The NCAA released its first 2008 regional rankings today.
Teams are listed with their regional record first, followed by their overall record. For more information about the playoff format and how participants are determined, check out our FAQ.
EAST REGION
1. Cortland State 7-0 7-0
2. RPI 5-0 6-0
3. Ithaca 5-1 6-1
4. Montclair State 6-1 6-1
5. Rowan 6-1 6-1
6. Hartwick 5-1 5-1
7. Worcester Polytech 6-1 6-1
8. Hobart 5-1 5-1
9. Plymouth State 5-1 7-1
10. Husson 6-0 6-2
NORTH REGION
1. Mount Union 6-0 7-0
2. North Central (Ill.) 7-0 7-0
3. Otterbein 7-0 7-0
4. Wabash 6-0 7-0
5. Trine 7-0 7-0
6. Case Western Reserve 6-0 7-0
7. Wheaton (Ill.) 6-1 6-1
8. Franklin 5-1 6-1
9. Adrian 5-1 6-1
10. Rose-Hulman 7-1 7-1
SOUTH REGION
1. Muhlenberg 7-0 7-0
2. Millsaps 6-0 7-0
3. Washington and Jefferson 6-0 7-0
4. Trinity (Texas) 6-0 7-0
5. Mary Hardin-Baylor 5-0 6-1
6. Hardin-Simmons 7-1 7-1
7. Huntingdon 1-0 7-0
8. Catholic 5-1 6-1
9. Salisbury 2-0 7-1
10. Thomas More 6-1 6-1
WEST REGION
1. Willamette 7-0 8-0
2. Occidental 6-0 6-0
3. Monmouth 8-0 8-0
4. UW-Stevens Point 3-1 6-1
5. UW-Whitewater 5-1 6-1
6. Cal Lutheran 5-1 5-1
7. Redlands 5-1 5-1
8. Northwestern (Minn.) 5-1 7-1
9. Concordia-Moorhead 4-2 5-2
10. St. John’s 5-2 6-2
Gak I hate that games against Birmingham-Southern don’t count as ‘in-region’ since they’re in the second year of their provisional status. Guess that will change next year but could have an impact for both Millsaps and Trinity in terms of seeding and possibly even getting a Pool C.
Ehh, I’m not so sure. It’s seemed in the past that 7-1 and 8-1 and 9-1 are treated fairly identically.
keith
im sure it wont be scheduled since the PAC & WAC have an agreement to play each other. The PAC yes is a weak conference but I have been living in NY now and would match W&J \against any of these teams up here (cortland, itheca, etc).
The PAC/MAC series is one game for each team. W&J still has one remaining non-conference game to schedule.
no wesley in the south region. i guess they are a victim of not being able to find anyone to play in the region. what effect will it have on their chances of making the playoffs? are they still in the running for a pool B? a win against salisbury should put them in the rankings i would think.
Wesley’s weak schedule has come back to haunt them. I think they must beat Salisbury to make a pool B, maybe a close loss would allow them a pool C at-large depending on what happens elsewhere in DIII.
Thomas More’s loss was to North Region member, John Carroll University of the OAC.
That’s a regional game. Rule was changed maybe three years ago.
I meant MAC, accidently type a W..my fault…yes they do have one more game and it is a shame they dropped the series with their old foe Allegheny. Hopefully with the new AQ out of the PAC (last year) that we will start seeing a strong out of conference schedule. All you can do is win though and that is what the president’s have done for the last 4 years (yes I remember last year them losing in the first round).
pipearcher, wesley’s schedule is due to the fact that several teams backed out of playing them. they have taken on all comers the last couple of years and would have gladly done so this year too. they were forced to take games against other teams not in d3 to fill out their schedule. if it is so weak, explain the trashing they put on webber international compared to wisconsin stevens point who barely got the win. wesley hurt themselves when they didnt finish the job against delval in game one.
Teams within 200 miles of each other, I believe, even if in different regions, are considered regional games. Might want to look that up, that’s off the top of my head.
This is keeping with the original intent of the focus on in-region competition, which is to keep travel costs low for budget-strapped D3 schools. At least I think that’s the intent.
