2013 Southwest College Regionals Preview (Open)
James Erdmann
Posted: May 1, 2013 01:40 PM
Event preview by Azusa Pacific coach James Erdmann, as a part of our 2013 Regionals coverage.
At first glance, the Southwest region appears to be having an off year. One might guess that the two teams to qualify for Nationals this weekend will be seeded towards the bottom of the group in Madison. However, we’ve often seen teams turn it on late in the year and do well at Nationals, so don’t count any of this group out just yet. The relative parody in the region should make for an exciting weekend in Santa Barbara.
The field consists of mostly familiar faces from the big University of California schools, Stanford and Arizona. Azusa Pacific University and Cal-Poly Pomona will make rare appearances. Two wins in the group stage should be seen as a successful trip for these teams (the same should be noted for California-Irvine, Cal State-Long Beach and Chico State as well).
The Favorite
Arizona is the clear favorite to make it out of the region, having lost to only two teams from this side of the Mississippi. Going 1-1 at their three-team Desert Conference Championship is somewhat concerning, but if they can find the early season form that saw them win the Stanford Invite and Presidents’ Day, they should have no problem moving on.
Up for Grabs
The second spot is completely up for grabs. Stanford, Arizona State, and Las Positas are the best prospects to be in the play-in game on Sunday. Santa Cruz, Davis, San Diego State and Berkeley will all make a play for it, but each team has been relatively inconsistent throughout the year.
SDSU played the dark horse at the SoCal Sectionals tournament, upsetting both Black Tide and the Air Squids. The Feds will gladly play that role again, but do they have the depth to continue their late-season run? Santa Barbara, San Diego and UCLA will all compete in every game but lack that little something extra needed to get to Nationals.
All of the top eight teams have beaten and have been beaten by at least one of the other top eight teams this year. The Southwest might not be the best region in the country, but this could prove to be the most exciting Regional Championship of the year.
Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.