Oshkosh beats Carthage, Titans to host regional?

No. 10 UW-Oshkosh defeated No. 7 Carthage in four tonight, possibly paving the way for Oshkosh to host an NCAA regional.

Tonight UWO also swept Simpson, the No. 7 team in the Central Region. Carthage also lost to Central Region No. 8 Luther in four tonight.

Regional hosting rights is mentioned this early – days after the first official regional rankings* – because Carthage, Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater are clearly the top three teams in the region. But Oshkosh has now defeated both Carthage and Whitewater. In addition to that important fact, a little birdy told me Carthage is probably out of the running for a regional due to its gym floor being resurfaced. That would likely leave UWO and Whitewater in the running. Both have great playing facilities, but the NCAA also looks at things like hotel space, which Whitewater lacks. I don’t see how any NCAA hosting criterion would be in Whitewater’s favor over Oshkosh. The peripheral NCAA hosting criteria are subjective in some ways, but UW-W also lost to both Carthage and Oshkosh this season. In the three-way hosting battle, that’s a lot of advantages for Oshkosh.

Oshkosh still has difficult matches remaining, including another meeting with Carthage (on Oct. 31, no less), a matchup with West Region No. 2 East Bay, a tester against Midwest Region No. 8 Elmhurst and the always stressfull conference tournament, in which UWO hasn’t played well in recent years. But the best Carthage and Whitewater can do is a season split with Oshkosh. If UWO doesn’t lay an egg in the two weeks prior the NCAA’s regional host announcements, how can you deny the Titans?

*NCAA Regional Rankings (released Oct. 22, records through Oct. 19)
MIDWEST
1. Carthage 20-1 (overall) 18-0 (in-region)
2. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 25-2 23-2
3. Wisconsin-Whitewater 21-6 15-5
4. Wisconsin-La Crosse 21-7 19-7
5. Millikin 17-10 9-4
6. North Central (Illinois) 17-9 11-6
7. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 14-10 13-9
8. Elmhurst 16-9 12-7

CENTRAL
1. Washington U. in St. Louis 22-5 (overall) 14-2 (in-region)
2. St. Thomas (Minnesota) 22-2 21-2
3. St. Benedict 25-3 25-3
4. Gustavus Adolphus 21-3 18-2
5. Concordia-Moorhead 17-2 16-1
6. Nebraska Wesleyan 13-8 9-3
7. Simpson 16-9 15-9
8. Loras 21-4 19-4

-Ricky Nelson