Bumblin' B's

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Ralph,

Glad to see you're joining my 'crusade' to move Finlandia to the West.  Right now, their NEAREST in-region game (aside from Northland by the 200-mile rule) is Alma, nearly 500 miles away (and like ALL GL games, requiring a trip over the Big Mac, which often closes for hours at a time during bball season).

What if Finlandia took a boat through the Great Lakes to Ohio? Or down Lake Michigan to Holland (Hope)? Maybe that will make it faster and of course that is a logical choice of travel according to the NCAA.

[Knightstalker]

The math in the handbook is wrong, but the results come out the same.

There are 387 schools, of which 349 (not 344) are in AQ conferences. So the access ratio is 349/38 = 9.18, not 344/37 = 9.29.

Guess what? 344 and 9.29 are in last year's handbook. They forgot to update the text on those two lines.

Anyway, with a 9.18 ratio, four bids requires 37 teams, so even if Lincoln is reallocated, as I believe they should be, there will still be a 38-4-17 split of the bids.

Other than that, I agree with the math.

The other news from the handbook is confirmation on regional allocation, where they're doing what they did with soccer already:

Colorado College stays in the West, despite joining the SCAC.
Merchant Marine stays in the Atlantic because the Landmark isn't a qualifying conference yet; they'll probably move to the Mid-Atlantic when it does.
Stevens, Bard, Manhattanville, and Centenary change regions to match their new conferences.
The new schools are allocated regions that generally make sense, with Spalding (Kentucky) being assigned to the Great Lakes and St. Joseph's (Brooklyn, NY) being assigned (illogically) to the East.

When has the NCAA been logical?  In my opinion the Landmark should have been assigned to the Atlantic Region.  The Atlantic loses three more schools now.

The Landmark hasn't been assigned anywhere yet. It's not recognized as a conference for the 2007-2008 academic year. So the seven schools that were in the Mid-Atlantic stay in the Mid-Atlantic, and Merchant Marine stays in the Atlantic.

The other schools move to recognized conferences, so they have to pick up the regional orientation of those conferences.

I had forgotten about Stevens jumping conferences to jump conferences.  But the Landmark should still be assigned to the Atlantic before the 08-09 season.

[sac]

Ralph,

Glad to see you're joining my 'crusade' to move Finlandia to the West.  Right now, their NEAREST in-region game (aside from Northland by the 200-mile rule) is Alma, nearly 500 miles away (and like ALL GL games, requiring a trip over the Big Mac, which often closes for hours at a time during bball season).

What if Finlandia took a boat through the Great Lakes to Ohio? Or down Lake Michigan to Holland (Hope)? Maybe that will make it faster and of course that is a logical choice of travel according to the NCAA.

The Magic Ferry is reserved for Hope and Carthage.  This year Carthage has the keys.

[njlincolnlion]

I think Lincoln is technically still in D-III for one more year, but are not eligible for the post-season.  Maybe I'm wrong here and the NCAA screwed up; it's happened before, often (on both counts).

It's unclear from Pat's daily dose what Lincoln's status is?

http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/2007/07/19/lincoln-officially-gone-to-division-ii/

Wilburt & Hoops Fan:

Lincoln is basically "floating in cyberspace" relative to NCAA classification and discussions.  Officially Lincoln has already begun it's probationary period for DII reclassification.

Pat has basically stated that Lincoln would not be included in any D3Hoops rankings or discussions.

I have attached a link from Lincoln's website regarding this topic.

http://www.lincoln.edu/athletics/tennis/divisionii720.html

[Ralph Turner]

I am looking forward to Hoopsville tonight and the interview with Neb Wesleyan Head Coach Cam Schuknecht.  Neb Wes piqued my curiosity about the Pool B bids this year.

The Handbook says that we have 4 bids this year.

By region, my first look at the prospects include:

New England Region: 
Green Mountain IND (9-1 overall /7-1 in region)

Atlantic Region:
Moravian LAND (9-2 /8-2)

South Region:
Maryville TN GSAC (10-2 /7-2)

Midwest Region:
Aurora NATHC (9-3 /7-3)
Marian NATHC (7-4 /7-2)

West Region:
Nebraska Wesleyan IND (8-4 /6-1)

Corrections and other contributions appreciated.

[smedindy]

Holy transfers! I can't believe Green Mountain is in the running for Pool B.

[Just Bill]

Ralph,

Glad to see you're joining my 'crusade' to move Finlandia to the West.  Right now, their NEAREST in-region game (aside from Northland by the 200-mile rule) is Alma, nearly 500 miles away (and like ALL GL games, requiring a trip over the Big Mac, which often closes for hours at a time during bball season).

