2023 NCAA Tournament

[Greek Tragedy]

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2022-23D3MBB_PreChampManual.pdf

In case you missed it or lost the link, like me, the manual came out.

Here are some important tournament related dates.

Tues. Feb 7 - 1st regional rankings
Tues. Feb 14 - 2nd regional rankings
Tues. Feb 21 - 3rd regional rankings
Sun. Feb 26 - 4th regional rankings (not public?)
Mon. Feb 27 - selection show/bracket release

Fri./Sat. March 3/4 - 1st and 2nd rounds
Fri./Sat. March 10/11 - 3rd and 4th rounds
Thurs.-Sat. March 16-18 - Semifinals and Final

In case you didn't catch that last line...the semis will be on Thursday and the final on Saturday.

[Greek Tragedy]

I have a real big complaint with the Final Four scheduling. For someone who still works, it's a big inconvenience to add another day when it comes to missing work, scheduling vacation, booking another night in a hotel etc.

I really feel that Friday is a wasted day for the casual fan. I'm curious to find out what the NCAA has in store for the traveling fans. Is the all-star game going to be moved to Friday? Maybe they'll re-introduce the 3rd place game to fill time.

I really don't buy the "the players need the extra day because it's the national championship game" argument. Players have to play back-to-back games on consecutive weekends to get to the Final Four. Several conferences regularly play back-to-back nights during the season. Many conference tournaments require back-to-back nights. These games are just as important because usually it's "lose and you done".

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

I have a real big complaint with the Final Four scheduling. For someone who still works, it's a big inconvenience to add another day when it comes to missing work, scheduling vacation, booking another night in a hotel etc.

I really feel that Friday is a wasted day for the casual fan. I'm curious to find out what the NCAA has in store for the traveling fans. Is the all-star game going to be moved to Friday? Maybe they'll re-introduce the 3rd place game to fill time.

I really don't buy the "the players need the extra day because it's the national championship game" argument. Players have to play back-to-back games on consecutive weekends to get to the Final Four. Several conferences regularly play back-to-back nights during the season. Many conference tournaments require back-to-back nights. These games are just as important because usually it's "lose and you done".

Not to mention it's an extra day away from classes.

Something else that doesn't relate to this year but listed for 2026 is another stretched out tournament. I'm sure it's some celebration thing where they're doing all the finals together but you know years in advance you're doing it so adjust when the season ends so it's not so terrible.

2026
Round 1/2 March 6-7
Round 3 March 13-14
QF/SF March 20-21
Final April 5

Make the end of the season a couple weeks later and conferences can stretch out their tournaments with fewer weekday games or take a midseason gamedate away from a weekday and move it to a later weekend during the season. So many better ways to handle the later final than what the NCAA chooses.

[ronk]

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2022-23D3MBB_PreChampManual.pdf

In case you missed it or lost the link, like me, the manual came out.

Here are some important tournament related dates.

Tues. Feb 7 - 1st regional rankings
Tues. Feb 14 - 2nd regional rankings
Tues. Feb 21 - 3rd regional rankings
Sun. Feb 26 - 4th regional rankings (not public?)
Mon. Feb 27 - selection show/bracket release

Fri./Sat. March 3/4 - 1st and 2nd rounds
Fri./Sat. March 10/11 - 3rd and 4th rounds
Thurs.-Sat. March 16-18 - Semifinals and Final

In case you didn't catch that last line...the semis will be on Thursday and the final on Saturday.

Is there a link for the women's version? They're having a different schedule for the 2nd and 3rd weeks, if I remember correctly.

[WUPHF]

Not to mention it's an extra day away from classes.

This is the thing.  There are schools that might be in their fourth week of postseason play at that point.  No reason to bring them in a day early for two days of play.

[deiscanton]

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2022-23D3MBB_PreChampManual.pdf

In case you missed it or lost the link, like me, the manual came out.

Here are some important tournament related dates.

Tues. Feb 7 - 1st regional rankings
Tues. Feb 14 - 2nd regional rankings
Tues. Feb 21 - 3rd regional rankings
Sun. Feb 26 - 4th regional rankings (not public?)
Mon. Feb 27 - selection show/bracket release

Fri./Sat. March 3/4 - 1st and 2nd rounds
Fri./Sat. March 10/11 - 3rd and 4th rounds
Thurs.-Sat. March 16-18 - Semifinals and Final

In case you didn't catch that last line...the semis will be on Thursday and the final on Saturday.

Is there a link for the women's version? They're having a different schedule for the 2nd and 3rd weeks, if I remember correctly.

Women's version is not out yet.

[stlawus]

I still never understand why the committee seems to weigh SOS more heavily against the other criteria when doing so goes against the D3 philosophy as well as the championship manual.   The manual clearly stresses the promotion of regional competition.  Teams with better SOS often have high SOS because of the amount of travel that allows them to play stronger teams in different regions.  This disproportionately favors schools with higher budgets/endowments etc which is contradictory to the D3 philosophy.   Why do you say that regional competition should be prioritized when at the same time you punish teams for having low SOS because their region is not as strong?   So which is it, should regional competition be a priority or should scheduling games against teams not in your region be the main goal?  I understand that there need to be Pool C criteria, but I really don't like the trend of SOS being weighed so heavily across all sports. 

