Author Archives: Pat Coleman

Second regional rankings released Thursday

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rmc-giggetts-actionThe second NCAA regional rankings were released Thursday morning. One more ranking will follow on Feb. 25, along with one on Sunday, March 1, which we do not get to see.

If you’ve missed it, the men’s region formerly known as the Midwest was renamed the Central Region this season, and the WIAC was moved into that region from the West. Other conferences moved, primarily between the Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic regions, for both men and women. Need to know more about the regional rankings process and what they mean? Need to know more about the NCAA Tournament? Check out our NCAA Tournament FAQ.

The second record is Division III record, followed by overall.
Through games of Sunday, Feb. 15.

NCAA Division III men’s basketball championships handbook

Men’s rankings
Atlantic Region – NCAA data sheet

1 Richard Stockton 19-5 19-5
2 William Paterson 19-5 19-5
3 Baruch 18-5 18-5
4 Brooklyn 19-5 19-5
5 Rutgers-Newark 16-8 16-8
6 Sage Colleges 18-4 19-4
7 Staten Island 17-7 17-7

Central – NCAA data sheet

1 Augustana (IL) 20-4 20-4
2 Wis.-Whitewater 19-2 20-3
3 Wis.-Stevens Point 20-4 20-4
4 Washington-St. Louis 17-5 17-5
5 Elmhurst 19-5 19-5
6 St. Norbert 21-1 21-1
7 Ill. Wesleyan 17-7 17-7
8 North Central (IL) 15-7 17-7

East – NCAA data sheet

1 St. John Fisher 20-2 20-2
2 Plattsburgh St. 16-6 16-6
3 NYU 16-6 16-6
4 Hobart 16-6 16-7
5 Skidmore 16-7 16-7
6 Clarkson 17-5 18-5

Great Lakes – NCAA data sheet
1 Marietta 21-2 21-2
2 Ohio Wesleyan 19-4 19-4
3 Wooster 18-5 18-5
4 Mount Union 18-5 18-5
5 John Carroll 17-5 17-5
6 Case 12-6 14-7
7 Calvin 16-5 17-6
8 Penn St.-Behrend 21-2 21-2
9 Hope 14-7 15-8

Mid-Atlantic – NCAA data sheet
1 Johns Hopkins 20-3 20-3
2 Dickinson 19-4 19-4
3 Catholic 20-2 20-3
4 Frank. & Marsh. 19-4 19-4
5 Scranton 18-5 18-5
6 St. Mary’s (MD) 16-4 18-4

Northeast – NCAA data sheet
1 Babson 21-2 21-2
2 Bates 18-5 18-5
3 Trinity (CT) 18-4 19-5
4 Amherst 18-6 18-6
5 Eastern Conn. St. 19-4 19-4
6 WPI 19-4 19-4
7 Bowdoin 17-6 17-6
8 Springfield 16-7 16-7
9 Albertus Magnus 21-1 21-1
10 Rhode Island Col. 16-7 16-7
11 Southern Vt. 19-2 20-3

South – NCAA data sheet
1 Randolph-Macon 21-2 21-2
2 Emory 17-5 17-5
3 East Tex. Baptist 19-4 19-4
4 Va. Wesleyan 18-4 19-4
5 Centre 17-4 18-4
6 Hardin-Simmons 17-6 17-6
7 Louisiana College 13-5 13-9
8 Mary Hardin-Baylor 16-7 16-7

West – NCAA data sheet
1 St. Thomas (MN) 20-2 20-2
2 St. Olaf 20-3 20-3
3 Buena Vista 17-5 17-6
4 Dubuque 18-4 19-4
5 Whitman 17-4 18-5
6 Whitworth 20-3 20-3
7 Chapman 13-3 18-3

Women’s

The first record is in-region record, followed by overall record.

