Pool B

[Pat Coleman]

Twenty-seven teams declared: Pool B = Becker, Blackburn, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Chapman, Chicago, Crown, Eureka, Frostburg State, Gallaudet,
Greenville, Huntingdon, Husson, LaGrange, Macalester, MacMurray, Martin Luther, Minnesota-Morris, Mount Ida, Northwestern, Principia, Salisbury, St. Scholastica, SUNY-Maritime, Washington U., Wesley, Westminster (Mo.)

[redswarm81]

Pool B . . . .

East Region -- 4 teams

Becker, Husson, Mount Ida and SUNY-Maritime  (These four teams will compete in the non-Pool-eligible North Atlantic Conference in 2009.)

Early projections for 2009 --

Pool B schools increase with the addition of Crown, Anna Marie, Castleton State.

New programs in Pool A conferences include Hendrix in the SCAC.  The access ratio is 198 / 23 = 8.60.

29 Pool B schools divided by 8.60 = 3.37, which truncates to 3 bids.

Norwich is leaving the Empire 8 at the end of the 2008 season, and will be a member of the North Atlantic Conference for 2009.   The Empire 8 will retain its Pool A status for at least the 2009 and 2010 seasons, even if its membership is only 6 teams for both seasons.  Do we know if Norwich in 2009 will be counted as a Pool B team?

I don't think the end result is any different, though.  Pool A without Norwich = 197, divided by 23 conferences = 8.57 access ratio.

30 Pool B schools / 8.57 = 3.50, which still truncates to 3 Pool B teams.

[jam40jeff]

Is it correct that they take floor( [number of Pool B teams] / [access ratio] ) rather than rounding?

[ADL70]

Truncate is the stated process.   Here's link to handbook.

http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/champ_handbooks/football/2008/3_football_handbook.pdf

[Ralph Turner]

Twenty-seven teams declared: Pool B = Becker, Blackburn, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Chapman, Chicago, Crown, Eureka, Frostburg State, Gallaudet,
Greenville, Huntingdon, Husson, LaGrange, Macalester, MacMurray, Martin Luther, Minnesota-Morris, Mount Ida, Northwestern, Principia, Salisbury, St. Scholastica, SUNY-Maritime, Washington U., Wesley, Westminster (Mo.)

Pat, thanks for listing the Correct Pool B's.

The discrepancy in my numbers and the correct list is Nebraska Wesleyan!

[Ralph Turner]

Norwich is leaving the Empire 8 at the end of the 2008 season, and will be a member of the North Atlantic Conference for 2009.   The Empire 8 will retain its Pool A status for at least the 2009 and 2010 seasons, even if its membership is only 6 teams for both seasons.  Do we know if Norwich in 2009 will be counted as a Pool B team?

Thanks for correcting that!

I have been on the road all day and remembered that after I left the computer!   

I think that Norwich becomes a Pool B next year.

[AO]

so you're saying there's a chance

[K-Mack]

I'm full of bold predictions.  I'd say it's a pretty bold prediction to say Northwestern is out of it based upon a close lose to a solid Simpson team.  I'd put Simpson, St. Thomas or UW-River Falls up against any opponents of other Pool B contenders. 

I don't think the non-conference is Northwestern's problem. I think the UMAC schedule is going to be. That is a solid non-conference slate but it's nothing spectacular. The UMAC though is quite a bit weaker than Wesley/Salisbury's schedule, the UAA. I also would rate the SLIAC schedule as tougher than the UMAC but not by as much as the others.

I don't think the schedule is necessarily Northwestern's problem either, it's that the projections include undefeated Case, undefeated Huntingdon, undefeated LaGrange (for playoff purposes the NAIA loss won't count) and the Wesley/Salisbury winner, if it has one loss, there's a chance that one loss is to the MAC champion or a team that finishes a lot better than Simpson. Plus the winner will get an OWP boost by playing that game, since neither of those teams is likely to lose again. Simpson/St. Thomas/River Falls is probably not going to compare to Del Val/CNU/Wesley/St. John Fisher, sorry.

Also, Northwestern has to actually beat St. Thomas, which is not looking like a given at this point.

It's hard to leapfrog an undefeated team based on the playoff criteria, which includes in-region record, OWP and OOWP, etc.

Nobody's saying they're out of it, just having the loss already, they need some chips to fall.

9-1 Northwestern vs. 9-1 Case vs. 9-1 Huntingdon ... now that could get interesting.

[Bob.Gregg]

By the way, big ups to Ralph "The Pool B Master" Turner.

(+1 karma...)

Sorry so late in doing this for you. 

What is "Pool B" by the way?

[jam40jeff]

How do you + or - karma anyways?

[Ralph Turner]

By the way, big ups to Ralph "The Pool B Master" Turner.

(+1 karma...)

Sorry so late in doing this for you. 

What is "Pool B" by the way?

Don't you love the AQ!!

It has helped the Presidents AC in more ways than just football.  The AQ in hoops has been good, too!

Thanks Bob!

You get Karma added when you have 200 posts.  Karma is the ability to applaud or smite a poster.

I rarely smite.

[KitchenSink]

How do you + or - karma anyways?

Once you accumulate enough posts, and send an appropriate stack of cash to Keith and Pat, you get to karma posters.

And please hurry - we don't need to be talking about any more bailouts.

[Bob.Gregg]

Don't you love the AQ!!

Actually, to me, Ralph, the AQ is kinda boring.  In fact, had the PAC had the AQ a couple years earlier, I might not be getting the big "D" right now.

Those long, late nights calculating"What if.....".

[Pat Coleman]

And please hurry - we don't need to be talking about any more bailouts.

LOL. I think we're in good shape. We have the credit we need and the cash we need so as long as the internet advertising business doesn't totally go in the toilet, I am confident we won't need to ask for a bailout.

[redswarm81]

Pool B update (IMHO):

1)  CWRU now 5-0 after a win over a good Wooster team. (Plays Carnegie Mellon on the Nov 8th and Wash U on the 15th.)

2a)  Salisbury -- 5-1/2-1 Good win over SJF in 4OT 58-52 (non-in-region game tho') Has in-region loss to Del Valley.
2b)   Wesley -- 3-1/2-1 Defeated I-FCS Iona 23-12.  Has in-region loss to Del Valley.  Plays Salisbury on Nov 1st.  For whom do Huntingdon & LaGrange root?

3a) Huntingdon -- 5-0/4-0. Defeated Eureka 62-0.  Plays at Westminster on Oct 25th, hosts H-SC on Nov 8th and at LaGrange on Nov 15th.  Great schedule remains to show the committee something.
3b) LaGrange -- 5-1/4-0.  Westminster on Oct 18th.  Hosts Huntingdon on Nov 15th

CWRU despite the weak schedule is a lock if undefeated.

Wesley and Salisbury have big problems with the non-division and out-of-region games, coupled with the in-region losses to DV and the h2h game coming up. The loser could be sitting on something like a 4-2 regional record ... might be tough to compare with an 8-2 in Pool C.

The SLIAC looks like it's basically getting its automatic bid a year early, as the problems above, coupled with the probability of one of the two Deep South teams finishing with one loss (or possibly undefeated), makes them a pretty good shot at another spot.

Where does Husson fit in, if they win their last two games to finish 7-0 v. D-III competition?