Automatic bids

Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Medaille
American Southwest Conference Howard Payne
Capital Athletic Conference Mary Washington
Centennial Conference Muhlenberg
City University of New York Athletic Conference Baruch
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Ill. Wesleyan
Commonwealth Conference Messiah
Commonwealth Coast Conference Colby-Sawyer
Empire 8 Utica
Freedom Conference DeSales
Great Northeast Athletic Conference Emmanuel (Mass.)
Great South Athletic Conference Piedmont
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Manchester
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Simpson
Liberty League St. Lawrence
Little East Conference Eastern Conn. St.
Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference Bridgewater St.
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Hope
Midwest Conference St. Norbert
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Carleton
New England Small College Athletic Conference Amherst
New England Women’s and Men’s Athletics Conference Wheaton (Mass.)
New Jersey Athletic Conference Kean
North Atlantic Conference Becker
North Coast Athletic Conference Denison
North Eastern Athletic Conference D’Youville
Northwest Conference Puget Sound
Ohio Athletic Conference Baldwin-Wallace
Old Dominion Athletic Conference Bridgewater (Va.)
Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Cabrini
Presidents’ Athletic Conference Thomas More
Skyline Conference Mount St. Mary (N.Y.)
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Maryville (Mo.)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference La Verne
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference DePauw
State University of New York Athletic Conference Brockport St.
University Athletic Association Chicago
USA South Athletic Conference Greensboro
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wis.-Stevens Point

Pool B Berths (3):
Chapman
Juniata
Scranton

Pool C Berths (21):
Albright
Bowdoin
Brandeis
George Fox
Gust. Adolphus
Marymount (Va.)
McMurry
Oglethorpe
Rochester
Salem St.
Southern Me.
St. Thomas (Minn.)
TCNJ
Trinity (Texas)
Tufts
UW-Eau Claire
UW-Whitewater
Washington U.
Wilmington (Ohio)
William Paterson
William Smith

Our gift to you is the scoreboard, both the live version posted off the front page and the standard versions of the men’s and women’s schedules.

To help you follow the exciting day ahead, we’ve posted as many audio, video and live stat links to championship games as we could find. This is one of the best days of the season and, if you can’t make it to your game (or after you return from one), we hope this helps you participate in the excitement.

Please feel free to share game updates, playoff hope analysis and anything else that strikes your fancy here.

Meanwhile the list of teams who’ve locked up automatic bids follows below.

Women – 39 of 39

Medaille (AMCC)
Howard Payne (ASC)
Mary Washington (CAC)
Muhlenberg (CC)
Colby-Sawyer (CCC)
Illinois Wesleyan (CCIW)
Baruch (CUNYAC)
Utica (Empire 8 )
Emmanuel (GNAC)
Piedmont (GSAC)
Manchester (HCAC)
Simpson (IIAC)
Eastern Connecticut (LEC)
St. Lawrence (Liberty League)
Messiah (MAC-Commonwealth)
DeSales (MAC-Freedom)
Bridgewater State (MASCAC)
Hope (MIAA)
Carleton (MIAC)
St. Norbert (MWC)
Becker (NAC)
Denison (NCAC)
D’Youville (NEAC)
Amherst (NESCAC)
Wheaton, Mass. (NEWMAC)
Kean (NJAC)
Puget Sound (NWC)
Baldwin-Wallace (OAC)
Bridgewater (ODAC)
Cabrini (PnAC)
Thomas More (Presidents’)
DePauw (SCAC)
La Verne (SCIAC)
Mount St. Mary (Skyline)
Maryville, Mo. (SLIAC)
Brockport State (SUNYAC)
Chicago (UAA)
Greensboro (USA South)
UW-Stevens Point (WIAC)

Men – 38 of 38

Penn State-Behrend (AMCC)
Mary Hardin-Baylor (ASC)
St. Mary’s (Md.) (CAC)
Ursinus (CC)
Curry (CCC)
Augustana (CCIW)
John Jay (CUNYAC)
Nazareth (Empire 8 )
Lasell (GNAC)
Franklin (HCAC)
Loras (IIAC)
Rhode Island College (LEC)
Clarkson (Liberty League)
Widener (MAC-Commonwealth)
King’s (MAC-Freedom)
Salem State (MASCAC)
Hope (MIAA)
St. Thomas (MIAC)
Lawrence (MWC)
Elms (NAC)
Ohio Wesleyan (NCAC)
Baptist Bible (NEAC)
Trinity, Conn. (NESCAC)
Coast Guard (NEWMAC)
Richard Stockton (NJAC)
Whitworth (NWC)
Heidelberg (OAC)
Guilford (ODAC)
Immaculata (PnAC)
Bethany (PrAC)
Millsaps (SCAC)
Pomona-Pitzer (SCIAC)
Farmingdale State (SKY)
Fontbonne (SLIAC)
Plattsburgh State (SUNYAC)
Chicago (UAA)
Averett (USA South)
UW-Whitewater (WIAC)

Pat Coleman coaxed me into listening to the end of the Webster-Maryville SLIAC men’s semifinal on Thursday night and I was glad that I did.