 

Atlantic

1 Montclair State 23-1 23-1
2 FDU-Florham 22-1 22-1
3 Cabrini 21-3 21-3
4 Richard Stockton 20-4 20-4
5 Eastern 17-4 19-4
6 Baruch 19-4 19-4
7 Rowan 16-7 17-7
8 Brooklyn 18-5 18-5

Central

1 Wheaton (Illinois) 18-3 21-3
2 Washington U in St. Louis 19-2 20-2
3 North Central (Illinois) 19-4 20-4
4 St. Norbert 19-3 19-3
5 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 18-4 19-4
6 Wisconsin Lutheran 19-4 19-4
7 Chicago 15-6 16-6
8 Wisconsin-Superior 17-5 17-6
9 Spalding 16-3 16-3

East

1 New York University 20-2 20-2
2 SUNY Geneseo 18-3 18-4
3 Ithaca 19-4 19-4
4 Stevens 19-3 19-3
5 SUNY Cortland 19-4 19-4
6 St. John Fisher 17-5 17-5
7 St. Lawrence 18-5 18-5

Great Lakes

1 Thomas More 21-0 23-0
2 Calvin 20-0 22-0
3 DePauw 22-1 22-1
4 John Carroll 20-3 20-3
5 Hope 21-2 21-2
6 Transylvania 21-1 22-1
7 Saint Vincent 20-3 20-3
8 Baldwin Wallace 18-5 18-5
9 Ohio Northern 18-5 18-5

Mid-Atlantic

1 Salisbury 22-1 22-1
2 Scranton 22-2 22-2
3 Stevenson 20-2 20-2
4 McDaniel 22-1 22-1
5 Muhlenberg 16-6 16-6
6 Albright 17-6 17-6

Northeast

1 Tufts 23-1 23-1
2 Amherst 21-2 21-2
3 Bowdoin 20-3 21-3
4 Williams 19-5 19-5
5 University of New England 19-4 19-4
6 Springfield 18-6 18-6
7 Massachusetts Dartmouth 17-6 17-6
8 Westfield State 19-4 19-4
9 Eastern Connecticut State 15-8 15-8
10 Roger Williams 17-6 17-6
11 Norwich 17-4 19-4
12 Castleton 20-4 20-4

South

1 Texas-Tyler 23-1 23-1
2 Eastern Mennonite 19-2 19-3
3 Randolph-Macon 18-3 18-4
4 Maryville (Tennessee) 21-2 21-2
5 Texas-Dallas 19-4 19-4
6 Lynchburg 16-7 16-7
7 Trinity (Texas) 18-5 19-5
8 Louisiana College 16-5 16-5
9 Piedmont 18-5 18-5

West

1 George Fox 22-0 23-0
2 St. Thomas (Minnesota) 23-0 23-0
3 Whitworth 14-3 20-3
4 Puget Sound 18-3 20-3
5 Luther 17-4 19-4
6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 19-3 20-3
7 Bethel (Minnesota) 19-3 19-4
8 Whitman 12-6 15-8

Regional score reporting forms (including SOS) below:
Atlantic | Central | East | Great Lakes | Mid-Atlantic | Northeast | South | West

NCAA regional rankings: Week 1

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The men’s and women’s regional rankings have been released.

Need to know more about the regional rankings process and what they mean? Need to know more about the NCAA Tournament? Check out our NCAA Tournament FAQ.

Through games of Sunday, Feb. 9.

The first record is Division III record, followed by overall.

