Thursday Bracketology

Bracketology, the study of the bracket. Look at the Sectional bracket. The big question in breaking down this bracket is, which match do you want to draw? There are three distinct match possibilities.

1. "The Play-In Game"

The PIG has some awesome advantages, while at the same time, it offers some real nightmares.

Advantages first: You get to start playing. While the other three teams practice and wait, you get to get the Sectional started two days early. Playing in the first game, you have a chance to get the jitters out of the way and get some momentum going with a win. If you win the PIG, you won't be playing your first Sectional match on Saturday morning, and your opponent will. Another advantage is if you are the underdog, your opponent may arrive at the Thursday match less prepared to take you seriously.

Disadvantages: You could end too soon. If you win the PIG, everything is roses. If you lose, everything is that much more bleak. When you begin your season, nobody sees it ending on a Thursday night. At worst, they imagine losing in that Saturday round of Sectional. Losing on Thursday night makes the season end too abruptly. You are back at school the next day, feeling like you should have practice but having nowhere to go. In addition, if you are an underclassman and lose the PIG, you don't get the experience of Sectional Saturday, which is something to be figured out in and of itself.

Bethany History in the PIG: Since I've coached at Bethany, we've only played on Thursday night once, when we defeated the heavily favored Falcons of Fairfield, 3-2, in one of my top 5 favorite matches ever. So, the Bruins have a nice history in the PIG match.

2. "The Predetermined Semifinal"

This match pits too teams together who drew each other straight in the blue-bottle draw. From Selection Monday and on through the week, you know who you are playing and what you are up against.

Advantages: The main advantage of this match is knowledge. And this knowledge can lead you to preparation. In 2006, we drew NorthWood in this matchup, and we had to get the doubles prepared to attack and worked consistently with Luke trying to get him ready to face a player who hits every shot back. In 2005, we drew Jimtown in this match, and we knew we had to take the lower positions and so we drilled hard to get them ready to attack. Last year, we drew Fairfield and tried to prepare everyone with a style of play that would suit their opponent.

Disadvantages: You have to think about it all week. You know who you are playing, you know your previous result against them, and it is hard to not let that get in your head over a long 5 days. When we beat Fairfield 5-0, we thought about it all week and came out to play unprepared and complacent. When we lost to Fairfield last year 4-1, we thought about our losses and weren't quite ready at some positions to be aggressive. The worry can drive you nuts. No worry this year, just play!

Bethany History in The Predetermined Semifinal": Besides the Fairfield PIG match, we have always been drawn into this match. That's 6 times since I've been coaching. In 2003 we lost to Goshen, 2004 and 2005 were to Jimtown, and 2006 to NorthWood. In 2008 and 2009 we split first round matchups with Fairfield. So that makes 1-5 in these matches, so, naturally, I'm not really excited to be drawn here.

3. "The Undetermined Semifinal"

This matchup pits the winner of the PIG against a team that just sits there and waits to know its opponent.

Advantages: You can focus on you. The whole week, you don't have to worry about who you play, just how to get better. You can fine-tune your game so that you are ready to play your best. However, you also get involved in the spirit of the Sectional a bit earlier. In other words, if I was in this match I would go to the PIG and watch the teams play (after practice of course). That would get me mentally involved in the Sectional at least, with energy for the matchup on Saturday.

Disadvantages: The uncertainty. I think that is the big thing, you just don't know who you are playing (although you can usually guess).

Bethany History in "The Undetermined Semifinal": Since I've been coaching, we've never been drawn into this spot.

Summary

So where would I want to be drawn? Well, the optimal in my opinion is to be drawn into the PIG against a team you can beat. I like getting the Sectional underway, I like playing, I like getting the momentum going. Plus, we don't have a great history in the others, though we did win the Sectional from the "Predetermined Semi."

What do you think? What draw would you have liked? What are you hoping for this year? Does it not matter at all?