Pool C

[dahlby]

Ricky Nelson may have been a "Traveling Man", but the Chapman Women are the "Traveling Women", as they:
Flew to Oregon for 3 games in 3 days to face three quality opponents,
Flew to Colorado Springs for 2 games in 2 days,
Bused all the way to San Francisco to play 2 games iin 2 days,
and will fly to Dallas to play 2 games in 2 days.
You play 'em when and where you can.
Granted, not all games were against strong teams, but still a rugged scedule when you
don't have a conference to schedule games with.
Not complaining, just listing the facts.

[deiscanton]

Mr. Ypsi--

You are correct.  The UAA spreads across five regions  (Northeast, East, Great Lakes, South and Central (or Midwest, depending on whether it is the women or the men that we are evaluating--- Wash U and Chicago are in the Central for women, and are in the Midwest for men.)

Of course, 2/3 of the team's in-region SOS is average OWP, so there is every incentive to play the top teams from weaker conferences in your region to boost your SOS.    Sprinkle in a few teams that you know will give you the ability to get in-region victories against regionally ranked opponents (It doesn't matter whether or not the context of the game takes play in conference play or  non-conference play in the eyes of the NCAA as long as it meets the criteria for an in-region game), and under the current system, a team is set so long as it wins 19 games or more to get the in-region winning pct to around .750 or higher.

However, as we know in DIII, not every team has the ability to do this.   The Babson women were handicapped two years ago when NEWMAC decided to have their women play a full double-round robin schedule, thereby forcing Babson to have to play 18 conference games plus a conference tournament. Ideally, a conference should have no more than 8 teams in the league in order for the double round-robin to work effectively-- NEWMAC has 10 teams in the women's league.  I would rather have this year's Babson team play teams like Amherst, Williams, Kean, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Rochester, Chicago, and Wash U rather than WPI and Coast Guard to get themselves ready for a national tournament, but the conference and in-region scheduling system does not allow for this.

[jaybird44]

Thanks for all the informative feedback!  Since this is only my second year in the D-III rodeo, I'm still learning how the regional rankings work and other subtleties of D-III.  Until I get a handle on it, I will feel much a tax-preparing neophyte trying to decipher the federal tax code.

Bottom line is to keep winning, to dissolve whatever warts you have before the end of the season (especially if you have to place your fate in Pool C).

[Ralph Turner]

Welcome aboard, jaybird!

[dahlby]

Jaybird,
We were all there at one time.  I'm going on two and a half years and learn more every day. The posters will answer your questions or concerns. Plus K for your modesty!

[7express]

West Conn's latest #6 Northeast ranking is pretty scary.  Looks like we'llk have to win the LEC tournament to get into the NCAA's even though we could be 23-3 going into the finals of the LEC tournament.

[7express]

Thanks for all the informative feedback!  Since this is only my second year in the D-III rodeo, I'm still learning how the regional rankings work and other subtleties of D-III.  Until I get a handle on it, I will feel much a tax-preparing neophyte trying to decipher the federal tax code.

Bottom line is to keep winning, to dissolve whatever warts you have before the end of the season (especially if you have to place your fate in Pool C).

Welcome, much like you, this is my first year following D-3 on a consistant basis, so I'm trying to figure out the ins and outs as well.

[deiscanton]

Welcome aboard, Jaybird44.   I enjoy your calls of the Wash U games just as much as I enjoy JC DeLass doing the Rochester games.  +K.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks for all the informative feedback!  Since this is only my second year in the D-III rodeo, I'm still learning how the regional rankings work and other subtleties of D-III.  Until I get a handle on it, I will feel much a tax-preparing neophyte trying to decipher the federal tax code.

Bottom line is to keep winning, to dissolve whatever warts you have before the end of the season (especially if you have to place your fate in Pool C).

Jaybird, one advantage of not having a conference tourney is that you do not inflict another loss onto the likely candidates for a Pool C bid.

During the final week of the season, look at what going 0-1 or 1-1 in the conference tourney does to the W-L %age.

Things begin to get very congested around a winning percentage of .750.  Removing one loss pushes the W-L%age up about 25-30 points.  Adding another couple of wins may only move it up 15-20 percentage points.

Regular season in-region W/L :  18-5 = .782
0-1 in post season tourney    :  18-6 = .750
1-1 in post season tourney    :  19-6 =  .760
2-0 in post season tourney    :  20-5 =  .800, but you won the Pool A bid anyway.

Regular season in-region W/L :  17-6 = .739
0-1 in post season tourney    :  17-7 = .708
1-1 in post season tourney    :  18-7 =  .720
2-0 in post season tourney    :  19-6 =  .760, but you won the Pool A bid anyway.

[jaybird44]

Good stuff...now I have another reason to dislike post-season conference tournaments!  I would much rather give a conference crown to a team that displayed excellence throughout an entire season, than to a team that had a 2-3 game hot stretch.  Add the negative change to an in-region winning% for a loss, and I'm surprised that there aren't more conferences discarding post-season tourneys.

I guess somebody is making money from them.  Do the conference teams share in said revenue from those tournaments?

[jaybird44]

Regarding the calls of games, thanks 'deis for the compliment!  PBP is one of my grand passions in life...I very much love the craft of it.

Right now, though, I'm going through withdrawals...two straight weekends without games!  I'm getting a little cranky as a result...

[Ralph Turner]

Good stuff...now I have another reason to dislike post-season conference tournaments!  I would much rather give a conference crown to a team that displayed excellence throughout an entire season, than to a team that had a 2-3 game hot stretch.  Add the negative change to an in-region winning% for a loss, and I'm surprised that there aren't more conferences discarding post-season tourneys.

I guess somebody is making money from them.  Do the conference teams share in said revenue from those tournaments?

I have heard that the main benefit for many programs is that student interest and player intensity can be sustained by the mid-rung teams in most conferences, as they compete for the last playoff slot.  If the schedule favors a team that is playing schools that have been eliminated with 6-8 games left, then the schedule has impacted the outcome.

It may also give late developing teams a chance to put it together, especially if they have played 18-22 conference games.  In the ASC, both men's divisions have 6 of 8 and 5 of 7 teams still competing for the four playoff slots going into the last 3 games of the season.

[jaybird44]

I guess the large conferences with divisions have to settle the crown via a post-season tourney...forgot about those scenarios.  Keeping the interest high in the midst of challenging academics is a good idea, too.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Week 3 Regional Rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/16/ncaa-2011-regional-rankings-week-3/

[buf]

The Babson women were handicapped two years ago when NEWMAC decided to have their women play a full double-round robin schedule, thereby forcing Babson to have to play 18 conference games plus a conference tournament.

One of the conferences that get penalized the most (as far as SOS) is the MIAC women.  They play 22 conference games with only 3 non-conference games.  Its difficult to get the SOS much above .500