After a stunning loss in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals, Ball State women's volleyball team's season finished Friday. The loss prevented the Cardinals from earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and made the chances of an at-large berth bleak.
But Steve Shondell is still practicing his team.
Shondell said he believes his team has done enough to gain at-large entrance into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Until he's officially told otherwise, Ball State will continue with its practices.
"I think the selection committee has to take into consideration that we won the conference by two games in one of the strongest years for the MAC, have a strong RPI and remember how we started the year and ended the year," he said.
Much like the basketball tournament in March, 64 teams are afforded the opportunity to compete for the national championship. The selection committee for the NCAA Tournament is comprised of 10 representatives from conferences and schools around the country. Terry Gawlik, associate athletic director at Wisconsin, is the committee chair that will over see the process this year.
The committee will gather Friday and work 24 to 48 hours in establishing the field of 64 teams. The field will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPNNEWS.
Gawlik could not speak about Ball State or any specific team's chances of making the tournament, but he said the committee has put in months of work in order to select the right teams.
"It's important to note that the committee comes into this weekend fully prepared after spending the entire season, tracking on and watching close to all of the teams involved," Gawlik said via e-mail. "The process is really a season-long process for the committee members."
The process begins with the selection committee establishing the 31 automatic qualifiers, each of which have won their conference tournaments. The committee then establishes all teams that were regular season champions, like Ball State, who did not win the automatic bid.
If Ball State doesn't get eliminated early in the committee's process, the Cardinals resume would be discussed and evaluated. The committee looks at several different pieces of information, including a team's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), during the evaluation process.
"Teams must have an overall won-lost record above .500 and eligibility and availability of student-athletes for the championships," Gawlik said. "We also consider results against common opponents."
The Cardinals were 45th in the RPI prior to the MAC Tournament, have a 24-4 record (14-2 MAC), won the regular season championship, won its final 10 matches of the regular season and beat Northern Illinois and Western Michigan — also in the running for at-large bids. But its loss Friday against Toledo ended Ball State's season sooner than many expected.
Shondell said the committee should take an entire season into account, not just one game. Gawlik agreed with Shondell's sentiments.
"The committee takes a look at a team's full body of work when determining if they should be selected to the tournament," Gawlik said. "They are reviewed with all the other at-large selections and compared accordingly. Once the automatic qualifiers have been determined, the committee looks at every Division I team individually, and not by what conference they are affiliated with.
"Every team will be evaluated on their full season of work. The committee has access to all the information needed to make an educated but tough choice."
Programs with no ties to Ball State may control the Cardinals' fate. Butler, for example, won the Horizon League Tournament as the second seed. The Horizon League regular season champion, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, lost in the semifinals to the fourth seed and ranks behind Ball State in the RPI.
More regular season champions winning their conference tournaments allows more at-large spots for Ball State to potentially fill.
"There is always a cutoff point, and it is very difficult for teams that feel they were ‘on the bubble' and then not selected," Gawlik said. "The committee follows the criteria in place and selects the best teams based on that criteria."
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