FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Li'l Giant]

I hate looking ahead but a matchup against North Central makes me absolutely giddy with anticipation. We've talked before about needing to know where we really are. That game would tell us.

Looking at Illinois College they score a ton of points and they give up a ton of points. The only time they got held under 30 was by Monmouth, who put up a double nickel on them. I'd like to think we can hold them with the defense we have.

[bashbrother]

Interesting bracket.... need to digest....

[wally_wabash]

smeds...was the committee clear enough about the importance (or lack thereof) of regional records today?  Albion gets seeded #32 and gets fed to the Warhawks, CWRU can't get off the table getting passed over by, quite possibly five other Pool C teams including 2-loss SJF.  We've debated this all week, but it should be clear...all of the results matter, regional or not. 

[DPU3619]

The bracket confuses the hell out of me, but I'm not surprised by the Wabash draw. Figured they were the 2 & NCC was the 3 anyway. Winnable game & NCC for a right to go to a purple...

[smedindy]

smeds...was the committee clear enough about the importance (or lack thereof) of regional records today?  Albion gets seeded #32 and gets fed to the Warhawks, CWRU can't get off the table getting passed over by, quite possibly five other Pool C teams including 2-loss SJF.  We've debated this all week, but it should be clear...all of the results matter, regional or not.

Then why IC? And why a two-loss team? It's almost consistently inconsistent...

[smedindy]

The bracket confuses the hell out of me, but I'm not surprised by the Wabash draw. Figured they were the 2 & NCC was the 3 anyway. Winnable game & NCC for a right to go to a purple...

Frying pan, meet fire! 

[wally_wabash]

smeds...was the committee clear enough about the importance (or lack thereof) of regional records today?  Albion gets seeded #32 and gets fed to the Warhawks, CWRU can't get off the table getting passed over by, quite possibly five other Pool C teams including 2-loss SJF.  We've debated this all week, but it should be clear...all of the results matter, regional or not.

Then why IC? And why a two-loss team? It's almost consistently inconsistent...

Well, I picked IC in my projection in the other thread earlier this week, so that wasn't a stretch.  IC had a stronger SOS and a less damning loss than CWRU.  I don't know what the compelling reason for pushing SJF over Endicott was.  Perhaps the committee chair will have an answer tonight. 

[smedindy]

Maybe this bracket is the next step away from regionality in football?

[bashbrother]

Will the committee chair be speaking on a web feed tonight?

[Schwami]

Rowan University Athletic Director and NCAA Division III Football Selection Committee Chairwoman Joy Solomen will be joining us on "In the HuddLLe" this Sunday night at http://inthehuddlle.com -- this is the fourth consecutive year that the Committee Chair will join us to discuss the brackets, seedings and process, and to answer questions concerning any surprises inside the brackets that will be released during the NCAA.com Selection Show at 6:00pm ET.

We invite you to post your questions for Director Solomen in the East Region Fan Poll Post Patterns message board before and during the show Sunday.  We will ask as many as we can during our interview of Director Solomen.  We will also review the brackets and provide our own commentary on any surprises and disappointments.

Again, join us Sunday on "In the HuddLLe" at http://inthehuddlle.com, starting at 7:30pm ET.

EDIT:  Copy of a post by Frank Rossi, who hosts the program.

[wally_wabash]

Maybe this bracket is the next step away from regionality in football?

I think, generally speaking, we're already there.  All of the language about regionality in the handbook criteria will stay because they won't want to look like they are treating football differently than the other D-III championships.  They did go a step further this year by making what looks like regional groups of four, then mixing and matching those groups of four together to get get four quadrants of 8 each.  The UWW and St. Thomas brackets each have teams from all four geographic regions.  The UMHB and UMU brackets each have teams from three different geographic regions.  What we wind up with, ultimately, is that matchups get a bit more national at the quarterfinal level instead of the semifinal level which is what we're used to.  I can get used to brackets being built like this one was. 

[Pat Coleman]

I can get used to brackets being built like this one was.

I agree. Men's basketball did this last year, women's basketball has done it for a couple years longer. We tried to lead baseball by the hand to a bracket like this last year and they completely missed it, so perhaps they will get it this year.

[smedindy]

Maybe this bracket is the next step away from regionality in football?

I think, generally speaking, we're already there.  All of the language about regionality in the handbook criteria will stay because they won't want to look like they are treating football differently than the other D-III championships. 

The only issue is that if regions rank teams according to the SOS or regional records (and not consistently - see SJF / Endicott and Case / Wheaton) then regionality will still come into play.

[bashbrother]

All I need to know is,  if no official seeds are officially identified,  are there seeds implied in bracket positioning?   

Example -  If Wabash is able to get past Illinois College, do we know for sure that the winner of the N. Central first round would travel to C-Ville?  I heard on the "IntheHuddle" show that we may not get word of who is traveling where until the Sunday after each round?

It would mean a change of airport, being down in Florida, driving is not much of an option.

[wally_wabash]

Maybe this bracket is the next step away from regionality in football?

I think, generally speaking, we're already there.  All of the language about regionality in the handbook criteria will stay because they won't want to look like they are treating football differently than the other D-III championships. 

The only issue is that if regions rank teams according to the SOS or regional records (and not consistently - see SJF / Endicott and Case / Wheaton) then regionality will still come into play.

Division III is going to be regional without any help from a handbook.  Conferences are built in clusters of geographic proximity and most teams don't stray too far away from home for non-conference games for a multitude of reasons.  Those regional rankings that we see get passed along to the national committee who are then free to tweak them as they see fit.  In that way, every region is being ranked by the same committee, presumably with the same general group philosophy.  SJF getting bumped over Endicott is curious.  I'm sure that's a question Dr. Solomen has been asked tonight.  I'll have to listen later for the answer.