Category Archives: General

Revisiting D3 vs. D1

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Earlier this season Coach C sparked a spirited discussion with a well written entry about whether it’s worthwhile for Division III schools to play Division I schools. Given tonight’s top story, I thought it was worth reviving the discussion.

I always wonder how “our guys” stack up against the big guys? Not Duke or Villanova, but if our top teams played their bottom teams, would they win? Tonight’s game between No. 5 Puget Sound and Division I UC Riverside (0-8) was a good case study.

Puget Sound is ranked highly, though some may argue perhaps too highly. We’ll see whether that’s the case when they play top-ranked IWU next week. UPS also plays an unusual, frenetic style of play. I’m not sure whether that makes them more or less likely to succeed against DI. But UPS is certainly a capable standard bearer for D3.

Meanwhile the UCR Highlanders (“who wants…to live…for-ever!”) are near, if not at, the bottom of Division I. For those who like such indices, the Wolfe rankings have UC-Riverside No. 693 overall, behind more than 50 Division III schools including UPS (No. 676). UCR also drubbed Redlands 162-123 in an exhibition back in November.

In the first half it was Puget Sound that was behind, trailing by as many as 18 points and 13 at the break. But the Loggers rolled (get it?) out of the locker room and cut the lead quickly. UPS and UCR battled back and forth over the final 10 minutes before the Loggers put the game away on Josh Walker’s defensive rebound at 113-111.

This isn’t the first time a D3 team has beaten a DI. Defending national champion Williams beat defending Patriot League champion Holy Cross 78-71 in 2003. And D3 tallied two victories over D1 teams last year (HSC over Longwood, Gettysburg over Navy). But more often than not, the results aren’t pretty. See West Virginia 83 W&J 33.

A recent article in the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call offers one explanation on why these match-ups are more frequent right before Christmas. It also underlines the good and bad of these match-ups.

On the bright side, wins like the UPS victory are special moment. When Swarthmore beat Lafayette, Coach O’Hanlon says the Garnet “celebrated like they had just won the NCAA.” That sounds good.

But the idea that DI teams are trolling for easy wins because their students are busy with exams is patronizing. Plus it’s not like our players don’t have academic concerns of their own. By the way, Lafayette beat Dickinson by 20.

So where do I fall on these match-ups? I still think one size doesn’t fit all. Division III teams should make these decisions for themselves based on the likelihood of being competitive, financial considerations and whatever else factors into it. It’d be tough to tell the kids at Puget Sound that they shouldn’t have played what was a memorable game for them.

But in my inglorious athletic career, the only thing that ticked me off more than getting my butt kicked was getting it kicked by someone who wasn’t even trying their hardest.

So, considering the UPS victory, where do you stand?

Immediate thoughts on Dec. 19 games

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Okay, so I was wrong. Again.

A couple weeks back on Hoopsville, Dave McHugh asked me which teams I had ranked ahead of No. 12 Randolph-Macon, on my men’s ballot. “Ha,” I clucked, “try all of them!” As is frequently the case, hindsight set in about an hour later and I realized that was a stupid thing to say. I’ve quietly made my peace with RMC by putting them on my last ballot and singing their alma mater in a remorseful tone.

That being said, from what I heard of last night’s webcast, Justin Wansley is a beast and this team is solid. They won two games in two nights against Top 25 teams (No. 21 Lincoln and No. 18 St. John Fisher) with different styles. I can only say:

Lift the chorus, speed it onward;
Ne’er let praises fail!
Hail to thee our Alma Mater,
Randolph-Macon hail!

Elsewhere the McMurry men have had a rough three days, losing to Louisiana College (3-6) and ASC favorite Mississippi College by 23. The Christmas break comes at a good time for the Indians (6-3, 5-2) who had won six in a row before this mini-skid.

Both teams at Franklin are now 8-1 after the men beat Earlham in OT last night. The male Grizzlies, whose lone loss comes to Eckerd (9-1 in Division II), play North Central (6-0) on December 28 in Naperville in an interesting clash of teams below the radar.