NCAA Division III men’s basketball championships handbook

Men’s rankings
Atlantic Region – NCAA data sheet
1 SUNY-Purchase 19-1 19-1
2 Richard Stockton 17-4 17-4
3 Rutgers-Newark 16-6 16-6
4 William Paterson 17-5 17-5
5 Staten Island 20-2 20-2
6 Mount St. Mary 16-5 16-5
East – NCAA data sheet
1 Brockport State 16-2 17-2
2 Geneseo State 15-3 16-3
3 Plattsburgh State 16-4 16-4
4 NYU 15-5 15-5
5 Hobart 17-5 17-5
6 Stevens 14-7 15-7
Great Lakes – NCAA data sheet
1 Wooster 17-2 18-3
2 Ohio Wesleyan 17-4 17-4
3 Mount Union 17-3 17-3
4 Marietta 16-4 17-4
5 Wittenberg 17-4 17-4
6 Hope 14-5 15-6
7 Bethany 17-4 18-4
Mid-Atlantic – NCAA data sheet
1 Cabrini 18-0 18-0
2 Scranton 18-3 18-3
3 Wesley 16-2 18-2
4 Messiah 17-3 17-3
5 Mary Washington 17-3 18-3
6 Dickinson 17-4 17-4
7 Alvernia 15-6 15-6
8 Hood 15-5 15-5
9 McDaniel 16-4 16-5
Midwest – NCAA data sheet
1 Washington U. 18-2 18-2
2 Illinois Wesleyan 18-3 18-3
3 Wheaton (Ill.) 16-6 16-6
4 Augustana 16-6 16-6
5 St. Norbert 17-1 18-1
6 Carthage 13-7 14-8
7 Rose-Hulman 17-4 17-4
8 Milwaukee School of Engineering 18-4 18-4
Northeast – NCAA data sheet
1 Amherst 20-2 20-3
2 Williams 18-3 19-3
3 Bowdoin 18-3 18-3
4 Babson 16-5 16-5
5 Eastern Connecticut 16-5 16-5
6 WPI 18-3 18-3
7 Springfield 15-5 16-5
8 Albertus Magnus 19-1 19-2
9 Rhode Island 14-7 14-7
10 Nichols 16-5 16-5
11 Middlebury 14-7 15-7
South – NCAA data sheet
1 Randolph-Macon 17-4 17-4
2 Texas-Dallas 19-2 19-2
3 Virgina Wesleyan 15-5 16-5
4 Centre 14-2 17-3
5 Guilford 16-5 16-5
6 Emory 13-7 13-7
7 Oglethorpe 15-4 17-4
8 Concordia (Texas) 15-5 16-5
West – NCAA data sheet
1 UW-Stevens Point 20-1 20-1
2 UW-Whitewater 19-3 19-3
3 St. Thomas 18-3 18-3
4 Dubuque 17-1 20-1
5 St. Olaf 17-4 17-4
6 Whitworth 17-4 17-4
7 Pomona-Pitzer 16-4 16-6
8 Colorado College 12-5 14-6
9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 13-3 15-5

Women’s

The first record is in-region record, followed by overall record.

 

  • NCAA Division III women’s basketball championships handbook
    Atlantic
    1 York (Pa.) 19-1 20-1
    2 Montclair State 20-2 20-2
    3 Christopher Newport 17-2 19-2
    4 Staten Island 18-3 18-4
    5 Catholic 16-4 16-4
    6 TCNJ 15-6 15-6

    Central
    1 Washington U. 18-2 18-2
    2 Carthage 18-2 19-2
    3 UW-Whitewater 19-3 19-3
    4 UW-Oshkosh 18-2 19-2
    5 Wisconsin Lutheran 18-3 18-3
    6 UW-Stevens Point 15-6 15-6
    7 Illinois Wesleyan 15-6 16-6
    8 Cornell 16-3 16-3

    East
    1 NYU 18-2 18-2
    2 Ithaca 16-4 18-4
    3 Vassar 16-4 16-4
    4 Buffalo State 17-4 17-4
    5 Plattsburgh State 16-4 16-4
    6 Hartwick 17-4 18-4

    Great Lakes
    1 DePauw 22-0 22-0
    2 Hope 21-0 21-0
    3 Thomas More 21-0 21-0
    4 John Carroll 16-2 17-2
    5 Ohio Northern 17-4 17-4
    6 Baldwin Wallace 16-5 16-5
    7 Transylvania 18-2 19-2
    8 Olivet 16-2 18-3
    * The MIAA rep did not vote this week.

