We’ve played all year for this. Or more importantly, the thousands of student-athletes in Division III basketball have played all year for this.

I’m just excited to be heading to a Final Four in Salem where I’m familiar with all four teams. Usually I’m not lucky enough to see two teams at the Final Four that I have watched play four times each, but that’s what we have in Amherst and Wooster. I saw Wash U play at NYU back in February (though I have to throw that game out because what I saw does not suggest a Final Four team). We saw a Virginia Wesleyan team very similar to this one last year in Salem, and I saw them in last year’s sectionals.

On the women’s side, I’ve only seen Wash U and NYU play this year, but that’s still pretty good. Haven’t seen Mary Washington since last season and DePauw is on the to-do list, with about 600 other programs of the 800 I haven’t seen play.

We’ll have more coverage through the week but wanted to send our official congratulations to the eight teams advancing to Salem and Springfield!

And don’t forget to spring your clocks forward if you haven’t already. 🙁

It’s finally time to play again, after five days off. Been a long week and I am definitely ready to get some games on again.

I just walked in at St. John Fisher and am getting logged on. It’s not as small as I anticipated, though it’s definitely a little cozy. Four rows of seating on the floor, about 10 rows in an upper level of seating on each side. Room for people to stand in the upper level in the corners.

Definitely good to not cram four teams’ worth of fans in here at once.

As I can, I will try to update from my perspective. I also hope you fans will comment along as to what you are hearing, or those of you live at games with blackberry or smartphone access can talk about what you’re seeing.

Let’s play!

As we sit here waiting for the sectional hosting announcements (women’s are in… not the men’s), it seems like a perfect time to look back on the second-round games last night.

I got the chance to see a very good Guilford team in a battle against Johns Hopkins. While Guilford was up for most of the game by double-digits, JHU made another comeback to claw within one possession… only to see Guilford eventually put the Blue Jays away. Ben Strong showed why so many are talking about his play and abilities. As my color guy Larry Carney said last night, if there was a category for altered-shots (not actual blocks), Strong would lead that category as well. Guilford also shot the lights out of the building both nights. First night, 50% from the field… last night 56%… including going like 60% or better from beyond the arc.

How about some of the other surprises:
On the men’s side Stevens got another win – this time over Ramapo – to advance to the Sweet 16 in the school’s first ever trip to the tournament… and after a couple of disastrous years. Lake Erie tried to garner some respect from many in the D3 world, only see John Carroll come back from ten down to win. Hope made quick work of Calvin, who almost cost Hope’s chances of making the tournament this year… 80-64. Rhode Island College continued to take advantage of its opportunities, getting past a tough Brandies squad. And Carroll continues to surprise… with a big win over St. Thomas to advance.

On the women’s side… Scranton’s M&M’s got the job done… and will lead the team into another sectional round of games at their site. Mary Washington made quick work of its opponents (Notre Dame and Christopher Newport). NYU was rewarded for their easy dispatch of Ursinus and then Gwynedd-Mercy and will host. And how about Puget Sound and Howard-Payne! Puget Sound is onto the Sweet 16 thanks to a big win over McMurry and George Fox… but next up is Howard-Payne which continues to impress with the attendances at their place.

How about other reactions after the second round?

Although there are a lot of mismatches in the first round since the expansion to 59 and 63 teams we still had a first round to remember. All those 2-15 games and 4-13 games didn’t exist in the old bracket.

As it turns out, Hope’s title defense in women’s basketball lasted only one round longer than the previous four attempts. Remember that the 2002-05 champs didn’t even make the field the next year. And Hope, the 2006 champ, went just 40 minutes longer than UW-Stevens Point, Trinity (Texas), Wilmington and Millikin before getting bounced by Denison. The depleted Calvin women advanced as well.

On the men’s side, Hope and Calvin set up an unprecedented fifth meeting of the season, where they will pack Aurora’s Thornton Gymnasium for a second-round game. Only seems appropriate now that the winner of the five-game series will move on.

Stevens, the subject of grumbling around the NJAC (basically, since they don’t play any of us, they can’t possibly be a tournament team) put up in the first round. I had one NJAC insider telling me they’d lose by 30. I countered that, no, it would be more like 71-59. Final score 68-57. Oh wait, they won? Shoot. Well, still better than a 30-point blowout loss. The Ducks absolutely could beat Ramapo.

And last night showed the importance of hosting the regionals — only one host team in men’s (Aurora) and one in women’s (UW-Stout) lost. The rest advanced.

Looking forward to hearing more about the Wheaton/St. Ben’s game, Johns Hopkins/Villa Julie and others.

No, not a serious Final Four pick — we have plenty of those already on our message board. This is the craziest group of four teams you can bring to Salem or Springfield, one from each bracket. Tie them together and tell us why they’re related.

For example, the All-Skyline Final Four. We easily take Manhattanville from the Skyline Conference in the lower-left bracket, Stevens in the upper right, then St. John’s in the upper left (nobody from the league, but there’s another St. John’s that is in the city with the skyline in question) and St. John Fisher (the Empire 8) in the lower right.

OK, maybe that’s too much of a stretch.

How about the All-We-Get-Mistaken-For-Somebody-Else Final Four? Take Washington U. (in Missouri, not Maryland or Washington), Lincoln (Pa., not Missouri), Westminster (Pa., not Missouri) and Trinity (Conn., not Texas). Or York (N.Y.).

Then there’s the All-Mispronounced Final Four on the road to Springfield. That would be Medaille, perhaps DePauw, Gustavus Adolphus and Kean. And the All-Our-Name-Says-It-All Final Four: Maine Maritime, Southern Maine, Puget Sound and Piedmont.

We open the floor and open the door for your ideas.