The Loop
Conference championship previews, Part III
The NCAA D-I Women's Committee makes its selections for regionals on Monday (men's selections are set for May 4). An updated list of conference winners thus far is below. Meanwhile, here's a link to a story I wrote yesterday for the website about how the conference championship season helps give unheralded programs a real chance to make their mark.
__MEN
[#image: /photos/55ad7170add713143b422d1d]|||Thumbnail image for Atlantic 10 championship logo 2009.gif|||Atlantic 10 Championship__
(For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Mission Inn Resort
Howie-in-the-Hills, Fla.
April 24-26
Field: Charlotte, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, St. Joseph's, Temple, Xavier
Defending champion: Charlotte (27-under 837) by 23 strokes over Dayton; Dayton's Rob Chappell (11-under 205) by one stroke over Charlotte's Corey Nagy
Skinny: Charlotte is trying to become the first four-time repeat A-10 champion since Penn State did it in 1986-91, but the 49ers should find some competition from Xavier.
[__Ivy League Championship
__
](http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/champ-event.asp?intSID=14) (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Atlantic City CC
Northfield, N.J.
April 24-26
Field: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
Defending champion: Columbia (48-over 900) by nine strokes over Yale; Penn's Michael Blodgett (five-over 218) by three strokes over Brown's Larry Haertel
Skinny: It's been five years since Yale last won the title, but the Bulldogs appear to be the favorites.
[__MAAC Championship
__
](http://www.maacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17400&ATCLID=3715400)Celebration GC
Celebration, Fla.
April 24-26
Field: Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Loyola, Manhattan, Niagara, Rider, St. Peter's, Siena
Defending champion: Loyola (15-over 879) by 14 strokes over Rider; Loyola's Michael Mulieri (five-under 211) by six strokes over Rider's Tyler Brewington
Skinny: Loyola remains the class of the conference.
[__Patriot League Championship
__
](http://www.patriotleague.org/ot/championships/m-golf-09-champs.html)West Point GC
West Point, N.Y.
April 25-26
Field: Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy
Defending champion: Navy (61-over 925) by 17 strokes over Bucknell; Navy's Erich Schoen (seven-over 223) by two strokes over Colgate's Richard Hayes
Skinny: Bucknell is the preseason favorite and Navy is the defending champion, but Army claimed the title the last time it hosted the championship in 2002.
__WOMEN
__[#image: /photos/55ad7170b01eefe207f68046]|||Ohio Valley women's championship logo 2009.jpg|||
__[Ohio Valley Championship
](http://www.ekusports.com/news/2009/4/16/WGOLF_0416095247.aspx?SPSID=31105&SPID=2449&DB_OEM_ID=6200)__ (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Crooked Creek GC
London, Ky.
April 23-25
Field: Austin Peay State, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech
Defending champion: Jacksonville State (70-over 934) by 21 strokes over Murray State; Jacksonville State's Laura Cutler (14-over 230) by one stroke over Jacksonville State's Mercedes Huarte
Skinny: It would appear Jacksonville State's run of four-straight OVC titles will end this season as Murray State (130), Tennessee Tech (144) and Morehead State (153) all have better Golfstat rankings than the Gamecocks (168) entering the championship.
[__Big Ten Championship
__
](http://www.purduesports.com/sports/w-golf/spec-rel/bigten-wgolf-09.html) (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Kampen Course
West Lafayette, Ind.
April 24-26
Field: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Defending champion: Purdue (17-over 1,169) by 24 strokes over Michigan State; Purdue's Maria Hernandez (seven-under 281) by 10 strokes over Purdue's Christel Boeljon
Skinny: Purdue would have been the prohibitive favorite even without the home course advantage it's getting from playing at the Kampen Course. Look for the Boilermakers to win their third Big Ten title in four years and Hernandez to claim a second straight individual win.