The color commentator on Webster’s broadcast, a young lady whose name I didn’t catch, provided quite the entertaining listen. Her commentary wasn’t so much description of game action, but rather sentiments of fanhood. Things like “Ooh…I can’t take this any more” and “I told coach not to put us through this.” When the game ended, and Webster’s unbeaten league season had gone for naught, she barely was able to speak…”No words can describe it.”

Normally, I’m not a proponent of that sort of commentary, but in this case, I thought it was perfectly appropriate. And it sums up why Saturday and Sunday are the two best days of the year in Division III sports.

When I was a student announcer at College of NJ in the mid-1990s, I was the male version of the announcer I heard on Thursday night. Except I kept those thoughts to myself and tried very hard to concentrate on just calling the plays. My junior year, the CNJ (then Trenton State) women’s team went to William Paterson for the NJAC semifinals and took a rather sizable lead at halftime. It was a dominant effort and I enjoyed every second of it immensely. I took off my headset and did something I had never done before or since.

“We’re gonna win,” I said to my broadcast partner with the great confidence and enthusiasm of someone who had followed the basketball teams as avidly as anyone on the campus.

Well, in the second half, the lead shrunk and shrunk, and shrunk, until it was no more. The likes of Stephanie Arrigo, Bridget Brennan and Kathy Sinram (It’s been 12 yrs and I still recall the names) did in my alma mater with some incredibly impressive shooting and very skilled play. I can still see the final play (a missed CNJ baseline jumper attempt to try to tie at the buzzer) like it happened yesterday.

There are moments in which I have been totally crushed as a sports fan…the Knicks losing to the Bulls when Charles Smith had 5 shots blocked in the final seconds of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals…Carlos Beltran looking at strike three in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS…and this game would rank right near the top of that list.

That may sound silly, but to me, it sums up what this weekend is all about. We don’t have any Dukes, North Carolinas or Memphises in Division III, but we have athletes who care, and fans who care too. And that’s a great thing. There are dozens of championships decided in these next two days. Athletes will be sacrificing their bodies and their minds for the quest of something rather elusive. There are so many ways that you can follow it. If you can get to a game, go. If you can’t, watch or listen and offer support to your team by any means that you can. This is the best time to be a fan and make yourself some great, amazing memories.

I think one of the things that has kept me so into following Division III is trying to recapture the feeling from that day at William Paterson. The recollections of that day rang more clearly in my mind a few hours after listening to that Webster webcast, and I’m glad that they did. Even if it was a little painful, both for myself and the student announcer.

Some of tonight’s more interesting games involve regular season conference champions who know they are in “win or else” mode. They either weren’t ranked in the third regional rankings released yesterday or are ranked so low that the only way they could possibly be comfortable on selection/speculation Sunday is to clinch the automatic bid.

– Webster is undefeated in SLIAC men’s play but, unless they finish that way, they probably aren’t going to the NCAA tournament. The Gorloks are ranked eighth in the Midwest. They’ve been in this situation before, finishing tied for first last season but missing the big dance because of a SLIAC tournament loss to Fontbonne. Webster hosts Maryville (Mo.) in tonight’s SLIAC semifinals.

– Salem State has been the perennial MASCAC men’s representative in the NCAA tournament and is the favorite to claim that title again this weekend. But the competition just to get ranked in the Northeast region is fierce and the Vikings didn’t appear on Wednesday’s list. Unless Salem State wins its next two, they are probably headed to the ECAC tournament. The Vikings host Bridgewater State, with whom they split the season series, in the conference semifinals.

– Occidental is the top seed on the women’s side of the SCIAC which will hand out its automatic qualifiers by tournament this year. Unlike the Oxy men who are in decent shape for an at-large bid, the Oxy women can’t afford a stumble. No SCIAC team was ranked in the West, not even the Tigers who have won 10 straight. Cal Lutheran travels to Los Angeles for the semifinals this evening.

Don’t forget D3hoopsNet also has an important Pool B battle between Aurora and Milwaukee School of Engineering with Tim Calderwood on the call.

All listings EST

7:00 PM: Men – Bridgewater State at Salem State (MASCAC semifinals) (Pay-per-view)

8:00 pm: Men – MSOE at Aurora (D3hoopsNet)

9:00 PM: Men – Maryville (Mo.) at Webster (SLIAC semifinals) (Live Stats // Audio)

10:30 pm: Women – Cal Lutheran at Occidental (SCIAC semifinals) (Audio)