WBB: Northwest Conference

[Manny24]

It is what it is. Let's play ball and support the last one standing after this weekend to represent. Wouldn't it be something if it were Chapman !

[mkt]

It is what it is. Let's play ball and support the last one standing after this weekend to represent. Wouldn't it be something if it were Chapman !

With Whitman being several hours away, I'll try to watch what I can over the video feeds.

Prior to moving to Portland, I lived in southern Calif for many years, and Chapman has an interesting program in its own right.  They've been a fairly frequent NCAA qualifier, and recently went from being independent to joining SCIAC where their women's team has continued to do well.  Their coach is Asian American, so it may not be a coincidence that their rosters have large numbers of Asian American players, usually including three starters.  Caltech's the only team that I've seen that has even more Asian players -- but Chapman manages to actually win games.

Chapman often advances out of the early rounds of the NCAA tournament by beating its So Calif competition, but then typically runs into a buzzsaw by getting sent to face a team from the Northwest.  SCIAC doesn't have a single team in the D3Hoops Top 25, so that pretty much tells you what you need to know about the power balance between them and the NWC.

Still SCIAC is an interesting conference.  In addition to Chapman, it's got Caltech which pretty much defines the collegiate extreme in terms of student-athletes who excel at the student part and not at the athlete part.  And Pomona-Pitzer (many of the Claremont Colleges are so small that they combine to form athletic teams) used to have a men's coach who's become quite well-known:  Gregg Popovich.  And SCIAC colleges have produced more future presidents of the US than many sets of conferences combined:  Barack Obama and Richard Nixon attended Occidental and Whittier colleges respectively.

[d3wbbfan]

Whitworth beats George Fox, 71-51, in the NCAA first round in Walla Walla. Kayla Johnson had 27 for the Bucs. Cusick 13, Roos 12 for the Bruins. It's a shame these teams had to play again, for the third time in 2 1/2 weeks. Tonight game's was practically a carbon copy of their NWC semi-final. Whitworth leading by between 4 and 8, and then used a combo of clutch late hoops and made FTs to pull away at the end.

My congrats to George Fox, on a great season. I'm a huge fan of both Benner and Blizzard. Would *love* them on my team. And they both have two more years. I know Peacock will come back better, too, and Roos returns to supply her usual savvy and sharpshooting. Coach Meek did the very best he could here, and is to be congratulated. I know the NWC is always good. But this season, NO other league had their supposed 3rd best team be as strong as this league has! Whitworth fully deserves their #24 nat'l ranking. And should Whitman get past Chapman next, it's gonna be another "world war" between those two in their NCAA 2nd round game.....

To prove my NWC point, even the perennial powerhouse NESCAC has already had two teams of their four teams go down (each in a different pod, of course) in the first round tonight. Williams (to Vassar; neutral floor), and Bowdoin (selected to host their pod, even as the #3 best team in their league.) Bowdoin just lost to a school that had *never* before won an NCAA tourney game (Castleton St.) in ANY sport!!!!!

SOS, schmess-oh-sssss........

[d3wbbfan]

Whitman over Chapman, 106-51. I don't exactly know what Coach Ferenz feeds Sarah Anderegg for her pre-game meal before NCAA games, either last year or this year. And don't get me wrong, Sarah has been a solid 1st-team all-NWC player all season. But there is both an iron will and a quantum-level of elevation added to every part of Anderegg's game, whenever she sees that an NCAA logo has been affixed to the side of a gym's wall. This alone should be a huge concern for her next opponent(s).

In recent Missionary games, I had begun to notice that Whitman was depending more and more on Johns' offense, to get them out of some tight, late game spots. She's awfully crafty, knifing down low. Now I didn't think so before, but perhaps being undefeated for 26 games WAS starting to weigh on them. But there is no denying that their overall team psyche is in a much better place than it was just a weekend ago. And while I know that Chapman wasn't exactly a Final Four contender, they're a solid, if quite undersized, very well-coached team. The SCIAC is improving, and I enjoyed watching both them and C-M-S go at it this year...

