“Ladies and gentlemen, the NCAA promotes good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches and spectators. We request your cooperation by supporting the participants and officials in a positive manner. Profanity, racial, or sexist comments, or other intimidating actions directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches or team representatives will not be tolerated and are grounds for removal from the site of competition. Also, the consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages at the site of competition is prohibited.”

I’ve heard this so many times in the past decade or so it rolls off the tongue (or fingers) in a flash. But it often seems like there are some fans who need a reminder. I have it on good authority that the NCAA has heard some of the reports we’ve seen from playoff games this season and while I don’t think this year is any different than previous years, incidents are coming to the attention of those who are in a position to do something about them.

Consider this, fans, especially you students out there. These are big games, no doubt, and it’s great to get excited about them, but these players do not deserve your abuse. A Division III football player gets no special treatment above and beyond what you get. They’re not on scholarship, don’t get special dining halls or treatment in the classroom (in fact, you can count on some professors being harder on football players than on the rest of the class).

I would be in favor of immediately kicking anyone out of the stadium who is in violation of the sportsmanship agreement. So what if you paid $5, $8, whatever to be there? Act like a grownup, since that’s what you allegedly are.

If you need to get all liquored up in order to enjoy a football game, stay home. The football should be reason enough. If you’re of legal age, there’s plenty of time to drink after the game — that’s one of the benefits of a noon kickoff.

D3football.com has learned that the Mary Hardin-Baylor/Wesley winner will host the South regional final, regardless of who advances from the Thiel/Bridgewater game.

Although Thiel is the higher seed and would normally host, the school filed paperwork with the NCAA to host only for the first two rounds. All other 15 schools filed to host all four rounds.

If Bridgewater defeats Thiel, it would travel to the UMHB/Wesley winner because of seeding. (Bridgewater is seeded No. 5, Mary Hardin-Baylor third and Wesley fourth.)

I am not opening this blog post for comments. It’s an informational post only.

A penny pinched is still just a penny.

For the cost of one extra flight, the NCAA decided to pair up top 10 teams in the first round, not once, but twice. That’s just plain wrong.

I know the folks in Indianapolis are tired of hearing the term, but the shoe fits.

Perhaps it happens so often that I’ve become anesthetized to it, but the more I reflect on this bracket, the more upsetting it is. What’s the point of adding teams to the bracket if we’re still going to be stuck eliminating Top 10 teams so early?

The fascination over saving first-round flights is interesting, considering that the current policy guarantees second-round flights. When you eliminate one of the two Texas teams early, you guarantee someone flies to or from Texas for the duration of team’s life in the tournament. If you set them up to play in the second round, the reward comes later.

Besides, even if we are indeed to bow down to the altar of “geographic proximity,” why not put UW-Whitewater in the north and Lakeland in the West? Whitewater is much closer to Illinois, which is the gateway to the rest of this bracket. I know this committee has never done much for competitive balance, but how about at least following your own guidelines?

“Once selected, teams will be grouped in clusters according to natural geographic proximity.”

But apparently, only for reasons of saving money, not for balancing the bracket.