FB: American Southwest Conference

[jknezek]

Problem lies in going with eye test for Wheaton and then SOS with other schools. If you use it for one then use it for all. I am a MHB homer but I believe HSU should pass the eye test from what I have seen.

The problem lies in HSU not being the best candidate in the Region, right now, to get to the table. Thanks to Huntingdon, B-SC is a better option per the criteria. So HSU has to wait to get to the table. Wheaton is considered the best option in their Region and will be at the table first. That gives Wheaton more chances to be talked about and selected.

There is always going to be the last teams in and the last teams out. The system we have now is pretty good. We generally end up being fiesty about 1 or 2 teams, except for the absolute homers. That's about what's going to happen in any system.

There is no way to make everyone happy, someone will always pay the price of an unfortunate schedule or a tough region, or a single tough loss.

[UMHB03]

Problem lies in going with eye test for Wheaton and then SOS with other schools. If you use it for one then use it for all. I am a MHB homer but I believe HSU should pass the eye test from what I have seen.

No doubt HSU belongs in the field, but the usual regional bias will likely ensure they don't.

[SW1]

Problem lies in going with eye test for Wheaton and then SOS with other schools. If you use it for one then use it for all. I am a MHB homer but I believe HSU should pass the eye test from what I have seen.

The problem lies in HSU not being the best candidate in the Region, right now, to get to the table. Thanks to Huntingdon, B-SC is a better option per the criteria. So HSU has to wait to get to the table. Wheaton is considered the best option in their Region and will be at the table first. That gives Wheaton more chances to be talked about and selected.

There is always going to be the last teams in and the last teams out. The system we have now is pretty good. We generally end up being fiesty about 1 or 2 teams, except for the absolute homers. That's about what's going to happen in any system.

There is no way to make everyone happy, someone will always pay the price of an unfortunate schedule or a tough region, or a single tough loss.

Once again I understand all you are stating and don't believe you are wrong but Wheaton can't realistically be considered a top region team unless they are going by eye test to rank them there. They have a weak SOS and 1 regional loss so they are being ranked by name not by results. I am fine with that if it is being used on all teams not just a select few. I really don't have a dog in the fight but it does seem like the Island gets very little love because teams have to fly

[crufootball]

Problem lies in going with eye test for Wheaton and then SOS with other schools. If you use it for one then use it for all. I am a MHB homer but I believe HSU should pass the eye test from what I have seen.

The problem lies in HSU not being the best candidate in the Region, right now, to get to the table. Thanks to Huntingdon, B-SC is a better option per the criteria. So HSU has to wait to get to the table. Wheaton is considered the best option in their Region and will be at the table first. That gives Wheaton more chances to be talked about and selected.

There is always going to be the last teams in and the last teams out. The system we have now is pretty good. We generally end up being fiesty about 1 or 2 teams, except for the absolute homers. That's about what's going to happen in any system.

There is no way to make everyone happy, someone will always pay the price of an unfortunate schedule or a tough region, or a single tough loss.

Once again I understand all you are stating and don't believe you are wrong but Wheaton can't realistically be considered a top region team unless they are going by eye test to rank them there. They have a weak SOS and 1 regional loss so they are being ranked by name not by results. I am fine with that if it is being used on all teams not just a select few. I really don't have a dog in the fight but it does seem like the Island gets very little love because teams have to fly

I would agree that members of this board and others on the edges of the D3 world are a bit jaded by the process. We feel like other teams are given things that we aren't and we definitely feel like our brackets are never fair, and while we understand that money has to be a part of the decision we are never going to truly like it.

[CowboyAlum261]

So, for the HSU fan, this weekend I think we have to hope that the following things happen:
John Carroll beats Baldwin Wallace
Cortland beats Ithaca
RPI beats Union
St. John's beats Bethel
This knocks out BW, knocks out Ithaca and Union, and keeps us from having to worry about the Johnnies. Obviously, some shocking losses from Wheaton and BSC would also help us—but that's much less likely than the 4 results mentioned above.

[wally_wabash]

So, for the HSU fan, this weekend I think we have to hope that the following things happen:
John Carroll beats Baldwin Wallace
Cortland beats Ithaca
RPI beats Union
St. John's beats Bethel
This knocks out BW, knocks out Ithaca and Union, and keeps us from having to worry about the Johnnies. Obviously, some shocking losses from Wheaton and BSC would also help us—but that's much less likely than the 4 results mentioned above.

This parlay is not at all unreasonable and I think would put HSU in a pretty good position. 

[MRMIKESMITH]

So, for the HSU fan, this weekend I think we have to hope that the following things happen:
John Carroll beats Baldwin Wallace
Cortland beats Ithaca
RPI beats Union
St. John's beats Bethel
This knocks out BW, knocks out Ithaca and Union, and keeps us from having to worry about the Johnnies. Obviously, some shocking losses from Wheaton and BSC would also help us—but that's much less likely than the 4 results mentioned above.

This parlay is not at all unreasonable and I think would put HSU in a pretty good position.

This parlay also benefits Johns Hopkins, R-MC, and a 2-loss R6 team (i.e Bethel with two possible close losses to St. John's).

[justafan12]

Having a total of 5 at-large births does not seem like many.  I am not a D3 football historian; is that the normal amount or has it been bigger?

The amount has gotten smaller as more and more conferences have added teams to get the AQ.