Whether the events of the past week (not to mention Whitman dropping all the way to #7 this week, from #1, in the Top 25 poll - Whitman has had their doubters among the voting panel all season, not that a # matters) will help them prevail in the "2013-14 Battle Of The Whits, Part 4: The Finale" or not remains to be seen. I consider this game a *huge* Whitman hurdle. More so than either of their next two possible games, strange as that may sound. Helen Higgs is one very good game coach. And a class act. Her and Ferenz are also longtime personal friends. Whitworth has multiple, subtle tricks up their sleeve on D, that feed their constant craving to create turnovers, that I haven't seen ONE other team be able to pull off as consistently this year. Vs them, a guard with the ball can't relax. Even for one instant. They're like the gelatinous tongue of a frog, snaring a nearby bug for lunch - except the ball is the bug! The Pirates are grossly under-respected. The saddest part? The NCAA has denied other areas of the country the chance to see this Whitworth "pack of rabid dogs" play D in person. Ask George Fox. Coach Michael Meek will be having frequent nightmares about Whitworth, all off season. Oh, we get it. No excess plane rides. Not to worry. We've all moved on. Forgive, but don't forget. The NWC is a 100% united front on this. Whoever does advance from the NWC will have a MAJOR chip on its shoulder. And is extremely capable. That fact should be lost on NO one matched up with them.

Just know Whitman is a FAR, FAR, FAR better team than they were a year ago. (And they were plenty good last year!) Does anyone outside the NWC truly grasp how incredibly DIFFICULT it was for Whitworth to beat the Missionaries, at home, and manage to win the NWC tourney title again? Extremely hard!!!! Whitman played great in defeat! Whitworth only won again because they are also a FAR, FAR, FAR better team this year, than the one that got edged out at Emory in last year's NCAAs. My sadness is mostly for loyal DIII WBB fans, who love to see a TRULY high level of play. It is honestly a much more rare occurrence than I wish it were.

I heard D3's Pat Coleman say last Sunday night that he's both a #1 voter for, and far more of a believer in the Sydney Moss/Thomas More club than he is Whitman's. I am gonna write off the normally-quite-lucid Coleman's clear error in judgement here as being either the result of him being badly sleep-deprived this late in the campaign, or that he's been watching too many men's DIII tilts, and too few women's games, forcing him to simply draw straws for his #1 pick!     I also just read Gordon Mann's predictions on this site. He also expects the Missionaries to fizzle out before the Final Four. But I begrudge Gordon far more than I do Pat, because I know he knows the NWC well, should realize how much the Whitman Elite Eight run last year taught them, and has fueled them this season. But, alas, Gordon has also seemingly fallen prey to the "Randy Moss' daughter is in DIII, so this year's Saints' group is finally gonna go far" Kool-Aid. I get it. Her story has created interest, buzz, and a rare DIII journalistic narrative. I think Gordon's pre-FF ousting of Whitman is mostly just his "inner scribe" talking.      But personally, I'm sure as heck not feeling a redux of "Danny And The Miracles" happening, for the team out of the Cincy suburbs.

I live in CT. I have no ties to Whitman, other than a deep admiration for who they are, how they play, and how well they are coached. I can stream *any* team's games. (What a country!!!!) But I choose to go 3000 miles away for my webstream, and watch Whitman WBB. The last 8 minutes of Whitman's 13-14 season opener, vs. St. Thomas (MN) in Spokane, may have been the highest quality segment of WBB I've ever seen in my life. (And I've been watching Geno's fine teams play since Kerry Bascom.) I have seen *every* top 13-14 DIII WBB team play. On multiple occasions. Usually against their top rivals. Including Thomas More. 4 times. Heck, I'm just a schmuck DIII WBB fan with an opinion. Which is worth about 1/1000th of one cent, right? But I'd pick Whitman to beat Thomas More by double digits, even if the game was being played in Randy Moss' living room! And with Randy himself being one of the refs! (Well, maybe I won't go quite THAT far - it's hard enough winning games on the road!) Why? Because I can use what the NCAA can't. The eye test. I only hope my vision is still 20/20!

Thanks for reading. In the words of my favorite Beatle (Ringo), "Peace and love to everyone!!!!!!"

[d3wbbfan]

A quick PS: I just read in the Bruins' game recap that the George Fox-Whitworth matchup was the first time in over a DECADE that two conference opponents were matched up in the very first round. The word "inexplicable" was used in the piece. And 1000% correctly. I know it was a bad situation for the NWC. But I didn't know it was THAT bad. Wow! The selection committee and the rest of the country only *thinks* they know how irate the entire NWC is, that all three of their NCAA teams were placed in the same 4-team pod. And yeah, they've all received the "official explanation". But I promise you. NO ONE outside this conference has even a CLUE, as to level of outright rage that remains. It's unspoken. But on the "down low", the remaining chip on these team's shoulders about this NWC bracket injustice is still the size of an asteroid......

