Stanford Invite Schedule

So we are going to Stanford Invite this weekend. Even though the field has definitely been weakened this year, I'm still excited to be going (that's what happens when you go from a 16 team tournament with a qualifier to a 48 team tournament). The officers had decided when the season started that it would be too expensive to go all the way to Stanford, but a combination of it being in Ripon and us getting in last minute for only $100 made it too hard to resist. I think most of the vets on our team have wanted to go to this tournament for quite some time. With it being in Ripon, we can get free housing at Coach Steve's house in Modesto, plus it gives me the chance to visit a few close friends at UoP in Stockton. Should be exciting.
Here is our schedule.

*YOUR TEAM’S SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS ::*

Sat Rd 1 (8:30) - BYE
Rd 2 (10:25) - Sonoma State
Rd 3 (12:20) - BYE
Rd 4 (2:15) - Pacific Lutheran
Rd 5 (4:10) - Stanford-By
Sun Rd 1 (8:00) - Claremont
Rd 2 (9:55) - UCSB-B
Rd 3 (11:50) - Westmont

7th Game based on how we do against the previous 6 teams.

Our group is Group 4 :: Lewis & Clark, San Diego State, Simon Fraser, UC-Merced, UC-Irvine, Stanford-By

Kind of weird how we only play one other team from our group. Not sure what that will mean for the last game of the weekend. Cu1timate is definitely shaking things up this season, even after their failed attempt at C1. I kind of like having all those byes on Saturday. Gives me a chance to check out the top teams playing.

As little as RRI really matters, I still find it interesting to see how the computers think we should do: http://upa.org/scores/scores.cgi?page=3&team=2107&team=1569&team=1303&team=1249&team=1647&team=1298&team=1635
As for my own predictions? I don't think 6-0 is that far out of reach. Claremont is definitely weaker than last year after losing Stout, Shy, Jay, Gordy. But they do have some stellar juniors talen though, adding Tommy Li from the USA Junior Worlds Team, so we can't underestimate them. I don't know much about Pacific Lutheran so they might be wildcards. It also depends how we play. If we have a repeat of our Vegas performance then this weekend doesn't look too promising. But I know that our team can play much better than that. We had some moments of brilliance at SB Invite, and our last 2 games at SB Quals (when we were actually challenged) showed that we can turn it on when we want to. We just need to do that from beginning to end. And now I'm rambling.

-Foxy Boxy

P.S. Irvine Invite is March 14-15