Oof. Thank goodness that wasn’t our Final Four. With an average margin of victory of 15 points you’d think it was the Division III committee that put the brackets together.
I’ll take our Final Four any day. The sum total of our four games’ margin of victory (12 points) was better than the closest game in the D-I showcase (14). And it’s not like the D-I games were close games that got away with free throws and the like down the stretch.
At least it gave me some time to work on other things.
Though that was the case, no #1 seeds made it to the Final Four for only the 2nd time ever, or something like that. A #11 seed made the Final Four, the biggest longshot to do so as well. You must have already forgotten that Point won by 23 in the semis and then a record-breaking margin of 24 in the Final last year. I’ll still take D3 over D1, but you can’t judge it on just one year.
Amherst and Virginia Wesleyan were both #1 seeds in their regions. Illinois Wesleyan was probably no lower than a #6 seed and Wittenberg was close to a #3 or #4 seed.
In the D1 tourney, we got to know who George Mason was and who Bradley was as well. In the D3 tourney, we didn’t get introduced to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Bethany or Alvernia! 🙂
I haven’t forgotten 2005. 🙂
“With an average margin of victory of 15 points you’d think it was the Division III committee that put the brackets together.”
And I’m not saying that the other rounds of the billion-dollar dance weren’t entertaining. Only talking about the F4.
I should say this, too: I reviewed our coverage of the national title game and I did not find any point at which any of Virginia Wesleyan’s players told the media they weren’t going to do homework.
You are right that the D1 Final Four was less than exciting. But you do like to get in those little digs at the D1 folks. We all know D3 has a superior product. No need to take cheap shots at the big boys.
Is it a cheap shot to point out what the Most Outstanding Player of the D-I Final Four said on national television for all to hear? I wouldn’t have thought so.
joakim noah doesnt need to do homework. he could make millions by jumping to the nba right now.
Having seen a past Final Four in D3 and in D1, there’s just a slight difference between a national championship game viewed by 3,500 fans and one viewed by 28,000 fans. I’d rather have the atmosphere at the larger venue, personally.
Pat, my only problem with taking a shot at Florida’s Noah is that people act like kids not going to class is a problem that is limited to D1 athletes. I’m sure you know that it’s not, but too many people have the opinion that D3 kids do no wrong. The same problems that D1 has, D3 has – coaches poaching kids from JUCOs, schools not graduating players, players not going to class. The only problem is that the reach of the media doesn’t magnify the issues at the lower levels like it does at Division I.
I’ve spent half my career at a D1 school and half at D3 schools – I can honestly say that I’ve had more kids ruled ineligible for grades at the D3 school than at the D1 program – and the D1 had a higher eligibility standard to boot.
You know what… I think everyone missed the point of the original statement from Pat. He was talking about how great the Final Four in Salem was this year… compared to the boring one in Indianapolis.
I have been to six straight Final Fours in Salem and watched many more D1 Final Fours. This year’s Final Four in Salem was the best weekend of basketball I have seen in YEARS. The Final Four in Indy… was boring. The games weren’t competitive and the outcomes were known with plenty of time left on the clock.
I was more interested in watching the women’s Final Four (all-be-it I am a Maryland fan, but two of those games are great) and Orioles & Cubs baseball… then I was in the D1 men’s Final Four.
And if you didn’t think you were not introduced to CMS, Bethany, Alvernia, and others… than you aren’t doing enough as a D3 fan – or enjoying what you are getting in coverage. I think this year’s tournaments were covered better than any other D3 tournaments in the history of D3.