2012 Division III NCAA Tournament

[Knightstalker]

I have read several opinions stating that York will have an easy walk out of their bracket.  I say they need to watch out for a the other teams in their bracket.  While this bracket does not have the nationally ranked powers, it does contain the best atlantic and Mid-atlantic region schools and will be tough to get out of.  I have one prediction though, if Lincoln makes it to the final four, the Rowan comparisons will start and they will say it is transfers that did it not four year players.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I have read several opinions stating that York will have an easy walk out of their bracket.  I say they need to watch out for a the other teams in their bracket.  While this bracket does not have the nationally ranked powers, it does contain the best atlantic and Mid-atlantic region schools and will be tough to get out of.  I have one prediction though, if Lincoln makes it to the final four, the Rowan comparisons will start and they will say it is transfers that did it not four year players.

I sure hope Rowan comparisons don't get started.  You know as well as anyone that this situation is totally different.

I'm not doubting the abilities of the MA/A regions, I just think there are some teams on a level above most of them.

[dren]

The big travesty is going to be Hope getting to host all the way through.  A huge home court advantage.  I guess this is the NCAA's way of telling us that schools who build expensive new athletic facilities get all the perks.

[Not that there's anything wrong with that!]

Whats the travesty? The #2 ranked team on the D3hoops.com pool getting to host throughout and someone finds away to complain about it and throw in a jab about the new facility...

I just don't get it...

[David Collinge]

I'm not sure how picking Virginia Wesleyan is the same thing as disrespecting Lincoln.  Only four teams are going to make it to Salem, after all is said and done.   I wish my team were in a bracket where not picking them automatically indicates "no love" and that they're a "sleeper." 

I'm sure that Lincoln is a very good team, and a strong threat to win their sectional.  No disrespect intended.   

[smedindy]

Hope definitely deserves to host. They earned it. Others had their chance, but spit the bit (Wooster being among them).

[Knightstalker]

I have read several opinions stating that York will have an easy walk out of their bracket.  I say they need to watch out for a the other teams in their bracket.  While this bracket does not have the nationally ranked powers, it does contain the best atlantic and Mid-atlantic region schools and will be tough to get out of.  I have one prediction though, if Lincoln makes it to the final four, the Rowan comparisons will start and they will say it is transfers that did it not four year players.

I sure hope Rowan comparisons don't get started.  You know as well as anyone that this situation is totally different.

I'm not doubting the abilities of the MA/A regions, I just think there are some teams on a level above most of them.

Many people know that, but I see it every year with Rowan football even though they have not brought in large numbers of transfers since Keeler left.  Some people can't be confused with facts, their minds are already made up.

[devossed]

York, DePauw, Bridgewater and Wisc. Luth.  

Oh, come on, stalker, that's a joke, right?  I mean, I know you know better than to leave us hanging as to which York you mean!  

Actually, the York v. York (sounds like a divorce case) matchup make me think of a little tune...that goes something...like this:
[sings] York, York, a town.   8)

Should Hope host and win, I predict one of the best-attended Final Fours to date:

My picks are pretty close to iwumichigander's: IWU, Va Wesleyan, Amherst, Hope.

There's just something about those schools with Christian roots that seem to be winners.

Plus the hope of seeing Dennie Bridges on a NYT bestseller list someday swayed me.

Or the fact that there's a "Ton Ton Balenga" on a roster somewhere.

Not to $1 billion endowment, fueled by the early sales of Noah Webster's dictionaries

Or even the inherent ludicrousness of an aviator/squirrel mascot debate...

[njlincolnlion]

knightstalker & Hoops Fan:

I too hope the "Rowan Rumors" don't surface, but if they do I'll just have to deal with them   .  While my youngest daughter is at Salisbury, my oldest daughter graduated from Delaware, so I'm well aware of KC Keeler's reputation at Rowan, and the fact fact that he won the 1-AA football championship in his second year at UD had the "Transfer Haters" up in arms.  I have no problem with the transfers, since all the other schools has the same options available to them.  If Lincoln can establish a solid reputation, maybe in the future, transfers will be a "thing of the past".


