BB: Central Region Rankings

[Cubbieboy]

Impressive roll for WashU.... 15 losses is quite a bit, perhaps dug themselves in a big hole early...

[BigPoppa]

Wash U is on a terror late in the season here after slowly getting out of the gate.  Just beast Webster today 4-2 and have won 17 of 20.   24-15 overall.   Probably moving back into the regional picture.

I am not sure I see them in the regional picture (certainly not Pool B) with 15 losses. Regardless of how they are playing right now, they may have hurt themselves too much early in the season.

[BigPoppa]

It will be interesting to see where the NCAA places #3 Concordia-Chicago. I'd guess that #2 Webster will land at Augustana, while #4 Whitewater will stay at it's own host site. Could the NCAA ship #3 Concordia-Chicago to another region?

...or would they do the unthinkable and place all three in the SAME regional at Whitewater?

[Cubbieboy]

BigPoppa --- I'm wondering the same thing on Concordia,  looks like last season the sent them to Central Region (in Augustana) - not nearly ranked as high then...  is it possible they send Stevens Point to Augustana (to split up the two UW teams in midwest region)?

[108 Stitches]

It will be interesting to see where the NCAA places #3 Concordia-Chicago. I'd guess that #2 Webster will land at Augustana, while #4 Whitewater will stay at it's own host site. Could the NCAA ship #3 Concordia-Chicago to another region?

...or would they do the unthinkable and place all three in the SAME regional at Whitewater?

They do it all the time in the West - last year they had the #1, 6, & 8 all in the same regional.

[BigPoppa]

It is partially done in the west due to travel issues (which really does not apply much in the midwest and it offers more flexibility).

[izzy stradlin]

Wash U is on a terror late in the season here after slowly getting out of the gate.  Just beast Webster today 4-2 and have won 17 of 20.   24-15 overall.   Probably moving back into the regional picture.

I am not sure I see them in the regional picture (certainly not Pool B) with 15 losses. Regardless of how they are playing right now, they may have hurt themselves too much early in the season.

We'll see BigPoppa.   I agree no to pool B, but they just won two more (10 straight and 19 of 22) to get to 26-15 and could possibly win out to get to 29-15. Their SOS is strong. Other pool C candidates will get a couple of losses tagged on here at the end in conference tournaments and there is a new primary criteria this year that allows the committee to consider a teams record to close the season with greater weight (however I'm not sure regional or national committees these days are even aware of primary and secondary criteria --see recent basketball tourney selection).

[Spence]

General observation is that the NCAA tries not to move the top 2 teams in a region. So the teams getting shipped around seem to usually be below that.

My guess right now would be that if they stay a top 2 seed, Concordia goes to Whitewater. Whitewater is obviously going nowhere. After that, all bets are live.

The West region could also see a fly-in or two (seems likely to be at least 1). The Mideast region is almost certain to both send out and pull in from the east. With the South region in Georgia, it's going to be tough to ship in or out of there. Marietta has been a landing spot for teams from PA or upstate NY before (wouldn't Ithaca in Marietta again be fun?). Teams in the Mideast from Michigan and Indiana might be most likely to go west, but last year Case Western went and in the past teams from eastern PA have gone all the way to Terre Haute. So I wouldn't rule much out as far as possible movement. The 4th and 5th best teams in the Mideast are still probably pretty good teams the way things look.

Maybe St. Thomas or Stevens Point goes to Moline. It certainly could be done, but no way to know if it will be.

[izzy stradlin]

New regional rankings based on games through last Sunday:

1.   Webster    27-3   30-4            
2.   Buena Vista    29-7   29-7            
3.   Augustana (Ill.)   23-10   23-10            
4.   Wartburg      23-13   23-13            
5.   North Park   22-13   22-13            
6.   North Central (Ill.)   21-11   22-11

[BigPoppa]

New regional rankings based on games through last Sunday:

1.   Webster    27-3   30-4            
2.   Buena Vista    29-7   29-7            
3.   Augustana (Ill.)   23-10   23-10            
4.   Wartburg      23-13   23-13            
5.   North Park   22-13   22-13            
6.   North Central (Ill.)   21-11   22-11

Not sure I see much of this changing before bids are handed out besides the order of the CCIW teams. Webster is locked into the #1 slot, and I think BV is a safe #2.

[JohnnyU]

Am I missing something?

● Win-loss percentage against Division III opponents.
● Division III head-to-head competition
● Results versus common Division III opponents
● Results versus ranked Division III opponents as established by the rankings at the time of selection.
● Division III strength of schedule
● Win-loss percentage — last 25% of the season (if applicable)

School	Conf	Win%	SOS
Webster	SLIAC	0.875	0.53
Buena Vista	IIAC	0.806	0.519
Augustana	CCIW	0.697	0.533
Wartburg	IIAC	0.639	0.544
North Park	CCIW	0.629	0.53
North Central (Ill.)	CCIW	0.667	0.499
Washington U.	UAA	0.65	0.572

Not sure I see much of this changing before bids are handed out besides the order of the CCIW teams. Webster is locked into the #1 slot, and I think BV is a safe #2.

[Cubbieboy]

Interesting numbers --- What other non-conference teams in the central / midwest regions are in consideration for a pool B - bid.  I believe there is a limit on the number of pool B bids that are available.

Also, I was looking WashU schedule and noticed at 26-15 --- that already totals 41 games;  3 more games scheduled this weekend makes 44 games.  My understanding is NCAA D3 teams had a limit of 40 games, is that true?

[izzy stradlin]

Interesting numbers --- What other non-conference teams in the central / midwest regions are in consideration for a pool B - bid.  I believe there is a limit on the number of pool B bids that are available.

Also, I was looking WashU schedule and noticed at 26-15 --- that already totals 41 games;  3 more games scheduled this weekend makes 44 games.  My understanding is NCAA D3 teams had a limit of 40 games, is that true?

WashU has that odd 8 game UAA tournament in Fla that doesn't count toward their 40 so in reality they get 48. 

[BigPoppa]

Anyone care to take a shot at the regional rankings?

[izzy stradlin]

Anyone care to take a shot at the regional rankings?

Go for it, BP.   I am guessing teams like Wartburg IWU Webster Washu Augie Carthage NCC in some order that doesn't really reflect the criteria.