    Mid-Atlantic
    1 FDU-Florham 20-0 21-0
    2 Scranton 17-3 17-3
    3 Haverford 16-3 17-3
    4 Moravian 17-4 17-4
    5 DeSales 17-4 17-4
    6 Lebanon Valley 16-4 16-4
    7 Cabrini 16-4 16-4
    8 Elizabethtown 15-4 15-4

    Northeast
    1 Tufts 21-0 21-0
    2 Amherst 21-2 21-2
    3 Williams 19-3 19-3
    4 Bowdoin 19-3 19-3
    5 New England 19-2 19-2
    6 Wheaton (Mass.) 18-4 18-4
    7 Roger Williams 17-4 17-4
    8 Rhode Island 15-6 15-6
    9 Castleton 19-2 19-2
    10 Eastern Connecticut State 15-6 15-6
    11 Emmanuel 15-6 15-6
    12 Wellesley 14-6 14-6

    South
    1 Ferrum 17-1 18-1
    2 Emory 15-5 15-5
    3 Texas-Tyler 18-3 18-3
    4 Maryville 17-3 18-3
    5 Randolph-Macon 16-4 16-5
    6 Rhodes 17-3 17-3
    7 Centre 14-6 14-7
    8 Texas-Dallas 17-4 17-4
    9 Eastern Mennonite 16-4 17-4

    West
    1 Whitman 16-0 21-0
    2 George Fox 16-1 18-1
    3 St. Thomas 18-3 18-3
    4 Saint Mary’s (Minn.) 19-2 19-2
    5 Concordia-Moorhead 16-4 17-4
    6 Whitworth 13-3 16-5
    7 Chapman 16-3 16-5
    8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14-3 18-3

    Regional score reporting forms (including SOS) below:
    Atlantic | Central | East | Great Lakes | Mid-Atlantic | Northeast | South | West

Road Show: Packed LeFrak

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Part of the reason I devote so much time to Division III sports in general is for the adventure of it all. I could have chosen to stay around Boston and see WPI throttle Coast Guard but not if there were a Top Five matchup a couple of hours away.

So I hopped in the car and drove a hundred or so miles west to Amherst. These games didn’t get me anywhere on my master list — I had seen all four teams play before and I had been in LeFrak Gymnasium as well — but it was a great experience.

I like to take the less obvious routes when possible. It helps me understand the geography of a state if I drive through more of it, so I took Mass. Rte. 2 instead of the Mass Pike. And on the way back, I dropped off my rental car and took the T to my hotel instead of a cab.

In between, we saw two great games. Paul Carr, a broadcaster at Wheaton (Ill.) about a decade ago, called the first game with former Lord Jeff Spencer Noon, then he and I called the women’s game together.

The men’s game was a fantastic back-and-forth affair if you like offense, and the women’s game was a fantastic game if you like defense. You can watch the archived broadcast as well, with the women’s game starting at about the 3-hour mark of the archive.

After the game I spoke with Bridget Crowley and Bre Dufault, who played on opposite sides but have been best friends since third grade. That interview is below, but I also asked Crowley off camera about a little girl she was talking to after the game. She said coach G.P. Gromacki had passed along a letter from a 7-year-old girl that had been addressed to Bridget Crowley, LeFrak Gymnasium:

“I really loved your game. I look up to you, you’re the best player. It was just a total confidence booster and it made my day. She drew a picture on it, she put a bunch of stickers on it. I was thinking, ‘I have to get back to this girl and make sure this mail gets to her quickly,’ and she lives right down the road. So I went to the store and got all these arts and crafts — glitter and stickers.

“We change practice jerseys every year, so I gave her my purple practice jersey and put it in with a note as well and stuffed it in her mailbox. She told me she’d be at this game and I was hoping she’d wear the jersey so she’d be easy to pick out. And she was very easy to pick out. It was so cute.”

