GRADE-POINT ANECDOTES: National seeding process questionable

On Saturday, we found out exactly which seven teams are joining the Brandon University Bobcats at nationals next week.

Soon, we’ll know who everyone faces.

In theory, anyone with an Internet connection, the ability to read the English language and an elementary understanding of logic should know the matchups already.

But I’m not sold yet. I’ll explain.

U Sports has a detailed list of six seeding principles to rank the eight teams from Canada West, Ontario University Athletics and the combined Quebec and Atlantic conference, the RSEQ.

If precisely followed, there is one clear-cut best possible bracket.

The quarterfinals should be as follows: No. 1 Winnipeg (CW1) vs. No. 8 Western (OUA3); No. 4 Queen’s (OUA1) vs. No. 5 Saskatchewan (CW3); No. 2 Sherbrooke (RSEQ) vs. No. 7 Brandon (Host/CW4); and No. 3 Alberta (CW2) vs. No. 6 Windsor (OUA2).

The problem — for some folks — is the possibility of an all-Canada West final four, yet another reminder of how far the scale of men’s volleyball prowess tips towards the half of the country that lays claim to all but one U Sports crown since 1995.

Here are the principles.

• The committee must respect the order of finish in conference playoffs, meaning the three Canada West medallists must remain in order, with Brandon as the lowest team from the conference.

• Conference winners have to stay in the top six, which is easy with Winnipeg, Sherbrooke (RSEQ) and Queen’s (Ontario University Athletics) justifiably there anyway.

• Conference winners can’t meet in the first round.

• Matchups between the top two teams in one conference are avoided in the first round — and they go on opposite sides of the draw. I put these two together because the first part is irrelevant when considering the second half.

• Lastly, “conference match ups (sic) will be avoided if possible.”

It’s clearly possible to follow all the procedures.

According to the last full combined rankings of the season on Feb. 18, the eight teams are as follows.

Alberta (1), Winnipeg (2), Sherbrooke (3), Windsor (4), Saskatchewan (6), Queen’s (7), Brandon (11), Western (15).

Winnipeg passed Alberta and Queen’s overtook Windsor for seeding purposes.

You could flip the seeds around and make Sherbrooke the No. 1, but there’s no good reason why the Wesmen shouldn’t be there after their 17-3 season and unbeaten playoff run.

But principles are made to be broken, at least it seems that way when it comes to this draw more often than it should.

So don’t be surprised if the committee ignores the last principle and throws Sherbrooke a bone by letting it play Western in the 2-7 match, ensuring an Eastern team reaches the medal round.

That’ll put Brandon as the No. 8 seed against top-ranked Winnipeg.

PRECEDENT

The skepticism here is based on the past, most notably in 2020 at the University of Manitoba, before the event was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The four Canada West teams were all lumped on the left half of the bracket, which completely defeats the purpose of a national tournament.

To a lesser degree, it happened for the women’s national tournament taking place at the U of M this week.

Their principles are slightly simpler.

They must follow order of finish in conference playoffs, champions must be no lower than No. 6 and conference matchups are avoided in the quarterfinals for the top two teams in any given league.

Well, either the last one is up for interpretation or was merely a suggestion since Canada West runner-up UBC plays Canada West fourth-place Saskatchewan in the 2-7 match.

One can argue UBC isn’t a qualifier since it was the host, or that the principle only removes the possibility of the top two teams facing each other.

With that in mind, the women’s committee gets a pass since it had four conference champions — No. 1 Alberta, No. 4 McMaster (Ontario), No. 5 Montreal (Quebec) and No. 6 St. Mary’s (Atlantic) to slot in amongst two more elite Canada West teams, leaving Canada West’s eighth-place Saskatchewan — which upset top-ranked Fraser Valley in the quarterfinals — and Atlantic runner-up Memorial as the bottom two.

Alberta drew a favourable trip to the final while all signs point to a CW semifinal on the other side, opening the door for a podium sweep.

BEAT THE BEST

Many Canada West fans have longed for a true “West against the rest” national bracket.

And it’d be great to see the Bobcats face the class of the RSEQ in the Vert et Or in the opening round, instead of a team they play three or four times a year.

But if they’re going to win this thing, they have to beat the best regardless. So being seeded below a Western team who also went 10-10 in a much easier league might not be the worst thing.

BU could ride a raucous Healthy Living Centre crowd to an opening-round upset of a team it beat to earn a weekend split last month.

If my skeptical prediction holds true, the Bobcats will have beaten all three teams on their half of the draw, with a home pre-season triumph over the Queen’s Gaels in September and a regular-season split at Saskatchewan.

They proved they could beat anyone when they snapped the Alberta Golden Bears’ perfect season in November, so they know it’s possible.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com