Alright, getting down to the nitty-gritty. One automatic bid is in (Wash U women) and 74 are left to go over the next nine days.

Chicago swept NYU and put the NYU women on the bubble, in my opinion. This game is worth six points to NYU in the Quality of Wins Index for now, but Chicago has to go to Brandeis on Sunday and hosts Wash U next Saturday. They could easily lose both games, slip below .667 in-region and make this a four-point game for NYU. Currently NYU’s QOW slips from 10.636 to 10.434, but if Chicago loses twice, NYU loses two points for each meeting and it becomes 10.26.

Oh, and NYU still has to host No. 3 Wash U and travel to No. 12 Brandeis. A sweep will keep NYU on track thanks to its steady non-conference diet of top teams in weak conferences.

The Carnegie Mellon men losing at Emory isn’t horribly surprising. Emory is just 10-13 but 9-4 at home. Carnegie Mellon and Wash U are tied for first at 8-4, Chicago, NYU and Rochester one game back at 7-5. Remember, no conference tournament in the UAA.

As I write, Puget Sound’s men are up 66-49 on Willamette, though there are 11 minutes left. Winner gets the top seed in the NWC tournament (according to the Willamette broadcasters, I don’t have the conference tiebreakers in front of me), which is just three teams.

Looks like Trinity (Texas) has wrapped up the top seed in the SCAC men, edging Sewanee at home to go to 11-2. Southwestern (no report at home against Centre) could finish 11-3 by beating Sewanee on Sunday but Trinity swept the head-to-head series. Top seed doesn’t mean home court in the SCAC, though — this tournament is at Rhodes. DePauw has long since clinched the women’s top seed and can run the table in the league with a home win tomorrow against Rose-Hulman.

Should be an interesting next few days! Stay tuned, too, with Gordon Mann’s 12 Days of Championships running Daily Dose feature.

For many years Washington U. was the standard for Division III women’s basketball excellence.

The Bears rolled off four consecutive national titles from 1998 to 2001. Then they started a new, less enjoyable trend in 2002:

2002: Lose to UW-Stevens Point in the tournament. UW-Stevens Point wins the title.
2003: Lose to Trinity (Texas) in the tournament. Trinity (Texas) wins the title.
2005: Lost to Millikin in the tournament. Millikin wins the title.

Tonight the Bears can be pioneers of excellence again. With a win at No. 12 Brandeis, Wash U. will clinch the UAA title and be the first team to wrap up a bid to the NCAA tournament. You can hear the game on WBRS at 6 PM.

Not that the Judges and Caitlin Malcolm (pictured) will just roll over. They have plenty to play for as they chase Wash U. in conference and Southern Maine and Bowdoin in region.

Elsewhere the LMC women’s tournament resumes play, weather permitting. And lots of other teams gear up for a final push just to make their conference tournament.

Tonight we start the push to the largest Division III basketball tournaments ever. Over the next 12 days 122 bids – 59 for the men and 63 for the women – will be dished out with most of the AQs coming next weekend and all the Pool B and C bids announced on Monday, February 27.

(Not sure what Pool B and C are? Wonder why it’s 59 and 63 teams? Check out Sunday’s Dose).

As mentioned on the front page, this is our favorite time of the year. It’s also our busiest with lots of scores to chase (unless, ahem, our SID friends post them) and stories to watch. We’ll continue use the Dose to share some of them when we can. Just don’t be surprised if they are posted in the single digit AM hours.

Tonight the Lake Michigan Conference tips off its men’s tournament with Lakeland (20-5) as the top seed. Led by senior Germayne James (pictured), the Muskies are ranked No. 6 in the recent Midwest regional rankings with a resume that includes a win over WIAC contender UW-Stevens Point and an eight point lose to No. 5 Hope.

But being the favorite hasn’t always been a blessing in the LMC tournament. Twice teams with losing records have captured the automatic bid, most recently when Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE for those who don’t like typing) made the 2003 dance at just 13-15.

The ultimate Cinderella story would be Maranatha Baptist (1-22) which is winless against Division III. But they’ll get their chance to play into the tournament over the next 12 days, just like the majority of other teams.

And who knows what will happen? After all, Division III tournament play technically started Tuesday with Maranatha Baptist beating Alverno 57-50 in the LMC women’s tournament. The Crusaders picked a good time to get their first win against full Division III members.

So let the fun begin!