunds
Teams
No. 2 University of Texas (Austin, TX)
No. 20 Tufts University (Medford, MA)
No. 40 Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
No. 50 University of Richmond (Richmond, VA)
No. 92 University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS)
How They Got Here
No. 2 University of Texas-Austin turned in an impressive showing at the Southwest Regional Championship to earn their World Cup spot. UT went 3-0 in their pool to earn the second seed in the bracket. Texas' performance across the bracket was one of the most impressive of the year. They defeated the University of North Texas (Denton, TX) 200-30* in the Round of 16. The quarterfinals saw an even better victory: 300*-0 over the Silver Phoenixes (College Station, TX), while in the semifinals Texas toned it back, defeating Texas State University (San Marcos, TX) 210*-30. Still, UT could not quite complete the run, falling to Baylor University (Waco, TX) 100*-80 in the championship match.
No. 20 Tufts reached the semifinals of the Northeastern Regional Championship and in the process qualified for the World Cup. A 4-0 pool play performance gave Tufts the second seed. In the Round of 16, they knocked Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, NY) out 130*-20. The quarterfinals yielded a 170*-40 victory over SUNY Geneseo (Geneseo, NY) before a 160*-40 defeat in the semifinals to Boston University (Boston, MA) ended Tufts run.
No. 40 Ohio State University went 2-1 in pool play, in the process earning the ninth seed at the Midwestern Regional Championship. In the play-in round, OSU defeated Miami University (Oxford, OH) 120*-50. A 80*-50 victory over University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN) sent Ohio State through to the quarterfinals, where they were upended by Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH).
No. 50 Richmond earned a World Cup berth through its performance at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. A 3-2 record gave Richmond the eighth seed, and placed them in a best-of-three against the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA). Richmond took the series lead with a 110*-30 victory, before UVA leveled the series with an overtime win, 120^*-100. In the rubber match, Richmond sealed their spot in Kissimmee with a 80*-20 victory. A 130*-0 loss to Villanova University (Villanova, PA) in the quarterfinals knocked Richmond out of the regional championship.
No. 92 University of Southern Mississippi earned their World Cup bid at the Southern Regional Championship. A 3-2 record in pool play placed Southern Mississippi third in their pool, matching them against the second place team in the other pool, University of South Florida (Tampa, FL). USM won that matchup 60*-30, but they fell to University of Miami 120-40* in the semifinals.
Outlook
I think Texas is a truly elite team. They have lost just three times this year, twice to Baylor on snitch catches, and once to University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA). Those mark all but one of the contests decided by a snitch grab for Texas, who is 18-3 on the year. UT has shown an ability to run up the score on an unparalleled level. Texas averages 142 points per game, 22 more than their next closest foe. Their defense has been outstanding as well, allowing just 22 per contest, third fewest of any team attending. Having an superb offense and phenomenal defense is a good way to win games, and for these reasons I really don't see Texas being challenged. Tufts is as a strong a team as you would expect from a semifinalist in the Northeast region. They've lost a handful of games, but only one was truly a bad loss, to Harvard. The others were to University of Maryland (College Park, MD), Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY), Emerson College (Boston, MA), and twice to Boston University (Boston, MA) were nothing to hang one's head over. Outside of those defeats, Tufts has a smattering of wins over World Cup bound foes from the Northeast, and a pair of wins over Emerson. They should do fine in this pool, placing second behind Texas, but Tufts is by no means a threat to win it all, unless they can recapture the magic they showed with a run to the finals at World Cup IV.Ohio State has made a habit of playing close matches, with a 5-7 record in games decided by snitch catches. Those matches have come nearly exclusively against World Cup bound foes, which perhaps doesn't bode well for Ohio State. In fact, Ohio State is 3-7 against World Cup bound teams in matches decided by snitch catch. None of those matches saw either team exceed 100 points. Ohio State seems to exhibit a trend, they play low-scoring close matches and then lose on snitch catches.
It is relatively easy to compare Ohio State to Richmond, since both have faced Mid-Atlantic foes. Ohio State is 2-2 against the Mid-Atlantic, with snitch-grab wins over Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA), and University of Virginia, and two losses to Maryland. Against those same teams, Richmond went 6-8. While Richmond did lose three times to the same Maryland squad that beat Ohio State, they also lost numerous times to both VCU and UVA, two teams Ohio State beat. These performances against common opponents, make me think Ohio State is better than Richmond, and would likely prevail in a game between the two.
Southern Miss really hasn't shown any indication that they can do damage at the World Cup. With just a 3-8 record against World Cup foes, and many of those matches coming against less than top teams, they don't appear to be a team that can do any damage.
PredictionTexas 4-0 (Champion)
Tufts 3-1 (Eliminated in Round of 32)
Ohio State 2-2 (Eliminated in Round of 32)
Richmond 1-3 (Eliminated in Group)
Southern Miss 0-4 (Eliminated in Group)
Best Games
Texas def. Tufts 200*-60
Tufts def. Ohio State 90*-40
Ohio State def. Richmond 70*-30
