Dance card: AQs clinched

The list is filling out and will keep doing so right up through Sunday afternoon. We’ll track who has clinched which automatic bids here throughout the weekend. The team’s conference tournament seeding is shown in parentheses.

Men’s tournament
AMCC: Medaille
ASC: Texas-Dallas
CAC: Wesley (2)
CCC: University of New England (1)
Centennial: Gettysburg
CCIW: Wheaton, Ill. (1)
CSAC: Gwynedd-Mercy (1)
CUNYAC: Brooklyn (2)
E8: Rochester Tech
GNAC: St. Joseph’s, Maine (3)
HCAC: Transylvania (1)
IIAC: Cornell (2)
LL: RPI (3)
LEC: Mass.-Dartmouth (2)
MACC: Widener (1)
MACF: DeSales (1)
MASCAC: Bridgewater State (2)
MIAA: Hope (2)
MWC: Lawrence (2)
MIAC: St. Thomas (1)
NAC: Husson (2)
NATHC: Aurora (5)
NCAC: Wooster (1)
NEAC: SUNYIT (1)
NESCAC: Middlebury (1)
NEWMAC: MIT
NJAC: Richard Stockton (1)
NWC: Whitworth (2)
OAC: John Carroll (1)
ODAC: Virginia Wesleyan (7)
PAC: Thomas More (1)
SCAC: Centre
SCIAC: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1)
SKY: St. Joseph’s, L.I. (2)
SLIAC: Fontbonne (1)
SUNYAC: Brockport State (8)
UAA: Washington U. (no tourney)
USAC: Averett (1)
WIAC: UW-Stevens Point (1)

Women’s tournament
AMCC: Pitt-Greensburg (1)
ASC: Howard Payne
CAC: Mary Washington (3)
CCC: Salve Regina (5)
Centennial: Muhlenberg (1)
CCIW: Illinois Wesleyan (1)
CSAC: Cabrini (1)
CUNYAC: Baruch (1)
E8: Stevens (3)
GNAC: Emmanuel (1)
GSAC: Maryville, Tenn. (1)
HCAC: Transylvania (1)
IIAC: Simpson (1)
LL: St. Lawrence (2)
LEC: Southern Maine (3)
MACC: Widener (4)
MACF: DeSales (1)
MASCAC: Westfield State (1)
MIAA: Hope (1)
MWC: Ripon (3)
MIAC: St. Benedict (1)
NAC: Castleton State (3)
NATHC: Concordia, Wis. (2)
NCAC: Ohio Wesleyan (4)
NEAC: Keuka
NESCAC: Bowdoin (1)
NEWMAC: Babson (2)
NJAC: TCNJ (1)
NWC: George Fox (1)
OAC: Capital (1)
ODAC: Randolph-Macon (2)
PAC: Thomas More (1)
SCAC: Oglethorpe (1)
SCIAC: Occidental (1)
SKY: Mt. St. Mary (1)
SLIAC: Maryville, Mo. (1)
SUNYAC: Brockport State (4)
UAA: Washington U. (no tourney)
USAC: Christopher Newport (2)
WIAC: UW-Stevens Point (1)

NCAA must release its data

The most recent NCAA News talks about perhaps the single most important facet of the NCAA championships selection process: the data.

In recent years, the NCAA’s selection process at the Division III level has been, at times, laughable. How else do you explain tournaments where the brackets keep changing after they’ve been released, where the number of teams in each pool needs correction, and the regional rankings are based on incorrect records?

This past offseason, the Capital Athletic Conference proposed a way to end all of this embarrassment: Release the data.

We here at D3sports.com know it is not easy to wrangle the amount of data that we and the selection committee have to deal with. There are more than 11,000 basketball games in a Division III season and while we here at D3sports.com know the rules as to what is a regional game and what is not, not all of the schools do, and everyone with access to the system can change the status of their own games, not to mention report scores, sometimes incorrectly.

However, the beauty of the system is that all of you can see the data and suggest corrections. And you do, frequently.