[7express]

So, what do you think the odds are of Whitman getting the sectionals??  Whit got a huge break with Christopher Newport winning @ Ferrum, and Texas-Tyler winning @ Rhodes, because both Ferrum AND Rhodes checked in at under 500 miles to Thomas More, and now neither Newport nor Tyler check in at under 500.  None of the 4 teams in this half are within 500 miles of each other, so no matter where the site is, the NCAA will have to fly all 3 teams there.  Since Whitman probably has the best numbers (they were #1 in the West while TM was #3 in the Great Lakes), and the West constantly gets screwed in the tournament out there alone on the island, now that a west coast team finally caught a break, hopefully the NCAA rewards them.

[d3wbbfan]

**7express, I read your post just before I submitted my post-game. You clearly understand your NCAA mileages very well. (500). But I still think Whitman has NO chance to host the Sweet 16. For one reason: because all flights are not equally expensive. Out to Whitman is a very long flight. Christopher Newport is an annual WBB power. But they aren't considered to be a top contender this year. Their win over Ferrum was an upset on paper, but I watched some of it - the better team clearly won. I think they'll send Whitman out to Newport News, VA. A Whitman-Thomas More (with Randy Moss' daughter/Florida transfer Sydney on it) Elite 8 matchup is very possible. The NCAA likely would want that to happen at a "neutral site." Because if the NCAA tries to play the second weekend's games at Thomas More (currently #1 in DIII), after this weekend's pod fiasco in Walla Walla, the NWC would likely secede en masse from the NCAA!***** 

Sat., Whitman managed to defeat Whitworth, 73-67, in their NCAA second round game at Sherwood Center. The final, knock-down, drag-out matchup of NWC WBB foes this season. As a big Missionaries fan, all I can is that is "Man, was that ever difficult!!!!" I am drained. I can only imagine how the players are feeling, physically and emotionally, post-game.

Whitman jumped out to an early 10-ish point lead. Despite the fact that both starting posts (Anderegg and White) were whistled for 2 fouls each, by the first, under-16 media TO. Whitworth's own foul-a-rama plight was so similarly desperate, that they had to play deep sub Alexis McLeod almost half the total game minutes, even though I don't remember seeing her get in before, for even one second, in any of our other 3 games! (More on that later.) A Traver 3 at the halftime buzzer made at 38-25 Missionaries. But I know Whitworth all too well by now. So it looked like a tie score to me. They don't "kick in" until the second half. And I was right to feel that way. Heather Johns soon pushed the lead out to 18, 43-25, at 19:12. A Meghan White hoop made it 50-38 Whitman, at 15:27. And then. Here it comes. I know it's coming. Michael Meek knew it was coming. Coach Ferenz knows it's coming. Whitwoth coach Helen Higgs throws her pack of rabid dogs their ration of "2nd-half D, red meat." OK, Whitman. Just try to score now! Well - we can't. Especially with several starters stuck on the bench in foul trouble. The Pirates are now on Whitman like white on rice. Their own foul trouble doesn't derail this kamikaze effort. Because there's NO ONE that can't play stellar D on Whitworth's team. It's a basic roster requirement for Higgs.

With 9:00 left, Whitman is STILL stuck on 50 points. The same # we've been on since 15:27. When our other post in foul trouble had scored. Before sitting again. Left with no choice, Ferenz HAS to insert her foul-saddled best. Anderegg. Even though it's still too early to. It's now 50-46. Yes, it's been an 8-0 Bucs run. But Whitman's team D ain't no slouch, either. And surrendering just one point a minute is great team D. Upon returning, Sarah immediately scores. 52-46, at 8:50.

Whitworth SR Kayla Johnson is one HECK of a basketball player. A cold-blooded, 3-pt assassin. In the best possible way. Higgs is gonna miss her next year - big time. Every time Whitman got the lead back to 7 or 9? Splash! Another instant 3-ball answer from Johnson. While Jessica Kramer (another nice spare part, also called to major action, due to fouls) added 11 big points and 6 boards. As well as the Pirates being their usual 80% selves at the FT line (20-25). The fact the Whitman STILL managed to win this game, given how it played out, seems unlikely. But it did, mainly because, unlike the NWC championship game, Whitman basically matched Whitworth's FT %. (17-22). That's GOT to be a season-best for Whitman.

