2012 Division III NCAA Tournament

[Titan Q]

I would think that it would be St. Thomas by seed, as they are still undefeated. But none of that matters when one team has a clear geographical advantage (like WashU last year).

Funny, but it looks like the exact same issue on the women's side, where St. Benedict is more than 500 from Illinois Wesleyan, so the sectional would seem to be headed to Stevens Point, putting an undefeated team on the road.

I have been assuming that undefeated St. Thomas is the higher seed in the Midwest/West bracket - the #1 to Wheaton's #2.  Since the committee does not release their seedings, all we really know is that Wheaton went in as the #1-ranked team in the Midwest and St. Thomas #1 in the West (that is where both were in the final release regional rankings).  But we don't know how they seeded St. Thomas vs Wheaton.

As of Selection Sunday, here are the considerations...

1. In-region winning % (St. Thomas 1.000, Wheaton .870)
2. In-region strength of schedule, OWP/OOWP (Wheaton .5982/.5702, St. Thomas .5117/5193)
3. In-region head-to-head (n/a)
4. In-region common opponets (n/a)
5. In-region results vs regionally ranked teams (Wheaton 7-2, St. Thomas 0-0)

There is a chance Wheaton is the #1 seed is in the Bracket of Death.  St. Thomas didn't even have a game vs a regionally ranked team until last night (vs Stevens Point).  Wheaton was 2-1 vs Elmhurst, 2-0 vs Augustana, 2-1 vs North Central, and 1-0 vs Hope (which I assume snuck in the final Great Lakes rankings).  Huge disparity there.

[Titan Q]

On the women's side, where there is also an undefeated team in jeopardy of going on the road, the seeding issue is more clear.  We know that IWU was ranked higher than Stevens Point and Wash U in the final published rankings...

Central Region
1. Ill. Wesleyan 21-0 24-0
2. Washington U. 18-4 20-4
3. UW-Stevens Point 21-3 22-3
4. UW-Whitewater 20-3 22-3
5. UW-Eau Claire 17-4 21-4
6. St. Norbert 18-2 19-4

St. Benedict was #2 in the West...

West Region
1. George Fox 20-0 25-0
2. St. Benedict 22-3 22-3
3. Simpson 18-3 22-3
4. Concordia-Moorhead 17-5 18-7
5. St. Thomas 18-7 18-7
6. Redlands 18-6 19-6


We don't know IWU's seeding vs St. Benedict, but I think it is safe to say IWU entered the tournament as the #1 seed in its quadrant.

If the Sectional is given to any school but IWU, it will be strictly because of travel cost.  (On the men's side, it's not clear if St. Thomas is really the highest seed.) 

[Just Bill]

Travel cost shouldn't matter, because every school is within 500 miles of every other school.  IT should be IWU hosting.

[Titan Q]

Travel cost shouldn't matter, because every school is within 500 miles of every other school.  IT should be IWU hosting.

As far as I know, that is not right.  At Stevens Point, all 4 teams can bus...at IWU, St. Benedict has to fly.

Am I wrong about that?

[Just Bill]

Travel cost shouldn't matter, because every school is within 500 miles of every other school.  IT should be IWU hosting.

As far as I know, that is not right.  At Stevens Point, all 4 teams can bus...at IWU, St. Benedict has to fly.

Am I wrong about that?

https://web1.ncaa.org/TES/exec/TES/exec/miles

Right you are.  St. Ben's would have to fly to either IWU or Wash. U.  All three can bus to UWSP.  I forgot how much further north St. Ben's is than Stevens Point.  I was thinking of them as essentially the same lattitude.

[HopeConvert]

Does anybody know if they will be showing any of the remaining tournament games on ESPN? The final four games or the Championship?

Yep!!! Right after hell freezes over

The NCAA's website says nothing so far as I can see about men's coverage, but it does say, on the women's bracket, that there will be TV coverage by "CBS College Sports." Are the Women's finals to be broadcast nationally? Will there be a broadcast of the women's finals but not the men's?

[Pat Coleman]

Both will be on TV, same as in years past.

[sac]

Both will be on TV, same as in years past.

Have also heard they are doing all 4 games live on tv.....women's consolation, women's championship, men's consolation, men's championship.  Which is the reason for the 11:00 am consolation start time at the women's final four.

I have yet to actually see this in print anywhere, its also supposed to be followed by coverage of the men's college hockey tournament.  An all day feast of live college sports.

[Pat Coleman]

I know there will be online video of the Friday semifinals, same as last year. I haven't heard of it being on a broadcast outlet anywhere, however.

[sac]

Both will be on TV, same as in years past.

Have also heard they are doing all 4 games live on tv.....women's consolation, women's championship, men's consolation, men's championship.  Which is the reason for the 11:00 am consolation start time at the women's final four.

