Men’s tennis NCAA bracket released

The NCAA announced its selections for the 2007 NCAA Division III men’s tennis tournament today. There were no real surprises among the 41 teams chosen. The two teams from last season’s championship game - Emory University and Middlebury College - return to the tournament as number one seeds this year.

Oddly enough, the bracket features three teams with sub-.500 records - the University of Redlands (12-14), Swarthmore College (6-9) and Ithaca College (9-12). Hat Trick doesn’t pretend to be a tennis expert, so (unfortunately) we won’t have any predictions for this tournament. But as consolation, there will be plenty of updates over the course of the next two weeks or so on how the tournament unfolds.

Chiefs tab Allan with 231st overall pick

This weekend Hat Trick celebrated one its favorite holidays of the year - the NFL draft. And while the draft always has its fair share of story lines, the player I was following the closest was Whitworth College tight end Michael Allan. I’ve mentioned him a few times leading up to this weekend and was not surprised that his name was called. When it was called did come as a bit of shock.

Projected by multiple sites to go anywhere from the early fourth to the sixth round, Allan lasted until mid-way through the seventh and final round. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him with the 231st overall pick. I’ll admit, I was pulling for Allan to last one more pick so my beloved Seattle Seahawks could take him (and they likely would have). But the draft can be a cold reality sometimes. Unfortunately for Allen, he will likely see minimal, if any, playing time in Kansas City, as he’s stuck behind all-world tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Playing time aside, Allan’s selection in the draft serves as a huge boost to all Division III football players out there. The NFL isn’t completely out of reach any more.

Not too shabby

It’s been a slow weekend, and I love the chance for self promotion as much as the next guy, so why don’t we revisit my Empire 8 men’s tennis predictions from a few days ago.

The top four seeds - Nazareth College, St. John Fisher College, Ithaca College, Rochester Institute of Technology - all advanced to the second round, which I correctly forecasted. Then third-seeded Ithaca and fourth-seeded RIT pulled off upsets against St. John Fisher and Nazareth, respectively.

Yes, that’s right, I predicted all six matchups correctly. Unfortunately, I tabbed the Tigers to defeat the Bombers in the championship match. Ithaca won 6-3 earlier today. Alas, I am human after all.

But I’ll take six out of seven any time. As Dave Chappelle might say, “Byahh!“

Empire 8 gears up for tennis action

So I’m really sick of writing about the weather, but it needs to be noted that virtually all the snow has melted. This is good news for virtually everyone, especially athletes on spring teams. It’s bad news for those still holding on to winter, but really … just go to Antarctica or something.

On Thursday, the Empire 8 announced the seeds for their Championship Tournament, which is scheduled for this coming weekend. The tournament, which has been won by either Ithaca College or the Rochester Institute of Technology every year since its existence, features all eight teams. Nazareth College nabbed the top overall seed and will face eighth-seeded Utica College. The rest of the matchups include:

Second seed St. John Fisher College vs. seventh seed Elmira College

Third seed Ithaca vs. sixth seed Alfred University

Fourth seed RIT vs. Hartwick College

The schedule is listed on the Empire 8’s announcement, so I won’t bore you with more times and numbers. Instead, I’m humbly offer my predictions. For starters, I don’t see any upsets happening in the first round. So that means we’ll see No. 1 Nazareth against No. 4 RIT and No. 2 St. John Fisher against No. 3 Ithaca. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Hat Trick has been around college sports long enough to know that experience counts in championship settings. That’s why I’m predicting an Ithaca - RIT final, yet again.

And the champion? Well, judging by how Ithaca has played lately, I’m going to go with RIT. Final prediction - RIT 5, Ithaca 4, mark that down.

Sweet weather…

Well, so much for the 40 degrees and cloudy that was predicted last night. The baseball game between Ithaca and Cortland was postponed today, with no make-up date announced. To say that Hat Trick is disappointed would be an understatement. Hopefully this game happens at some point this season. As soon as a make-up date is released (if it is), I’ll have it posted here.

Rivalry transcends all sports

Anyone in the Ithaca area tomorrow should swing by Ithaca College’s Freeman Field at 4 p.m. to check out the Ithaca - SUNY-Cortland baseball game. Of course, this is assuming the weather cooperates. As of now the forecast says it will be around 40 degrees and cloudy with a 10 percent chance of rain, so things look good.

The Ithaca - Cortland rivalry is one of the best in all of college sports. The two schools are best known for the annual Cortaca Jug football game every fall. But in reality, the schools face each other in virtually every sport. In fact, the baseball teams have an intense competition going, one that has seen Cortland defeat Ithaca in the New York State Regionals each of the past two seasons.

The Red Dragons, ranked third in the nation, also handed the Bombers a 9-4 loss on April 3rd in Cortland. The score stood at 4-3 in favor in Cortland before senior right fielder Dan Maycock belted a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the game out of hand.

