Quote from: HoopsDad34 on March 09, 2025, 12:10:30 PMIf you had told me two weeks ago that UMW was going to the Sweet 16 and CNU and RMU were not, I would have asked, "What are you smoking?" Sorry to see those programs out but beyond happy that UMW is still dancing.

It's interesting that UMW defeated Drew. Drew handed Catholic three of its losses this year. Catholic, of course just topped RMC. RMC beat UMW early in the season. There's a vast difference between November and March when it comes to basketball, even if the weather is often similar.

RMC advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a 62-56 win over Elizabethtown. The Jackets get a chance to avenge their 32 point loss to Gettysburg in their second game of the season. That's also RMC's only loss of the season. They are on a 28 game win streak.

RMC no match for Catholic tonight, losing 79-67. The Jackets trailed by 20 in the first half and by 17 at halftime. Catholic had RMC's defenses figured out and executed well against them. They also defend very well and did a good job on Jabril Robinson who was disrupted from running the offense as he normally does. Keishawn Pulley, Jr. also had an off night everywhere except the free throw line. The Jackets were unable to get the deficit below double digits and are not a team accustomed to making late game comeback efforts from that far back.

It was another great season for the Jackets. Congrats on all the achievements.

Two ODAC teams in the Sweet Sixteen.

H-SC advances to the with an 81-75 win over Pitt Bradford.

Roanoke downs CNU 77-75. Joshua McClary the hero again with a late made jumper with 4 seconds left. CNU unable to convert on its last shot.

In addition to the above mentioned Roanoke at CNU game, tomorrow RMC plays Catholic on a neutral court at Franklin & Marshall and H-SC hosts Pitt-Bradford.

Another game tomorrow that might interest longtime ODAC and RMC fans, Franklin College in Franklin, IN faces host Wash U. in St. Louis. Franklin is coached by former Yellow Jacket Chris Hamilton. The Grizzlies came from behind to beat #18 Denison in OT. Wash U also came from behind to beat Central College from Pella, IA.

I was going back and forth between the Roanoke and Guilford games. RC was trailing Pfeiffer and GC was trailing Berry. Roanoke was able to pull off the comeback and down Pfeiffer 71-70 on two free throws by Joshua McClary with 4.6 seconds remaining. Guilford, unfortunately, couldn't do the same. They tied the game at 74 with 1:32 remaining, but Berry was able to regain the lead and hold on to win 80-77.

RMC has no problem with Westfield State, winning 82-48.

H-SC can pull the ODAC to 3-1 on the day if they down Bryn Athyn.

Quote from: Macon on March 04, 2025, 11:20:02 AM^^^  I had that same question initially.  Whereas, CNU Women are highly ranked in the poll, I think they're only #20 in NPI, outside the Top 16 for hosting.  A one loss team being as low as #20 is also curious.

Got it. Thanks. Catholic is #15 in NPI. Makes sense now.

I'm curious to know, given that the women have first weekend hosting priority, why the CNU men are hosting and not the women. Seems like Roanoke could have hosted the men's pod and CNU the women's pod instead of sending the women to Catholic. Perhaps the 500 mile rule affected one or both of those decisions, but I don't have info on distances to know for sure. Does anyone else know how these decisions were made?

Quote from: hopefan on March 02, 2025, 09:08:08 PMPrin Coach deserves recognition!!!
To beat Westmin and Webster back to back!!!  Really pretty incredible....

Ditto that.

Fifteen of the top 25 lost in their conference tournaments. Four of them lost to other top 25 teams.

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on February 27, 2025, 11:00:24 AMI've talked to Merkel, not about him moving to D1, but about D3 coaches doing it in general, and he said, "the only benefit is the money," referencing all the other headaches that come with contemporary D1 basketball.  So, I suspect, so long as he and his family are happy and comfortable in Ashland, he'll probably stick around.

I'm sure that quote "the only benefit is the money" is true for Coach Merkle. But other former D3 coaches now in D1 might thrive on the perceived negatives of coaching at that level. I think of former RMC coach Mike Rhoades, now at Penn State. He must have a kind of personal ambition that allows him to deal with the pressure of being a D1 coach, especially in the Big 10. It seems he very intentionally charted a post-RMC path (assistant at VCU, head coach at Rice, head coach at VCU) to get to where he is now.

^^^ As of this morning's NPI run on D3 Datacast and the NCAA https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/43136 Webster is #59 in NPI. That likely kills any shot the Gorloks had at a Pool C bid.

Quote from: Tigerfan on March 01, 2025, 04:53:24 PMThe ODAC needs to address the poor quality of officiating in the league.

I think officiating overall has gotten better since I started following D3 basketball 25 years ago. What is and isn't a foul is more clearly defined now that it was 10-15 years ago. As a result, it seems that fewer fouls are being called and officials aren't noticed as much. The "let them play" mentality, when taken to the extreme, however, can result in the officials affecting the game just as much, though differently, than when they are whistle happy. That seemed to me to be the case today in RMC vs Guilford.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on March 01, 2025, 04:56:51 PMI remember. I think Greenville had a big lead to start...until Augie adjusted.

Sorry, I wasn't implying this would be the 1st year, if it sounded like that.

I wasn't sure if you knew or not. Just thought it worth mentioning for those who might not know. This is Greenville's tenth season playing the System.

Guilford downs RMC 52-49. RMC led 34-30 at halftime, then managed only 15 points in the second half. Of course Guilford scored only 22 after halftime. A two-team total of 37 points in a half has to be a near-record low. Both teams could have scored more if the officials hadn't left their whistles in their pockets in the second half. Kudos to Guilford.

Principia wins its first ever tournament championship 69-67 over Webster in a wild finish. The SLIAC is almost always a one bid league when it comes to tournament selection. However, with the NCAA this season using NPI to determine at-large bids Webster may still have a shot. Preceding today's game Webster was ranked 41st in NPI. Most teams with NPI in the 40's were identified here https://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=2920.840 as likely getting the final seven Pool C bids -- depending, of course, on how conference tournaments play out. Principia was #230 in NPI, so Webster's loss today will drop them down a bit in NPI, but will it knock them out?