Reference: Schools' all-time Division III record

[TigerFan_1973]

tiger fan, what I notice about the list is that Witt has not been too successful in the last decade, as numerous schools have left the NAIA to join D3.

Well, Ralph, I am not sure what your definition of success is, but Witt is 224-56 in the ten years through 2005.  That's 80 percent exactly.  Their winning percentage since Division III started is .806.  So if your point about the NAIA joiners was that competition is improving in D3, that makes the recent 80 per cent all the more impressive.

Tiger fans thank you for pointing that out!

[TigerFan_1973]

Winningest basketball program in NCAA Division III history by victories (1,507) and percentage (.712).

That stat above is for the Wittenberg program since the beginning.

I ran some numbers and got the following as Witt's record since the beginning of Division III through last year as:

        721 wins and 173 losses for a percentage of 80.6

Source: http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/records/alltimeyearbyyearrecords.html

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks for the chance to clarify myself.  You are winning more games in the year, but no Regional or Sectional championships since 1994.

Maybe this year...Wittenburg defeats Mississippi College (which was in D2 before joining the ASC) in the Elite 8.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks for the chance to clarify myself.  You are winning more games in the year, but no Regional or Sectional championships since 1994.

Maybe this year...Wittenburg defeats Mississippi College (which was in D2 before joining the ASC) in the Elite 8.

One could argue that changing conferences explains Wittenberg's track record over the past decade (Witt moved from the OAC to the NCAC in 1990 or thereabouts). Their winning percentage has actually gotten higher, but their tournament success has dropped off. I interpret these trends as meaning that:

* the opportunity to play in a circuit that includes the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon), rather than the invariably rugged OAC that's almost always competent from top to bottom, has allowed the Tigers to fatten up their regular-season records over the past decade and a half; and

* the Tigers may not be as prepared on a year-to-year basis for the rigors of tournament play as they used to be back in the day when they had to run a two-month gauntlet through the OAC. I recognize that Wittenberg does try to play at least a few tough teams in the non-conference portion of their sked every year, and they do get three cracks a year at perennially nasty Wooster (one of them is invariably the title game of the NCAC tourney); but as any WIAC, CCIW, or OAC fan will tell you, in terms of tournament prep work there's no substitute for having to endure a two-month grind of rivalry games with nothing (or almost nothing) in the way of gimmes. Which team do you think will be better prepared for March: The team that's playing two games apiece against the likes of John Carroll, Otterbein, Ohio Northern, and Baldwin-Wallace, or the team that's playing two games apiece against the likes of Hiram, Allegheny, Kenyon, and Oberlin?

* finally, the Great Lakes region of which Wittenberg is a member hasn't gotten any easier over the past decade and a half. If anything, it's even tougher now than it used to be -- and it was plenty tough twenty or thirty years ago.

[Ralph Turner]

Thank you, Greg.  I did not know that history.  That makes even more sense.

+1 Karma!

[TigerFan_1973]

Thanks for the chance to clarify myself.  You are winning more games in the year, but no Regional or Sectional championships since 1994.

* the opportunity to play in a circuit that includes the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon), rather than the invariably rugged OAC that's almost always competent from top to bottom, has allowed the Tigers to fatten up their regular-season records over the past decade and a half; and

I was not excited about Witt leaving the OAC, believe me.  Over the years, the administration has deemphasized athletics there.  The OAC was indeed a much tougher league.

It is important to note, however, that the members of the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon) also came from the OAC.  They were among the original founders of the NCAC.  Wittenberg followed a few years later.  However, they were also stronger when they were in the OAC.

I still enjoy rooting for the Tigers from Cincinnati which has become a lot easier with the internet.  But it is not the same as the old days in the OAC.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Um, did you mean to add something to that quote?

[Loggerville]

For what it is worth to add information from one of the "new" D3 schools...