__Conference head-to-head records:
__Purdue, 21-0, 1.000
Michigan State, 23-7, .766
Ohio State, 19-9, .678
Indiana, 23-12, .657
Michigan, 22-16, .578
Minnesota, 18-22, .450
Wisconsin, 16-21, .432
Northwestern, 16-23, .410
Iowa, 9-25, .264
Illinois, 9-27, .250
Penn State, 6-20, .230
__ (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Rawls Course
Lubbock, Texas
April 24-26
Field: Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Defending champion: Oklahoma State (48-over 912) by 27 strokes over Texas A&M; Oklahoma State's Jaclyn Sweeney (nine-over 225) by four strokes over Oklahoma State's Karin Kinnerud
Skinny: Oklahoma State is the only conference team ranked inside to top 35 by Golfstat. Provided none of the Cowgirls starting five is hurt (or gets injured), look for the Stillwater squad to repeat.
__Conference head-to-head records:
__Oklahoma State, 8-0, 1.000
Baylor, 18-5, .782
Colorado, 16-7-1, .687
Nebraska, 15-11, .576
Texas A&M, 4-3, .571
Texas Tech, 15-12-2, .551
Oklahoma, 12-12, .500
Texas, 7-8, .466
Iowa State, 12-14, .461
Missouri, 11-13-1, .460
Kansas, 6-14-1, .309
Kansas State, 2-28-1, .080
__
](http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/champ-event.asp?intSID=14#a) (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Atlantic City CC
Northfield, N.J.
April 24-26
Field: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
Defending champion: Harvard (26-over 890) by 10 strokes over Columbia; Princeton's Susannah Aboff (nine-under 207) by 11 strokes over Harvard's Emily Balmert
Skinny: Harvard won its first six tournaments of the season until finishing second at the Roar-ee Invitational earlier this month. I don't know ... I think I like the Crimson in this spot.
__
__[#image: /photos/55ad7171b01eefe207f68052]|||MAC women's championship logo 2009.jpg|||
__[Mid-American Championship
](http://www.kentstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11400&ATCLID=3724218)__ (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Longaberger GC
Longaberger, Ohio
April 24-26
Field: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
Defending champion: Kent State (25-over 1,177) by 51 strokes over Eastern Michigan; Kent State's Kirby Dreher (three-over 291) by three strokes over Kent State's Tara Delaney
Skinny: No school is a more prohibitive favorite to claim its conference title than Kent State, the 10-time defending champion, is in the MAC.
__
__[#image: /photos/55ad7171b01eefe207f6805d]|||Northeast Conf. Championship logo 2009.jpg|||
](http://www.northeastconference.org/sidebar.asp?id=836&path=wgolf)Hershey Links
Hershey, Pa.
April 24-26
Field: Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (N.Y.), Saint Francis (Pa.), Wagner
Defending champion: Fairleigh Dickinson (120-over 984) by two strokes over Sacred Heart; Central Connecticut State's Lucie Sarochova (13-over 229) by eight strokes over Saint Francis (Pa.)'s Samantha Milosh
Skinny: Saint Francis (Pa.) is the perennial conference power and is hungry to get its title back from last year's first-time winner, Fairleigh Dickinson.
__
__[#image: /photos/55ad7171b01eefe207f68050]|||Pac-10 championship logo 2009.jpg|||
__[Pac-10 Championship
](http://www.pac-10.org/championships/2009-w-golf.html)__ (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Stanford GC
Palo Alto, Calif.
April 24-26__
Field:__ Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State
Defending champion: USC (eight-over 860) by 26 strokes over UCLA; USC's Paola Moreno (one-under 212) by four strokes over Arizona State's Anna Nordqvist
Skinny: This could be the most exciting conference championship of them all, men or women, with UCLA, Arizona State and USC ranked in the top three in the country all season long. I give a slight edge to the Bruins, although I think ASU's Azahara Munoz will claim medalist honors.
__Conference head-to-head records:
__UCLA, 27-3, .900
Arizona State, 19-4-1, .812
USC, 20-10-1, .661
Oregon, 14-13-1, .517
Stanford, 13-15, .464
Arizona, 10-16, .384
Washington, 6-13-1, 325
California, 9-19, .321
Oregon State, 6-17, .260
Washington State, 0-14, .000
