D3 vs. D1/D2/NAIA/NCCAA

[Rhodes Scholar]

After looking at the websites of the three schools in question, it looks like Lincoln Christian and St. Vincent are D3 provisionals, while Lancaster Bible is not.

[Darryl Nester]

Last night:
Bluffton University 79, Goshen College (NAIA 2) 73.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Scores from 11/24

Calvin 81, Aquinas (NAIA 2) 65
Cal State-Stanislaus (D2) 112, UC Santa Cruz 56
Christopher Newport 91, Southern Virginia (USCAA) 87
Colorado-Colorado Springs (D2) 105, Carroll 86
DePauw 88, Judson (NAIA 2) 84
Hope 80, Cornerstone (NAIA 2) 76
Maryland Bible (other) 78, Concordia-Moorhead 72 (OT)
Millsaps 70, Wesley, MS (NCCAA) 57
Occidental 66, Notre Dame de Namur (D2) 59
Puget Sound 98, Northwest Christian (NAIA 2) 91
Wartburg 97, Peru State (NAIA 2) 53
Winona State (D2) 98, St. Mary's, MN 54

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  #2 Wooster 85  Walsh University (NAIA 2) 68

Wooster next plays NAIA power Georgetown (KY) on 11/28

[Rhodes Scholar]

Scores from 11/25

Anderson 69, Taylor (NAIA 2) 59
Brooklyn 75, Briarcliffe (USCAA) 73 (OT)
Buena Vista 99, Northwestern (NAIA 2) 86
Carnegie Mellon 121, Penn State-Fayette (USCAA) 51
Christopher Newport 87, Maryland Bible (other) 67
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 51, Hope International (NAIA 1) 48
Hawaii Pacific (D2) 79, Carleton 76 (OT)
IWU 92, Judson, IL (NAIA 2) 50
La Verne 76, Life Pacific (other) 46
Lincoln 103, Cheyney (D2) 95
Linfield 83, Cascade (NAIA 2) 73
Lipscomb (D1) 80, Fisk 68
LIU (D1) 105, SUNY-Old Westbury 50
Longwood (D1) 88, Shenandoah 60
Maryville, MO 65, Reinhardt (NAIA 1) 54
Monmouth 61, Hannibal-LaGrange (NAIA 1) 58
Mount Mercy (NAIA 2) 55, Luther 53
Northern Kentucky (D2) 86, Thomas More 61
Northwest Nazarene (D2) 61, Pacific 53
Notre Dame, OH (NAIA 2) 75, Mt. St. Joseph 73 (OT)
Ohio Northern 113, College of the Bahamas (other) 45
Rhema Bible (USCAA) 80, Austin 78
Rhodes 72, Wesley, MS (NCCAA 2) 65
Rochester, MI (USCAA) 66, Adrian 55
Southern Virginia (USCAA) 87, Concordia-Moorhead 80
Warner Pacific (NAIA 2) 109, Puget Sound 102

[David Collinge]

For those who are interested in comparing the tops of the respective divisions, note that the Wooster-Walsh game was between the #2 ranked team in NCAA D3 and the #7 ranked team in NAIA D2, on the NAIA team's home court.  Chalk one up for D3. 

The upcoming game between Wooster and Georgetown involves the #2 NCAA D3 team and the #8 NAIA D1 team, but this time the game will be at Wooster.

If anyone knows of other interdivisional matchups between ranked teams, please make note of them here.  For example, it seems that Robert Morris (IL), the #1 NAIA D1 team, plays D3 teams from time to time (although there are two Robert Morrises in Illinois, and I've never been able to keep them straight), and I'd be interested to know if they can beat a top D3 team.

[Titan Q]

Robert Morris (Chicago) would probably be a 10 point+ favorite vs the best Division III team on a neutral court.  Their third leading scorer, John Winchester, started for Tennessee.  Reggie George, RMC's leading scorer, is a transfer from Iowa State.  This is a program where McDonald's All-American Jerome Harper was their fourth best player last year.

This isn't to suggest that the top D3 teams could not beat Robert Morris (Chicago), but it would be an upset.  As I mentioned on the NCAC board, Olivet Nazarene actually won the league RMC is in last year, and Illinois Wesleyan beat ONU 87-68.


http://www.robertmorris.edu/athletics/mensbasketball/chicago/

[Titan Q]

NAIA II is a little harder to gauge.  It seems like the top NCAA Division III teams are usually better than the top NAIA II teams and that, in general, we do well across the board against the NAIA II ranked programs.  #5 Embry Riddle lost to D3 Macalaster on November 18.  Macalaster was 7-18 overall last year and 6-14 in the MIAC.

http://daytona.embryriddlesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47809&SPID=4506&DB_OEM_ID=11500&ATCLID=693532

NAIA II has some great teams though -- that Cornerstone team (unranked), for example, that Hope beat Friday is outstanding per my dad who saw Cornerstone dismantle NAIA I St. Xavier last week at SXU.