That’s true, but at the same time there’s a choice you make when you play Oberlin and Frostburg State, and that choice is to bypass the attention and the high poll rankings for “safe” games that don’t blow up your playoff chances. That might not be what W&J sets out to do, I’m sure they have a tough time getting anyone to play them as all traditionally strong teams do. But it’s actually not a bad choice for you guys, since the polls have little if any effect on the playoffs, which is where W&J wants to be.
But by the same token, if you miss out on the AQ, suddenly who you played non-conference becomes much more important, as do the regional rankings (which also reflect how you can expect to be seeded)
Also, W&J had Salisbury on the schedule and has tried to play tough lineups before. I would consider Cortland or Ithaca a marquee game worth attending, and I would expect the MAC opponent to be a good one most years.
Interesting that you responded to me responding to you from another thread, but I follow you.
I don’t think, after a quick glance at the rankings, there are many surprises here.
Case can’t like being 6th in the north, but Otterbein will likely pick up a loss.
I would not be surprised to see the Millsaps/Trinity winner leapfrog Muhlenberg … wins over other regionally-ranked teams is a primary criterion.
Wesley’s loss of the CNU game really hurts them. But regional rankings at this have not all that much to do with the playoff picture for Wesley because Salisbury would drop if Wesley beats them, and Huntingdon could very well lose twice.
Not having many in-region games hurts, but worse is having a loss to Del Val. Even with few in-region games, if you’d won them all you’d be in good shape.
That’s my personal take. I’m not always right though.
Salisbury lost to Del Val which is an in region game
And just what Salisbury needed before the Wesley game . Motivation for Wesley
Well, it comes down to John Carroll and Otterbein for MUC’s regular season…
I’m looking forward to both games…although I was surprised that JC couldn’t handle Ohio Northern…I am once again impressed with Mount Union’s ability to bring fresh faces to the starting squad and deliver…Micheli, Kmic, and Shorts have all delivered the kind of season that the fans hoped they would…and the defense is strong as well…As has been the case for the last several years, the x factor always seems to be what MUC will do when they find themselves in a close game in the post season, after so many one sided regular season wins….in other words, do they become complacent. I don’t want to look ahead past JC, but the game against Otterbein is the statement game to me – a chance to send a message to possible playoff foes. Can’t wait to see how the playoff brackets shake out. Hoping to see some new teams tangle with the Purple Raiders.
Yes Keith, it is disappointing to be behind Trine. Does the extra in region win give them the edge? If so it will be lost after week 11. Franklin helps them too in OW%. CWRU needs Wooster to win out and RHIT beating Franklin would help too.
Hey, I gotta give a shout out to my boys at RHIT. Only a few years after being a perennial also-ran in the SCAC they have a chance to get the HCAC’s pool A bid.
Go ‘gineers!
Glad to see Cortland on top. They truly deserve to be the top seed at this point – they play a pretty tough schedule . . (as opposed to say RPI and Hartwick).
I hope they win out and rep the east at the top seed in the NCAAs
I’ll make sure the NCAA gets told that Salisbury/Del Val is in-region.
CWRU and Rochester are both members of the UAA. Rochester just doesn’t compete in UAA football. Wouldn’t it make at least as much sense to count that as an in-region game as a hypothetical game between CWRU and LaGrange? (same administrative region) To me it’s ridiculous to call the upper peninsula of Michigan and the Florida Keys the same region in any meaningful sense. Rochester is about 250 miles from Cleveland. LaGrange is over 750 miles away.
What meaningful way would you take the Division III nation and divide it up into four sensible quadrants, each with about the same number of schools?
Minor clarification on why Thomas More-John Carroll is a regional game.
It’s not because the schools are within 200 miles of each other. The NCAA’s mileage calculator puts them at 260 miles apart. That’s the criterion that makes Del Val-Salisbury a regional contest.
It’s because Kentucky and Ohio are in the same administrative region, the third criteria listed on our FAQ page.
I understand regional rankings supposedly take the human element out of the process, but I still find it weird that Wabash is ranked 3rd in the nation and yet 4th in the region. I’m not entirely sure but I’m pretty sure an anomaly like this happens every year.
Pat I wouldn’t make regional games a distiction. To me they are a distiction with no rational basis.
