Absolutely agree with SluggerDad re getting info on JV teams. Lots of Freshmen show up in Fall. Not so many play in Spring.

BTW, interesting to see that pre-season D3 poll/ranking. How does Trinity end up at #27 on the CB poll? That's a stumper for me.

Re Willamette & Linfield: Both offer great merit aid to the better student. Linfield has a transparent scholarship calculator on their website plus a scholarship exam day to try and get more money. As Phds are not finding work at the higher-ranked institutions, they are rounding out the faculties quite nicely at a bunch of SLACs. I've been impressed with the faculty bios at both schools. WU's location across the street from the capitol building intrigues the various humanities and poli sci majors. Linfield athletes make up about 70% of the student pop. WildCat sports seem to be well-attended by students and locals. Not so much at WU. Profs at Linfield tend to be outdoors-y. Salem is, obviously, a larger town than McMinnville with all that implies.

JMHO: At the individual level, #motivation beats out #rankings each and every time.