East vs. West

[DonCChatt]

For the last several years there has been discussion on what part of the state produces the best teams, and one measure is certainly State Championships. For this thread, however, I?€™m taking a different approach. I?€™m also going to limit my discussion to East vs. West (sorry Middle). I?€™m defining East as the eastern third of the state, roughly the Chattanooga area, up through Knoxville, and into the Tri-Cities area. West is the western third, with Memphis and Jackson mostly. I?€™ve also limited my analysis to teams currently ranked in EuroSport on one of the 3 polls ?€¦quot; A/AA, AAA, and D2.

 

Throughout the season, many teams (mostly through their tournament selections) have traveled East or West, and played a variety of teams. The current polls have 10 Eastern teams ranked (ND, CCS, CAK, Catholic, Oak Ridge, Bearden, Soddy Daisy, Farragut, Baylor and GPS). I found 8 western teams ranked (USJ, JCS, Collierville, Houston, ECS, Briarcrest, St. Agnes, and St. Benedict).

 

Unfortunately, several of these school have played no schools from the other end of the state, so I?€™m dropping CCS, Catholic, and SD from the east, and USJ, JCS, and St. Benedict from the west, leaving 7 eastern and 5 western teams in this analysis.

 

Analyzing these 12 schools, and looking any east vs. west match-up, I found a total of 20 games played so far this year, 10 between these teams, and 10 between one of these teams and some unranked opponent. How did it go?

 

For the 20 total games, East won 11 games, West 5 games, and 4 tied

 

East Wins (ND over Hutchison and Houston, OR over Briarcrest and Houston, Bearden over Houston, Farragut over Houston, Cleveland over Briarcrest, Baylor over Hutchison, Collierville, and Houston, and GPS over Hutchison)

 

West Wins (Collierville wins over Bearden and Oak Ridge, ECS win over Cleveland, Briarcrest wins over Greenville and Seymour)

 

Ties (CAK vs. Houston, Collierville vs. Dobyns-Bennett, Collierville vs. Cleveland, and St. Agnes vs. Dobyns-Bennett)

 

If you throw out the games where both teams weren?€™t one of these 12 ranked teams, you are left with 10 games. For these 10, East wins 7, West wins 2, and Ties 1).

 

Does this mean anything come play-off time? Probably not. As an aside, I want to point out that Houston wins the cup for the most east vs. west games, with 6 games, followed by Collierville with 5 games and Briarcrest with 4 games.

 

Comments?

[nizolek]

Interesting.

[Canesoverhere]

Interesting for discussion but I can share that the matches played early in the season, e.g. Katie Hunter, Bearden's event are more likely used by coaches to view players, adjust sets, and let everyone on the bench be seen. In light of that, east or west, i would not give a lot of weight to those early matches. The results may end the same, but the games would have to be played to give them equal weight.

[KeeperFan15]

Nice work. Now if you could do Middle vs. East and Middle vs. West, we could put the argument to rest. /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

[theequalizer]

"In light of that, east or west, i would not give a lot of weight to those early matches. The results may end the same, but the games would have to be played to give them equal weight."

 

Huh! It is what is is. The regular season is the regular season, all games count the same, it doesn't matter when it is played. Then after the regular season we have the post season. That's the way it works.

[KeeperFan15]

"In light of that, east or west, i would not give a lot of weight to those early matches. The results may end the same, but the games would have to be played to give them equal weight."

 

Huh! It is what is is. The regular season is the regular season, all games count the same, it doesn't matter when it is played. Then after the regular season we have the post season. That's the way it works.

 

A quick question then. Since TSSAA counts those early events ie. Katie Hunter etc. in the allotment of scrimmages, why do they carry any weight at all? Two scrimmages played as scrimmages against worthy opponents don't count, but if they are played in a tournament format they do?

[DonCChatt]

I only counted regulation games, including things like Katie Hunter, etc. I can agree that outside of your district games, the reason you play them might change, but a W is still a W and an L is still an L. You can't say your wins are great in one thread, then dismiss the losses as immaterial... Having said that, I think it is more than just W's and L's. If Houston has learned anything from their loss to Baylor that helps them go further in the post-season, them I would imagine the Houston coach (boy is he vocal!) will gladly (well, at least grudgingly) accept the loss.

 

My overall conclusions. Team for Team, both sides of the state can (and do) have quality programs. In given years, the talent might be a little bit more concentrated in one team over another, so I'm sure we will continue to see State Champions come from all over the state. This year, at least, the East seems to have had the edge over West during the regular season. In the post season, who knows (I'm sure if the West prevails, Sugarcane will let us all know).

[Guest TheChosenOne]

For the last several years there has been discussion on what part of the state produces the best teams, and one measure is certainly State Championships. For this thread, however, I??™m taking a different approach. I??™m also going to limit my discussion to East vs. West (sorry Middle). I??™m defining East as the eastern third of the state, roughly the Chattanooga area, up through Knoxville, and into the Tri-Cities area. West is the western third, with Memphis and Jackson mostly. I??™ve also limited my analysis to teams currently ranked in EuroSport on one of the 3 polls ??¦quot; A/AA, AAA, and D2.