Crowley spent some time with her pen pal, also named Bridget, after the game, on a day in which Crowley got pushed around quite a bit by stronger Tufts defenders. She talks more about it, with her best friend, below:

Road Show: A chance meeting

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Teams in airports are easy to spot, and I’ve certainly done that a lot in my travels. The most surprising sighting was one winter when I saw the Mary Washington tennis teams in the Minneapolis airport.

But in a UAA city, on a Thursday, it probably should not have been a surprise to run into the Emory basketball teams. Especially at the Delta baggage claim.

I am not seeing the Eagles play on this trip. Men’s coach Jason Zimmerman was well aware of this and let me know that he knew. I saw them play at home on the Southern Hospitality tour some years back, and I’m still trying to see some teams and gyms for the first time.

Emory is a shot away from being 6-1 in the league, specifically any of the ten 3-pointers Wash U’s Alan Aboona made against them a few weeks back. But the Eagles are rolling otherwise, beating teams by double digits.

Could Rochester sweep NYU and Brandeis this weekend? Zimmerman wouldn’t answer on the record. But he knows how hard it is on the road in the UAA.

Last time I was on this kind of road trip, it was really difficult to post a blog entry. Now there is an app and this post is done before I even get to the rental car place.

Our 2012 men’s projections

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Illinois Wesleyan battles
Illinois Wesleyan is playing the waiting game, but we think they are safer than the conventional wisdom might suggest.
IWU photo by Jeff Findley

It’s a late night, as always, but our full projection is up, with the bracket.

Having a third Texas team make the tournament, as Trinity (Texas) did by winning the SCAC on Sunday afternoon, actually helped part of the bracketing process. That made it possible to bring Claremont-Mudd-Scripps into Texas to be the fourth team (well, really, the second team) of a four-team pod. Whitworth then gets a first-round bye, based mostly on geography, and awaits the winner of two other West Region teams.

In our projection, Amherst gets the other bye, based on their high seeding. Remember, with 62 teams in the tournament this season, there are only two first-round byes instead of three. Hope was also a candidate. If the NCAA is looking to spend a lot on gas, it could send Westminster to Hope and Rose-Hulman to Wash U., but we think our bracket works out just fine for seeding purposes without sending Westminster an extra 350 miles.

Here are the Pool C teams. (Pool B is Maryville.) In order of selection:

Middlebury
UW-Whitewater
Rhode Island College
Wheaton (Ill.)
Western Connecticut
UW-Stevens Point
Mary Hardin-Baylor
Wittenberg
Gustavus Adolphus
Transylvania
Hobart
Hartwick
WPI
Ohio Wesleyan
Illinois Wesleyan
Keene State
Randolph-Macon
St. Mary’s (Md.)
Birmingham-Southern

Transylvania dropping into the at-large pool actually helps Gustavus Adolphus. It’s a non-regional result, but Gustavus defeated Transylvania at the D3hoops.com Classic, and by the time we get this deep into the selection process, we have to consider the NCAA’s secondary criteria.

When doing so, Illinois Wesleyan scored better, picking up wins against regionally ranked opponents Bethany and Staten Island. I took the committee’s penchant for SOS this year to mean that when push comes to shove, they would take the teams with the better SOS, so I ranked Illinois Wesleyan ahead of Lake Forest and Randolph-Macon ahead of Birmingham-Southern.

Left on the table: St. Joseph’s (L.I.) 21-3, .470 SOS, 1-0 vs. regionally ranked opponents; Nazareth (18-7, .552, 0-4); John Carroll (15-7, .491); Keystone (21-6, .505, 0-3); Lake Forest (19-4, .516, 0-1); Wesleyan (20-5, .513, 3-3); Puget Sound (15-7, .513, 4-3). Emory was next in the South.

Take a look at the full bracket.