Updated SoCon North Standings 2/23/2012

So what has changed in a day? Everything. As expected, Elon lost big on the road at Davidson. Western led by double digits in the first half over Samford, but the Bulldogs made a late push before falling by two points on the road. UNC-Greensboro has locked the North Division championship with the Elon and Samford losses. Greensboro’s game against Elon on Saturday means nothing to them, but plenty for the Phoenix. With a win and a Samford loss, Elon clinches the two seed. If Elon and Samford tie at 9-9, the 2 seed goes to Samford, with two head to head wins over Elon. If they tie at 8-10, it brings the winner of Appalachian and Western Carolina into play. A three way tie with Appalachian gives Samford the two seed, Appalachian the three seed and Elon the four seed via head to head games against the three schools. Appalachian split those four games, while Elon was 1-3 and Samford was 3-1. If there is a three way tie between Elon, Samford and Western Carolina, the four seed goes to Elon with a 1-3 record against the tied schools. Samford is 2-2, getting swept by Western Carolina, and in turn sweeping Elon. Western would be 3-1 against the tied schools and grab the two seed. In short, these four teams can be in any of three seeding spots, and in some cases four, depending on the results on Saturday afternoon.

Getting the two seed is critical and only Samford controls their own destiny with a win. What is the big difference between the third, fourth and fifth seeds? The third seed in the North plays The Citadel in the first round of the tournament. The fourth seed plays the fifth from the South and the fifth seed plays the fourth in the South, which will either be Charleston or Furman, who are currently tied at 8-9. Charleston is most likely to take the four seed, with a game against Citadel on the road, which is really a couple miles up the street, while Furman travels 30 minutes up the road to Spartanburg. If Furman and Charleston stay tied after Saturday, Charleston gets the four seed since they beat South Division champion Davidson while Furman lost to the Wilcats twice.

SoCon North Standings

UNCG      10-7       @Elon

Elon             8-9        UNCG

Samford       8-9      @UTC

App St          7-10     @WCU

WCU             7-10      App St

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian @ The Citadel Postgame & Updated SoCon North Standings

It is really tough to describe the emotion any Appalachian basketball fan must have after learning about the loss to The Citadel last night. The Bulldogs won for the sixth time last night. It was their third conference win of the season and only fourth win over a Division I team. The Mountaineers shot themselves in the foot last night. Take away Nathan Healy, who had 19 points and hit three of his six three point attempts, and the Mountaineers were 0-19 from behind the arc. The Mountaineers were 17-34 from two point range, but continued to settle for the lower percentage shots. In contrast, The Citadel only shot the ball thirty eight times from the field, but benefited from shooting 21-28 from the free throw line. Appalachian only attempted eleven free throws. The Citadel was one of the worst rebounding teams in the conference but still managed to dominate the Mountaineers on the boards, 36-26. Andre Williamson  managed ten points and fourteen of the teams twenty six rebounds coming off the bench.

Appalachian can still tie for second in the North, but it will do them no good. In the event of a three way tie, Samford would win it and leave Appalachian in the third spot, which would mean playing The Citadel again in the first round. Appalachian could win on Saturday and guarantee no worse than fourth in the North. A loss to Western Carolina would put the Mountaineers in a very precarious situation. If Western can beat Samford tonight, coupled, with beating Appalachian on Saturday, Western would vault to fourth place, dropping Appalachian to fifth place by themselves. If Western and Appalachian were to tie at 7-11, the tiebreaker would go to the fourth and final SoCon tiebreaking procedure, which is the higher ratings published by RPIratings.com. As of February 19th, Appalachian holds that tiebreaker by a very slim margin, but that could change. The final comparison will basically be between The Citadel and Samford, the teams final uncommon opponents.

RPIratings.com

W/L      SS   Rank    RPI

244. Appalachian St.      10  15  .4759 207  .4537

252. Western Carolina    10  17  .4519 264  .4503

 

There is a school that will receive the 2 seed bye in the tournament, but they will not deserve it, no matter who they are. Elon spent most of the first half  of the conference season in first place but has since floundered, losing four in a row. Appalachian has not won three games in a row all season long, which eventually led to their demise. Samford sits in the best position at 8-8, but has two road games remaining.

SoCon North Standings

UNCG      10-7       @Elon

Elon             8-8      @Dav, UNCG

Samford       8-8     @WCU, @UTC

App St          7-10     @WCU

WCU             6-10   Sam, App St