[Greek Tragedy]

The definition of "in-region" competition seems so broad now that it's almost harder to schedule an out-of-region opponent. I'm not any good at geography, so I could be completely wrong on this.

The UAA has a distinct advantage here as they have teams in multiple regions and all conference games count as in-region.


IN-REGION COMPETITION
In-region competition is defined as:
1. All competition within an institution's defined region.
2. All competition within a 500-mile radius from one institution to another.
3. All competition within an institution's membership geographical region. The country is divided into four membership
regions as listed below. For most institutions, this should result in a more expanded list of potential in-region opponents
than in the past.
Region 1
- Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont
Region 2
- New York, Pennsylvania
Region 3
- Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina,
Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia
Region 4
- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas,
Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
4. All conference games

[deiscanton]

The definition of "in-region" competition seems so broad now that it's almost harder to schedule an out-of-region opponent. I'm not any good at geography, so I could be completely wrong on this.

The UAA has a distinct advantage here as they have teams in multiple regions and all conference games count as in-region.


IN-REGION COMPETITION
In-region competition is defined as:
1. All competition within an institution's defined region.
2. All competition within a 500-mile radius from one institution to another.
3. All competition within an institution's membership geographical region. The country is divided into four membership
regions as listed below. For most institutions, this should result in a more expanded list of potential in-region opponents
than in the past.
Region 1
- Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont
Region 2
- New York, Pennsylvania
Region 3
- Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina,
Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia
Region 4
- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas,
Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
4. All conference games

Also, as long as at least 70% of your schedule consists of in-region competition against D3 opponents, you can count 100% of your games vs full member D3 opponents (both in and out of region) in your strength of schedule for primary criteria purposes.

This season, the Brandeis men's basketball team had only 1 out-of-region contest, and that was at Christopher Newport on Monday, January 2, 2023.  The Judges were glad to take the flight out of Boston to Virginia this season for a non-conference game that would really simulate UAA road game conditions.

Christopher Newport men have 2 more out-of-region contests to play this weekend when the Captains travel to the Boston/Providence area to play at Bridgewater State (MA) and at Eastern Nazarene.

[Greek Tragedy]

Pat, Dave, Ryan? Anyone know the game times of the semis or final? 5 and 7 on Thursday? 3 or 5 on Saturday? Trying to figure out logistics for that weekend if I decide to go. It's 5 1/2 hours for me, so I may just come Thursday, go home Friday and return Saturday, depending on what the NCAA's schedule is on Friday. 

[deiscanton]

Pat, Dave, Ryan? Anyone know the game times of the semis or final? 5 and 7 on Thursday? 3 or 5 on Saturday? Trying to figure out logistics for that weekend if I decide to go. It's 5 1/2 hours for me, so I may just come Thursday, go home Friday and return Saturday, depending on what the NCAA's schedule is on Friday.

I checked the Ticketmaster site for the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IN right now.

As of right now, the first semifinal on Thursday, March 16, is scheduled to start at 5:30 PM Eastern, with the second semifinal tipping off approx 1/2 hour after the conclusion of the first game-- no earlier than 8 PM Eastern.

The men's national championship game is scheduled for 4 PM Eastern on Saturday, March 18.  The 4 PM start time for the men's final is also what I heard on the Hoopsville show from a few days ago, when both national chairs of the DIII men's and women's basketball committees appeared together for 1 hour to answer questions from host Dave McHugh. 

Tickets for the DIII men's national semifinals and championship game do not go on sale to the general public until 10 AM Eastern on Sunday, March 12, 2023-- less than 1 week before tipoff.   Tickets for the DIII women's national semifinals on March 18 at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, on the other hand, are now available for purchase on the Trinity Bantams Athletics website at $18 general admission/$10 for seniors and children.

[Greek Tragedy]

Thanks! Curious about an all-star game, 3rd place game as well.

[deiscanton]

Thanks! Curious about an all-star game, 3rd place game as well.

On the Hoopsville show last Thursday, the current men's national chair Sara Quatrocky indicated that there will be a 2023 NABC Reese's DIII All Star Game, and it will take place in Fort Wayne that weekend.  Historically, the All-Star Game has taken place on the same day as the DIII men's national title game, about a few hours earlier on that day.  The NABC has not yet updated their website to reflect the dates and times of the 2023 All Star Games, but each division in men's basketball has had an NABC Reese's All Star Game for many years.

There is no third place game this year, and DIII got rid of the practice of having a national third place game in both men's and women's basketball years ago.   The last time that DIII had a national third place game in men's basketball was in March, 2009, at the end of the 2008-09 basketball season.   Starting in March, 2010, the NABC DIII All-Star Game replaced the DIII national third place game in men's basketball.   I do not believe that there are any plans to reinstate a DIII national third place game in the immediate future.

[deiscanton]

Personally, I am waiting for event1teamstore.com to start taking orders/preorders for t-shirts with either the list of all of the teams that made the field for the 2022-23 NCAA DIII Basketball Tournaments or made the "DIII Final Four"/national semifinals.  Not only are these t-shirts custom made every year, they are very pricey in themselves.  I believe last year, they sold between $30 and $40 a piece.   

[Greek Tragedy]

Thanks. I know they used to have the 3rd place game and replaced it with the all-star game, I was curious if they may reinstate the 3rd place game to "fill time" since the Final Four weekend has been extended for a day. Possibly scheduling the all-star game and/or the 3rd place game on Friday.