Projecting the playoffs

This is always an inexact science. But hey, it's fun!

Here's our best guess at the Field of 28, updated Nov. 13. This is just a guess. This is how we feel the committee would choose and pair the teams if they made their decision today. 

We could certainly name these brackets North, South, East and West, but since teams can move into a bracket that is not part of their region, it's better to just name the brackets as we have traditionally — after their top seed. The NCAA refers to them as Bracket 1, Bracket 2, etc.

Teams in bold have clinched playoff spots. We are projecting some automatic bid winners and not others, depending on how it would affect seedings. We realize that some conference races are still up in the air. Don't get your knickers in a twist if we've named someone else as a winner in your conference.

The Rowan Bracket
1. Rowan (A)
2. Mass-Dartmouth (A)
3. Springfield (A)
4. Muhlenberg (C)
5. Hobart (B)
6. RPI (B)
7. Ithaca (B)
Don't expect this bracket to stay intact long. Since RPI and Hobart play each other this weekend, we believe the loser is out and our No. 8 Pool B team, Washington & Jefferson, slides in. W&J would be a good candidate to go to Mount Union's bracket should Ferrum lose to Christopher Newport in the Dixie title game. Note that Mass-Dartmouth doesn't have a home field this year after problems developed this summer, so they would have to hope to host elsewhere or hit the road.

The Bridgewater Bracket
1. Bridgewater (A)
2. Trinity (A)
3. UMHB (A)
4. Salisbury (B)
5. McDaniel (A)
6. King's (A)
7. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (B)
We discussed last week the, shall we say, unique circumstances that bring Claremont-Mudd-Scripps into this bracket. Their stay here is tenuous. Their strength of schedule isn't thrilling but they still have only one loss. However, they play their toughest opponent of the season, Redlands, on Saturday.

The Mount Union Bracket
1. Mount Union (A)
2. Wabash (A)
3. Hanover (A)
4. John Carroll (C)
5. Wittenberg (C)
6. Alma (B)
7. Ferrum (A)
Believe it or not, Ferrum actually fits into this bracket from a travel point of view, as it's less than 500 miles from there to Hanover. So Ferrum plays at Hanover, Alma at Wabash, and Wittenberg at John Carroll. Wittenberg slides into the final Pool C slot, although Wooster can knock them off this week. There are more North teams in the playoffs, which you will find in . . .

The Linfield Bracket
1. Linfield (B)
2. St. John's (A)
3. MacMurray (A)
4. Augustana (A)
5. UW-La Crosse (A)
6. Lake Forest (A)
7. Coe (A)
No. 3 is a higher seed than MacMurray merits on the field, but on paper they still have the unblemished record. Augustana is unbeaten in-region, but would that be enough to help them? And perhaps the committee might shy away from pairing up the champs of two conferences that haven't won a playoff game in decades.

Some other notes: our next Pool C teams after Wittenberg are Wartburg, then Widener, then Howard Payne, then St. Norbert. Howard Payne could solve some travel issues in the South bracket, but the committee is not supposed to consider that before selecting the teams. Wheaton has a strong SOS as well, but if they win Saturday they will get the automatic bid. If they lose, they are out. No WIAC team is a likely Pool C candidate.

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