 

Throughout the season, many teams (mostly through their tournament selections) have traveled East or West, and played a variety of teams. The current polls have 10 Eastern teams ranked (ND, CCS, CAK, Catholic, Oak Ridge, Bearden, Soddy Daisy, Farragut, Baylor and GPS). I found 8 western teams ranked (USJ, JCS, Collierville, Houston, ECS, Briarcrest, St. Agnes, and St. Benedict).

 

Unfortunately, several of these school have played no schools from the other end of the state, so I??™m dropping CCS, Catholic, and SD from the east, and USJ, JCS, and St. Benedict from the west, leaving 7 eastern and 5 western teams in this analysis.

 

Analyzing these 12 schools, and looking any east vs. west match-up, I found a total of 20 games played so far this year, 10 between these teams, and 10 between one of these teams and some unranked opponent. How did it go?

 

For the 20 total games, East won 11 games, West 5 games, and 4 tied

 

East Wins (ND over Hutcheson and Houston, OR over Briarcrest and Houston, Bearden over Houston, Farragut over Houston, Cleveland over Briarcrest, Baylor over Hutcheson, Collierville, and Houston, and GPS over Hutcheson)

 

West Wins (Collierville wins over Bearden and Oak Ridge, ECS win over Cleveland, Briarcrest wins over Greenville and Seymour)

 

Ties (CAK vs. Houston, Collierville vs. Dobyns-Bennett, Collierville vs. Cleveland, and St. Agnes vs. Dobyns-Bennett)

 

If you throw out the games where both teams weren??™t one of these 12 ranked teams, you are left with 10 games. For these 10, East wins 7, West wins 2, and Ties 1).

 

Does this mean anything come play-off time? Probably not. As an aside, I want to point out that Houston wins the cup for the most east vs. west games, with 6 games, followed by Collierville with 5 games and Briarcrest with 4 games.

 

Comments?

 

 

There is no school named Hutcheson /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

[Canesoverhere]

This is perhaps the first time in Coach T that Houston and Collierville WERE included when referring to western Tennessee. Not a negative, not a positive, just an observation.

[DonCChatt]

There is no school named Hutcheson /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

 

 

Now fixed in the original post. One little vowel....

[bluclearsky]

A quick question then. Since TSSAA counts those early events ie. Katie Hunter etc. in the allotment of scrimmages, why do they carry any weight at all? Two scrimmages played as scrimmages against worthy opponents don't count, but if they are played in a tournament format they do?

 

 

 

TSSAA does not count tournament games as scrimmages. Those games are counted in the 16 regular season games that are permitted. The tournament counts as 2 games even if more than 2 are played. Therefore, including tournaments in the orignal analysis was appropriate.

[h2odog]

Does this mean anything come play-off time? Probably not. As an aside, I want to point out that Houston wins the cup for the most east vs. west games, with 6 games, followed by Collierville with 5 games and Briarcrest with 4 games.

 

Comments?

 

Tried to comment the other day, but had some connection issues.

SAA came to Katie Hunter to play 4 games. We only got 3, and the tournament organizers are responsible for the schedule. If Collierville or Briarcrest got more teams from the East, that was the luck of the draw or the organizers pen. They even had 2 West teams from Shelby Country (Memphis) play each other in Oak Ridge. WHY??? Why do you drive 800 miles at considerable expense, hotels, etc. when your schools are 10 minutes away. An opportunity lost.

OR could have given SAA a 4th game, but chose not. Another lost opportunity and enters into your analysis.

 

SAA traveled to Nashville to play 3 games and got 2. One of the teams SAA beat at KH, dropped out when they lost a game or 2 (don't know #s). The organizers said they tried to get another game, but it was at the end of the event and everybody wanted to go home. So, opportunity lost.

 

Most of us try to get those games, but we are at the mercy of tournament officials, unless we can schedule several games over a weekend to make a long trip worthwhile. Collierville and Houston don't invite any other West teams to participate in the Blues City Rivals event. I understand, but it would spread to opportunity to play teams from the East and Middle.

 

When something ( I don't have info ) caused a last minute change to the Rivals schedule, Collierville gave one of their games to another team that had traveled far. That is a class thing to do. I know unforeseen situations occur, but tournament officials should put thought in their schedules to mix the games up and plan for some options, if something goes bad.

 

Last, I don't see why TSSAA does not allow more games. SAA played Oct. 2 and will not play until Oct. 14. While great to let some healing occur, tough when you are going into Post Season. The down time is not good. You can blame the schedule could have been adjusted, but if you want to participate in specific events, you end up front loaded.

 

What I was really trying to say, is that one end of the state does not avoid the other. It is just difficult for a Knoxville team to run to Memphis for a 80 minute game and visa versa. Geography does not produce better teams. It's coaches and programs. Club programs that draw the best players, ie. the Baylor and ND girls, give the better players a chance to train and grow together. Not all areas are so fortunate. Players with exceptional abilities will seek out the opportunity to play with the best if at all possible.