2013 Division III NCAA Tournament

[Pat Coleman]

I can see on the Civic Center site the game times in Salem (noon, 2:30, 5:30, 8:00).  Have the bracket quadrants already been assigned a specific game time, or will that not be decided until the match-ups are known?  I'm guessing that maybe games 1 & 2 are on one side of the bracket and games 3 & 4 are the other side?

Generally this is decided once the matchups are set. It's both art and science, based on who the teams are, how far they're traveling, what the fan base might be, etc.

[02 Warhawk]

Out of curiosity, why are these games so far a part? Is it to give each school a week to make travel accomidations?

Even during the regular season most teams played twice a week.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Out of curiosity, why are these games so far a part? Is it to give each school a week to make travel accomidations?

Even during the regular season most teams played twice a week.

By the time the finals were set, I'd assume it was too late to change the dates of the whole post-season.  With the finals coming a full 5 weeks after the start of the tourney, there has to be 'down time' somewhere, so may as well space out the games so as not to have one or more huge gaps.

[Just Bill]

Out of curiosity, why are these games so far a part? Is it to give each school a week to make travel accomidations?

Even during the regular season most teams played twice a week.

Still catching up from football season huh?

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2012/07/2013-tournament-spread-out

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There were two things that forced this time shift... the fact that the NCAA wanted to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of basketball with all the title games in Atlanta - and the decision coming late enough that the entire season could not be shifted... AND the fact the D1 Final Four was shifted back a week apparently because of Easter which is the "fifth" weekend of March and would have forced a Monday, April 1st title game - but that date... the fact the first full weekend of April was not the finish time-frame is more my theory than Easter because a number of sporting events are played/competed on holidays in this country.

[Ralph Turner]

Bah - this tourney schedule feels like football season!  Games just once a week, then a long wait for the next one.

Potential MHB schedule:

After 10 games in January 2013,

here is the schedule since 02/01/2013.

02/07/2013  Schreiner
02/09/2013  Texas Lutheran
02/14/2013  HPU
02/16/2013  Sul Ross State

3 games in 3 days ( ASC conf. tourney)
2 weeks off
2nd round game
Week off
Sweet 16
Week off
2 games in 2 days (elite 8/final 4)
2 weeks off
Final

What are the chances MHB and Amherst come out flat?

[SevenTen]

There were two things that forced this time shift... the fact that the NCAA wanted to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of basketball with all the title games in Atlanta - and the decision coming late enough that the entire season could not be shifted... AND the fact the D1 Final Four was shifted back a week apparently because of Easter which is the "fifth" weekend of March and would have forced a Monday, April 1st title game - but that date... the fact the first full weekend of April was not the finish time-frame is more my theory than Easter because a number of sporting events are played/competed on holidays in this country.

Strangely enough, it's actually the Masters golf tournament that drives all of this.  The Masters always finishes the second Sunday in April.  In this case, March 31st falls on a Sunday which means that it's two Sunday's later (4/14/13) making it the latest it can be.  Since CBS broadcasts both the D1 Tournament and the Masters, the D1 tournament always finishes up on the Monday night of the Masters week.  They would never overlap them on the same weekend. 

So for example, next year the Masters will end 4/13 meaning the NCAA final four is the week before.  Now in a few years after the calendar rolls the Masters and NCAA will be earlier.  In 2018, April 1st is a Sunday which makes April 8th the second Sunday and thus the final day of the Masters.  The D1 tournament will thus end Monday, April 2nd which is the earliest it can ever be.

When in doubt, always assume it's TVs fault. =)

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I certainly can't say that isn't the case... but I also would say it wouldn't kill CBS to have them on the same week time period. My high school classmate is the VP for remote operations for CBS Sports and having talked him about his schedule from time to time during the year... I would be pretty sure he would LOVE to get a few extra days before dealing with the Master - I am sure his family would appreciate that too .

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There were two things that forced this time shift... the fact that the NCAA wanted to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of basketball with all the title games in Atlanta - and the decision coming late enough that the entire season could not be shifted... AND the fact the D1 Final Four was shifted back a week apparently because of Easter which is the "fifth" weekend of March and would have forced a Monday, April 1st title game - but that date... the fact the first full weekend of April was not the finish time-frame is more my theory than Easter because a number of sporting events are played/competed on holidays in this country.

Easter's a little bit different as far as holidays go.  You try and tell someone's Italian Grandma in NY or Philly that you're going to watch basketball at her house on the day between Good Friday and Easter and see if you come out of that conversation alive.

[Greek Tragedy]

NEW GAME TO PASS THE TIME

I think we did something similar in the past.

NAME A 10-MAN ALL-STATE ROSTER

I will try to work on Wisconsin's today.