Traver and Johns were both forced to go the full 40 tonight. Tiffani led the way for Whitman with 17, with 3 3's. Johns had 15, even though Whitworth made it uber-hard for her, going 5-21 FGs. But she made 2 key FTs, with under :30 to go, to push the Whitman lead back up to 4. Anderegg was superb again. 15 points, in just 20 total minutes. I'd never seen Sarah foul out of a game before. EVER. Until tonight. Because, of course, she suddenly forgot everything she'd ever been taught about playing good D, against a team with NO center, and that she knows like the back of her hand already, according to tonight's hapless zebras.   

Even scrappy 5th starter Hailey MacDonald was big tonight. Our best defender. 26 mins. 6 points. But the just-55% FT shooter hit 4-5 tonight. And 5'10" SO F Hailey Ann Maeda was an absolute superstar. In a season-high 23 minutes, she had 7 points, and 11 rebounds. And the just-44% FT shooter hit 3-3 late - VERY clutch. And without those two making 8-9 FTs for Whitman tonight, it would be Whitworth playing Christopher Newport in the Sweet 16 next weekend. Because that's exactly how Whitworth beat Whitman last weekend. 4 more FTs made, in a dead-even game. But not tonight. So the Missionaries will now take on the Captains.

I glimpsed at least 8 different 2nd-round games today. They all had one wonderful thing in common. Something often seen in March. Far fewer whistles, and much more of a "let them play" mentality. I SO welcome that. That normally doesn't happen without some sort of directive from above., My compliments. I do think the new hand-check rule has done exactly what it set out to do. That said, I FIRMLY believe that 40 of all total DIII WBB referee whistles, as to fouls/turnovers, should be no-calls. In every single game. Come on stripes, swallow the pea!!! I am privileged to call a former DI men's FF official/supervisor of officials a friend. A true gentlemen. He's been through it, and he's seen everything. His rule of thumb (and mine): the less a referee blows his whistle, the better official he is. And the more quickly he/she usually gets promoted. "Letter Of The Law" and "Spirit Of The Law" is not a concept every official can grasp. So many blow so often, they think they're paid on commission - X amount per whistle! 

Sadly for me, as both a Whitman and a DIII WBB partisan, Walla Walla was the *one* 2nd-round game I saw on Sat., where most of the best players, on both teams, were forced to sit for long stretches, and not able to fight for their NCAA lives. Not due to being hackers. Or being dirty players. There was ZERO chance this game was "getting out of control". ZERO!!!!! Even against each other's top rival. Both Whit schools are total class. The refs totally insinuated themselves into this contest. For no reason at all, except hideous judgement. Did those who attended, and watched tonight's game on-line, do it to see them? They seemed to think so. This was only THE biggest WBB game in both schools history!!!!!!!!!!!   

All DIII teams have *far* less top players than the scholarship divisions do. So would you *please* allow us fans to watch the best players that we do have actually PLAY! Both ours AND our opponents. What a concept! 22 fouls called on Whitman tonight. 20 on Whitworth. Helen Higgs should sell a video on how to play team defense, for goodness sakes! The players on both these teams played hard. But clean. And with much skill. Both are extremely well coached. Overall, and on defense. Tonight's officials flat out embarrassed themselves. And I say this, even though my team came out victorious tonight.   

I RARELY ever go here. The topic of referees. The truth? I've found that the vast majority of referees that I've had the pleasure to share a venue with to be very good people. Smart. A sense of humor. They keep it in perspective. And they take their work very seriously. But coaches? Asst coaches? Yeah, they also take their work seriously - to put it mildly. But a sense of humor? Perspective? Not so much. I found I always had more in common with the refs!!! I knew it, and they knew it. In fact, I once had a retiring referee pull a new whistle out of his pocket and give it to me, during his last game against my team. (His first name was Ken.) He said he always appreciated the fact that I'd treated him with respect. Win or lose. Agree or disagree. He said to me that he'd always enjoyed doing our games the most. I still have that whistle. It's actually a prized possession of mine. So when I note my displeasure about the referee-ing during "Whits, Part 4", I do it with that very same respect. (Luckily, it's unlikely they'll be doing any Sweet 16 games. Because it'll take a plane ride to get them there!!!!!!!!!!)    

