Bumblin' B's

[RustCollege]

Congratulations to Markeith Wilson, Rust, 3rd team All South Region.

long time coming

[Ralph Turner]

Starting the Pool B Roundup and corrections are appreciated:

Northeast:     (1)            UMaine Presque Isle
East:            (0)            None
Atlantic:        (1)            St Joseph's Brooklyn
Mid-Atlantic   (0)            None
South:          (9)            SAA-7 (Birmingham-Southern, Centre, Hendrix, Millsaps, Oglethrope, Rhodes, Sewanee, plus 3rd year provisional Berry), Rust, Huntingdon and 3rd-year Provisional Covenant
Great Lakes:   (0)           None
Midwest:         (0)           None
West             (4)           Finlandia, Neb Wesleyan, North Central MN, UC Santa Cruz

I count 15, which should mean there will be one Pool  B bid.           
         

[smedindy]

Pickin's are slim. Looks like the bid will probably come from the SAA-7.

When the SAA gets their auto bid, and Huntingdon and Covenant get acclimated in the USAC, and North Central (MN) moves to the UMAC, we've got:

UMPI, St. Joe's, Rust, Finlandia, Neb Wesleyan and UC-SC, right? That's it? And Finlandia may join a conference soon.

[Ralph Turner]

Why doesn't anyone pick up St Joe's Brooklyn?

What is the move behind Finlandia and their move to join a conference?  Adding football sometime soon?  Men's and Women's Ice hockey?  (I honestly do not know and am seeking enlightenment.)

[smedindy]

For Finlandia, from what I read: They want to join the UMAC. They're scheduled to add football, now in 2014 (but may not). They are an associate in the WIAC for soccer, the MCHA for men's hockey and the NCHA for women's hockey.

Perhaps St. Joe's is happy in the the HVAC, but then why D3?

[gordonmann]

Valley Forge Christian and Sarah Lawrence are also provisional members.  Maybe they play an independent schedule or maybe they join conferences.  NEAC for VFCC and Skyline for Sarah Lawrence?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Valley Forge Christian and Sarah Lawrence are also provisional members.  Maybe they play an independent schedule or maybe they join conferences.  NEAC for VFCC and Skyline for Sarah Lawrence?

I believe they don't count for Pool B until they're in year 3.

[Mr. Ypsi]

And I don't think UMPI ever declares for d3 anymore, do they?

Question: does Pool B have any minimum number of schools to remain a separate pool?  If it fell all the way to one school, I'd assume they would not be given an automatic bye into the tourney - is there a lower limit?

[KnightSlappy]

And I don't think UMPI ever declares for d3 anymore, do they?

Question: does Pool B have any minimum number of schools to remain a separate pool?  If it fell all the way to one school, I'd assume they would not be given an automatic bye into the tourney - is there a lower limit?

I think it's nine point something ( rounded up).

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

And I don't think UMPI ever declares for d3 anymore, do they?

Question: does Pool B have any minimum number of schools to remain a separate pool?  If it fell all the way to one school, I'd assume they would not be given an automatic bye into the tourney - is there a lower limit?

I think it's nine point something ( rounded up).

Same ratio as the Pool C... 6.something?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

According to everything I am reading on UMPI's website, they are a Division III member along with the USCAA. They even tout Division III Independents (www.d3independents.org)... so they should count.

[KnightSlappy]

And I don't think UMPI ever declares for d3 anymore, do they?

Question: does Pool B have any minimum number of schools to remain a separate pool?  If it fell all the way to one school, I'd assume they would not be given an automatic bye into the tourney - is there a lower limit?

I think it's nine point something ( rounded up).

Same ratio as the Pool C... 6.something?

It's actually the same as the Pool A access ratio (Pool B can be thought of as the Pool A for those that don't belong to a Pool A conference).

So it's the number of schools in AQ conferences divided by the number of AQ conferences.

Last year it was 392 (405 eligible D3's minus the 13 Pool B's) divided by 42 AQ conferences = 9.3 Pool B access ratio.

They round that number up, so 10 got them the 1st bid and 19 would have gotten them a 2nd bid.

The math is very slightly different this year (as the number of teams is slightly different), but the final numbers are the same. With 15 Pool B's, they'll get one bid.

I have 407 D3's minus 15 Pool B's = 392 Pool A teams. We still should have 42 Pool A eligible conferences which means we have the same 9.3 Pool B access ratio.

[ronk]

  So, does the 9.3 ratio mean that you need at least 11 pool B schools to get 1 bid since 9.3% X 10 < 1.0?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Sorry... I always confused the 9.3 and the 6.5 - the last being the overall number of places in the tournament and thus number of teams regionally ranked in each region.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Probably already mentioned, but just in case:

Last year's Pool B's where:
St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn)
University of Maine, Presque Isle
Huntingdon College
LaGrange College
Maryville College (Tennessee)
Piedmont College
Rust College
University of California, Santa Cruz
Chapman University
Findlandia University
Nebraska Wesleyan University
North Central University