David Collinge:

I don't have an problem with others picking Va. Wesleyan, after all they are ranked higher than Lincoln.  Actually the lack of discussion about Lions (except mine & a few others) takes the pressure off the Lincoln players.  Sometimes it's better to be the Hunter rather than the Hunted   .

[smedindy]

It's not like schools don't accept transfers - some schools are more apt to get them due to finances, or the programs they offer. As long as they don't break rules, I don't have an issue with transfers.

Though at many of the smaller, liberal arts schools, it's rare to get transfers in because it takes some time to adapt to the culture of the place and to make sure your classes match up with the other students.

[woosterbooster]

I think it will come down to outside shooting, if BW can knock down 3s, it will open up driving lanes for Davis.

Davis doesn't exactly drive.   He posts up inside and either goes around or over bigger guys.  And he's really good at it.

[bouttime]

I think it will come down to outside shooting, if BW can knock down 3s, it will open up driving lanes for Davis.

Davis doesn't exactly drive.   He posts up inside and either goes around or over bigger guys.  And he's really good at it.

Davis is not a driver from the ONU-BW game I watched earlier this year. He is probally the most dominant post player I have seen. However, he had several charging calls against him because he thinks he can run over people in the post. CMU needs to use this to their advantage in shutting him down. Stop Davis, you stop BW.

[Gregory Sager]

That 4th match-up of MIAA royalty isn't a done deal' although if Hope's not there, it would be the biggest upset of the tournament.

I'll go so far as to say that if Hope loses to Wisconsin Lutheran it will be the biggest upset in the 32-year history of the D3 tourney. I'm pretty sure that I can make that case. I certainly haven't seen an upset of that magnitude in the quarter-century that I've been following the D3 tourney.

Hope (23-2) won the MIAA tourney and is absolutely stacked. The Dutch probably have enough talent to stock two LMC teams. Wisconsin Lutheran (14-14) is the latest export of a lesser league that never quite figured out that the only way it could keep from getting pounded in the NCAAs was to abandon the postseason conference tourney and just give the automatic bid to their best team (which this year would've been Lakeland, a team that actually gave Hope a respectable contest in Holland over the Christmas holidays). WLC got hot and won the LMC tourney, but that doesn't make them the best representative that the LMC could've offered. Not by a mile.

Throw in the fact that the game will be played in front of somewhere around 2,000 screaming orange-clad Hope fans (I'm guessing that the 3,200-capacity DeVos Fieldhouse will be around two-thirds Hope fans, with most of the rest being Calvin fans and no more than a handful being fans of either UWL or WLC), and you're looking at a game that has all the makings of a good old-fashioned butt-whippin'.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'll go so far as to say that if Hope loses to Wisconsin Lutheran it will be the biggest upset in the 32-year history of the D3 tourney.

Throw in the fact that the game will be played in front of somewhere around 2,000 screaming orange-clad Hope fans (I'm guessing that the 3,200-capacity DeVos Fieldhouse will be around two-thirds Hope fans, with most of the rest being Calvin fans and no more than a handful being fans of either UWL or WLC), and you're looking at a game that has all the makings of a good old-fashioned butt-whippin'.

WLC is pretty bad.  Yeah, they beat Lakeland in Milwaukee and then beat them in the tourney, but Lakeland basically choked.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more La Crosse fans making the trip.  Those guys are pretty excited over there and their fan base has doubled.  Not to say they are bringing 500 or anything!  La Crosse is a very solid team and though they (and I) don't know much about Calvin, or Hope for that matter, I wouldn't underestimate the Eagles.  They have very good outside shooters and stud in the middle, Joe Werner.

[smedindy]

WLC is pretty bad

Being all relative, of course.

Mind you, WLC could probably wipe the floor up with most teams in the Northeast regions.

[jack johnson]

What does everyone think of the Transylvania vs Bethany; Randolph-Macon vs Wooster, first and second round games? Along with Hope, Calvin, Wittenberg, CMU, BW, and Lake Erie all being in the same bracket?  i believe this is one loaded section.