Midwest Region Rankings

[WLCALUM83]

Midwest Region Rankings 10/21/09 (thru games of 10/18):

     TEAM:               IN-REGION:               OVERALL:

1.  UW-Oshkosh                      25-0                                  27-0
2.  UW-Whitewater                 16-5                                   21-5
3.  Carthage                            17-3                                   21-3
4.  UW-Platteville                     13-4                                  17-7
5.  North Central-IL                  21-2                                  26-3
6.  UW-Eau Claire                     17-5                                  18-5
7.  U of Chicago                        18-10                                21-10
8.  IL Wesleyan                        14-10                                16-12

                 

[WLCALUM83]

Midwest Rankings 10/28/09:

1.  UW-Oshkosh                             29-1                                    31-1
2.  UW-Whitewater                        20-5                                    25-5
3.  Carthage                                  19-3                                    24-4
4.  North Central-IL                        22-2                                    27-3
5.  UW-Platteville                           14-7                                    19-10
6.  UW-Eau Claire                           21-5                                   22-6
7.  U of Chicago                             19-10                                  22-10
8.  IL Wesleyan                             14-11                                  16-13

[WLCALUM83]

Midwest Rankings 11/4/09:

1. UW-Oshkosh                                  30-1                               34-1
2. Carthage                                        23-3                               28-5
3. UW-Whitewater                             24-6                               29-6
4. North Central-IL                             27-2                               32-3
5. UW-Platteville                                16-8                                21-12
6. UW-Eau Claire                                27-5                               28-6
7. IL Wesleyan                                   17-11                              19-15
8. U of Chicago                                   21-11                              25-12

[OshDude]

If you have an interest, Regional Guides for the Hope, Oshkosh and Wash U regionals are now up.
http://uwoshvball.wordpress.com/

[WLCALUM83]

Midwest Rankings 10/27/10:

1.  Carthage                           15-5                    22-7
2.  UW-Eau Claire                   19-5                    19-8
3.  UW-Platteville                     21-3                   24-3
4.  UW-Whitewater                  18-5                   22-7
5.  U of Chicago                        23-8                   25-9
6.  UW-Oshkosh                      21-6                    24-7
7.  Elmhurst                             17-9                    20-10
8.  Millikin                                 13-5                     23-5

[WLCALUM83]

Midwest Region Rankings 10/21/11:

                                                      In-Region:                       Overall:

1.  Carthage                                        19-3                              22-5
2.  Chicago                                          20-3                             23-3
3.  Elmhurst                                         18-4                             20-4
4.  UW-Whitewater                               15-5                              19-6
5.  UW-Platteville                                  15-7                             18-9
6.  Millikin                                             10-6                             18-9
6.  UW-Stevens Point                            18-6                              18-6
8   Wheaton                                         10-9                              14-11
               

[WLCALUM83]

10/28/11 Midwest Region Rankings:                            In-Region:                               Overall:

1.  Carthage                                                            23-3                                        26-6
2.  Elmhurst                                                             23-4                                        25-4
3.  U of Chicago                                                       24-4                                        27-4
4.  UW-Stevens Point                                                23-6                                        23-6
5.  UW-Whitewater                                                   16-6                                        21-7
6.  UW-Eau Claire                                                      15-11                                      17-11
7.  Wheaton-IL                                                        14-10                                       18-12
8.  UW-Platteville                                                      16-11                                      19-13

[petemcb]

OK, so again, I'm a D3 volleyball novice so what do regional rankings mean?  Is this a ranking that is likely to dictate who is invited to the NCAA D3 tournament?  If so, how many of those teams are likely to be invited, or does that depend on how conference tournaments play out?  I've got one kid at North Park (clearly not in the picture) and one at Wheaton (maybe in the picture).  I'm just trying to figure out the likelihood of Wheaton getting an invitation to the post-season.

[OshDude]

Yes, these are the rankings that matter. Wheaton is a bubble team in my opinion. There are 20 at-large bids (there are two Pool B at-large bids for independent/non Pool A teams) for the country this season. Keep your fingers crossed for highly ranked teams winning their conference AQ's.

There will be one more set of rankings on Nov. 3. The NCAA committee creates another set of rankings after the conference tournaments. That last ranking is not released traditionally, but some sport committees have started to release the final set of rankings shortly after the time of selections. It's a nice element of full disclosure.

For a D-III volleyball selection primer, you can also see this FAQ. The rest of the site may also pique your interest because it focuses on the Midwest and Central regions during the regular season. But it has quite a bit of national regular season news and expands its scope during the postseason.

[WLCALUM83]

11/3/11 Midwest Rankings:                   In-Region:                          Overall:

1.  Carthage                                        24-3                                 27-6
2.  Elmhurst                                         26-4                                 28-4
3.  U of Chicago                                   24-4                                  27-4
4.  UW-Eau Claire                                 18-11                                20-11
5.  UW-Whitewater                               19-6                                  24-7
6.  UW-Stevens Point                            25-6                                 25-6
7.  Millikin                                            14-7                                 25-10
8.  Wheaton-IL                                     17-10                               21-12

[petemcb]

So then, if I read your post prior to the most recent ranking correctly, it doesn't look too good for Wheaton since six of the seven teams ranked ahead of them in their region are from the same two conferences.  In other words, speaking specifically of the CCIW, even if Carthage wins the conference tournament, Elmhurst and Millikin are in a better spot for an at-large bid.  It looks like Wheaton's only hope hinges on an upset win by Wheaton over Carthage Friday night at Carthage.  Correct?

[OshDude]

So then, if I read your post prior to the most recent ranking correctly, it doesn't look too good for Wheaton since six of the seven teams ranked ahead of them in their region are from the same two conferences.  In other words, speaking specifically of the CCIW, even if Carthage wins the conference tournament, Elmhurst and Millikin are in a better spot for an at-large bid.  It looks like Wheaton's only hope hinges on an upset win by Wheaton over Carthage Friday night at Carthage.  Correct?

A win would certainly help, but it's not out of the question that the CCIW gets four teams in. It would take a near perfect storm (I won't add a Thunder pun), but the Midwest compares favorably to most other regions. Wheaton is one of those teams that needs highly ranked teams around the country to take care of business.

[petemcb]

So now we sit and wait.  I went up to Kenosha yesterday to catch the tail end of Elmhurst/Millikin and then the Carthage/Wheaton match.  Elmhurst and Carthage, from what I saw were clearly the better teams, deserving of their lofty rankings.  Carthage, loaded up with talented seniors who have played together, and well, for four years, was too much for a much less experienced Thunder squad to contend with last night.  Carthage really seemed to bring their A game. If there are 10 D3 teams across the country that are better than the Carthage team I saw last night, then this year's tournament should feature some exciting volleyball over the next few weeks. 

I look for Wheaton to be a serious player over the next three years as their group of freshmen, particularly Megan McKinley, Lindsay Stein, and Andy DeMoss, were leaned on for a lot of significant playing time this year and did not look out of place at the CCIW level. 

[petemcb]

And now that Edgewood has upset Dominican for the NAthCon championship, that takes one more spot away from Wheaton and/or Millikin as Domincan is probably highly likely to get an at-large bid.  Correct?

[WLCALUM83]

Dominican may not necessarily get in. No NAthCon squad was nationally ranked during the regular season (to the best of this poster's knowledge) while Carthage and Elmhurst were nationally ranked for at least part of this season (Carthage all season) Dominican took U of Chicago to 5 before losing this year, but imho the CCIW squads in contention had a better strength of schedule and/or beat more ranked teams.

Edgewood may be the only NAthCon team to get in.