And nice win for the No. 12 University of Mary Washington women yesterday morning, 68-63 over Concordia (Neb.) who has been to the NAIA Division II semifinals two of the past three seasons. It’s even nicer when you get that win in Honolulu.

Mele Kalikimaka, everyone.

Who can it be now?

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OK, I’m stumped with Southern Maine’s loss to Salem State on Saturday, I’m trying to figure out who I should vote for as my new women’s No. 1 team. Anyone have any suggestions? I see 5 to 6 possibilities out there, but I haven’t fully weighed the pros and cons of each.

Where will the pieces fall?

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Today’s announcement of a new league being formed is just the first of what is likely to be many changes in conferences over the next year or so. Legislation is on the table at the upcoming NCAA convention to allow conferences to change membership without resulting in the loss of an automatic bid. (Currently, even if the members remain at seven each year, there’s a danger of losing the automatic bid if the number of consistent members from year to year falls below a certain level.)

The three MAC football expatriates, who will be playing football in the Liberty League or Centennial Conference and everything else in the “Interstate Eight” — we can call it that for now — got it started by leaving the MAC back in October, ending a period of speculation that had teams moving to the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, to the Centennial, from the Capital and the like.

Villa Julie to the CAC is a lock, just waiting to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. Hood is a natural, although the MAC is pursuing them as well. Wesley is going to be a strong CAC candidate as well, after getting turned down some years back. Frostburg State is locked into position in the AMCC until the summer, when the school will be looking for a new president, but could be a candidate, if the private schools in the league are willing to consent to take on another state school.

The MAC has to be worried. It sent out feelers to six schools and two of them must have football. Even Gallaudet, whose football program is club status, is getting looks because of that, and Misericordia has expressed an interest in adding the sport as well. Some say three schools from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference are on the six-school list, though sources disagree on which ones aside from Misericordia.

Even the Atlantic Women’s Colleges Conference, which I had given up for dead about six months ago, seems to be breathing. The conference watched Hood and Chestnut Hill add men and saw Mary Baldwin latch up with the USA South and did nothing with its membership for more than a year, putting it in danger of losing its automatic bid (and it still could, for a year or more). But salvation might come in the form of St. Elizabeth, an all-women’s school in New Jersey, and New Rochelle, in New York. That’s a mission worth saving, and with a little more action a year ago the conference would be in better shape now.

There’s already shuffling in the Northeast, with Western New England talking about moving out of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The Commonwealth Coast Conference, North Atlantic Conference and GNAC could all see changes in membership since they are large enough to spawn other leagues and gobble up more automatic bids.

Beware.

In the Southeast there is talk of a new league forming involving Maryville (Tenn.), LaGrange, Piedmont, Huntingdon, Mississippi College, Louisiana College, and Oglethorpe. (Someone also told us Trinity (Texas) was looking at this league as well, but we took that with a grain of salt, as did our source.)

While we haven’t heard much rumbling from other parts of the country, the SCAC still has a stated mission of expansion on the table, after Rose-Hulman announced its pending departure for the HCAC this offseason and Austin College came in. Much of that movement could be football-related.

We’re in for an interesting few months. This “Interstate Eight” deal came together in a month or so. More will follow.

Getting my groove back

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I was unable to travel yesterday for D3football.com. Usually I’d be at one of the national semifinals and I was tentatively planning to be at Rowan/Mount Union, with a chance to see Wittenberg at Wooster last night.

However, I was able to catch the Wooster game broadcast online last night, and I tell you, I feel more pumped up for basketball season than I have in a long time. There’s nothing like an exciting game called b a strong broadcaster and last night fit the bill.

I can only imagine what it would’ve been like if I had been able to attend.

Obviously there’s more to cover, such as the news on the front page from Saturday and today’s upset of No. 1 Millikin by Illinois College. But those are my immediate thoughts on the weekend. Yours?