Has the tournament field always been 32 teams?  I know there are increased costs that the NCAA does not like at the D3 level but would a field of 48 or 64 really be that bad?

How about 10 at large teams; with 5 play in games for the 5 at large spots.  Conference champs all get one week to rest before the playoffs.

[jknezek]

Having a total of 5 at-large births does not seem like many.  I am not a D3 football historian; is that the normal amount or has it been bigger?

The amount has gotten smaller as more and more conferences have added teams to get the AQ.

Has the tournament field always been 32 teams?  I know there are increased costs that the NCAA does not like at the D3 level but would a field of 48 or 64 really be that bad?

How about 10 at large teams; with 5 play in games for the 5 at large spots.  Conference champs all get one week to rest before the playoffs.

Access ratio is 1:6.5 teams. And yes, that would be incredibly more expensive. D3 picks up the tab. Every bus, every hotel, every meal. 75 people on a travel team roughly, $15 per meal, 3 per day. 5 per road game. $5625 per road team in meals. 38 hotel rooms, $80 per, $3040. Busses, out and back, plus hotel to field, 2 55 passenger buses, 24 hours if you are lucky, $5000 plus tip. Probably about $15k on average for an overnight bus game. Each flight game costs more like $250k. So yeah, it gets expensive in a hurry. And it's not just football. Change the access ratio for football and you need to do it for other sports as well. Football is simply the most expensive to move teams around because teams are so big.

[HSCTiger74]

Having a total of 5 at-large births does not seem like many.  I am not a D3 football historian; is that the normal amount or has it been bigger?

The amount has gotten smaller as more and more conferences have added teams to get the AQ.

Has the tournament field always been 32 teams?  I know there are increased costs that the NCAA does not like at the D3 level but would a field of 48 or 64 really be that bad?

How about 10 at large teams; with 5 play in games for the 5 at large spots.  Conference champs all get one week to rest before the playoffs.

I will leave it to someone with greater depth of knowledge than me to give a fuller answer, but given the mission and philosophy of D3 the short answer is yes.
EDIT - jknezek got here while I was typing, but I thought I'd post this anyway. 

[UMHB03]

Trinity will be a tough draw for the Crusaders in the first round. While not as egregiously unfair as pitting top 10 HSU vs top 10 UMHB against each other in the first round, as has happened in the past, it's still sad that the NCAA can't come up with a more equitable way of generating matchups. I especially feel for Trinity, which is a dang good team that deserves a home game, yet they'll be traveling while the 2nd place team in their conference (according to the recent projection) would be hosting. I'm sorry, but regardless of the NCAA's penny pinching, there's no justification for that. Empty the piggy bank and find the money for an extra flight.

Regardless of what happens in Belton on November 20, a very good team is going to be eliminated while some teams that are nowhere near as good as either of them will be able to play on. That's a real shame, and the NCAA needs to prioritize finding some kind of fair solution.

[wally_wabash]

Having a total of 5 at-large births does not seem like many.  I am not a D3 football historian; is that the normal amount or has it been bigger?

The amount has gotten smaller as more and more conferences have added teams to get the AQ.

Has the tournament field always been 32 teams?  I know there are increased costs that the NCAA does not like at the D3 level but would a field of 48 or 64 really be that bad?

How about 10 at large teams; with 5 play in games for the 5 at large spots.  Conference champs all get one week to rest before the playoffs.

It would be less expensive to fund an extra flight or two than it would be expand the field by 14 or 32(!!) teams.  Also, the Division III presidents are never ever ever going to extend this playoff by an extra week.  We get 5 weeks to do it, and 32 teams is the most you can accommodate in that time window. 

[Ralph Turner]

So, for the HSU fan, this weekend I think we have to hope that the following things happen:
John Carroll beats Baldwin Wallace  29-28
Cortland beats Ithaca  28-27 Done
RPI beats Union  19-17 Done
St. John's beats Bethel 29-28 Done
This knocks out BW, knocks out Ithaca and Union, and keeps us from having to worry about the Johnnies. Obviously, some shocking losses from Wheaton and BSC would also help us—but that's much less likely than the 4 results mentioned above.

Everyone of those games was incredible!

[roocru]

So, for the HSU fan, this weekend I think we have to hope that the following things happen:
John Carroll beats Baldwin Wallace  29-28
Cortland beats Ithaca  28-27 Done
RPI beats Union  19-17 Done
St. John's beats Bethel 29-28 Done
This knocks out BW, knocks out Ithaca and Union, and keeps us from having to worry about the Johnnies. Obviously, some shocking losses from Wheaton and BSC would also help us—but that's much less likely than the 4 results mentioned above.

Everyone of those games was incredible!

AMEN!!!!!

[CowboyAlum261]

So, for the HSU fan, this weekend I think we have to hope that the following things happen:
John Carroll beats Baldwin Wallace  29-28
Cortland beats Ithaca  28-27 Done
RPI beats Union  19-17 Done
St. John's beats Bethel 29-28 Done
This knocks out BW, knocks out Ithaca and Union, and keeps us from having to worry about the Johnnies. Obviously, some shocking losses from Wheaton and BSC would also help us—but that's much less likely than the 4 results mentioned above.

AMEN!!!!!

Everyone of those games was incredible!

Wow—what a 4-team parlay. All 4 great games and all 4 going our way. Nothing guaranteed but I'm feeling way better about our chances than I was this morning. We also looked great against TLU today—we look like a team hungry to get a chance.