Well, this is Garmansouth to lose.

UNC Pembroke is in a class on its own. If Garmansouth was playing man to man, I'd give him the trophy right away. Since he has built a superclass (some hate it), it's fair to say I never seen a more athletic defensive oriented team in DII. I am pretty sure that team would be going to the PIT or even the NT in D1. How to beat him : speed, ballhandling or pure scoring... I think the pure scoring teams are not ready. I know some owners build such teams but I don't see any in the current top 25. Three points shooting teams could be nightmarish too.

So who are second bests.

1. New Jersey Tech. It's the only team that beat Pembroke this year. Jwinner has the speed and the ballhandling to win it. If the passing game was better, I'd give him a better shot. In 10 games, he'd win 3 against Pembroke.

2. Mercyhurst : Solid scoring, ballhandling, elite speed. It's built for press, yet it's man to man. If it was press, I'd say Pembroke was in trouble. The offense is not elite for an elite team. It's allright though. The passing game is better than New Jersey Tech.

3. Tarleton State : Pretty athletic team, good defense. Elite ballhandling skills. So it's a start against Pembroke. Solid rebounding. It pretty much looks like New Jersey Tech on paper, with better ballhandling. But Tarleton is press while NJTech is man to man. I'd like a bit more speed on a press team to beat Pembroke.

4. Cal Poly Pomona. : What's interesting about that team is that it plays FB. So speed, ballhandling is all there. No need for solid Inside presence, which the team does not have except on rebounds. The team also has enough stamina to get at it against Pembroke elite stamina.

5. Limestone : 26-0, best season for Trentonjoe. Solid team all-around, it might not have enough ballhandling to counter Pembroke D1 athleticism. That 26-0 is tarnished by a bad SOS.

Longshots?

Why not. I see three. N.W Nazarene. It's ranked #1 overall, but I think there are better teams. It's solid, should be a lock for elite eight.
Colorado School of Mines, the team is peaking next year. The way it plays this year will show us a potential NT winner next or an inflated press team.
Philadelphia : DTM has found a recipe for success. It started slow, woke up and the team has been improving ever since. It will peak in two years so beware!

I wish my Tarleton team had a little better chance but I dont see how my guys could score against that Pembroke defense. At least I have no seniors so hopefully I can have a chance next year haha

Well, in the sweet sixteen, there was not a lot of big upsets!!! Only Trenton lost but in OT. Other teams, in my prédictions, are all alive. Owen and his E. New Mexico fastbreak team is in his second sweet sixteen. Maybe he will get by New Jersey Tech. Theonlysis and S. New Hampshire is facing the Deadly Cal Poly Pomona. Ledfoot, season 82 winner, is facing Garmansouth and Pembroke!!! A clash past versus present.

Philadelphia against Mercyhurst is probably the most intriguing game but to be honest, I have Mercyhurst ranked second overall... So I doubt they'll lose that one.

Is School of Mines onto the elite eight? Will see. Tough game against Kyle and CSU Chico.

My prédictions :

Cal Poly Pomona, UNC Pembroke, New Jersey Tech, Mercyhurst and School of Mines.

Well, ELITE EIGHT! Again, there were not a lot of surprises. Philadelphia beat Mercyhurst, which is to me the biggest upset of the tournament so far. Is DTM the best coach in DII Phelan? He won last year, this year I never thought he'd reach the elite eight with his slow start and yet, he proves me wrong, his coaching his amazing. I put him as a longshot, well, he is alive. Mercyhurst needed to go uptempo to win it. It was a key mistake to go slowdown. Losing by two points hurts because that team was really amazing and certainly better than Philly. A normal pace would have won it too probably.

St-Michael's continues its improbable run. A #10 seed in the elite eight. Congrats to Postmike and its fb/press strategy. He is speed, and it seems to be working well for him. People in Colchester, Vermont are ecstatic.

Merrymack beat Tarleton St., but it's not really an upset since Davidcrone's team was probably as good if not better than Tarleton St. The score is probably misleading.

Merrymack College against CSM. My longshot Crushthebean is alive. Merrymack is coming off an impressive win! PICK...

N.W Nazarene against Philadelphia It's the weakest team going into the final four for sure. Now, I had N.W Nazerene going exactly there, so I am sticking with that team since Mercyhurst was my first pick to get to the final four. If Philly was going and winning the NT again, that'd be a good story though.

New Jersey Tech against Cal Poly Pomona. I really like Cal Poly... It destroyed S. New Hampshire. I think it's the end for JWinner's squad. But I don't think Cal Poly has a better shot at winning against UNC Pembroke...

UNC Pembroke prevails!

CSM at N.W Nazarene : Pick, Motion press against motion press. Is IQ important? Won't matter it's pretty even. Is speed important ? CSM has the edge. Is athleticism important, N.W has the edge. Is defense important? Pretty even but a slight edge to N.W.. Ballhandling could play a role, it's pretty even also, the best bh is on CSM, but overall Nazarene is better. CSM is better rounded offensively for sure. It should be CSM, which is scary...

Rematch UNC Pembroke and New Jersey Tech... First game was close. Pembroke went uptempo, N.J Tech slowdown. Pembroke did not really get tired... N.J Tech shot .521 combined which is a concern for Pembroke. It has to find a way to stop the offense. Garmansouth is pretty conservative... He plans the way he planned games all season. The thing is : his team is normally vastly Superior so it does not matter. This game is where he will either let J wins it or he'll dictate the game. UNC Pembroke should be this year's winner.

So finals should be CSM (longshot against longshot) against team ranked #1 (UNC Pembroke) or team rank #2 New Jersey Tech.

CSM won. Congrats. It would be fun if they win because, that'd be a team looking to repeat... It's a Young team, it will peak next year if Crushthebean can replace a bit of LP scoring... The team will lose two key scorers. But not top athlètes... So, you can do without. Trophaeum won back to back title seasons 74 and 75.

New Jersey Tech had the perfect season. It was tough in the NT. First, the team won by 1 pt against Findlay. (I could of won by making a shot from midcourt). Then it went to OT against Cal Poly Pomona. It's biggest feat though is to beat UNC Pembroke, 77 ath overall, 84 def overall, TWICE! And it's team is balanced! 4-2-1-5. UNC Pembroke shot .471 from the FT line. If that team went normal and played -2, maybe the game would have been different.

JWinner got unlucky the past few years, he is the favorite to win the NT now.

Jwinner owns me! Second guessed my game plan and bad shooting. 

Tough one garmin. Really incredible team you built. Happened to be a decent matchup for my guys, but certainly lucky to beat you twice.

Well, congrats to CSM. Well planned. Nice game. JWinner had a heck of a run. I will update the coaches rankings. JWinner loses three points, Crush gets 3.