Playoff Picture

Note: Four of the seven teams qualify for the playoffs.

Women’s basketball:

Seed—Team—Record—Remaining divisional games—Status
1. Millersville 9-0 – vs. ESU/CU/WCU – Clinched Playoffs
2. West Chester 7-2 – vs. Man/BU/Mill – Clinched Playoffs
3. Cheyney 6-4 – vs. KU/Mill – Clinched Playoffs
4. East Stroudsburg 4-5 – vs. Mill/Man/KU – In Contention
5. Kutztown 4-6 – vs. CU/ESU – In Contention
6. Bloomsburg 2-8 – vs. WCU/Man – Eliminated
7. Mansfield 1-8 – vs. WCU/ESU/BU – Eliminated

The ladies are currently on the outside looking in at the PSAC playoffs. They sit at 4-6 and are one-half game behind the fourth and final seed, which is held by East Stroudsburg with a 4-5 record.

There are still a lot of playoff scenarios, so I’ll take a look at some of the major points without going too in depth.

KU’s sweep of Bloomsburg eliminates the Huskies from playoff contention, so the only battle still up for grabs is the 3 and 4 seed. Cheyney wins the tiebreak over KU via their win over West Chester, so KU can only get as high as the fourth seed.

If ESU upsets Millersville in their next game, KU loses the tiebreaker with ESU unless West Chester somehow manages to catch Millersville and win the East. If they do, KU would still need to have beaten Cheyney in their next game to have a chance.

KU can get away with losing to Cheyney if they beat ESU and ESU loses to Millersville and Mansfield. If the teams tie at 5-7, ESU wins the tiebreaker with their win over Cheyney early this season or potentially the upset in over Millersville (if they pull it off).

That is probably a lot to comprehend, but it will clear up a lot more after Saturday’s games. Consider the game at Cheyney a must win for KU. If they lose, their playoff hopes are completely out of their hands.

Men’s basketball:

Seed—Team—Record—Remaining divisional games—Status
1. Cheyney 9-1 – vs. KU/Mill – Clinched Playoffs
2. Kutztown 8-2 – vs. CU/ESU – Clinched Playoffs
3. Millersville 7-2 – vs. ESU/CU/WCU – Clinched Playoffs
4. East Stroudsburg 4-5 – vs. Mill/Man/KU – In Contention
5. Mansfield 3-6 – vs. WCU/ESU/BU – In Contention
6. West Chester 2-7 – vs. Man/BU/Mill – In Contention
7. Bloomsburg 0-10 – vs. WCU/Man – Eliminated

The Golden Bears have already clinched a playoff berth, but are fighting with Millersville and Cheyney for a first round home playoff game and for the PSAC East title (which would make KU the host of the PSAC playoffs). They currently trail Cheyney by 1 game and lead Millersville by one-half game.

If KU wins it’s final two games but still ends up tied at 10-2 with Cheyney, the tiebreaker would go to the Wolves because they would have swept Millersville, while KU split with them.

If KU wins out and Millersville beats Cheyney and loses to ESU or West Chester, KU wins the East.

KU can lose the rest of its games and still clinch a home playoff game if Millersville loses the rest of their games.

The farthest KU can fall is to the third seed, which would mean they play on the road throughout the playoffs at either Cheyney or Millersville.

Leave comments if you would like other scenarios and I will add them as soon as I can.

The playoff tiebreak criteria according to www.psacsports.org:

“The committee will review the records and the following criteria in order listed for the selection and seeding of the first four teams in each division.

a. Head to head competition within mandated schedule.

b. Record with teams above tied teams, starting with highest team, etc. and proceeding in descending order until the tie is broken. If tie is for first place, start with next team below and go in descending order until the tie is broken. If there are ties for more than one place, the highest seeds must be determined first and then work in descending order. This is within Division.

c. Number of wins against NCAA Division II opponents at or over .500.

d. Winning percentage against NCAA Division II opponents under .500.

e. Coin toss.”