The first (and second-to-last) NCAA regional rankings have been released.
Remember that regional rankings primarily take regional games into account. 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.
Teams which have clinched automatic bids are in bold.
EAST
1 Hobart 8-0 8-0
2 Widener 8-0 8-0
3 Cortland State 7-1 7-1
4 Rowan 6-1 6-2
5 Salisbury 5-2 6-2
6 Lycoming 6-2 6-2
7 St. John Fisher 5-2 6-2
8 Salve Regina 8-1 8-1
9 Framingham State 8-1 8-1
10 Bridgewater State 8-1 8-1
NORTH
1 Mount Union 8-0 8-0
2 Concordia-Chicago 8-0 8-0
3 North Central (Ill.) 7-1 7-1
4 Wabash 5-1 7-1
5 Elmhurst 7-1 7-1
6 Heidelberg 7-1 7-1
7 Wittenberg 7-1 7-1
8 Adrian 7-1 7-1
9 Ohio Wesleyan 6-1 7-1
10 Franklin 6-1 6-2
SOUTH
1 Mary Hardin-Baylor 7-0 8-0
2 Wesley 5-1 7-1
3 Johns Hopkins 8-0 8-0
4 Waynesburg 9-0 9-0
5 Huntingdon 4-2 5-2
5 Washington and Lee 6-2 6-2
7 Louisiana College 4-2 6-2
8 Muhlenberg 5-2 6-2
9 Hampden-Sydney 6-2 6-2
10 Hardin-Simmons 4-3 5-3
WEST
1 Linfield 6-0 7-0
2 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 7-0 8-0
3 St. Thomas 8-0 8-0
4 Bethel 7-1 7-1
5 Concordia-Moorhead 6-1 7-1
6 Cal Lutheran 6-1 6-1
7 Coe 8-0 8-0
8 Pacific Lutheran 5-2 5-2
9 UW-Platteville 6-2 6-2
10 Lake Forest 8-1 8-1
How to use these regional rankings: If you are an at-large candidate, you want to be sure you are the top at-large candidate in your region. That will ensure you get discussed by the national committee and have a chance to be put in the field.
For example, if you are Huntingdon, remember that Mary Hardin-Baylor, Johns Hopkins and Waynesburg will each get automatic bids if they remain undefeated. Wesley would get the one Pool B slot (set aside for teams without a conference or automatic bid to play for). Then Huntingdon would hit the table from the South Region and be discussed with the top candidate from each of the other regions.
There are 24 automatic bids, one Pool B bid and seven Pool C (true national at-large) bids. Selection Sunday is Nov. 11.
Being listed in these rankings is not a guarantee of selection to the playoffs. There is no guarantee an at-large team will be taken from each region.
Apparently in the East, it’s OK to be unbeaten with a weak strength of schedule (Widener at No. 2) but it’s not in the West (Coe at No. 7).
I guess it’s the penalty they must pay for not beating or even playing any RRO. I’m surprised Lycoming is at 6th in the East for being 6-2 and only having one regional game which they lost vs Widener.
My snap reactions are this is great news for Concordia-Chicago and Huntingdon, pretty good news for Hobart, decent news for the NCAC teams and the teams with multiple losses.
Also all the key multiple-loss teams are acknowledged: PLU, UWP, LC and Huntingdon.
Sometimes the 8-9-10 teams in these rankings are just as interesting as the order at the team, because it determines which teams have results against regionally ranked opponents, and remember even if those teams fall out of the ranking, it’s still a result vs. an RRO.
I assume this is already being done on the Pool C board, but if not, I’ll take these rankings and play who’s-on-the-board for an item in tomorrow’s ATN column.
Re: Lyco, Fisher only has one result vs. an RRO, the loss to Salisbury, and none of the three NEFC teams has any.
The Empire 8 might certainly take issue with that.
Odd note on the NCAA’s version of this file, that says an MWC and PAC rep missed the call. Not sure if that means their teams could have fared better or just the advisory committee being transparent and airing out the non-participants (although they might have had good reasons to miss the call too, like say, hurricane prep)
What we are waiting for now is to see if Concordia-Chicago slips as its SOS slips, as we suggested in last week’s ATN.
