Category Archives: NCAA stuff

NCAA regional rankings

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The first women’s regional rankings of the 2008-09 season have been released, as have the second men’s rankings.

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

Through games of Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009.

Men’s regional rankings
Records listed are overall record, followed by in-region record.
Atlantic Region
1. Richard Stockton 21-2 18-2
2. Farmingdale State 19-2 19-2
3. William Paterson 18-4 18-4
4. Baruch 19-4 17-3
5. St. Joseph’s (L.I.) 19-2 18-2

East Region
1. Ithaca 20-1 18-1
2. St. Lawrence 16-4 14-4
3. Hamilton 14-5 12-1
4. Rochester 15-5 15-5
5. Rochester Tech 16-4 12-4

Great Lakes Region
1. Capital 18-3 16-3
2. Carnegie Mellon 16-4 12-3
3. John Carroll 16-4 14-3
4. Calvin 14-6 9-1
5. Wooster 15-6 14-4
6. Ohio Northern 15-6 13-5

Middle Atlantic Region
1. Franklin and Marshall 19-2 18-2
2. DeSales 17-3 16-3
3. St. Mary’s (Md.) 18-4 15-2
4. Wesley 15-6 13-2
5. McDaniel 16-5 14-4
6. Gwynedd-Mercy 15-5 14-4
7. Widener 16-5 14-5
8. Gettysburg 14-6 14-6

Midwest Region
1. Washington U. 19-1 18-1
2. Wheaton (Ill.) 18-3 14-3
3. Transylvania 16-4 13-2
4. Elmhurst 16-5 16-5
5. St. Norbert 17-3 16-3
6. Augustana 16-6 15-6
7. North Central 14-7 12-5
8. Lawrence 14-6 14-6

Northeast Region
1. Middlebury 20-2 18-1
2. Mass-Dartmouth 19-2 17-2
3. Elms 18-1 17-1
4. Worcester Polytechnic 16-4 16-3
5. Rhode Island College 16-4 16-4
6. Bridgewater State 15-5 14-3
7. Salem State 17-4 16-4
8. Amherst 18-4 16-4
9. MIT 16-6 15-4
10. University of New England 18-3 17-3

South Region
1. Trinity (Texas) 19-2 16-2
2. Texas-Dallas 18-3 16-3
3. Guilford 17-4 16-4
4. McMurry 15-6 14-4
5. Randolph-Macon 16-5 14-2
6. DePauw 17-5 13-4
7. Centre 17-4 13-4
8. Mississippi College 15-5 13-5

West Region
1. UW-Stevens Point 19-2 18-2
2. St. Thomas 21-0 20-0
3. UW-Platteville 19-2 14-2
4. Puget Sound 19-2 16-0
5. UW-Whitewater 18-3 17-3
6. Buena Vista 20-2 17-2
7. Whitworth 17-4 15-4
8. Bethel 16-5 14-5

Women’s regional rankings
Records listed are in-region record, followed by overall record.

Atlantic Region
1. York (Pa.) 20-1 20-1
2. Kean 16-3 18-4
3. Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.) 16-3 16-4
4. The College of New Jersey 17-4 18-4
5. Marymount (Va.) 16-3 17-4
6. Staten Island 15-3 17-5

Central Region
1. Ill. Wesleyan 18-0 20-0
2. UW-Stevens Point 18-2 19-2
3. UW-Whitewater 16-3 18-3
4. Washington U. 14-4 16-4
5. UW-Eau Claire 15-3 19-3
6. St. Norbert 15-2 16-4

East Region
1. Rochester 19-1 19-1
2. New York U. 17-3 17-3
3. Stevens 17-3 17-3
4. Union 15-2 15-5
5. Cortland State 16-3 17-3
6. Oneonta State 14-3 16-4

Great Lakes Region
1. DePauw 11-2 19-3
2. Hope 14-1 18-1
3. Washington and Jefferson 15-2 19-2
4. Thomas More 16-2 19-2
5. Capital 15-3 15-4
6. Baldwin-Wallace 13-4 16-5

Mid-Atlantic Region
1. Messiah 18-2 20-2
2. Moravian 16-4 18-4
3. Muhlenberg 18-3 18-3
4. DeSales 17-4 17-4
5. Scranton 16-4 17-4
6. Cabrini 14-4 16-4

Northeast Region
1. Amherst 20-1 21-1
2. Tufts 17-3 17-3
3. Brandeis 12-6 13-6
4. Bowdoin 17-4 18-4
5. Eastern Connecticut State 19-2 19-2
6. Western Connecticut State 16-3 17-3
7. Keene State 15-4 17-4
8. Nichols 19-2 19-2

South Region
1. Oglethorpe 15-2 19-2
2. Texas-Dallas 18-2 18-3
3. Greensboro 17-0 18-1
4. Roanoke 18-2 19-2
5. McMurry 15-3 17-4
6. Mississippi College 17-3 18-3

West Region
1. George Fox 16-0 21-0
2. St. Benedict 18-3 18-3
3. Concordia-Moorhead 14-4 15-6
4. Simpson 15-3 19-3
5. La Verne 14-3 16-4
6. Chapman 13-6 16-7

ALERT: Regional rankings released

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The first men’s Division III basketball regional rankings was released this afternoon reflecting results through Sunday, February 1. The team is followed by its overall record and then its regional record. We haven’t checked the accuracy of the regional records yet so feel free to raise questions below but remember there are three ways a game can be classified as in region.

