Since we’re entering 2008 – 2009 schedules into our system, this is a good time to mention that nine teams are now “active” members of Division III. That means they are eligible for rankings and post-season participation.
The nine members who are fully in the fold are:
• Bethany Lutheran (UMAC)
• Crown (Minn.) (UMAC)
• Maine-Presque Isle (Independent)
• Minnesota-Morris (UMAC)
• Mount Aloysius (AMCC)
• Northwestern (Minn.) (UMAC)
• Penn State-Berks (NEAC)
• SUNY-Purchase (Skyline)
• Salem (Independent)
Four of these schools are in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) along with St. Scholastica, Martin Luther and Northland. That leaves Presentation as the only UMAC team that isn’t a full member yet.
This also brings the active Division III membership to 429 schools, a net increase of seven from 2007 – 2008 since Maryville (Mo.) and non-D3hoopsters Cal State-East Bay are headed to Division II.
Assuming the NCAA keeps the same policy as last year, schools in the third or fourth year of the four-year process to become active members are not eligible for the post-season. But games against them count in the primary tournament selection criteria. That means games against the following teams are regional contests:
Fourth Year
• Mitchell (NECC)
• Mount Mary (Independent)
• Presentation (UMAC)
• Morrisville State (SUNYAC)
Third Year
• Lancaster Bible (Independent)
• La Sierra (Independent)
• Lyndon State (NAC)
• North Central (Minn.) (Independent)
• St. Vincent (PrAC)
There are four teams in the second year of their provisional status. Games against these teams don’t count as regional contests, but we will track them on our site.
• Franciscan of Steubenville, Ohio (AMCC)
• Geneva of Beaver Falls, PA (PrAC)
• Penn State-Harrisburg (NEAC)
• St. Joseph’s of Brooklyn, NY (Independent)
Three schools are in their first year of provisional status – Cincinnati-Clermont, Spalding (Ky.) and Cobleskill (NY) State. There are also seven schools in the exploratory phase, most of which are in the Nebraska or Georgia. We’ll wait to track these guys, but you can see the list here.
Other than the schools who became eligible for post-season play, the real winners are the teams in the West region who have a few more places they can get regional games.
Obscure stuff? Yep. But hopefully it comes in handy come regional ranking time. 🙂
St. Scholastica is also an active NCAA member from the UMAC and has been for at least a year (they were in the women’s soccer tourney). Also North Central (Minn.) is now an associate member of the UMAC. I don’t know for what sports, but as a outside observer I think North Central (Minn.) would be a good fit for the UMAC so this may be the first step toward the Rams membership in the UMAC.
Actually, St. Scholastica has been an active member of the NCAA for years.
I thought they might have been but I wasn’t sure. I just know they were last year because they beat Carroll University in the first round of the NCAA in a game I was at.
Isn’t Maryville still considered a D3 member this season? If so, I’m afraid D3 hoops can’t write them off, as they would seem to be a legitimate contender for the SLIAC berth to the NCAA Tourney….
Hopefan:
Interestingly, I don’t think Maryville is one of the 429 “active” members but it looks like they will still be eligible for Division III postseason play. The Saints’ website indicates they will “continue to compete in NCAA Division III” in 2008-2009 and then begin offering athletic scholarships the following season, at which point we’ll stop tracking them.
I think Lake Erie had the same situation last year. Speaking of LEC, they are now a provisional member of Division II. So I think we are done tracking this Storm.
As unhappy as I am with the Maryville move, I’m afraid then, that our number must be 430….. for this year
The SLIAC announced that the Spalding (Louisville, Kentucky) will become a full member of the conference in 2009-2010. The Golden Eagles have men’s and women’s basketball, soccer and baseball but no football.
We’ll post something more detailed later.
Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), which left Division III for NAIA in 2003, is now considering discontinuing basketball completely. The SCAD student paper has more.
Carroll University?
Did they change their name?
It appears so. Other schools like Misericordia and Alvernia (now Universities) have also changed relatively recently.