Puget Sound joined as full members of D3 in the 99-00 season, having a posted a total record of 112-63 since.  Year by year is listed below.  Obviously the last three years have accounted for over half the total wins.

99-00: 8-15
00-01: 14-10
01:02: 11-14
02-03: 12-13
03-04: 24-3 NWC champion, round of 16
04-05: 22-4 NWC champion, round of 16
05-06: 21-4 NWC champion, ?

Total: 112-63 (.640)

The overall record totals do not reflect wins/losses against only D3 teams, which may or may not be the case for other records under discussion on this board.

Curious if anyone has information on repeat conference winners and how many is considered "a lot" (technical term!)...wouldn't shock me to hear of a team winning 10+ in a row, but just trying to put the Loggers run in perspective.  Three in a row has not happened in the NWC for some time.

[John Gleich]

GS,

I know it's just speculation... but your take on the Wittenberg situation would probably just add fuel to the fire of the "schedule tough games" discussion we had earlier in the CCIW room.  The discussion previously had been purely non-conference games... but it makes more sense if it is the bulk of a schedule, like the conference schedule.  This really just fuels the fire and shows why, historically, the toughest conferences have done well when given the chance to dance.

[smedindy]

Though Wooster has had good runs coming out of the NCAC recently, as well.

[met_fan]

Hamilton appears to be 624-216 since 74-75 for a 74.3%

[TigerFan_1973]

Um, did you mean to add something to that quote?

Did I do that incorrectly?

I was not excited about Witt leaving the OAC, believe me.  Over the years, the administration has deemphasized athletics there.  The OAC was indeed a much tougher league.

It is important to note, however, that the members of the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon) also came from the OAC.  They were among the original founders of the NCAC.  Wittenberg followed a few years later.  However, they were also stronger when they were in the OAC.

I still enjoy rooting for the Tigers from Cincinnati which has become a lot easier with the internet.  But it is not the same as the old days in the OAC.   

Thanks for the chance to clarify myself.  You are winning more games in the year, but no Regional or Sectional championships since 1994.

* the opportunity to play in a circuit that includes the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon), rather than the invariably rugged OAC that's almost always competent from top to bottom, has allowed the Tigers to fatten up their regular-season records over the past decade and a half; and

I was not excited about Witt leaving the OAC, believe me. Over the years, the administration has deemphasized athletics there. The OAC was indeed a much tougher league.

It is important to note, however, that the members of the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon) also came from the OAC. They were among the original founders of the NCAC. Wittenberg followed a few years later. However, they were also stronger when they were in the OAC.

I still enjoy rooting for the Tigers from Cincinnati which has become a lot easier with the internet. But it is not the same as the old days in the OAC.

[David Collinge]

It is important to note, however, that the members of the Trip-Over-Their-Own-Shoelaces Society (Hiram, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon) also came from the OAC.  They were among the original founders of the NCAC.  Wittenberg followed a few years later.  However, they were also stronger when they were in the OAC.

Just for the sake of historical accuracy, I should point out that Hiram was not a founding member of the NCAC.  The conference was formed in 1983 with charter members Allegheny, Case Western Reserve, Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wooster.  Wittenberg and Earlham joined for the 1989-90 academic year.  Case departed for the UAA after the 1998-99 academic year.  Hiram and Wabash joined for the 1999-2000 academic year, bringing the NCAC to its current compliment of 10 teams.

All of the Ohio-based schools (Case, Denison, Hiram, Kenyon, Oberlin, OWU, Wittenberg, and Wooster)  were members of the OAC prior to joining the NCAC.

[Ralph Turner]

I am continually struck by the poignancy of the idea of the North Coast.

Atlantic or East Coast--the Outer Banks
Pacific or West Coast--Big Sur

North Coast--Lake Erie?     

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Beautiful Lake Erie?  C'mon its one of the Great Lakes!!  I mean its not an ocean, but it is an overpolluted waterway with passage to the ocean, right?  That means something doesn't it?