D3 Championship Belt

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

When is the starting point? 1974-1975?

I think you have to start with the champion of the first D3 tournament in 1975 which was LeMoyne-Owen

[smedindy]

I guess we could start there. I wonder if there's a grandfather from the old College division, though?

[John Gleich]

I guess we could start there. I wonder if there's a grandfather from the old College division, though?

D-II claims that, historically.  Though, FWIW, some current D-III teams did win the College Division (Wheaton comes to mind in.... 1956?)

[sac]

I guess we could start there. I wonder if there's a grandfather from the old College division, though?

D-II claims that, historically.  Though, FWIW, some current D-III teams did win the College Division (Wheaton comes to mind in.... 1956?)

Witt has a couple of those as well.

[smedindy]

Well, Bill can weigh in on the glorious start of The Belt^TM. But the 1974 College Division was Morgan St. over Missouri St., so the beginning of D-3 really makes sense.

[Mr. Ypsi]

On the other hand, The Belt^TM apparently did not exist until Just Bill went into his garage in January 2007.  Of course, soon after, It took on a life of Its own to transform Itself into the Glorious Entity it has become!

[hickory_cornhusker]

On the other hand, The Belt^TM apparently did not exist until Just Bill went into his garage in January 2007.  Of course, soon after, It took on a life of Its own to transform Itself into the Glorious Entity it has become!

Even if Just Bill only discovered it as recently as 2007, I would think The Belt^TM is powerful enough to travel back through time alter the time-space continuum so that it was being awarded from the very beginning.

Also, I would say 1975 champion is the first holder of The Belt^TM. That year was a season-long battle royale for the right to hold The Belt^TM at the end of the year. With no true champion before then there would be no one who was truly worthy to wear The Belt^TM.

[sac]

On about page 4 or 5, Sager took The Belt^TM back to 2002, the earliest year of d3hoops score archives. 

I don't know the whereabouts of The Belt^TM prior to 2002 but I'm sure its travels were legendary.

[smedindy]

I tried to look for the archived records for LeMoyne - Owen but found no-dice. Sigh. Somewhere, somewhere is the 1975-76 schedule for that team. They don't even mention their National Championship on their site as far as I could see.

Of course, I didn't pry that much. Was too busy watching San Diego State's QB emulate Mark Sanchez and also watching some Larry Sanders and Arrested Development.

[Pat Coleman]

I was trying to go back and trace the path of The Belt^TM from the beginning (starting with the champs of the first D3 tourney in 1975) but obviously the d3hoops pages don't go that far back. Massey seems to have the games going back to the 02-03 season so I started with the 2002 champs Otterbein and went from there. I was shocked by 2 facts about that season (assuming all the games are listed and correct)... first that The Belt^TM spent most of the season in the HCAC with my Grizzlies holding it on two occasions and second... that The Belt^TM did not spend the summer with Williams who won the NCAA tourney. Transylvania managed to get The Belt^TM in their penultimate game and held on to it while not making the conference tourney. I haven't proceeded through the following years yet but my guess is that The Belt^TM has likely spent the other summers with the NCAA champs.

I don't believe Transy was eligible for the NCAA Tournament that season, so I don't think those games would have The Belt^TM on the line.

[sac]

Today's the big Belt^TM battle between current holder UW-Stevens Point and St. Thomas.  In honor of such an occasion I've dug up the complete Belt^TM history since Just Bill's moment of divine inspiration.

2006-07 Season path
Nov. 17-Nov. 27 - Virginia Wesleyan
Nov. 27-Jan. 2 - Averett
Jan. 2-Jan. 7 - Guilford
Jan. 7-Jan. 27 - Virginia Wesleyan
Jan. 27-Jan. 28 - Emory & Henry
Jan. 28-Feb. 7 - Randolph-Macon
Feb. 7-Feb. 10 - Bridgewater (Va.)
Feb. 10-Feb. 22 - Guilford
Feb. 22-Feb. 24 - Bridgewater (Va.)
Feb. 24-Feb. 25 - Roanoke
Feb. 25-March 3 - Hampden-Sydney
March 3-March 17 - Virginia Wesleyan
March 17-Next Season - Amherst

2007-08 Season path
Start of season to 12/8/07 - Amherst
12/8/07 to 1/20/08 - Brandeis
1/20/08 to 1/25/08 - Rochester
1/25/08 to 2/1/08 - Emory
2/1/08 to 2/15/08 - NYU
2/15/08 to 2/17/08 - Carnegie Mellon
2/17/08 to 2/24/08 - Brandeis
2/24/08 to 3/7/08 - Chicago
3/7/08 to 3/8/08 - UW-Stevens Point
3/8/08 to 3/14/08 - Buena Vista
3/14/08 to next season - Washington U.

