Four Ties Help Shape Seeding
FOREST, Va. --- Four different ties dotted the final men's basketball standings, dictating much of the seeding in the upcoming ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament. Unlike last season, there was not a tie that included the top seed with Randolph-Macon College earning this season's top billing.
Three of the ties can be directly seen when looking at the standings, while the fourth resides as an extra step inside the four-team deadlock for second place.
Roanoke College enters the 12-team field as the #2 seed after going 4-2 in head-to-head competition amongst the other three tied teams -- Emory & Henry College, Virginia Wesleyan University, and Washington and Lee University. E&H and W&L went 2-2 in that group, requiring a further step to separate the Wasps from the Generals. W&L's win over E&H in their only regular season meeting awards the Generals the three seed, while the Wasps sit fourth and receive the remaining bye thru the first round.
Virginia Wesleyan, which went 1-3 in that tied scenario, will be one of four first-round hosts on Tuesday, February 20, as the fifth seed. Guilford College earned the #6 position outright, while Lynchburg College's win over Bridgewater College on Saturday proved the deciding factor in determining their 8-8 records. The Hornets hold the seventh seed, while the Eagles put their grips on the eighth position.
BC will welcome crosstown rival Eastern Mennonite University to campus in the first round as the Royals claimed the ninth seed. The remaining tie featured Hampden-Sydney College, Shenandoah University, and Randolph College. Head-to-head tiebreakers took care of this three-team stalemate, with H-SC earning the 10th spot and a matchup at Lynchburg. SU sits at #11 and travels to Guilford on Tuesday, while Randolph will make the trip to VWU as the #12 seed.
RELATED: ODAC Men's Basketball Bracket
Tournament play begins on Tuesday, February 20, with four first round contests at the previously mentioned 5-8 seeds. The winners of those four games will join the top four seeds in Salem at the Salem Civic Center for the quarterfinals on Friday, February 23. Semifinals will be on Saturday, February 24, followed by the championship game on Sunday, February 25.
Listed below is the full schedule for the 2018 ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament. For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites, or go to the ODAC tournament website. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.
All games in Salem can be watched LIVE either on the ODAC Basketball Streaming Channel or via Facebook Live. First round games can be watched LIVE thru each host school. Check the tournament website, bracket and schedules for links.
2018 ODAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS AND SCHEDULE - INTERACTIVE BRACKET
First Round - Tuesday, February 20 - at highest seeds
Game 1: #9 Eastern Mennonite at #8 Bridgewater - 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: #12 Randolph at #5 Virginia Wesleyan - 7:00 p.m.
Game 3: #10 Hampden-Sydney at #7 Lynchburg - 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #11 Shenandoah at #6 Guilford - 7:00 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Friday, February 23 - Salem Civic Center
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. #1 Randolph-Macon - 1:00 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. #4 Emory & Henry - 3:00 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. #2 Roanoke - 6:00 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. #3 Washington and Lee - 8:00 p.m.
Semifinals - Saturday, February 24 - Salem Civic Center
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 - 6:00 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 - 8:00 p.m.
Championship - Sunday, February 25 - Salem Civic Center
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 3:30 p.m