Field hockey makes fourth appearance in Final Four

If there is an underdog in the 2001 NCAA field hockey Final Four, Princeton is it. At least by the numbers.

Of the four participants - Michigan, Maryland, Princeton and Wake Forest - the Tigers have the lowest ranking. In the final NCAA Division I Field Hockey Committee poll, Maryland (12-3) pulled in at No. 2, putting the Terps at the top of the Final Four participants with Wake Forest (10-3) just one spot behind. Michigan (14-4), the Tigers' opponent tonight, stands at No. 5. Princeton came in down at No. 11.

But it is highly unlikely any of the Tigers' foes are counting them out. First off, Princeton earned an automatic berth into the tournament by virtue its eighth-straight Ivy title. The Tigers have a 55-1 record against the rest of the Ivy League in that span. After all, Princeton is the reason No. 1 Old Dominion is not making the trip to Kent, Ohio, this weekend. The Tigers knocked out the defending national champions with a 2-1 victory in the second round.

In fact, Princeton has only two spots on its record this season. One was a 2-0 loss to Penn State, which ended the season ranked No. 10. The other was a 3-1 loss at Maryland, whom Princeton would face in the finals should both teams prevail in the semifinals. The Terps hold a 5-4-1 edge in an all-time series that dates back to 1980. The Terps have won the last three meetings. The two teams have a recent postseason history as well - the Tigers took a 4-0 victory in the second round of the 1997 tournament, and Maryland returned the favor in the second round of last year's tournament.

None of the other schools in the 2001 Final Four have faced off against each other this season. Princeton has never faced either Michigan or Wake Forest, but the teams share opponents in common.

The results of the games against common opponents seem to give the Tigers the upper hand. The Wolverines beat Harvard, 2-1, in overtime and defeated Old Dominion 1-0 on Aug. 26. The Tigers topped the Crimson 5-2 on Oct. 20 and defeated Old Dominion twice in 2001. Both Princeton and Wake Forest have matched up against Maryland, Old Dominion, and Penn State in 2001. The Demon Deacons lost twice to Maryland and once to Old Dominion. However, they picked up a 2-1 victory over Penn State, one of the two teams to beat the Tigers.

But just as there is danger in putting too much stock in the national rankings, reading too much into the transitive property of sports can also be misleading.