[gordonmann]

I'm very surprised that Whitman is hosting, but good for them. Nice to see the NWC get the opportunity, despite the cost.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

In reality... it was an additional flight - just one flight - which equals the number of flights the men have. I suspect the NCAA wasn't going to fight an extra flight to take everything to Whitman thanks also to the fact the conference was just a little angry about the first weekend .

[mkt]

Thanks for the write-up of the final epic battle of the Whits, I had a schedule conflict and couldn't catch the game.  Did catch the second half of Whitworth vs Geo Fox and watched some of Whitman vs Chapman until it became clear there wasn't any real point.

Good news that Whitman gets to keep on hosting!

[Pat Coleman]

In reality... it was an additional flight - just one flight - which equals the number of flights the men have. I suspect the NCAA wasn't going to fight an extra flight to take everything to Whitman thanks also to the fact the conference was just a little angry about the first weekend .

It's not an additional flight at all. It's the fact that three are charter flights (expensive, by definition) as opposed to two schools being able to fly commercial to Cincinnati to play at Thomas More.

[d3wbbfan]

Whitman defeated Christopher Newport tonight, 87-70, at a packed Sherwood Center in Walla Walla, WA. This one was decided fairly early, as the Missionaries led 22-10 with 11:44 to go in the half, 33-14 with 2:29 to go, and by 20, 47-27 at halftime. The lead fluctuated between 18 and 25 for the entire 2nd half, before Whitman settled for the final, 17-point margin of victory.

Whitman's two best players all season, JR Heather Johns and SR Sarah Anderegg, led the initial charge, scoring the team's first 18 points between them. 13 of them were by Johns, who turned an early 8-6 deficit into the Whit's first double-digit lead, by leading an early 16-2 Whitman run. But the NWC's player-of-the-year was just getting started. She later made it 40-19 for her team with a layup, with still 5:00 to go before the break, and finished with 21 for the first half, and an even 30 for the game. The Captains had to score 6 points in the half's last 50 seconds, just to narrow their deficit to 20 at the intermission. Anderegg wasn't far behind Johns' early production, tallying 13 of her own in the opening stanza, before ending with 15.

Coach Ferenz substituted liberally in the second half, content to maintain her team's working margin, likely trying to save her team's legs as much as possible for Saturday's Elite Eight matchup with Thomas More, from Crestview Hills, KY (a Cincinnati, OH suburb), who defeated Texas-Tyler 73-61 in Friday's first game. Leading the Saints, who are currently 31-0 and ranked #1 in DIII, is 5'10" SO Sydney Moss, a DI transfer from Florida of the SEC, daughter of former NFL star Randy Moss, a national DIII player-of-the-year candidate, and who leads the nation in scoring, at 28.5 ppg. She scored 26 in her team's Friday win, while 5'10" JR F Jenny Burgoyne scored 20, slightly exceeding her 17.5 ppg season average.

SR Tiffani Traver added 12 for Whitman, including two 3's, while SR Meghan White added 8 points and 12 rebounds. The Missionaries shot 53% from the floor (36-68), 5-11 from bonus range and 10-13 at the FT line. Christopher Newport shot 0-9 from 3, and despite shooting more than twice as many FTs as Whitman, barely squeaked over the 50% mark, at just 14-27. Whitman also dominated the glass, out-rebounding CNU 51-28.

JR C Camry Green led CNU with 21 points, SO 6th-man Brandi Holland had 17, while seniors Tia Perry and Nicole Mitchell added 13 and 11 respectively, in their final game for the Captains, who finish at 24-6.

This is the second straight season that the Missionaries have advanced to the Elite Eight. The winner of the Whitman-Thomas More game Saturday night will then advance to their first-ever trip to the DIII WBB Final Four, played next weekend in Stevens Point, WI.

[mkt]

Thanks for the game reports, again I wasn't able to watch the video.  Go Missionaries, and go NWC!

[d3wbbfan]

I always enjoy going back and reviewing the NCAA's selection criteria - especially the piece they consider to be so very important - Strength Of Schedule. Sure, you've gotta have the great W-L record, too, and you have to beat some of those other good teams.

