Beyond the Scoresheet

Suggested seedings, 2016 – Public B

February 15, 2016 on 12:02 pm | In analysis | Comments Off on Suggested seedings, 2016 – Public B

Just about every year, I take my own swing at seeding the NJSIAA Tournaments. These are not predictions, but suggestions; how I would seed the bracket, not how I think the seeding committee will.

For my seedings, I start with division standings, since finishing ahead of another team in a double-round-robin regular season is usually a very good indicator. Then I look at teams’ non-league results and try to compare them against each other. Finally, I try to avoid matchups that pit division rivals whenever possible.

Private | Public A | Public B

Let me just say that after the top four, these rankings were extremely difficult all the way down into the 20s, and there will always be several logical inconsistencies because the results are so convoluted.

Here are my suggested seedings for this year’s Public B state tournament:

1. Middletown North – defending champions, unbeaten vs. publics
2. Glen Rock – unbeaten vs. publics, took Don Bosco Prep to overtime in BCT
3. Lakeland – 1-0-1 vs. Ramsey for division title, only loss to Morristown
4. Ramsey – beat SJMont (who beat GR before deadline), but lost to Lak; other loss to DBP by more than GR
5. Indian Hills – finished ahead of Mah; tied Rwd, Kin, MK
6. Mahwah – beat Kin, Cha head-to-head
7. Chatham (at-large) – beat Mad twice, Cra, tied Nut, MB
8. Kinnelon (at-large) – tied Mad, beat HntC to earn at-large bid over Brick
9. Madison – beat VGR, Sum, close games with Mor, MB
10. Cranford – 0-5-1 vs. tough non-league schedule, including 1-goal Ls to Cha, BR, How, HntC
11. Summit (at-large) – 0-10-1 vs. great non-league schedule; earned my respect and at-large bid for playing that schedule, but could be left out in favor of Brick (which went 0-5-1 against a weaker non-league schedule)
12. Northern Highlands – beat Rox but lost to WayH, Mtville, WMC
13. Roxbury – finished ahead of Mtville, WMC, lost close games to NH, IH
14. Mendham – beat PkV, MK, tied Wall, VGR
15. Jackson Liberty – if you can get past the loss to GL, they have a decent resume (tied Mlpn, beat OB, WE, played Mor, Rwd)
16. Woodbridge – beat OB (which beat Wall), Pri, Hboro
17. Wall – beat Mnroe, Rbville but tied Men, Mlpn, lost to OB
18. Hopewell Valley – finished behind Rbville but beat FrT, tied VGR, PPB, WMC
19. Verona / Glen Ridge – decent ties (Men, HV) but best non-league win was PkV
20. Nutley – would have bene higher, but limited by finishing behind VGR (head-to-head split); all other losses to strong division opponents; tied Cha, beat Hboro, WMC
21. Middletown South – calling card is 2 close losses to No. 1 rival MidN; want to see more non-league wins here
22. Toms River East – 1-0-1 vs. Brick, 1-1 vs. Sthrn, 0-2 vs. JkMem, beat Central 11-1 (all Shore B teams, including MidS, played close games with Central)
23. Princeton – beat Mnroe, tied Mboro, Cra, SB, lost to Wood
24. Ramapo – beat PC, lost to PkV in limited non-league action
25. Vernon – tied Mill head-to-head, beat Ten, PcV
26. Millburn – tied Clifton (which finished behind PC), beat GL
27. Governor Livingston – beat JkLib head-to-head, lost to Mill head-to-head
28. Central Regional – lost big to OB, TRE
29. Wayne Valley – beat Jef and 2 other Haas teams, not much else
30. Jefferson – lost to WayV
31. Morris Hills – love that they made the tournament