AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > May > 23 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMeaningless game? No way
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech plays Clemson on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with both teams knowing they have no way of winning the ACC tournament championship.
But that doesn’t mean this game isn’t important. Here are three reasons it’s a big deal:
A victory gives Tech a 40-win season and should go a long way toward firming up the case for a regional in Atlanta. The NCAA announces the regional sites on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets started the week sixth in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index and surely wouldn’t drop by going 2-1 in Jacksonville, with victories over RPI No. 10 N.C. State and RPI No. 24 Clemson and a loss to RPI No. 2 Miami.
A Tech victory over Clemson eliminates N.C. State from ACC championship game contention and guarantees Tech will do at least as well this week as the Wolfpack. That could be significant, as N.C. State is a rival in the competition to host one of the 16 regionals.
A victory gives the Yellow Jackets some positive momentum heading into a regional. The alternative is a two-game losing streak.
If Tech wins and N.C. State beats Miami, all three teams will finish 2-1. In that case, Miami advances due to its superior regular-season conference record. That tie-breaker is one of the flaws of the ACC tournament format. So is the fact that it leads to games in which one or more teams know they no longer have a chance to win the tournament.
It’s the price the ACC is willing to pay for a format that guarantees each team at least three games and no more than four. That’s an ideal number for coaches who care more about setting up their pitching staffs for next week’s regionals than finding the fairest method of choosing a conference tournament champion. Settle-it-on-the-field systems, such as an eight-team double-elimination tournament or two four-team double-elimination brackets with a single championship game, can wreak havoc on pitching.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: baseball
Comments
By TechRules
May 23, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this
Was the old system really fair if a team wound up having to win 3 games in 1 day like Tech successfully did a couple of years ago?
By old gold engineer
May 23, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
Mike, you sold me on the importance of Saturday’s game. The coaches and players need to buy it as well. Beat Clemson and pick up some momentum heading into the regionals.
By Dumb Dumb
May 23, 2008 4:25 PM | Link to this
The extra game is dumb!
By Mike Knobler
May 23, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this
TechRules
You make a good point that by reducing the number of games in the tournament to 13 from a possible 15, the current format is better able to adapt to bad weather than the old one was.
old gold engineer
One advantage Tech has is that Clemson has nothing for which to play. I’ll be curious to see if, knowing there isn’t another game until the regional, Danny Hall and pitching coach Tom Kinkelaar decide to pitch Zach Von Tersch in long relief.
Dumb Dumb The problem is, it’s not an “extra game.” You can’t eliminate this game without possibly influencing the outcome of the four-team round-robin.
By Dumb Dumb
May 23, 2008 6:45 PM | Link to this
Thanks, Mike Knobler. Is there anything the ACC can do in the future to avoid such a dumb looking process?
By Joe Hamilton - A Tech Man
May 23, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this
Tech folks will be able to count the number of Tech fans at that game on one hand - unless there are 4 or more.
By Fire Danny Hall
May 23, 2008 7:04 PM | Link to this
Joe, I bet there will be a lot more fans at Tech’s baseball game on Saturday than at Georgia’s. By the way, did anyone ask Danny Hall why he sent Luke Murton from third on a ground out in the eighth inning. Luke is the slowest player in the ACC and was thrown out by ten feet to kill the rally. This came after he feel asleep and left a picher in to give up ten runs when everyone else told him to change pitchers about two innings earlier.
By old Tech fan (in NC)
May 23, 2008 7:39 PM | Link to this
One thing I hope they work on…walking the first batter is about a guarantee to generate something ugly….throw some strikes and try to get a play.
By Mike Knobler
May 23, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this
Fire
I didn’t ask him that question about sending Murton. I thought it was a good gamble to take. Most first basemen don’t throw well, and many aren’t alert to a runner trying to take a base like that. BTW, it wasn’t a ground out; it was a third strike to Brad Feltes that got away from the catcher. No, it wasn’t a sure thing for Murton to score, but it was probably a little better than 1 in 3, which were his chances with two outs and Tony Plagman at the plate.
By Mike Knobler
May 23, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this
Dumb Dumb
I don’t think the ACC will change the format. That’s because the league and its coaches like a format that guarantees teams three or four games instead of two to five, as is the case in a double-elimination tourney.
It’s all about setting up your pitching for the NCAA regional the following week. So, you might ask, why have a tournament at all? Well, it does create an opportunity for a team to earn an automatic bid that wouldn’t otherwise make the NCAA field. (Wake and Clemson were in that position this year.)
Consider UGA. Don’t you think David Perno would love to have had a chance to get his No. 3 starter some work this week in a real game? That’s the down side of the SEC’s format.
By ArkyTech
May 23, 2008 10:24 PM | Link to this
This insane format cost Tech an NCAA bid last year. Why even play a tournament? You can’t get up for a game that means nothing at this level. What an embarrassment.
By zeus
May 24, 2008 12:48 AM | Link to this
Instead of a conference tourney, why not play an extra weekend of ACC competition so that each team plays everybody? Right now the ACC (and SEC for that matter) play 30 games per conference season, three each against ten teams. That always leaves one team that a team doesn’t play. For Tech it was Nc State this year, for UGA it was Auburn…just a thought.
By Dumb Dumb
May 24, 2008 2:14 AM | Link to this
Mike Knobler, good point about the auto bid and UGA situation. I’m sure they would have loved to get their dude some PT and sharpen his skills b/f the REAL Tourney begins.
But…..when a team is eliminated, it seems dumb for them to play “exhibition” ball. You were correct in pointing out this flaw in the format. I’d like to see some type of change, but what would I know, I am dumb dumb?
By Dumb Dumb
May 24, 2008 2:33 AM | Link to this
1 last Question, Mike Knobler,
What if either team has a key player go down with an injury in today’s “tournament game” although both teams have been eliminated from contention? That would be DUMB!
By Mike Knobler
May 24, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
Dumb Dumb
You’re right that an injury today would be one of those d’oh moments. I just don’t know of a solution that accomplishes all of a conference’s goals — an NCAA tournament chance for a team that might not otherwise qualify, setting up the pitching for the regional, creating a tournament championship that teams can play for — without the flaws of this format.
By Dumb Dumb
May 24, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this
Ok, Mike Knobler.
By Merlyn Brown
May 25, 2008 5:33 PM | Link to this
Mike, you just reported that Amanda McDowell won the NCAA Singles Championship. She just won against the lady from Auburn, but must play the lady from Baylor tomorrow, Monday, 5/26 for the NCAA Championship. Amanda’s Baylor opponent tomorrow won the NCAA Championship Singles as a freshman in 2005. So, she’s good. Amanda still has some work to do. Amanda is very good too. And,on her game! So, Amanda in straight sets tomorrow!
By Merlyn Brown
May 25, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
Mike, I should have had the Baylor lady’s name in my first post, sorry. Amanda’s Baylor opponent tomorrow, Monday 5/26 for the NCAA Singles Championship is Zuzana Zemenova. A nice Irish girl, for sure.