The NCAA keeps all of this hidden. Not just from the fans, not just from us, but even from the coaches and the schools. They can’t see their OWP or OOWP without coming to our site, or their “official” regional record unless they happen to get into the regional rankings. Only if you are on a regional committee do you get a login to view this information.

So when the CAC suggested opening the data for all to see, we saw it as a great thing.

The NCAA did not. They threw up roadblocks to this request, claiming that it would take six figures worth of budget to allow everyone access, that it would require training and other things that would make it unappealing to the membership. Never mind that they already have a system in place to give some people access to it. It might require more processing power to expand that to all 800 schools, but most of the work involved is in the generation of user accounts.

The benefit is that everyone who creates a schedule in any sport would have the opportunity to be more educated as to how that schedule affects the NCAA Tournament selection process. You’d have instant access to your opponents’ winning percentage and their opponents’ winning percentage. Coaches would see the proverbial man behind the curtain.

Eventually, of course, the proposal was withdrawn.

Our source at the NCAA convention last month told us, “There was a look of distinct relief on the faces of those on the dais.”

Now, admittedly, they have gotten a little better this season, at least in basketball. But how are we to know everything is correct?

Responding directly to the concern about errors, it discussed improving the score-reporting program’s current ability to flag conflicting information submitted by institutions, by adding a function that automatically would trigger e-mails to regional advisory committee (RAC) members and institutional representatives when such errors occur.

Sponsors of Proposal 8 asserted that ranking and selection decisions have been made in the past without resolving such conflicts in data. The Championships Committee wants to clear up such errors before each ranking of teams by a sports committee.

Read the article for yourself. It’s good they are trying to fix things, and indeed, this year’s regional rankings have been based on far more accurate records than in recent years.

But it’s not even close to being enough. The selection process is difficult enough as it is. Let’s at least make sure the right data are being used.

Hoopsville Podcast: February 26th

There are only days left in the 2008-2009 season as teams fight to make the NCAA Tournament. As we talked about the Great Lakes, South, Mid-Atlantic, and East Regions, we also take a look at how just one game can have huge ripple effects through the nation. Interviews with coaches and regional report JC DeLass gives you all the information you need!

Guests included:
– McMurry Coach Ron Holmes
– Susquehanna Coach Frank Marcinek
– Utica Coach Chris Connolly
– Wooster Coach Steve Moore
– Muhlenberg Women’s Coach Ron Rohn

Final public NCAA regional rankings

These are the final published NCAA Division III men’s basketball regional rankings. There is one secret ranking on Selection Sunday that we do not get to see.

Remember there are three ways a game can be classified as in region.

Through games of Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009.

Men’s regional rankings
Records listed are overall record, followed by in-region record.
Atlantic Region
1. Richard Stockton 23-2 20-2
2. Farmingdale State 23-2 23-2
3. Montclair State 20-5 16-5
4. William Paterson 20-6 20-6
5. Baruch 22-4 20-3

East Region
1. Ithaca 24-1 22-1
2. St. Lawrence 19-5 17-5
3. Hamilton 18-6 16-2
4. Utica 17-8 17-8
5. Rochester 16-8 16-8

Great Lakes Region
1. John Carroll 20-4 18-3
2. Capital 22-3 20-3
3. Carnegie Mellon 18-6 14-5
5. Wooster 19-6 18-4
4. Calvin 17-7 12-2
6. Ohio Wesleyan 17-7 16-6

Middle Atlantic Region
1. St. Mary’s (Md.) 21-4 18-2
2. Franklin & Marshall 21-4 20-4
3. DeSales 20-5 19-5
4. Widener 20-5 18-5
5. Gwynedd-Mercy 20-5 19-4
6. McDaniel 18-7 16-6
7. Cabrini 19-6 19-6
8. Scranton 19-6 18-6

Midwest Region
1. Wheaton (Ill.) 22-3 18-3
2. Washington U. 22-2 21-2
3. Elmhurst 19-6 19-6
4. Transylvania 19-5 16-3
5. Lawrence 17-6 17-6
6. Augustana 18-7 17-7
7. Carroll 16-7 16-7
8. North Central (Ill.) 16-9 14-7

