MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

The 2013 NCAA Tourney format has been released, and it will be interesting, with no pods (except in Salem)...
1st Round - Sat., March 2 (campus sites)
2nd Round - Sat., March 9 (campus sites)
3rd Round - Sat., March 16 (campus sites)
Quarterfinals - Fri., March 22 (Salem)
Semifinals - Sat., March 22 (Salem)
Championship - Sun., April 7 (Atlanta)

I think this whole idea, because of the timing, stinks.  A fifteen-day gap between the semifinals and the finals is ridiculous.  Let DIII be DIII, it was working just fine.  I really hope this is just a one-time thing.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

It will be a one time thing... I will be talking to the new men's basketball committee chair, Mike DeWitt of Ohio Wesleyan this weekend for a special Hoopsville On Demand podcast. We will be talking about a number of things like this format (which if you read the article the men's committee came up with a slightly different format), regional rankings, the committee structure, how regional rankings are actually voted on now, and other news and notes. If you have any questions you want possibly asked, leave a note here or email me at dave.mchugh@d3sports.com. You have until Sunday morning.

[woosterbooster]

Dave -

I actually kind of like the idea of having the quarterfinals in Salem.  I believe DII has such a format, bringing their Elite Eight to one location for the end of the tournament.  Maybe do a Thursday, Friday, Sunday thing, with the Quarterfinal games on Thursday being done in day and night sessions, with separate admissions.  The upside is that lots of fans would make the trip and home court advantage would be taken out of the equation earlier.  Downside, of course, is that four schools don't get to host, as they do know, the Sectionals.  But I think it would be cool to have an Elite Eight in Salem, as long as they got to finish it off with the semis and final.

[David Collinge]

It hadn't occurred to me that, because the D1 tournament is played later than ours, playing our final during their Final Four weekend meant the whole tournament needed to be stretched out to (what I see now is) a ridiculous degree. I now feel qualified to vote on the front-page poll.

Re: Scots in Canada--Wittenberg played several pre-season exhibition games up there last season. Sheridan was not one of their opponents.

[NCF]

Dave -

I actually kind of like the idea of having the quarterfinals in Salem.  I believe DII has such a format, bringing their Elite Eight to one location for the end of the tournament.  Maybe do a Thursday, Friday, Sunday thing, with the Quarterfinal games on Thursday being done in day and night sessions, with separate admissions.  The upside is that lots of fans would make the trip and home court advantage would be taken out of the equation earlier.  Downside, of course, is that four schools don't get to host, as they do know, the Sectionals.  But I think it would be cool to have an Elite Eight in Salem, as long as they got to finish it off with the semis and final.

I  agree! I think it's going to  be a great experience for all those who get to Salem.Should be a great trounament!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

David - there are two things stretching out the D3 tournament this year... the first is moving it to Atlanta that would normally push it two more weeks... BUT because the Final Four would have sat on top of Easter weekend this coming year, D1 had already moved the tournament back a week... meaning it is three additional weeks to Division III this year.

I actually talked about the tournament format with Ohio Wesleyan coach Mike DeWitt today... we will post the interview later today on D3hoops.com.

[sac]

added Depauw to the schedule links:

Allegheny:  http://www.alleghenysports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
Denison:  http://denisonbigred.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule
DePauw:  http://www.depauw.edu/athletics/mens/basketball/schedule/
Hiram:  http://www.hiramterriers.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule
Kenyon:  http://athletics.kenyon.edu/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&
Oberlin:  http://www.goyeo.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&; 
Ohio Wesleyan:  http://www.battlingbishops.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&schedule=48
Wabash:  http://sports.wabash.edu/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
Wittenberg:  http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/schedule12-13.html
Wooster:  http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule


**  Wittenberg's Zimmerman Tournament includes  Hanover, Bethany and Taylor.   

[OhioRed17]

Denison ... http://denisonbigred.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule. Mostly usual suspects except they play in Washington DC at the Catholic University tournament on December 29-30 - the teams aren't listed but you know host Catholic U. is one of them.

[sac]

added Denison to the schedule links:

Allegheny:  http://www.alleghenysports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
Denison:  http://denisonbigred.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule
DePauw:  http://www.depauw.edu/athletics/mens/basketball/schedule/
Hiram:  http://www.hiramterriers.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule
Kenyon:  http://athletics.kenyon.edu/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&
Oberlin:  http://www.goyeo.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&; 
Ohio Wesleyan:  http://www.battlingbishops.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&schedule=48
Wabash:  http://sports.wabash.edu/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
Wittenberg:  http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/schedule12-13.html
Wooster:  http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule


**  Wittenberg's Zimmerman Tournament includes  Hanover, Bethany and Taylor.   

[WAlum]

Any predictions?

[wooscotsfan]

DIII News has released a preseason Top 25 ranking which has Wooster as #4 nationally and Ohio Wesleyan as #21 nationally.  Wittenberg is listed in the "others to watch" group.  Here is the link to the rankings on another website:

http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/documents/2012/10/12/D3N2012FactSheet.pdf?id=1848

[woolax]

Maybe I should post this in another forum, but does anyone know if the Championship game will be broadcast over the air on ESPNU or CBS Sports Network? Know that the game is being played at the same sight as the Div I Final Four and I assume the cameras will already be in place.

[Gregory Sager]

Know that the game is being played at the same sight as the Div I Final Four

Actually, IIRC, the site for the D3 championship game is different than the site for the D1 Final Four. Both are in Atlanta, but they're different venues.

[wooscotsfan]

Got a paper copy of Wooster's pre-season roster and the 10 returning players all appear as expected: 

Josh Claytor Sr., Jake Mays Sr., Scott Purcell Jr., Doug Thorpe Jr., T.J. Bretz So., Xavier Brown So., Kenny DeBoer So., Jalen Goodwin So., Evan Pannell So. and Kendal Sherrod So.

There are 8 incoming freshmen recruits and 4 of them look good on paper:

Josh Kipfer 6'6" 225  Wadsworth HS, 19.2 ppg,  All District 2nd Team, All Ohio Division I Honorable Mention

Zach McCorkle 6'6" 205  Winton Woods HS (Cincy area), 12.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, All District player in Division I

Geoff FuQuay 6'3" 175  Valley HS (Arnold, PA), ~24 ppg in WPIAL league

DeVaughn Wingard 6'4" Orange HS (Cleveland area), ~20 ppg, Chagrin Valley Conference 1st Team

Chris Logsdon, 6'1" 180  Hilliard Davidson HS, All District Honorable Mention, ~10 ppg, Son of a Coach

Marc McCuen, 6'6" 200  Galion HS, All District Special Mention

Joseph Whiston, 6'7" 190  Mt. Gilead HS

Nathan Mathewson, 6'4" 170  Panther Valley HS (Coaldale, PA)

Nice to see the Scots getting some taller recruits with both Claytor and Mays in their Senior years.

Justin Hallowell is listed as an Assistant Coach on the roster.

[Pat Coleman]

Know that the game is being played at the same sight as the Div I Final Four

Actually, IIRC, the site for the D3 championship game is different than the site for the D1 Final Four. Both are in Atlanta, but they're different venues.

Plans are CBS Sports Network.