I told you I was bored. Here's a quick look...not too familiar with MWC or NathCon.  Threw in Thompson from Carthage and CCIW

Chas Cross - Platteville - 17.4 pts/9.8 rebs Conference Player of the Year
Alex Oman - Stout - 14.9/4.8
Zach Peterson - River Falls - 13.8/7.1
Trevor Hass - Stevens Point - 12.4/4.6
Quadrell Young - Whitewater - 10.8/3.63 assists/1.88 steals
Jake Schwartz - Lakeland - 20.7/10.4 Conference Player of the Year
Justin Ward - Lakeland - 16.3/8.2
Taylor Koth - Ripon College - 24.6/9.4 Conference Player of the Year
James Lazarcik - Beloit - 16.2/11.4
Mitch Thompson - Carthage - 13.8/6.9

[John Gleich]

NEW GAME TO PASS THE TIME

I think we did something similar in the past.

NAME A 10-MAN ALL-STATE ROSTER

I will try to work on Wisconsin's today.

I told you I was bored. Here's a quick look...not too familiar with MWC or NathCon.  Threw in Thompson from Carthage and CCIW

Chas Cross - Platteville - 17.4 pts/9.8 rebs Conference Player of the Year
Alex Oman - Stout - 14.9/4.8
Zach Peterson - River Falls - 13.8/7.1
Trevor Hass - Stevens Point - 12.4/4.6
Quadrell Young - Whitewater - 10.8/3.63 assists/1.88 steals
Jake Schwartz - Lakeland - 20.7/10.4 Conference Player of the Year
Justin Ward - Lakeland - 16.3/8.2
Taylor Koth - Ripon College - 24.6/9.4 Conference Player of the Year
James Lazarcik - Beloit - 16.2/11.4
Mitch Thompson - Carthage - 13.8/6.9

FWIW, I'd still throw Tyler Tillema on this list. Even injured, he's better than half the guys on that list!

[wally_wabash]

This is pretty rough, guys.  I didn't think the time between rounds would be quite this interminable, but it really is.  Special anniversaries or no, they really can't ever stretch the tournament out like this again.  Maybe it's different for folks following teams in the field, but as fan in general it's super, super hard to stay invested/interested in this tournament. 

[Ethelred the Unready]

NEW GAME TO PASS THE TIME

I think we did something similar in the past.

NAME A 10-MAN ALL-STATE ROSTER

I will try to work on Wisconsin's today.

I told you I was bored. Here's a quick look...not too familiar with MWC or NathCon.  Threw in Thompson from Carthage and CCIW

Chas Cross - Platteville - 17.4 pts/9.8 rebs Conference Player of the Year
Alex Oman - Stout - 14.9/4.8
Zach Peterson - River Falls - 13.8/7.1
Trevor Hass - Stevens Point - 12.4/4.6
Quadrell Young - Whitewater - 10.8/3.63 assists/1.88 steals
Jake Schwartz - Lakeland - 20.7/10.4 Conference Player of the Year
Justin Ward - Lakeland - 16.3/8.2
Taylor Koth - Ripon College - 24.6/9.4 Conference Player of the Year
James Lazarcik - Beloit - 16.2/11.4
Mitch Thompson - Carthage - 13.8/6.9

Can we do this by region?  Since NY is divided into East and Mid-Atlantic I'll attempt "East" NY off the top of my head

John DiBartolomeo - Rochester - 23.4/5.7/5.4 - UAA Player of the Year - Jostens Finalist
Jake Simmons - Buff State - 21/4
Rod Epps - Buff State - 20/4/2
Richie Bonney - Hobart - 19.5/8.7
Carl Yaffe - NYU - 15/7.6
Mickey Davis - Morrisville - 17.5/6
Kevin Donohoe - Union - 19.7/8 - Jostens Finalist
Matt Devine - New Paltz - 21/7
Jared Sudderly - Hartwick - 18/7
Sean Rossi - Ithaca - 8/7assts - DIII record holder for career assists

I forgot there was another Jostens Finalist in NY.  Jason Norsen from St John Fisher deserves t be on this list somewhere

[Greek Tragedy]

It only gets worse from here unless you were MHB or Amherst with two full weeks off.  Normally, it's Fri/Sat (or Thurs/Sat) and then Fri/Sat. This year we get Sat. and then Sat...so really, we only get an added day.  Granted, after tomorrow, we usually have four games in and this year just two!  Admittedly, it's always slow Sunday through Friday anyway.

[Just Bill]

The good news is at this slow pace of the tournament, Pat Coleman can fly from Atlanta directly to Appleton, Wisconsin for the D-III World Series.