When a 5-seed Hosts a 4-seed

In case you hadn’t heard, it’s officially set that Michigan will be hosting Kentucky in the first round of the playoffs. The problem? Kentucky is 7-5 and Michigan will finish either 6-6 or 5-7, depending on if they win against Oceanside this weekend in Stealth-Arsenal 2: This Time It’s for Realsies. Michigan could wind up anywhere from alone in 5th to a tie for 5th/6th with Washington to an even more complicated 3-team tie with Beaumont and Washington. In either of the tied scenarios, Michigan would come away with the 5-seed.

In case you’ve been living under a rock — or just haven’t tuned in for the last few weeks (People get busy. I don’t judge!) — there are some issues going on in Kentucky that have led to them finishing the season with an emergency roster. The point of this diabtribe isn’t to explain or dig into the situation. (That may come at some point this offseason.) Long story short, they finished the season — butchered roster or not — at with the 4th-best record at 7-5. (Even if Minnesota loses this weekend to also finish at 7-5, they hold the tiebreaker and are locked into the 3.)

First off, there are plenty of good reasons for Michigan to host the 1st round 4 vs. 5 matchup. From attendance (I would hazard a guess that Michigan’s is higher, particularly down the stretch) to who’s the better team right now (The Arsenal are definitely in the upper echelon of the league right now.) to being able to trust that the game can proceed without worry of internal or external issues … Michigan has the upper hand. And I can see where the league is coming from in terms of having a good audience in attendance for the TV cameras, ticket and merchandise sales, etc. I get it. I really do.

But there’s a problem with this restructuring and it’s called precedent. Not to compare situations — because I’m in no way comparing Kentucky’s sitaution to anything with Albany or any other franchise — but imagine if Albany had won by the necessary 10-point margin and secured the 1-seed and home-field advantage only to have the league step in and say “Nashville leads the league in attendance and they have a bigger footprint, so they’re going to host the Championship.” The actual and hypothetical scenarios have this in common: the team that finished statistically higher in the standaings would end up playing on the road. Additionally, there is potentially light at the end of the tunnel for Kentucky — as a few of the “departed” are apparently returning to the team.

Again … I am in NO WAY comparing the situation of any 2 organizations. I am also not saying that the league made the wrong decision. In all honesty, I cannot say that I wouldn’t have made the same decision and I certainly hope that this situation is a one-off. I can’t help but worry about that, as Kentucky isn’t the only team to have struggles this season. I hope that these matters have been carefully considered because I’d hate to think that I’m just Screaming Into the Void.