Actually a Sports Blog

ACC: Virginia Tech America East: Vermont  American Athletic Conference: East Carolina  Atlantic-10: Saint Louis Big East: Connecticut  Big Sky: Sacramento State  Big South: Gardner-Webb  Big Ten: Iowa Horizon League: Cleveland State Mountain West: UNLV Pac-12: Washington State  SEC: South Carolina Southern Conference: Chattanooga  Southland: Southeastern Louisiana Summit League: South Dakota State           Sun Belt: James Madison West Coast Conference: Portland

Atlantic Sun: Kennesaw State Big Sky: Montana State Big South: UNC Asheville  Horizon League: Northern Kentucky  Missouri Valley: Drake  Northeast Conference: Fairleigh Dickinson (Merrimack won the title but is still in the transition process from D2 to D1)  Ohio Valley: Southeast Missouri State  Patriot League: Colgate Southern Conference: Furman  Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi  Summit League: Oral Roberts  Sun Belt: Louisiana-Lafayette  West Coast Conference: Gonzaga

What CONMEBOL teams would compete in women's soccer at Paris 2024 if countries boycott due to Russian and Belarussian athletes being allowed to potentially qualify?  Currently Qualified: Colombia (won the first semifinal) and Brazil (won the second semifinal) If Colombia withdraws, their spot would more than likely go to Argentina, who they beat in the semifinal round. If Brazil withdraws, their spot would more than likely go to Paraguay, who they beat in the semifinals. If Argentina and Paraguay both choose not to go, here's the descending order of teams that would be chosen: 1. Chile (won the fifth-place match) 2. Venezuela (lost the fifth-place match) 3. Ecuador (both Ecuador and Uruguay finished 1-3 in their respective groups, but Ecuador finished +2 in goal difference to Uruguay's -3)  4. Uruguay, on the strength of their 1 win to Bolivia and Peru's 0 wins) 5. Bolivia (yielded two fewer goals- 16 v. 18- and scored once compared to Peru's 0- both teams finished ...

There's the potential for a boycott of the Paris 2024 games if Russian and Belarussian athletes are allowed to qualify (which, if my change.org petition is anything to go by, I don't think they should be allowed). In this and subsequent posts, I'll go through various qualifiers to see what would happen if Olympic boycotts go into effect, starting with the qualified CONCACAF teams in men's soccer.  *This follows the Tokyo '20('21) super heavyweight boxing from the Asia/Oceania qualifiers, where if someone withdraws their spot goes to the person they beat. UNITED STATES (First Semifinal Winner) Who would get their spot? IF THEY WITHDRAW: Honduras (we beat them in the semifinals) IF HONDURAS WITHDRAWS: Panama (Honduras beat them in the quarterfinals)  IF PANAMA WITHDRAWS: Cuba (Panama beat them in the round of 16)  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Second Semifinal Winner) Who would get their spot? IF THEY WITHDRAW: Guatemala (DR beat them in the semifinals) IF GUATEMALA WITHDRA...

Which team has the better defense?  Croatia v. Denmark Croatia: 10 Denmark: 6 Predicted Winner: Denmark (four fewer goals yielded) Slovakia v. Ukraine Slovakia: 10  Ukraine: 11  Predicted Winner: Slovakia (one fewer goal yielded) Ireland v. Israel Ireland: 10  Israel: 10 Iceland v. Czech Republic Iceland: 7 Czech Republic: 6 Predicted Winner: Czech Republic (one fewer goal yielded)  

Learning more from a loss then from a win Croatia v. Denmark Croatia: 2 Denmark: 1 Predicted Winner: Croatia (1 more loss) Croatia is also the predicted winner in goals scored and goal differential  Slovakia v. Ukraine Slovakia: 3 Ukraine: 1 Predicted Winner: Slovakia (2 more losses)   This is where things get interesting because Ukraine is the predicted winner in both goals scored and goal differential  Ireland v. Israel Ireland: 3 Israel: 3 Iceland v. Czech Republic   Iceland: 2 Czech Republic: 2

Playoffs will take place next month  Croatia v. Denmark Croatia: 25 Scored, 10 Yielded (+15) Denmark: 12 Scored, 6 Yielded (+6) Predicted Winner: Croatia (13 more goals and +9 in goal difference) Slovakia v. Ukraine Slovakia: 18 Scored, 10 Yielded (+8) Ukraine: 20 Scored, 11 Yielded (+9)  Predicted Winner: Ukraine (2 more goals and +1 in goal difference) Ireland v. Israel Ireland: 16 Scored, 10 Yielded (+6) Israel: 19 Scored, 10 Yielded (+9)  Predicted Winner: Israel (3 more goals and +3 in goal difference)   Iceland v. Czech Republic Iceland: 25 Scored, 7 Yielded (+18) Czech Republic: 23 Scored, 6 Yielded (+17) Predicted Winner: Iceland (2 more goals and +1 in goal difference)