The first women’s regional rankings are expected next Wednesday.

Atlantic
1. Richard Stockton 19-2 16-2
2. Farmingdale State 16-2 16-2
3. William Paterson 15-4 15-4
4. Baruch 17-4 15-3
5. Montclair State 15-5 12-5

East
1. Ithaca 17-1 15-1
2. St. Lawrence 13-4 11-4
3. Hamilton 12-5 10-1
4. Rochester 13-5 13-5
5. Rochester Tech 14-4 11-4

Great Lakes
1. Capital 17-2 15-2
2. Carnegie Mellon 14-4 10-3
3. John Carroll 14-4 12-3
4. Calvin 12-6 7-1
5. Hope 14-5 7-2
6. Ohio Northern 14-5 12-4

Middle Atlantic
1. Franklin & Marshall 17-2 16-2
2. Gwynedd-Mercy 15-2 14-1
3. DeSales 16-3 15-3
4. Wesley 12-5 10-1
5. St. Mary’s (Md.) 15-4 12-2
6. McDaniel 14-5 12-4
7. Widener 14-5 12-5
8. Gettysburg 13-5 13-5

Midwest
1. Washington U. 17-1 16-1
2. Elmhurst 15-4 15-4
3. Wheaton (Ill.) 16-3 12-3
4. St. Norbert 16-1 15-1
5. Transylvania 14-4 11-2
6. Augustana 15-5 14-5
7. North Central (Ill.) 13-6 11-4
8. Carroll 13-5 13-5

Northeast
1. Worcester Polytech 16-3 16-2
2. Middlebury 18-2 16-1
3. Mass-Dartmouth 17-2 15-2
4. Elms 17-1 16-1
5. Salem State 15-4 14-4
6. MIT 14-5 13-3
7. Colby 13-5 10-4
8. Rhode Island College 14-4 14-4
9. Amherst 16-3 14-3
10. Bridgewater State 13-5 12-3

South
1. Trinity (Texas) 17-2 14-2
2. Texas-Dallas 17-2 15-2
3. Guilford 15-4 14-4
4. McMurry 13-5 12-3
5. Randolph-Macon 14-5 12-2
6. DePauw 15-5 12-4
7. Centre 15-4 12-4
8. LeTourneau 13-6 12-4

West
1. UW-Stevens Point 17-2 16-2
2. St. Thomas 19-0 18-0
3. UW-Platteville 18-2 13-2
4. Puget Sound 17-2 14-0
5. UW-Whitewater 17-3 16-3
6. Buena Vista 18-2 15-2
7. Whitworth 15-4 13-4
8. Bethel 15-4 13-4

60 teams: That’s progress

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I know that there is some debate as to how many Pool B teams there should really be in this year’s NCAA Tournament and thankfully, we have some time for the NCAA to resolve that, in what seems to be an annual occurrence in every sport we cover.

But I, for one, was glad to see the tournament field expand, even by just a little.

This so-called incremental expansion has been skipped in previous years. Remember the 48 teams the men’s tournament was stuck at for a long time? That was based on one playoff spot for every 7.5 NCAA teams, the old ratio before expansion came a few years back. Except by the time the last 48-team tournament came around, we were actually getting shorted by the NCAA because more teams had joined Division III without new teams getting added to the postseason.

Sadly, one person close to the committee said they couldn’t figure out how to construct a 49-team field, as if it had to be seven brackets of seven teams. Not a high point!

So I was afraid that we would have to wait until we got all the way to 416 Division III men’s teams, a full 64-team field, before they bothered to expand it. We will probably get to 64 eventually, but the field isn’t likely to grow any larger, since ESPN has no interest in broadcasting a D-III play-in game.

In the fold

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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. 🙂

Choosing Division III

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Our friends at the Double-A Zone have asked the question, Who chooses Division III? It’s the NCAA’s official blog, so you have to take that into consideration, but unlike many ways in which the NCAA deals with Division III (can’t get its own playoff brackets right, doesn’t know how many Pool C bids there should be), the blog has a healthy knowledge of Division III, run by former Brandeis baseball player Josh Centor.

In light of the fact that Division II has spent a fair amount of time over the past few years trying to find its identity, there’s now apparently some sort of buzz. For me, I’m not sure what “I Chose Division II” actually means, while Division I’s identity is fairly clear and Division III has staked out the student-athlete high ground as the only purely amateur division (non-scholarship) in college athletics.

However, there seems to be some discussion from commenters, not much of it well-informed, as to what Division III’s identity is. Those people need a good dose of D3sports.com readers to fill them in. (I myself have a comment that is awaiting moderator approval.)

Meanwhile, the core question: Should Division III do more to brand itself? Speaking as someone who has done most of the branding of Division III over the past decade, absolutely. I look at what Division II has done in this area over the past few years, in terms of fancy promotional spots, games on CBS College Sports and football playoffs on ESPN, a full package of streaming video broadcasts of football and basketball, and I am definitely jealous. All Division III fans should be.

Division III should be branding itself. It should not be left to people like us here at D3sports.com or Steve Clay and D3Cast or Robb Modica and D3Scoreboard.

We just wasted a bunch of time and money figuring out Division IV was not the place we really wanted to be. So let’s spruce up our house a little bit while we’re here. Let’s show the rest of college fandom that this is not just glorified intramurals. Let’s get our games out there for people to see.

Why did you choose Division III? Go tell them.

And tell us below.