This year, the WBB Elite Eight comes from 8 different conferences. I saw parts of all of the eight survivors' games Friday, on-line. I think they are all very fine basketball teams, and are totally deserving of their success to date.

I thought it might be fun to post the SOS of the 8 remaining teams. I have no agenda here. Let's just see if it provides us with any sort of a "tell". Personally, I don't think so. But that's just me. The fact that all four host teams won on Friday must also be considered, as to who will win Saturday. Because sleeping in your own bed, shooting at your home rims and being supported by friendly fans usually helps! Feel free to draw any conclusions you like.

Ithaca (Empire 8) - #8 at Tufts (NESCAC) - #4 - the two highest remaining SOS teams in the field face off against each other. Does that make the Saturday winner the Final Four favorite? Both are established, top programs, featuring a veteran 13-14 club, who are looking to finally reach their first Final Four. With Tufts' top outside shooter lost to an ankle injury last weekend (Hannah Foley), skilled 6'2" frosh post Michela North may be teamed up even more than usual with the Jumbos' 6'2" starting center, Hayley Kanner, to offset the likely loss of perimeter production with a bigger lineup. While the Bombers 5'10" SR Mary Kate Tierney is somehow 1/3 of a PG, 1/3 of a small forward, and 1/3 of an undersized center - all at the same time. And it works like a charm for Ithaca.

UW-Whitewater (WIAC) - #20 at DePauw (NCAC) - #71 - the defending champs paid this same "SOS disadvantage" no mind at all last year. Will they do the same this year? Three major pieces did return (Trees, Ross, Stephens). As for the Warhawks, this Elite Eight matchup is a rematch of last year's title game, in which DePauw prevailed by 18. Graduation and injuries mean that just two 12-13 Whitewater starters will start Saturday, but seniors Mary Merg and Kaitlyn Thill are their top two scorers, while three other role players have slid into major 13-14 minutes as seniors, with each averaging at least 9 ppg. Grudge matches are always hard to predict! Whitewater also has the added caveat of knowing that, should they beat DePauw, the 2014 Final Four is in Stevens Point, WI. Which is just a little more than two hours away from their campus. Can you say, "Quasi-home court advantage?" 

Montclair St. (NJAC) - #58 at FDU-Florham (MAC/Freedom) - #199 - aka, "The New Jersey DIII WBB championship". The Red Hawks want to return the favor this year. They got exactly this far last year, still undefeated, and were then knocked out. The Devils are still undefeated. Can Montclair St. knock out Florham, and end their perfect season? This veteran Red Hawks group are far more NCAA tourney tested, but the Devils are at home, and have been playing as if they have a major chip on their collective shoulder, for either their early NCAA exit last year, their conference not getting much respect, or both!

Thomas More (PAC) - #287 at Whitman (NWC) - #24 - I was SO impressed watching Sydney Moss play Friday. She combines 28.5 ppg with smart, totally unselfish play. And her top "sidekick", Jenny Burgoyne is the perfect compliment to her. But the NWC was such a great league this year. To me, going 29-1 through that conference was quite an achievement. Besides, Johns and Anderegg are truly a tandem to reckon with, in their own right. But all a team can do is win every game. And the Saints have. If each team's two star players basically "cancel each other out", could it come down the "complimentary players?"

Finally, I have seen all these teams play on-line *multiple* times this year. As I said, all 8 are playing well. But I would say five of them are playing their very best ball of the season right now. While the other three have mostly been their usual, regular season, workmanlike selves. Which is still pretty darned good! I'm just going 100% by my own, personal eye test. I think now is the time to enjoy, celebrate and build up all these hard-working teams. Not to criticize anyone. So I won't. But after the games, though, I'd be happy to share what I see now, as to which five I thought were peaking at just the perfect time (now), should anyone be curious.

[BruinFan]

Whitman has a special opportunity tonight. I hope they can take advantage of only the second time for a NWC team to be playing host for a regional. It does seem like the committee must have felt badly about the all three NWC schools in the same pod and thus awarded Whitman the regional.

d3wbbfan, thanks for your support of the NWC from 3000 miles away. While the NESCAC is solid, I think once it gets to the top 32 or 16 teams in the country, the NESCAC generally benefits from home court advantage to get a team to the Final Four. George Fox has never hosted a regional and made it to the Final Four twice and appeared in the championship game both times.