puzzle

[dem]

I couldn't help myself when WCHoops made this statement:

". . . by being one of two division one teams to end the year with a win. "

So I responded to them:

"Whoops, think I caught you here. There are actually more than two D-I teams that get to finish the season without tears. But I'll let you solve the puzzle on your own."

Actually, I've been thinking about this for the past week. After watching one team after the other finish a great season with a gut-wrenching loss and buckets of tears, I began to wonder about the lucky few that don't have that unpleasant final memory. And I was somewhat comforted by the realization that the number was at least a LITTLE more than two.

So I put this puzzle to you Hoopscoopers . . . How many is it?

[mred]

The obvious two: NCAA and NIT winners.

Others: Independent schools or schools in conferences without tournaments who win their last regular season game but don't make the postseason. The only conference without a tournament is the Ivy League.

Independents winning their last game but not in NCAA Tournament or NIT: Lipscomb, TAMU-CC
Ivy Leaguers winning their last game but not in NCAA Tournament or NIT: Columbia, Princeton

That's 4 in addition to the NCAA and NIT champions. Did I miss any?

[dem]

13 minutes, mred? What was the delay?

(Good work, though. I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot about the Independents! Any others we've missed?)

[dem]

I have found at least one more. There are probably several others. This turns out to be a harder question than I first realized.

[mred]

Oh, that's right. Not all conference tournaments include all of the conference's teams. Hmmm... Let me look into this more. I'm going through every single conference...

[This message has been edited by mred (edited 03-27-2002).]

[mred]

My findings:

31 conferences
30 conference tournaments (no Ivy League tournament)
11 conference tournaments do not include every team (America East, Atl. Sun, Big East, Big Sky, Big West, Conf. USA, MO Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Southland, SWAC)
25 Teams in these 11 conferences did not play in their conference tournament
6 out of these 25 teams won their last regular-season game: South Florida (Conf. USA), Illinois St. (Missouri Valley), UMBC (Northeast), Robert Morris (Northeast), Sam Houston St. (Southland), and Ark-Pine Bluff (SWAC)

That's 12 total:
1. NCAA Tournament Winner
2. NIT Winner
3. Columbia
4. Princeton
5. Lipscomb
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
7. South Florida
8. Illinois State
9. Maryland-Baltimore County
10. Robert Morris
11. Sam Houston State
12. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

[DblT81]

Wow, Mred, you are my hero. I love this kind of stuff.

Thanks dem for the topic.

[KSUron]

I applaud your work but I think my daughter would look at this thread and say "too much free time". http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/wink.gif

[mred]

Originally posted by KSUron:
I applaud your work but I think my daughter would look at this thread and say "too much free time". http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/wink.gif

I believe the operative phrase is "sick day". http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[dem]

Thanks mred for your exhaustive analysis. I believe you have provided the comprehensive answer to the question, "Which of the 321 D-I teams this year finished their final game with a smile on their face?"

(Put that on Jeopardy under the heading "Women's College Basketball" and see how many people get it right!)

[This message has been edited by dem (edited 03-27-2002).]