Northeast Region
1. Worcester Tech 20-4 20-3
2. Middlebury 22-3 20-2
3. Elms 24-1 23-1
4. Rhode Island College 21-4 21-4
5. Mass-Dartmouth 22-3 20-3
6. Salem State 20-5 19-5
7. Bridgewater State 18-6 17-4
8. Brandeis 16-8 16-8
9. Amherst 20-5 18-5
10. Bowdoin 17-8 17-8

South Region
1. Trinity (Texas) 22-3 19-3
2. Texas-Dallas 21-4 19-4
3. Guilford 21-4 20-4
4. Randolph-Macon 20-5 18-2
5. Centre 20-4 16-4
6. McMurry 18-7 17-5
7. DePauw 19-6 15-5
8. Roanoke 19-6 14-6

West Region
1. St. Thomas 25-0 24-0
2. Puget Sound 23-2 20-0
3. UW-Stevens Point 21-4 20-4
4. UW-Whitewater 21-4 20-4
5. UW-Platteville 21-4 16-4
6. Buena Vista 23-2 20-2
7. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 18-6 16-4
8. Whitworth 20-5 18-5

Women’s regional rankings
Records listed are in-region record, followed by overall record.
Atlantic Region
1. York (Pa.) 24-1 24-1
2. Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.) 21-3 21-4
3. TCNJ 20-4 21-4
4. Kean 18-5 20-6
5. Marymount (Va.) 19-4 20-5
6. Mary Washington 18-5 20-5

Central Region
1. Ill. Wesleyan 21-0 24-0
2. Washington U. 18-4 20-4
3. UW-Stevens Point 21-3 22-3
4. UW-Whitewater 20-3 22-3
5. UW-Eau Claire 17-4 21-4
6. St. Norbert 18-2 19-4

East Region
1. Rochester 21-3 21-3
2. New York U. 20-4 20-4
3. Cortland St. 21-3 22-3
4. Union 18-4 18-6
5. Oneonta St. 17-4 19-5
6. Ithaca 16-6 17-8

Great Lakes Region
1. Hope 18-1 22-1
2. Thomas More 19-2 23-2
3. DePauw 15-3 21-4
4. Wash. & Jeff. 18-3 22-3
5. Transylvania 18-3 20-5
6. Capital 18-4 18-5

Mid-Atlantic Region
1. Scranton 21-4 21-4
2. Moravian 18-5 20-5
3. Muhlenberg 22-3 22-3
4. DeSales 21-4 21-4
5. Messiah 20-3 22-3
6. Alvernia 16-6 17-8

Northeast Region
1. Amherst 23-1 24-1
2. Tufts 21-3 21-3
3. Brandeis 16-6 17-6
4. Bowdoin 20-4 21-4
5. Eastern Connecticut 23-2 23-2
6. Western Connecticut 19-4 20-4
7. Southern Maine 18-5 19-6
8. Keene State 17-6 19-6

South Region
1. Oglethorpe 17-3 22-3
2. Greensboro 23-0 24-1
3. Texas-Dallas 21-3 21-4
4. Mississippi College 21-3 22-3
5. Roanoke 20-3 22-3
6. Randolph-Macon 17-4 20-5

West Region
1. George Fox 20-0 25-0
2. St. Benedict 22-3 22-3
3. Simpson 18-3 22-3
4. Concordia-Moorhead 17-5 18-7
5. St. Thomas 18-7 18-7
6. Redlands 18-6 19-6

Putting on the pressure

Are last-second free throws the most pressure packed action in sports?

While some would argue for kicking a field goal with three seconds left down by two or standing with the tying and winning runs on base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, it’s hard to argue against the last-second free throw, because once the referee hands you the ball, it’s just you and the basket, 15 feet away.

The NCAA’s Double-A Zone focuses on how this simple act can be suddenly less than simple and uses a fairly topical reference in the process. Say, a pair of free throws from Sunday’s games. Lot of Division III fans over there.