2012 Division III NCAA Tournament

[devossed]

Hope has nothing for which Dutch fans should be ashamed. Yeah, the Hollanders have tended to make a lot of early exits, but two Final Fours and 17 wins overall are nothing to sneeze at. If you're looking for standards of persistent tourney futility you look at a school such as Christopher Newport, which is only 10-16 in spite of the fact that the South Region has not been particularly strong in the tourney over the years. In fact, the South's woes have little to do with Christopher Newport, because the Great Lakes and Midwest teams that have made a habit out of beating South teams in the middle rounds have tended to do so after the Captains had already bowed out in the first or second round.

I would've included perennial one-and-done outfit Salem State in Christopher Newport's category, but they somehow snuck through and made it to a Final Four a few years ago.

I don't have the records on me at the moment, but a couple of other teams that I can recall as having pretty dismal D3 tourney records are Beloit and Allegheny.

In fact, I remember Christopher Newport coming into Hope in the midst of their second final four run (1998) and getting absolutely "shell-shocked" by the Dutch. Their head coach had absolutely had no clue what hit them, not having faced competition like that all season.

[Rhodes Scholar]

More tournament trivia:

Longest Current Winning Streak

Lawrence  24
Virginia Wesleyan  23
Mississippi College  22


Longest Losing Streak This Season

Wisconsin Lutheran  5 (4 vs. D3 teams)
Buena Vista  4


Shortest Winning Streak This Season

Bridgewater State  4
Mass-Boston  4
Plattsburgh State  4
DePauw  5
York, NY  5


Worst Conference Record

Plattsburgh State  8-8
DePauw  8-6
Wisconsin Lutheran  8-6
Buena Vista  10-6
UW-La Crosse  10-6


Smallest Enrollment

Lake Erie  565
Elms  573
Wisconsin Lutheran  607


Largest Enrollment

Mass-Boston  10,566
Baruch  9,364
UW-Whitewater  8,708

[devossed]

Why was Mass-Boston not better this year? It's not like they don't have the "pool" to draw from, considering both their enrollment and big-city status.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Why was Mass-Boston not better this year? It's not like they don't have the "pool" to draw from, considering both their enrollment and big-city status.

The CUNYAC dispels the notion that large enrollment and a large population base equal good D3 basketball.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Mass-Boston always has among the best assembled talent in NE, but they, like the really good Mark Simon story says, often have trouble with bad habits and a lack of team play.  They seem to have gotten things together this year though.  Cortland is a tough draw, especially when they have to travel all the way out there.  This game will be on of contrasting styles, as Cortland seems to have slowed things down a bit this year.  After their late season run, I'm not really suprised by anything UMass-Boston is doing.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Pat, I like the analysis in the men's preview, but on the subject of seeding.  The 2006 Championship Handbook clearly says that the higher seeded team would be placed at the top of the bracket and will wear the home colors for the game.  I would assume this means the top of each pair.  That would imply a bunch of wierd seedings.

Would you think its more the case of the NCAA forgetting to read the Handbook or that they really screwed with the seedings?

[Pat Coleman]

Hoops Fan,

I noted that provision and I believe they simply erred in positioning some teams. There's no way I could justify seeding Randolph-Macon ahead of Wooster, Maryville (Tenn.) ahead of Trinity (Texas), Endicott ahead of Tufts or Messiah ahead of Alvernia.

I battled with those contradictions for quite a while before coming to my conclusions.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I had the same questions, but it is the NCAA so I remain undecided.  We'll have to get reports about who's wearing white in the games this weekend.

[TigerFan_1973]

I had the same questions, but it is the NCAA so I remain undecided.  We'll have to get reports about who's wearing white in the games this weekend.

6 p.m. -- Carnegie Mellon vs. Baldwin-Wallace
Final Score:
Box Score - Game Story

8 p.m. -- Lake Erie vs. Wittenberg
Final Score:
Box Score - Game Story
Listen Live

Witt and B-W are wearing white.  Witt is on top of its pair and B-W is on the bottom of its pair.  This info is from the Wittenberg web site and the NCAA bracket site.

Of course, Witt actually is a home team but that is not supposed to make a difference in the tournament.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Stupid NCAA doesn't even follow their own handbook.  Why can't they forget to follow the stuff that would make a difference?

[Gregory Sager]

With all of this talk about who's wearing white and who isn't, you'd think that this tournament was being held after Labor Day.

[woosterbooster]

What?  With all the stats that have been thrown around on here for the last few weeks no one's done a study on whether the tournament is after Labor Day or before it?  Well, let me pitch in here...

It's been 178 days since Labor Day, 2005.  We have 186 to go until Labor Day of 2006.  I hereby proclaim that this tournament is, indeed, after Labor Day.  So throw away your straw hats.

[diehardfan]

It's been 178 days since Labor Day, 2005.  We have 186 to go until Labor Day of 2006.  I hereby proclaim that this tournament is, indeed, after Labor Day.  So throw away your straw hats.

I get to keep my California sunglasses though, right?  8)

[Pat Coleman]

What?  With all the stats that have been thrown around on here for the last few weeks no one's done a study on whether the tournament is after Labor Day or before it?  Well, let me pitch in here...

It's been 178 days since Labor Day, 2005.  We have 186 to go until Labor Day of 2006.  I hereby proclaim that this tournament is, indeed, after Labor Day.  So throw away your straw hats.

This weekend is but I believe next weekend the balance changes.

[Mr. Ypsi]

True, but the fashion police don't allow white before Memorial Day!