What if Finlandia took a boat through the Great Lakes to Ohio? Or down Lake Michigan to Holland (Hope)? Maybe that will make it faster and of course that is a logical choice of travel according to the NCAA.

Look!  I found a picture of the Finlandia team traveling to their next in-region game:

[scottiedoug]

I wait in vain for some of you Smart Posters Who Do Math to clue us in on the Pool B situation....

I see no reason why Maryville, TN, as usual, will not be one (although this was supposed to be a rebuilding year), but what else is going on?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I need to double-check some things, but Nebraska Wesleyan has a good chance at a possible Pool B bid. Others have heard me point out the fact that they have a chance, despite their lack of D3 games.

They are 10-6 overall right now, but they are 6-1 against Division III opponents. They have also applied for - and gotten - an exemption from the NCAA, as they do every season, that despite the fact they play less than 50% of their schedule in the NCAA/West Region. They have two games in Division III left (Feb. 29th and Mar. 1 - I think)... that could put them into the Tournament as a Pool B.

[Ralph Turner]

Pool B thru January 27th  (4 bids given):

Northeast Region:
Green Mountain IND Overall 12-3/Northeast Region 11-3.  (5 in-region games remaining and the Independents Tourney.)

Atlantic Region:
Susquehanna LAND 10-7 overall / 10-5 Atlantic Region / 7-0 conference.  (7 in-region games remain.)

South Region:
Maryville TN  GSAC 16-2 overall/ 12-2 11-2* South Region/ 2-0 conference.  (5 in-region games remain plus the 4-team GSAC Tourney.)

Midwest Region:
Aurora NATHC 15-3 overall/ 13-3 Midwest Region/ 11-0 Conference. (7 in-region games remain plus the NATHC tourney)

West Region:
Neb Wesleyan IND 10-7 overall (against NAIA-2 schools) 6-1 overall.  (Only the 4-team West Region Independents Tourney left.)

Corrections appreciated!  * Thanks to pabegg!

[pabegg]

By my count, Maryville is 11-2 in region, with 4 non-D3 games and Concordia IL as a non-region game.

My list in rank order (based on my methodology that has tracked regional ranking and selection in the past)

1. Maryville (Tenn.) 16-2, 11-2
2. Nebraska Wesleyan 10-7, 6-1
3. Chapman 13-6, 10-5
4. Aurora 15-3, 13-3
5. Juniata 12-6, 11-5
6. Susquehanna 10-7, 10-5
7. Moravian 13-5, 12-5
8. Wisconsin Lutheran 12-4, 11-4

There's a huge gap between 1 and 2, and gaps down to 5th, but 5 to 8 are interchangeable.

Green Mountain is 391 out of 399 in Strength of Schedule, which really kills them. There's 10th in the numbers right now.

[broke_ya_ankles]

how realistic is it for Green Mountain College to get a pool B bid?  Theres a decent chance they win 19-20 regular season games this year but how impressive is that really when 1 (maybe 2 if they beat castleton state) of their wins come against teams with at least .500 records, it seems like all the teams they play have 3-12 records.  I saw I saw pabegg pointed out they have the 391st weakest schedule, but how heavy is that weighed? will the outcome of the independent tournament play much of a factor?
I just think it would be a shame for such a weak team to be rewarded for beating up JV teams all season.

[Ralph Turner]

how realistic is it for Green Mountain College to get a pool B bid?  Theres a decent chance they win 19-20 regular season games this year but how impressive is that really when 1 (maybe 2 if they beat castleton state) of their wins come against teams with at least .500 records, it seems like all the teams they play have 3-12 records.  I saw I saw pabegg pointed out they have the 391st weakest schedule, but how heavy is that weighed? will the outcome of the independent tournament play much of a factor?
I just think it would be a shame for such a weak team to be rewarded for beating up JV teams all season.

I think that OOWP, OWP and wins versus regionally ranked teams go far in boosting one team over another.  I don't see that GMC gets any boost from those.  Had GMC won every in-region game, then I think that it would be hard to keep that team from getting one of the four bids.  (What more can you ask from players?)

[pabegg]

Green Mountain is 11-4 in-region, but with their strength of schedule, it's probably more like 9-6 for a normal Pool B team. That puts them behind schools like Aurora, Chapman, Juniata, and Susquehanna for the last 2 Pool Bs. (Maryville and Nebraska Wesleyan are firmly in control of the top 2 bids at the moment.)

Sure, if they win out in regional games, they probably get in. As of now, they're on the outside looking in.

[smedindy]

I think Green Mountain will fall short. But it's remarkable considering where they were at a few short years ago.