OK, well, you’d be in contradiction with the Division III mission statement, as voted on by all Division III schools. So I hear you but it’s a reality we have to work with.
Why do Huntingdon’s conference games not count as in region?
“[b]38. What is a regional game? [/b]
A game can be classified as regional in any of three ways.
1) Both teams are full Division III members (or third- or fourth-year provisional members) and are in the same Division III member conference or same region as definied by the Division III football committee.”
…
Good catch.
Helpful link too. The examples on the FAQ page are good ones.
Big D:
I don’t know. But considering the committee didn’t know at the beginning of the year who was actually playing football perhaps they don’t know the SLIAC is a Division III member conference. 🙂
South Region has some issues with the rankings,
Salisbury has an In region loss to Delaware Valley
The Distance beween Salisbury and Delaware Valley is 163 miles making it an In Region Game by the NCAA guidelines yet their recrod says 2-0 in region.
The Same loss that Wesley Has, Yet Salisbury lost 41-27 vs Wesley’s 25-22 score.
How do mistakes like this happen?
I view the South Regional rankings as a farce. That fact that they do not include a team that is ranked in the top 15 in both the d3football.com and AFCA polls national polls and has made three deep runs in the playoffs the last three years is laughable.
Teams should not be penalized because others teams will not play them. There has to be a better way than than making regional games the main criteria.
With the exception of UMHB and Salisbury, none of the teams in the South top ten will even return a phone call or email from Wesley. That’s fine if they don’t want to play but Wesley & Salisbury shouldn’t be penalized because they can’t get regional teams to play them.
RE: How do mistakes like this happen?
As for the Salisbury mistake, Sherman Wood (SU Head Coach) is on the selection committee. I think the coaches on the committee also schedule the games. You would think that they would now which of their own games were in region.
conrad, you said it better than most could. very few are willing to play wesley because they are good. i totally agree, they should not be penalized for others not having the courage to play them. if they beat delval, they are ranked 2 or 3 in the nation yet would likely barely make the top 10 in the south. it is a farce. too bad that just playing games isnt the criteria. wesley could try to schedule some easy wins in region, oh maybe not, someone would actually have to accept playing them. at least galludet did.
Kieth
I first off would like to say great around the nation post. Your insight on the MAC & PAC to add the tenth team would be a great idea. Altough adding a team like Frostburg St. really isnt helping the PAC with strengthen its conference.
For years I have wanted W&J and Mt. Union to play a meaningful game. Each year they scrimage each other at the beginning of the season. It would be great to see coach Sirianni take on the purple raiders from the coaching side. He was a former player for Mt. Union. It would be also great since a good number of players are from the state of ohio. Oh well, till it happens I guess all we can do is talk about the what ifs.
Lastly…Is there any chance that if W&J wins the PAC (first must get past Thomas More) that they can be moved out of the SOUTH. I never understood why they were in there in the first place. I think being moved to the NORTH (which is loaded this year) or the EAST would be a great idea for the NCAA. Just a thought.
thanks once again and good column this week
Pat-I’m not so much at odds with the mission statement. I’m more at odds with Michigan and Florida being in the same region. Rather than counting games in the same administrative region, I’d have expanded “region” to maybe 300 miles. I don’t see that 200 is a magic number. To me even 500 would make more sense than a regional game that could be nearly 900 miles away.
Then too, does the current rule promote in-region competition or encourage out of region games against tougher competition as has been discussed elsewhere? Is sending teams out of region for play-offs at odds with the mission statement?
This is for Conrad (and Wesleydad)…
Are you kidding me? NOBODY in that top 10 is scared to play Wesley.. You guys have a couple of nice seasons out of the last 6 and NOBODY wants to schedule you? Believe me, I used to feel the same way about Thomas More… when we first got going in the early 90s we had to play all comers… a national schedule. If you’re willing to travel and have a home and home like you did in the 93-94 season, have someone call Terry Conner….Athletic Director at Thomas More… I’m positive we’d have no problems scheduling you guys again…its not like you’re all of a sudden Mount Union.
Get on our schedule in 2010 and replace John Carroll University.. I’d gladly trade that game for a game AT Wesley.