2012 Division III NCAA Tournament

[(509)Rat]

In both cases, the NCAA screwed someone becuase of $$. One is not more justifiable than the other...Rochester is hosting for the same reason Wooster is, and neither one deserved it.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Yep... welcome to what is called "Bylaw 31"... which basically says that geography trumps regional rankings if it means being fiscally responsible with travel expenses. In other words... one flight vs. three... or move the sectional to another host to avoid a flight all together... that will be the deciding factor.

[sac]

All this complaining about flying is getting tiresome, it happens every year.....deal with it.   Teams fly every year and some of them even come home with a new piece of walnut and bronze carry on.

[ScotsFan]

In both cases, the NCAA screwed someone becuase of $$. One is not more justifiable than the other...Rochester is hosting for the same reason Wooster is, and neither one deserved it.

Again.  Wooster lost TWO games.  Both to teams ranked in the top 25 at the time.  Both of whom had strong cases to make the NCAA tournament and one did make the tournament.  Wooster has been the #1 team in the GL Region all season.  And they also just happen to have one of the largest gyms in D3 basketball as Timken seats 3,400 people.  They are very much deserving hosts!

[Ralph Turner]

In both cases, the NCAA screwed someone becuase of $$. One is not more justifiable than the other...Rochester is hosting for the same reason Wooster is, and neither one deserved it.

There are the options for Whitworth.

1)  Accept the fact that D3 has its own rules, budget and constraints, including a paucity of teams, (less than 20 or 5% of the D-III membership) west of the Rockies.

2)  Move to D-II where there is a greater concentration of schools.  There are several large conferences in the western US.

3)  Move back to the NAIA, which does things differently.  Your fans can go to Branson for the musical entertainment while attending the NAIA-2 national tournament.

[iwumichigander]

NCAA championship programs are contracted out to a company called IMG College. There's your mistake-makers.

May need to change name to OMG College or Whoopsie U

[nwhoops1903]

In both cases, the NCAA screwed someone becuase of $$. One is not more justifiable than the other...Rochester is hosting for the same reason Wooster is, and neither one deserved it.

Again.  Wooster lost TWO games.  Both to teams ranked in the top 25 at the time.  Both of whom had strong cases to make the NCAA tournament and one did make the tournament.  Wooster has been the #1 team in the GL Region all season.  And they also just happen to have one of the largest gyms in D3 basketball as Timken seats 3,400 people.  They are very much deserving hosts!

I agree with ScotsFan and I think the committee did a decent job of keeping top 8-10 teams away from each other.  Whitworth is happy to be playing ANYWHERE in mid March.  Most Whitworth fans accept the $ considerations, some do not.  Having a top ranked team makes the pill a bit more bitter and some grace to vent is in order.  My only hope this go around was in the women's budget and the men's budget having some similiarity in profiles.  Didn't happen...move on.

One thing I think many fans do not get is the fact that there is no seeds in our tournament.  Wooster and Whitworth if geography and facility was equal, might even be a coin flip.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I think Whitworth would have been ranked behind Wooster simply due to in-region record... but there are certainly other factors like playing regionally ranked teams... which I believe Whitworth played one - if any.

[nwhoops1903]

I think Whitworth would have been ranked behind Wooster simply due to in-region record... but there are certainly other factors like playing regionally ranked teams... which I believe Whitworth played one - if any.

Just pretend they are not in the same region but the flight issue is nil, say Altoona PA if you must. 

[Bengalsrule]

NCAA championship programs are contracted out to a company called IMG College. There's your mistake-makers.

May need to change name to OMG College or Whoopsie U

  Cant wait to see what they are selling at Rochester Friday. The old program with no Wells team picture, Randolphs' team picture on the  Randolph - Macon team page etc. or a "New" Program???

Thank God they got Buffalo State right!

[(509)Rat]

I think Whitworth would have been ranked behind Wooster simply due to in-region record... but there are certainly other factors like playing regionally ranked teams... which I believe Whitworth played one - if any.

Regionally ranked in the West? Because that would include 4 games against LC and Whitman, right?

Otherwise they did what they could scheduling Luther, Carthage, and going to the d3hoops tourney.

I'm starting to become a D-II proponent...this is the basketball forum, and us fans know that this will happen every year. But this has happened to Whitworth on a regular basis (as well as other NWC teams) in a number of sports including Football and Softball for the Pirates. Maybe I should be used to it by now??

[hickory_cornhusker]

I think Whitworth would have been ranked behind Wooster simply due to in-region record... but there are certainly other factors like playing regionally ranked teams... which I believe Whitworth played one - if any.

Regionally ranked in the West? Because that would include 4 games against LC and Whitman, right?

Otherwise they did what they could scheduling Luther, Carthage, and going to the d3hoops tourney.

I'm starting to become a D-II proponent...this is the basketball forum, and us fans know that this will happen every year. But this has happened to Whitworth on a regular basis (as well as other NWC teams) in a number of sports including Football and Softball for the Pirates. Maybe I should be used to it by now??

I wouldn't say Division II is better. Yes there might be better equality in terms of seeding but I for one don't want to play a conference schedule and a conference tournament, survive those and end up facing a conference foe in the first round of the NCAA Tournament which is common there. The men's bracket has 7 conference rivalries being played in the 8 games in the first round of the Midwest and Central Regions.

[Pat Coleman]

Other than the fact that D-II has more schools in your neck of the woods, I'm not sure that it's going to be any better.

[(509)Rat]

Other than the fact that D-II has more schools in your neck of the woods, I'm not sure that it's going to be any better.

But more teams, assuming they are equally respected/competitive as other regions, means that you have more participants in post season play from your region? That's exactly why Whitworth will never host past the second round, not enough teams west of Minnesota. If Geography is the deciding factor more often than not (and it is even when it comes to the initial selection in several DIII sports), then your goal should be to have as many teams and conferences w/in 500 miles.

Oh well, Hopefully Marietta can only muster up 63 points again on Friday and Whitworth can redeem themselves from last year's sweet 16 exit

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Rat - you never know... Puget Sound did host a few years when things went in their favor... and as the brackets continue to expand (62 teams next year - 64 by 2015)... hosting games out there will have to become more common place (i.e. women's first round four-team regional).

Also... DII is going to bring with it a whole mess of financial problems to a school looking to move up. Those scholarships become part of the athletics department's budget... where is that funding going to come from?