I have yet to actually see this in print anywhere, its also supposed to be followed by coverage of the men's college hockey tournament.  An all day feast of live college sports.

Here's the CSTV schedule for Championship Saturday

Sat. Mar. 21
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM NCAA March Madness Pregame Show Presented by State Farm
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship – LIVE
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM  NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship – LIVE
5:00 PM – 7:30 PM NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championship – LIVE
7:30 PM – 10:00 PM NCAA March Madness Central Powered by Pontiac
10:00 PM – 11:00 PM NCAA March Madness Highlights Powered by Pontiac

So not quite what I had heard, but the women's and men's finals will be on back-to-back.

[Just Bill]

They usually push the third place game up early in the day so there's less chance that the Championship game would start late, thus messing up the TV schedule.

[nwhoops1903]

It's especially hard when a voter sees a neutral floor loss to Bridgewater State on the resume.

How do you feel now Pat?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

It's especially hard when a voter sees a neutral floor loss to Bridgewater State on the resume.

How do you feel now Pat?

And starting in right field... nwhoops1903!

[Titan Q]

The last 5 years of Sectionals...

2008
@ Hope* (Ohio Wesleyan, Wheaton, Whitworth)
@ Wash U* (Buena Vista, St. Mary's-Md., Millsaps)
@ Plattsburgh St (Brandeis, Amherst*, Richard Stockton)
@ Ursinus* (Gettysburg, Rochester, Coast Guard)

2007
@ UW-Stevens Point (Wash U*, Hope Carroll)
@ Virginia Wesleyan* (Mississippi Coll, Lincoln, Guilford)
@ Amherst* (Stevens, Rhode Island, Keene State)
@ St. John Fisher (Brockport St., Wooster*, John Carroll)

2006
@ Lawrence (Illinois Wesleyan*, Augustana, Puget Sound)
@ Virginia Wesleyan* (Lincoln, William Patterson, Widener)
@ Amherst* (Tufts, Utica, St. John Fisher)
@ Wittenberg* (Hope, Mississippi Coll, Transylvania)

2005
@ UW-Stevens Point* (Puget Sound, Hanover, Trinity-Tx)
@ Ramapo (Kings, Worcester Poly, York-Pa*)
@ Amherst (Rochester*, Potsdam St, St. John Fisher)
@ Albion (John Carroll, Calvin*, Mississippi Coll)

2004
@ Puget Sound (Stevens Point*, Sul Ross State, Lawrence)
@ Wooster (Illinois Wesleyan, John Carroll*, Maryville-Tn)
@ Williams* (Brockport State, Rochester, Keene State)
@ Franklin & Marshall (Gwynedd-Mercy, New Jersey City, Amherst*)

* winner of Sectional

Of the last 20 Sectionals, the host team has won 10.  I would have guessed that % to be much higher.

[Ralph Turner]

The last 5 years of Sectionals...

2008
@ Hope* (Ohio Wesleyan, Wheaton, Whitworth)
@ Wash U* (Buena Vista^, St. Mary's-Md., Millsaps^)
@ Plattsburgh St (Brandeis, Amherst*, Richard Stockton)
@ Ursinus* (Gettysburg, Rochester, Coast Guard)

2007
@ UW-Stevens Point (Wash U*, Hope, Carroll)
@ Virginia Wesleyan* (Mississippi Coll, Lincoln, Guilford)
@ Amherst* (Stevens, Rhode Island, Keene State)
@ St. John Fisher (Brockport St., Wooster*, John Carroll)

2006
@ Lawrence (Illinois Wesleyan*, Augustana, Puget Sound)
@ Virginia Wesleyan* (Lincoln, William Patterson, Widener)
@ Amherst* (Tufts, Utica, St. John Fisher)
@ Wittenberg* (Hope, Mississippi Coll, Transylvania)

2005
@ UW-Stevens Point* (Puget Sound, Hanover, Trinity-Tx)
@ Ramapo (Kings, Worcester Poly, York-Pa*)
@ Amherst (Rochester*, Potsdam St, St. John Fisher)
@ Albion (John Carroll, Calvin*, Mississippi Coll)

2004
@ Puget Sound (Stevens Point*, Sul Ross State, Lawrence)
@ Wooster (Illinois Wesleyan, John Carroll*, Maryville-Tn)
@ Williams* (Brockport State, Rochester, Keene State)
@ Franklin & Marshall (Gwynedd-Mercy, New Jersey City, Amherst*)

* winner of Sectional

Of the last 20 Sectionals, the host team has won 10.  I would have guessed that % to be much higher.

In bold are schools that were flown to the venue.

(As best as I can determine, 11 schools were flown to the sectionals.  Mississippi College was the highest seed in the 2007 Sectional and was flown to VA.

Only the 2004 Stevens Point team won the Sectional.

^Millsaps to WashUStL is only 496 miles.
^Buena Vista to WashStL is only 498 miles.