With Cortland’s game at William Patterson being cancelled, will that affect the regional rankings next week?
I thought CCIW and Empire 8 were two of the bigger losers in how things shook out.
Good discussion on the reaction to these starting here:
http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=7808.210
re: the call, I’m told the PAC rep was on the call but could not vote. Doesn’t sound like that’s a big deal.
Keith – thanx for the link to the blog site. I don’t normally spend any time there and it was a really good read. Being from MIAC land, I would say that if Concordia wants to be in the playoffs this year, they have to win this weekend. That would put three MIAC teams in. (Side note – the MIAC has a 15 and 1 record for non-conference games so far this year and has a real good chance of going 17 and 1. I mention this to share with others that the MIAC as a conference is pretty tough to win against this year.) I agree with Pat’s assessment as well, that if they lose, they are just about assured of not getting in, if history is any indication. I’m really looking forward to the post season to see how things eventually shake out. My hope is the selection committee puts the West and South brackets facing the North and East brackets so UMHB has a chance to get to the Stagg Bowl before facing Mount Union. (I’m not predicting winners of brackets here – just want the possibility to be as fair as possible.)
Art
With Concordia Chicago and Adrian ranked high, is Wisconsin Lutheran College in the mix for an at-large bid if they win out these last two weeks? The Warriors beat Concordia Chicago statistically, and were down 14-9, pounding the football toward a potential game-winning score with 7 minutes left. An 80 yard pick-6 gave the game to the Cougars. Also, Wisconsin Lutheran outgained Adrian in week 3 and lost by 8. Adrian scored touchdowns on 34 and 9 yard drives in that game. It seems WLC could be in the mix here–a big step up for the program which has been climbing the ladder since 2007.
Not really. It would be highly unlikely that anyone not in this ranking could later get into the mix, even WLC at 8-2. If you look at the strength of schedule link in the post WLC’s is fairly low and it will not improve significantly in the final two weeks.
Widener I believe is vastly UNDER-rated in this initial regional ranking. They are much like Alabama in the fact that they can’t do anything but play the teams on their schedule. They do what they were supposed to do against lesser opponents (Wilkes, King’s, and Misericordia) which was DESTROY them and they’ve won some close games against the better teams in the MAC. With their game against FDU-Florham being canceled (which would’ve been another blow out) they have a week and a half to prepare for their biggest test against perennial power Delaware Valley (at home) on the last Saturday of the season.
Do we know which regions play who in the semi-finals?
mucpurpleraider: No. The last time we knew that was 1998. That has been out the window for a long, long time now.
Don’t know that Widener can be considered underrated with a two ranking. The SOS is poor and their RRO win is over a Lycoming team that I saw get crushed in their opener against Brockport. They did scrimmage Wesley in August and while they did some nice things, I don’t think I would rank them among the elite just yet. Now granted I saw both teams early and I’m sure both have gotten better. They have some player-makers at receiver and a senior QB but as far as being ahead of a Hobart squad that returns several key clogs from last year, I don’t see it.
Lyco did follow up that loss to Brockport with a huge 10 point victory of over 4-time defending MAC champ Del Val. Hobart SOS’s is good now sitting at 48th in SOS while Widener is 178th. However Hobart still has to yet to face opponents in St Lawrence (0-8) and Rochester (3-4). So with Hobart finishing the season with opponents combined possible record of 4-14 and Widener now finishing the season at home vs Del Val with a most likely record of 7-2. Might be a stretch but, Pat, or anybody think thats going to be enough to propel Widener to the top of the East? Or if both teams win out will Hobart remain the perspective number 1 seed in the East?
Wabash is a winner in the regional rankings considering they have two wins against RRO which is at least one more than they normally have against their conference. While OWU and Witt should be happy to be ranked, unless Kenyon loses, I can’t see either getting a second pool C bid. I believe Kenyon would go because NCAC solves ties against teams that haven’t played by letting the team that hasn’t been in the longest time go.
Hopefully this will force the NCAC to stand up for football rather than swimming and tell Kenyon to either play the two best teams each year or get out.
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