Crossover season

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Crossover season.

Basketball practices begin Oct. 15. Football is in the heart of its season. We’re still collecting schedules (and waiting for D3Scoreboard.com to dump in schedules for its conferences). It’s the time we solicit info from schools for the preseason Top 25. Somewhere in here we have to get the preseason All-American teams together.

Had my first discussion with Mark Simon about the Around the Nation column last night. Still have a day job, of course, as do the rest of us here at D3football.com/D3hoops.com.

And it’s no easier for the SIDs working at D-III schools, especially schools with football.

So I’m down to six and a half hours of sleep a night, basically spending any available waking moment on the sites. I’ll probably be cutting back to six hours a night soon.

So be patient. We’re gearing up. The info is coming. Stick around and talk on the boards. Enjoy the run-up.

ALERT: McMurry mascot decision

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McMurry is holding a news conference at this hour to announce its decision regarding its Indians nickname. The NCAA has told the university it must change its name or face sanctions regarding hosting postseason play.

Previous coverage of this issue below. When we know more, we’ll pass it along.

  • About McMurry’s Indians: D3hoops.com Daily Dose, May 20, 2006
  • McMurry appeal denied: D3hoops.com, May 19, 2006
  • McMurry’s second appeal denied: D3hoops.com, Aug. 4, 2006

    • D-1 to Grow On

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    De Hoogh

    As the front page shows, NCAA Division I Final Four participant George Mason is opening their 2006 season with an exhibition against one of our own, Marymount, on November 1st.

    With our new partnership with D3scoreboard.com we can now list these exhibition games, a fair number of which involve Division I opponents. Usually there’s some connection between the schools, either geographic proximity or through staff relationships. For example, St. Joseph’s Assistant Coach Dave Duda will see the team he coached to the Division III Sweet 16 last year when Widener visits the Hawks in Philadelphia.

    Here are some of those Division III vs. Division I exhibitions. If you’re near one and so inclined, they’ll give you a chance to see some Division III basketball a couple weeks before we start for real on November 17.

    Men

    Wednesday, November 1: Marymount @ George Mason
    Wednesday, November 1: Carnegie Mellon @ Pittsburgh
    Wednesday, November 1: Central (Guard Brett De Hoogh pictured) @ Northern Iowa
    Wednesday, November 8: UW-Platteville @ Purdue
    Wednesday, November 8: UW-La Crosse @ UW-Green Bay
    Thursday, November 9: Widener @ St. Joseph’s (Pa.)
    Friday, November 10: Buena Vista @ Iowa
    Friday, November 10: Washington U. @ Southern Illinois-Carbondale

    Women

    Thursday, November 2: UW-River Falls @ Wisconsin
    Thursday, November 2: Concordia (Wisc.) @ UW-Milwaukee

    I’m sure there are more out there, particularly on the women’s side, so please feel free to share.

    Guess it’s over again for Murphy

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    Tom Murphy came out of his forced retirement from Hamilton two years ago as an assistant at SUNYIT, and last year became head coach, leading the Wildcats to a 16-12 record. SUNYIT was 8-17 the previous year.

    Now, we don’t usually get much news from SUNYIT, but I see that the men’s basketball head coaching position is listed as open on their Web site. Hope that’s by Murphy’s choice this time. But even if so, he deserved a more formal good-bye.

    Murphy has 618 career wins. But now he goes out … if that’s what he’s doing … looking like Johnny Unitas in a San Diego Charger uniform.

    More conference dominoes fall

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    With the loss of Bard and Polytechnic to the Skyline, the North Eastern Athletic Conference is digging further down to fill the gap. The league announced this week it was adding Penn State-Harrisburg, Wells and Wilson.

    Penn State-Harrisburg will apparently begin its provisional four-year period in Division III in the fall of 2007. Wells and Wilson are already Division III members and are refugees of the Atlantic Women’s Colleges Conference. Wells has started admitting men and will add basketball in 2008-09, for both genders. Wells was one of the few schools in Division III without basketball. Wilson remains women-only.

    The NEAC will be losing Bard, Chestnut Hill, Polytechnic, SUNY-Purchase and Villa Julie at the conclusion of this academic year. So for those who have lost track (and let’s be honest, that’s gotta be most of us), here’s the NEAC 2007-08 lineup:
    Baptist Bible, Cazenovia, D’Youville, Keuka, Keystone, Penn State-Berks, Penn State-Harrisbug, Philadelphia Biblical, Wells and Wilson.

    Unfortunately, this group will get an automatic bid.

    It’s hard to imagine this group won’t change again. They’re all over the map, geographically and philosophically.