Six Ties Dominate Final Conference Standings
FOREST, Va. --- The ODAC tiebreaking procedures got a workout following the completion of the ODAC men's basketball regular season. Six ties dominated the league table, with all 12 tournament positions requiring some application of the league rules. Lynchburg College came out on top of Virginia Wesleyan College for the top seed in the upcoming ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament.
The LC versus VWC tie required the second step in conference tiebreakers, which awards points based on a five-point scale for wins against all teams in the league. As two of the top-four seeds, the Hornets and Marlins earn byes thru the first round and into the quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center on Friday.
The other two teams joining LC and VWC are Roanoke College and Guilford College. Head-to-head results, which is the first step in the rulebook, awarded the Maroons the third seed, while the Quakers will play from the fourth position.
Seeds five-thru-eight were determined by two levels of head-to-head tiebreakers. Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Randolph College, and Randolph-Macon College all finished 8-8 in the league standings. When comparing the records of games amongst just these four teams, E&H and HSC pulled out with 3-2 and 2-3 records, respectively. That awarded the Wasps the #5 seed, while the Tigers will play as the eighth seed. Randolph and Randolph-Macon tied 2-2 in the group analysis, placing them between E&H and HSC and forming a new tie. The WildCats defeated the Yellow Jackets in their only regular season meeting, which slots Randolph at #6 and Randolph-Macon at #7.
Head-to-head results would not be enough to separate crosstown rivals Bridgewater College and Eastern Mennonite University. After churning out the numbers in the five-point tiebreaker, the Eagles will play as the ninth seed and make a return trip to H-SC for the quarterfinals, while the Royals are #10 and travel to R-MC on Tuesday.
Regular season results split the deadlock between Washington and Lee University and Shenandoah University for the final two tournament positions. The Generals enter the postseason as the #11 seed and open with a first round contest at Randolph, while 12th-seeded SU heads to E&H in the first round.
Tournament play begins on Tuesday, February 23, 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 26. Semifinals will be on Saturday, February 27, followed by the championship game on Sunday, February 28.
Listed below is the full schedule for the 2016 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 us on Twitter at @odacathletics.
All games in Salem can be watched LIVE on www.odaclive.com. First round games can be watched LIVE thru each host school. Check the tournament website, bracket and schedules for links.
2016 ODAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS AND SCHEDULE - INTERACTIVE BRACKET
First Round - Tuesday, February 23 - at highest seeds
Game 1: #9 Bridgewater at #8 Hampden-Sydney - 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: #12 Shenandoah at #5 Emory & Henry - 7:00 p.m.
Game 3: #10 Eastern Mennonite at #7 Randolph-Macon - 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #11 Washington and Lee at #6 Randolph - 7:00 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Friday, February 26 - Salem Civic Center
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. #1 Lynchburg - 1:00 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. #4 Guilford - 3:00 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. #2 Virginia Wesleyan - 6:00 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. #3 Roanoke - 8:00 p.m.
Semifinals - Saturday, February 27 - 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 28 - Salem Civic Center
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 3:30 p.m