College Crossecast Ep. 116: Living On a Prayer (the title is how you can tell it’s a Safe produced episode)

We’re just over 3 weeks away from Selection Sunday and things are really heating up. Conference play is full in swing, as teams battle it out with their frenemies fellow conference mates for a spot in their respective conference tournament. Last night, Jake & I bantered about the games with the biggest stakes this weekend and also chatted some Bracketology as we inch closer to May Madness.

Before we get to the episode, we’d like to send out a special shout out to Scott Kemps, Assistant Athletic Director for Michigan Athletics. Earlier this week on Episode 115, we shared a mailbag question from listener Bob Morris who asked who makes the Big Ten Tournament if Hopkins, Rutgers, & Ohio State all finish at 2-3. While Jake & I figured that head-to-head results would be the first tie-breaker, we were at a loss for what the second, third, & fourth level tie-breaker would be in that scenario. Luckily for us, Scott direct messaged us an answer. We’d like to again thank Bob for the question and big thanks to Scott for sending us a proper answer. You can find the full Big Ten tie-breaker guide directly below.

Big Ten Lacrosse Tie-Breakers

A. Head-to-head Conference game results amongst the tied teams.

B. Each team’s record versus the team occupying the highest position in the standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

Note: When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the tied teams as a group rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.

C. Each team’s Conference goal differential against tied teams (maximum of seven goals per game).

D. Each team’s Conference “goals for” against tied teams (maximum of seven goals per game).

E. Each team’s Conference “goals against” against tied teams (maximum of seven goals per game).

F. The highest overall RPI ranking amongst tied teams.

Note: Follow the appropriate steps in order. In the case of ties among three or more schools, the criteria will be used in order until a team or teams is separated from the pack. At that point, the process will begin anew to break the “new” tie. In other words, when a four-way tie becomes a three-way tie, the three-way tie is treated as a “new” tie and the process begins with the first tie-breaking criterion.

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