Just The Facts 2016: Hofstra and Joe Mihalich as the 1 seed

*knocks on door, blows dust off knob* Hello? Anyone here? *opens door slowly, coughs and brushes away cobwebs*

Good afternoon and welcome to the 2016 edition of Just The Facts, which I update far more regularly than I do the blog the other 51 weeks of the year. It’s time to revisit this popular (snort) feature, because not only are the Flying Dutchmen making their annual foray into CAA Tournament play this week, they are doing so as the no. 1 seed for the first time since helping to save the league prior to the 2001-02 season (you’re welcome) and for the first time since the final season in the America East in 2000-01. Not saying that was a long time ago, but back then, people still read newspapers, saved their work on floppy disks and used a VCR to record shows they could not watch. I’m not making any of this up.

This was a thing.

Anyway, I thought it’d be fun to look back on how the Dutchmen, as well as Joe Mihalich, have fared as a no. 1 seed. This will be the fourth time each entity is a no. 1 seed. (Technically. Hofstra won a share of the East Coast Conference regular season crown back when the ECC not only existed but did so in two divisions in 1977 and 1983, but it’s impossible to figure out how those tournaments were seeded. I blame Mike Litos for making up the ECC in the first place)

Good news for the Dutchmen: They have won the tournament and the NCAA Tournament bid the last two times they have been the no. 1 seed! (But you probably knew that). Bad news: The last time the Dutchmen lost a conference tournament as the no. 1 seed, it was in Baltimore and they fell to Towson in the title game. Gulp.

Bad news for Mihalich: He only won the tournament and the NCAA Tournament bid once in the three times he led Niagara to the no. 1 seed in the MAAC. Good news: He alternated losses with the win, so he’s due!

Here is the raw data. Consume, ponder, enjoy. Later today I’ll have a look at how the 1 seed has fared in Hofstra’s league dating back to the dawn of time, i.e. the 1993-94 season.

Hofstra as a 1 seed

1992 ECC: beat no. 4 UMBC in SFs, lost to no. 2 Towson in championship

2000 A-East: beat no. 8 Boston U. in QFs, beat no. 5 Drexel in SFs, beat no. 2 Delaware in championship

2001 A-East: beat no. 8 Vermont in QFs, beat no. 4 Maine in SFs, beat no. 2 Delaware in championship

Joe Mihalich as a 1 seed

1999 MAAC: beat no. 9 Loyola in QFs, lost to no. 5 St. Peter’s in SFs

2005 MAAC: beat no. 5 Iona in SFs, beat no. 2 Rider in championship

2013 MAAC: beat no. 9 Siena in QFs, lost to no. 4 Iona in SFs