[sac]

Clearly I don't have my basketball eyes with me yet, Cornerstone underwhlemed me Friday night against Hope.  Infact I left Calvin thinking that crosstown NAIA II Aquinas was a better team than Cornerstone.

Well Cornerstone trounced AQ by 20 on Saturday and looked good doing it, granted AQ was without a couple players but the margin was not fluky at all.

I've had trouble gauging just how good Cornerstone has been recently because I always compare their current team to their great teams of 99-01 when they were a regualar at the NAIA II finals.  This team is not especially deep despite having like 19 guys in uniform.

But if Q's dad says they're good, I'll accept that.

I'll add that everything Q says about compareing NAIA to D3 is pretty much spot on.

[cawcdad]

Two more scores from 11-25:
Cal State Stanislaus (D2) 75 - Occidental 71
Notre Dame de Namur (D2) 69 - UC Santa Cruz 58

[Gregory Sager]

For example, it seems that Robert Morris (IL), the #1 NAIA D1 team, plays D3 teams from time to time (although there are two Robert Morrises in Illinois, and I've never been able to keep them straight)

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the two Robert Morris College teams share a common nickname, the same team colors, and -- worse -- the same website. The two teams even operate off of a common overall Robert Morris College basketball page. RMC is apparently quite zealous about maintaining a unified brand name as an institution among its various branch campuses. I always make it a point to refer to either one in hyphenated form (RMC-Chicago and RMC-Springfield) in order to avoid confusion, but most people don't follow my lead (or are simply unaware that there are two distinct basketball teams from Illinois called Robert Morris College). Perhaps I'll have to start getting as anal-retentive about insisting that people geographically identify the two RMCs as I am about the whole "preseason" thing. 

(To add to the confusion, a third RMC campus -- RMC-Lake County, located in north suburban Waukegan -- is also beginning to field intercollegiate sports teams. RMCLC even beat Carthage in men's soccer this season. It's probably only a matter of time before RMCLC also begins playing men's basketball ... no doubt as yet another maroon-and-gold Eagles incarnation.)

However, RMC-Chicago -- the NAIA-1 powerhouse -- never plays D3 teams. I can't remember the last time that the big-city Eagles took the court against a team from our division. It's been my experience that most Chicagoland D3 types respect RMC-Chicago's talent and accomplishments but not the way that the program behind it operates.

RMC-Springfield, which is affiliated with the USCAA rather than the NAIA and which fields a team vastly inferior to the one on the main campus in the Windy City, tends to play anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen games against D3 comp every season. This year they're playing eleven D3 teams; they've lost to Guilford and beaten Roanoke on the East Coast, they face North Park on Monday and Blackburn on Wednesday, and after that the Capital City version of the Eagles will take on Millikin, North Central, UW-Platteville, Rose-Hulman, Caltech, Occidental, and Mount St. Joseph. Oddly enough, they're also playing three D2 teams (SIU-Edwardsville, Truman State, and Oakland City), a pair of jucos, a seminary team, and the RMC-Chicago JV.

RMC-Springfield is usually competitive against average D3 teams. Last season, for example, RMCS beat both Millikin and Rose-Hulman.

Lastly, according to the city's Wikipedia entry, Springfield, IL is the birthplace of the corn dog and the point of origin of the ill-fated Donner Party. I just felt the need to point that out.

[Titan Q]

However, RMC-Chicago -- the NAIA-1 powerhouse -- never plays D3 teams. I can't remember the last time that the big-city Eagles took the court against a team from our division. It's been my experience that most Chicagoland D3 types respect RMC-Chicago's talent and accomplishments but not the way that the program behind it operates.

Greg, last year RMC-Chicago played Wash U, UW-Platteville, Hanover, Ohio Wesleyan, and Clarke.

http://www.robertmorris.edu/athletics/mensbasketball/chicago/archive/0506/

[Rhodes Scholar]

Per two e-mails from the Lancaster Bible College Athletic Department: It's their first year as an NCAA D3 provisional.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Additional scores from 11/18

Abilene Christian (D2) 116, Concordia-Austin 114
Eastern Mennonite 77, Southern Virginia (USCAA) 73
Jarvis Christian (NAIA 1) 83, Eastern Texas Baptist 78
LaGrange 101, Carver Bible (NCCAA 2) 79

[Rhodes Scholar]

Scores from 11/20

Alma 62, Grace Bible (NCCAA 2) 60 (OT)
Belmont (D1) 83, Fisk 54
Lewis and Clark 98, Hawaii-Hilo (D2) 93 (OT)
Lincoln Christian 89, Great Lakes Christian (NCCAA 2) 55
Maranatha Baptist 76, Emmaus (NCCAA 2) 53
Simpson 87, Grand View (NAIA 2) 80
Texas-Tyler 83, Jarvis Christian (NAIA 1) 76 (OT)
Wesley (NCCAA 2) 84, Mississippi College 82 (OT)