2008-09 Season path
Start-Dec. 19 - Washington Univ.
Dec. 20-Jan. 2 - Elmhurst
Jan. 3-Jan. 17 - Anderson
Jan. 17-Feb. 10 - Transylvania
Feb. 11-Feb. 20 - Franklin
Feb. 21-Feb. 26 - Defiance
Feb. 27-Feb. 27 - Franklin
Feb. 28-Mar. 5 - Transylvania
Mar. 6-Mar. 19 - Guilford
Mar. 20-Next season - Washington Univ.

2009-10 Season Path
Start-Dec. 28 - Washington Univ.
Dec. 29-Dec. 29 - Transylvania
Dec. 30-Feb. 12 - Wooster
Feb. 13-Feb. 16 - Wittenberg
Feb. 17-Feb. 25 - Wabash
Feb. 26-Feb. 26 - Wittenberg
Feb. 27-Mar. 11 - Wooster
Mar. 12-Mar. 18 - Guilford
Mar. 19-Mar. 19 - Williams
Mar. 20-Present - UW-Stevens Point

FINAL 2010-11 D-III Championship BeltTM path:

Start-Dec. 3 - UW-Stevens Point
Dec. 4-Feb. 4 - UW-River Falls
Feb. 5-Feb. 8 - UW-Whitewater
Feb. 9-Feb. 15 - UW-Platteville
Feb. 16-Mar. 10 - UW-Stevens Point
Mar. 11-Present - St. Thomas

Final 2011/2012 path
St. Thomas
11-22-11  UW-River Falls
11-26-11  Puget Sound
12-22-11  Redlands
1-11-12  Pomona-Pitzer
1-18-12  Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
1-21-12  Whittier
1-25-12  Pomona-Pitzer
1-28-12  Occidental
2-1-12   Redlands
2-4-12  Pomona-Pitzer
2-8-12  Cal Lutheran
2-15-12  Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
2-21-12  Pomona-Pitzer
2-25-12  Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
3-2-12  St. Thomas
3-3-12  UW-Whitewater




I believe St. Thomas could have the Belt^TM for a third year in a row.

[Gregory Sager]

I guess we could start there. I wonder if there's a grandfather from the old College division, though?

D-II claims that, historically.  Though, FWIW, some current D-III teams did win the College Division (Wheaton comes to mind in.... 1956?)

Witt has a couple of those as well.

Only one, actualy. And Wheaton won the first-ever College Division title in 1957.

Here's the list of appearances in the College Division Final Four by current D3 members:

1957: Wheaton IL (first)
1958: Wheaton IL (fourth)
1960: Chapman (second), Cornell (fourth)
1961: Wittenberg (first)
1962: Nebraska Wesleyan (fourth)
1963: Wittenberg (second), Oglethorpe (third)
1968: Trinity TX (third)
1970: Buffalo State (fourth)
1973: Brockport State (fourth)

[dahlby]

Chapman honored that team before a game last year. I sit at the baseball games with a couple of "old-timer" guys  from back then. They tell some really interesting stories. In fact, Chapman still plays in the same  stadium.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I was trying to go back and trace the path of The Belt^TM from the beginning (starting with the champs of the first D3 tourney in 1975) but obviously the d3hoops pages don't go that far back. Massey seems to have the games going back to the 02-03 season so I started with the 2002 champs Otterbein and went from there. I was shocked by 2 facts about that season (assuming all the games are listed and correct)... first that The Belt^TM spent most of the season in the HCAC with my Grizzlies holding it on two occasions and second... that The Belt^TM did not spend the summer with Williams who won the NCAA tourney. Transylvania managed to get The Belt^TM in their penultimate game and held on to it while not making the conference tourney. I haven't proceeded through the following years yet but my guess is that The Belt^TM has likely spent the other summers with the NCAA champs.

I don't believe Transy was eligible for the NCAA Tournament that season, so I don't think those games would have The Belt^TM on the line.

So does your participation here signify you've now accepted the Belt as legitimate?

[dahlby]

I just checked the Chapman web site
"chapman.edu/athletics/heritage/sixties.htlm"
and saw that it is written that Chapman College won the
1968 National College Division Title held in
Springfield NJ
Maybe someone can enlighten me if the CU website needs correction.
A couple of Chapman oldtimers chronicled the history of CU sports from way back and it is posted on the athletics web site