Ithaca enters the game with an overall record of 12-8, while Cortland has an impressive 22-3 overall record. Maycock is in the midst of a career season for the Red Dragons, sporting a .470 batting average, five home runs and 37 RBIs. For Ithaca, junior right fielder Eric Ferguson leads the team with 22 RBIs, while senior right fielder Jeremy Peters leads the team in batting average (.425) and hits (31).

Make sure to check theithacan.org later Wednesday night for a complete recap of the game.

April should bring golf weather, not snow

As The Big Spoon pointed out, it snowed today - a lot. And while Hat Trick didn’t have any plans to hit the local links for a hearty round of golf on this exact day, I have been known to pay some visits to driving ranges. Oh, and in mini-golf - I challenge anyone to 18 holes. So while my golf skills are somewhat limited, my golf interest is still pretty strong. That’s why I was pleased to find an update on ncaasports.com about a recent D-III women’s golf tournament that was held in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the town neighboring my home town.

The Vassar Invitational, which was held at Casperkill Country Club this past weekend, was won by the Williams College Ephs for the second year in a row. Not surprisingly, the weather forced the normally two-day competition to shorten to one day.

The website also listed information for the eighth annual NCAA Championships, which will be held in Florida this year. All of the selected teams will be announced at 6 p.m. on April 30th, with the tournament taking place from May 8th-11th at the El Campeon Golf Course at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.

So get pumped for some intense spring golf in the coming weeks. For now though, better keep your clubs in the basement.

Wooster continues undefeated campaign

After a week of speculation, including a breakdown of the top four D-III baseball teams in the country, Hat Trick has spent a good portion of today analyzing the latest American Baseball Coaches Association poll. Released earlier today, the poll once again features Wooster College at the top (seven first-place votes, 239 points). The other top three teams from the last poll all remain there, although Emory University passed SUNY-Cortland for third place in this week’s poll.

Some other tidbits to note:

Eastern Connecticut State University rose the most in this week’s poll, jumping all the way to the 13th spot after being unranked in the last poll.

Pacific Lutheran University also had quite a jump in the rankings, climbing from unranked to 14th.

Washington and Jefferson College fell 12 spots to number 28 in this week’s poll.

Last year’s National Championship game runner-up, Wheaton College, continued its rise to the top five, improving from 10th to seventh. Meanwhile, defending National Champion Marietta College continued its downward spiral, falling from the 25th rank to a two-way tie for 30th.

College sports loses a legend

While the man never coached a single game on the sidelines of a Division III football program, Hat Trick has to acknowledge the life and accomplishments of former Grambling State University football coach Eddie Robinson. Robinson died late Tuesday night after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 88 years old.

Beyond what Robinson did as a coach on the football field (408 wins and 165 losses in a staggering 55 seasons), Robinson did so much more for both African Americans and college sports. More than 200 of Robinson’s players went on to the NFL or other professional leagues, but more importantly, most of Robinson’s players left Grambling with a college degree. Paul Younger (nicknamed “Tank”) became the first player from an all black school to reach the NFL when he signed with the Los Angeles Rams.

When he retired from coaching in 1997, Robinson had the most all-time coaching victories in all three divisions of college football. John Gagliardi of D-III powerhouse St. John’s surpassed Robinson in 2003, but the two remain the only coaches to ever eclipse the 400-victory mark.

All of college sports should pay respect to the man that helped African Americans rise to prominence in the sport, and in the classroom.

Handicapping the latest baseball poll

While the Florida Gators are celebrating their second consecutive National Championship tonight, a number of teams are battling to stake their claim as the top Division III baseball team in the country. In the last ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) poll, Wooster College was ranked first, but just barely. With three first-place votes and 233 points, they barely edged out second place Chapman University (two first-place votes and 228 points).

SUNY-Cortland sits in third place with three first-place votes and 222 points, while Emory University is in fourth place with 211 points. My math skills are less than stellar, but by my calculation that is four teams separated by a mere 22 points. However, this poll was released March 26, so a lot has happened since then. Let’s break it all down:

Wooster - They certainly haven’t hurt their chances of losing the top seed. Wooster was 15-0 when the poll was released. Four consecutive wins later, their record stands at 19-0.

Chapman - Sporting a record of 19-3 when the poll was released, the Panthers have gone 3-1 since then. Their record of 22-4 should keep them among the top four teams, but the one loss might cost them a chance at the top spot.

Cortland - The biggest surprise on this list, the Red Dragons held a perfect 13-0 record at the time the last poll was released. They’ve come back down to Earth in the past few games, compiling a 3-2 record. At this rate, expect Cortland to slip a bit.

Emory - Just like Chapman, Emory had a 19-3 at the time of the last poll. And, just like Chapman, they’ve compiled a 3-1 record since that point. While they probably won’t jump into the top spot, they should surpass Cortland and possibly Chapman in the rankings.

Of course this could all change within the next week, as the next poll isn’t released until April 9. Stay tuned.