They could put three D-III teams from the Himalayas into the tournament and even if Fox went undefeated, they'd still fly George Fox out there.

If Linfield is smart they'll find a way to pry away Casey Kushiyama from Whitman College. He's an excellent coach who knows the NWC well and has been part of success at three different schools within the conference. They were crazy enough to let him get away in 2010 after guiding them steadily through a very cloudy year. If they can find a way to bring him back, Linfield will be contending for one of the top 4 seeds in the Northwest Conference much sooner than later.

Very helpful, thanks!

I have St. Thomas with a region record of 20-0. George Fox has a region record of 19-0 because they played fewer D3 and West Region/Region 4 teams during nonconference. Not sure if that gives St. Thomas the nod over George Fox in the first release of rankings because I'm not sure what other criteria goes into the rankings plus these region records are by my unofficial tally. Hopefully the next 3 weeks shed a lot more light on the caliber of both teams.

Three days to go until the big showdown in Eastern Washington. Maybe the last stand against George Fox's undefeated regular season run. George Fox smacked down both teams in their first meeting but that came at home and teams make adjustments. Plus, you never know what will happen on that Whit trip. Who you got?

Those last 10 mins were some of the most exciting basketball I've ever seen played in Division III.  Congrats to Whitewater; they looked dead in the water with 5 mins to go and made a number of huge plays.

Interesting bracket that the committee has furnished for 2013. Whitman is the talk of the morning after being bounced in the conference tourney semis but sneaking into the bracket, and "only" have to travel to Portland for a pod with L&C (host).  Meanwhile, the outright winner of the conference tournament, Whitworth, gets rewarded by being flown out to Atlanta and taking on the champion of one of the best conferences in Division III, Emory.  That's a tall order for the Pirates, but if they were to pull off the upset, I would like their chances in the second round against either Huntingdon or Ferrum.  If they make it to the sweet 16, and Whitman or L&C emerges in the Sweet 16 as well, that might open the door for the NWC to host a sectional as well (I've glanced at the other side of the NWC-heavy bracket and it looks like there is a heavy Northeastern concentration of teams so logistically it's just as likely they could fly Whitman/L&C and Whitworth out east if that's what eventually transpires.  But there's a lot of games the Northwest teams have to win to get there first).  Generous of the NCAA to give the conference three tourney bids so good luck to all three! Personally I'm curious to see if Lewis & Clark can finally make a long March run now that their annual nemesis is out of the way. I think they were at least an Elite 8 caliber team last season if they hadn't run into George Fox so soon.

Just in from the WBCA Awards show in Denver- Mia Smith was named WBCA Coach of the year for division III: https://twitter.com/#!/wbca1981/status/186979689171124225

Hannah playing 35-40 mins in the national championship would've completely changed the complexion of the game.  Her absence and the possible results had she been in will be one of the great What-if questions in D-III national championship lore. 

I don't believe the Munger injury was the result of the refs encouraging wild dirty sinister play.  IWU is a physical team but there have been games this year where opposing players have hit Hannah harder on a more repetitive basis and have been specifically more physical with her than the Titans were on Saturday, and the Bruins have learned to deal with the predictable contact.  (I've heard around the grapevine during regular season games where opposing teams have basically said that the gameplan going in is hack Munger in order to prevent her from hitting 2 footers – makes pretty good sense to me)  In fact, lost in all the storylines about the injury and Mia Smith finally winning the big one and the great play of Olivia Lett, is how well officiated the championship game was.  I felt calls were consistent on both sides, and IWU simply knocked down more free throws and big shots in the end than George Fox did.  One thing we all can agree on is how excellent the host city and the host college was for the Final Four this year.  Holland knows how to roll out the red carpet for everyone who comes to town in March. 

Here is a screengrab of Katie Anderson's shot from a video still of someone sitting in the George Fox student section.  The pixxellation is a little distant from the play, but it does offer a decent alternate view of the shot. 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426252_577273687724_98300140_31602324_400186791_n.jpg

Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting on that Wilson, I've been playing around on excel a lot lately too with scenarios and whatnot.  At least according to your research, that is a pretty vast drop in the regional rankings for UNE. 

Now that Commonwealth Coast Conference #1 Seed University of New England has been bounced from the conf. tourney by #4 Endicott (slated to face #2 Salve Regina) in the CCC Championship, what are the chances of New England getting an at-Large bid to the tourney? (As of the Week 3 regional rankings they're as high as 2nd in the Northeast region).  And if they do get the at-large bid, who gets knocked off the bubble.  I realize it's still a bit early in the weekend to project since a billion conf. tournaments are happening simultaneously so geniuses, feel free to wait till later on in the weekend if you want to tackle this question. 

Fox is still the team to beat and should be expected to win the Northwest again, they just have way too much size and depth compared to the rest of the conference.  I think Puget Sound takes a step back but still finishes no worse than 3rd in conference, and Whitman and Lewis & Clark will fill in the other spots. 

Jason Lowery out at Pacific University to take Girls Basketball Head Coaching position at nearby Jesuit High School in Beaverton-  http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/news/article/-2374332988089518107/basketball-jesuit-hires-jason-lowery-to-coach-girls-team/

Anyone aware of potential coaching replacements at Pacific?  Will they hand it to one of the assistants, look outside, or is it just simply too early to tell?