2022 D3 tourney

[Gregory Sager]

Just getting this topic started.

Every year I note here the schools that are losing their D3 men's basketball tournament virginity. Congratulations to the following programs that will be participating in the tournament for the first time ever:

Case Western Reserve
Eastern
Vassar
Wilson

[WUPHF]

The going rate for tickets this season appears to be $15.  I have not been to a postseason basketball game since 2018, but this is substantially higher than Division III soccer.

[Gregory Sager]

That is definitely jacked up. Weren't D3 soccer tournament tickets $5 this past fall?

[nescac1]

There seems likely to be very few interesting first round games this year.  The second round, however, is going to feature a lot of upsets. These ten potential match-ups all look quite even to me should they come to fruition, like, pretty much coin-toss games.  It's a really deep field and a LOT of home teams are not going to advance to the round of 16.

Illinois Wesleyan v. Lacrosse
Mount Union v. Williams
Stockton v. Yeshiva or Hopkins
WPI v. St. Joe's
Wash U. v. Wheaton
Emory v. Wabash
Elmhurst v. Pomona
MHB v. Whitworth
Swarthmore v. Oswego
Nazareth v. UMD

[WUPHF]

They were either $5 or $7 in St. Louis for the Women's Soccer tournament.

I have paid to attend other Division III games, but the most I have ever paid during the regular season is $7.

I am sure a lot of institutions subsidize the cost for students, but at some point, the price elasticity is such that people will choose to watch the stream instead.  $15 still seems high relative to the market and the otherwise low cost of regular season games.

[WUPHF]

Wash U. v. Wheaton
Emory v. Wabash

I watched both Wheaton and Hope more times than I would have in a normal season and both teams look incredibly dangerous.  That first round is a pickem in my mind.

I love the Emory vs. Wabash match-up as it features two all-American candidates that get talked about less than the guys from Yeshiva, Randolph Macon and so on.

[Pat Coleman]

The going rate for tickets this season appears to be $15.  I have not been to a postseason basketball game since 2018, but this is substantially higher than Division III soccer.

What defines going rate? Just curious as to how many first-weekend sites this represents.

[WUPHF]

What defines going rate? Just curious as to how many first-weekend sites this represents.

That was three locations including Washington University, Elmhurst and one other so maybe not the going rate.  Oshkosh or Platteville.  Not everyone has the ticket price in the release (i.e. Illinois Wesleyan).  Do the hosts set their own ticket prices?

[deiscanton]

They were either $5 or $7 in St. Louis for the Women's Soccer tournament.

I have paid to attend other Division III games, but the most I have ever paid during the regular season is $7.

I am sure a lot of institutions subsidize the cost for students, but at some point, the price elasticity is such that people will choose to watch the stream instead.  $15 still seems high relative to the market and the otherwise low cost of regular season games.

$15 seems to be the going rate for first and second round tickets for the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Tournament this year.  The DIII Women's Basketball Tournament seems to have set its ticket price for first and second rounds at $10 per round.

This is based on WPI and Wesleyan men's sites having ticket prices this weekend at $15 per day and the Tufts women's site having their ticket prices at $10 per day.

With tournament sites still requiring mask-wearing and discouraging eating and drinking at games, a lot of neutral fans who otherwise may want to go watch games in person are going to be staying home to watch the streams instead.  Perhaps these prices are set at such a high price to make sure that costs for hosting the rounds break even at a low audience of 200 spectators per round, and that a large in-person live attendance is not going to be anticipated at most tournament sites anyway this season due to people still taking pandemic precautions.

[WPI89]

$10 for students, fyi.

[WPI89]

At least in Worcester, masks are optional - but must show proof of vax or negative covid test within 3 days of games.

I think Harrington still has limited capacity restrictions (although not certain of this one).

Also - cool random stat - the 4 teams at WPI this weekend are a combined 91-14.

[Greek Tragedy]

JHU v Yeshiva has to top 1st round games, unless it's Hope v Wheaton. A very good JHU team v the hyped Yeshiva. Can they put that IWU loss behind them and get a signature win in the tourney?

Nichols v RPI as well.

[deiscanton]

At least in Worcester, masks are optional - but must show proof of vax or negative covid test within 3 days of games.

I think Harrington still has limited capacity restrictions (although not certain of this one).

Also - cool random stat - the 4 teams at WPI this weekend are a combined 91-14.

The spectator mask policies are, of course, set by the home institutions.   Masks are currently optional indoors on the WPI campus as of Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022.  WPI89 is correct on the proof of vax or negative covid test requirement for external guests to attend WPI games.   

Current capacity limits are still in effect, depending on the space used.

[Stretch4]

Can someone explain how Swarthmore is hosting games this weekend, while Hopkins has to go on the road?  Makes absolutely no sense to me.  Hopkins just knocked them off for the league title, has a better record, is ranked higher and (if I am reading the ratings correctly) a stronger strength of schedule.  I suspect the answer will be that Swat beat Hopkins twice during the season and has non-conf wins over three other NCAA qualifiers (Susquehanna, Stevens, Neumann).  But Swat is also the same team that got beaten down on their home floor by a depleted Muhlenberg team, lost on their home floor to Widener (the 6th place team in the MAC Commonwealth), and lost on the road to solid, but inconsistent teams Dickinson and Ursinus.  Hopkins 3 losses were to #4 Christopher Newport and twice to Swat.  On top of this you have Oswego State in the Swarthmore pod, who should also be hosting before Swat.  Is this some kind of nod to Swat from two years ago when the tourney was cancelled and they were the number 1 team? 

[deiscanton]

JHU v Yeshiva has to top 1st round games, unless it's Hope v Wheaton. A very good JHU team v the hyped Yeshiva. Can they put that IWU loss behind them and get a signature win in the tourney?

Nichols v RPI as well.

As Yeshiva's Matan Zucker played for Brandeis in his first season, I am rooting for Yeshiva to beat Johns Hopkins on Friday.