2009 Post Season Discussion

[Jim Matson]

AQ:

AMCC - Medaille
ASC - Hardin Simmons
CAC - York (Pa.)
CCIW - Wheaton
Centennial - Johns Hopkins
Commonwealth - Messiah
CSAC - Cabrini
CUNYAC - York (NY.)
TCCC - Western New England
Empire 8 - Stevens
Freedom - Misericordia
GNAC - St. Joseph's (Maine)
HCAC - Transylvania
IIAC - Wartburg
Landmark - Catholic
Liberty League - Hobart
LEC - Eastern Connecticut State
MIAA - Calvin
MIAC - Macalester
MSCAC - Salem State
MWC - Grinnell
NAC - Husson
NEAC - Cazenovia
NESCAC - Williams
NEWMAC - Babson
Northern Athletics Conference - Dominican
NCAC - Denison
NJAC - Montclair State
NWC - Whitworth
OAC - Capital
ODAC - Lynchburg
PAC - Thomas More
SCAC - Trinity (Tex.)
SCIAC - Claremont-Mudd-Scripts
Skyline -
SLIAC - Webster
SUNYAC - Brockport State
UAA - Chicago
USA South - Christopher Newport

Pool C (in no particular order):

Salisbury
Ohio Wesleyan
Amherst
RPI
Merchant Marine
Wesleyan
Bowdoin
Swarthmore
Muhlenberg
Ohio Northern
Plattsburgh State
Loras
Ohio Northern
Rochester
Carnegie Mellon
Wheaton (Mass.)

[Jim Matson]

REGION-BY-REGION BREAKDOWN (update/correction of Appendix D)

New England Region:
  Pool A: 65 (CCC-14, GNC-10, LEAC-8, MSCAC-8, NESCAC-10, NEWMAC-7, NAC-7, UAA-1)
  Eligible Pool B: 8 (NECC-7, Maine-Presque Isle)  
  Provisional: 1 (Lyndon-NAC)
  Reclassifying: --
  Declared NAIA: --

East Region:
  Pool A: 55 (AMCC-3, CUNYAC-9, Empire8-8, Liberty-8, NEAC-5, SUNYAC-10, Skyline-10, UAA-2)
  Eligible Pool B: --
  Provisional: 1 (SUNY-Cobleskill-NEAC)
  Reclassifying: --
  Declared NAIA: --

Mid-Atlantic Region:
  Pool A: 44 (CSAC-9, Centennial-10, Commonwealth-8, Freedom-8, Landmark-8, NEAC- 1)
  Eligible Pool B: --
  Provisional: 3 (PSU-Abington-NEAC, PSU-Harrisburg-NEAC, Lancaster Bible-
independent)
  Reclassifying: 1 (Lincoln-->D2)
  Declared NAIA: --

South Atlantic Region:
  Pool A: 42 (CAC-9, NJAC-10, ODAC-11, SCAC-4, USA-South-7, UAA-1)
  Eligible Pool B: 5 (GSAC-4, Rust-independent)  
  Provisional: 2 (Berry-independent, Covenent-independent)
  Reclassifying: 1 (Birmingham Southern-SCAC<--D2)
  Declared NAIA: --

Great Lakes Region:
  Pool A: 47 (AMCC-7, HCAC-9, NCAC-10, OAC-10, Presidents'-7, SCAC-2, UAA-2)
  Eligible Pool B: --
  Provisional: 3 (Franciscan-AMCC, Geneva-Presidents', St. Vincent-Presidents')
  Reclassifying: --
  Declared NAIA: --

Central Region:
  Pool A: 39 (CCIW-8, MIAA-8, NAC-12, NEAC-1, SLIAC-8, UAA-2)
  Eligible Pool B: --
  Provisional: 1 (Spanding-SLIAC)
  Reclassifying: --
  Declared NAIA: --

North Region:
  Pool A: 30 (IIAC-9, MWC-10, MIAC-11)  
  Eligible Pool B: 13 (UMAC-7, WIAC-5, Neb. Wesleyan)
  Provisional: 1 (North Central-independent)
  Reclassifying: --
  Declared NAIA: 1 (Northland)

West Region:
  Pool A: 35 (ASC-14, SCIAC-8, NWC-8, SCAC-5)
  Eligible Pool B: 2 (UC-Santa Cruz, Chapman)
  Provisional: 1 (La Sierra)
  Reclassifying: 1 (CSU-East Bay)
  Declared NAIA: 1 (Menlo)


SUMMARY OF D-III PROGRAMS AND CALCULATION OF TOURNAMENT FIELD (update/correction of pages 13-14)

2009 Division III Men’s Soccer Sponsorship Data:
Division III institutions sponsoring men's soccer: 404
Provisional institutions (not eligible for the championship): 13
Declared NAIA (not eligible for the NCAA championship): 2
Reclassifying institution (not eligible for the NCAA championship): 3
Institutions eligible for NCAA championship: 386
Conferences meeting automatic qualifying requirements: 39
Eligible teams in automatic-qualifying conferences (Pool A): 358
Eligible Pool B teams: 28
Access ratio: 1:9.18 (eligible teams in AQ conferences / # of AQ conferences)

Based on the sponsorship data, the following allocations will be implemented for the 2009 championship:
Bracket: 59 teams (based on 2008 eligible institutions (384) / 6.5)
Pool A: 39 teams
Pool B: 3 teams (# Pool B teams / Access ratio = 28 / 9.18 = 3.05)  
Pool C: 17 teams (Field size - Pool A - Pool B)

So we have 7 more AQs to determine today, with 32 already in the bag.

There are 17 Pool C spots available and by my calculation, at least 15 of those spots are done.  And we may have 4 more added today.  Add about 5 that I am overlooking, and that is about 24 Pool C candidates...

Pool B thoughts?  I think UC-Santa Cruz and UW-Oshkosh are 2 of the 3.

[Spencer Beaty]

Where and when will the tournament field be posted?

[Jim Matson]

I figured that Muhlenberg and Wheaton (Mass.) had a shot, but no go.  We were fairly accurate on the others.  St. Olaf and Merchant Marine looked good for most of the season, but never quite got themselves into the spotlight.

Elmhurst surprised me, but good for them.  They have been strong for the past three or four years.  Mary Hardin-Baylor was another surprise.

[Ron Boerger]

Elmhurst surprised me, but good for them.  They have been strong for the past three or four years.  Mary Hardin-Baylor was another surprise.

No doubt the 2-1 win @ Trinity the first game of the season helped factor into the UMHB selection. 

[Jim Matson]

UMHB certainly didn't lose anything by taking the ASC final into PKs.  That was a tighter match than I was expecting.

Also, that Whitewater 1-0 win over Oshkosh might very well have been the biggest win of the year for the Warhawks.

[sean-o]

I figured that Muhlenberg and Wheaton (Mass.) had a shot, but no go.  We were fairly accurate on the others.  St. Olaf and Merchant Marine looked good for most of the season, but never quite got themselves into the spotlight.

Elmhurst surprised me, but good for them.  They have been strong for the past three or four years.  Mary Hardin-Baylor was another surprise.

Elmhurst was helped big time by the region's top three teams all getting Pool A bids. Had there been an upset or the UAA had done the tiebreaker differently, elmhurst likely would have been left out. This is the first year in half a dozen following the central that I remember conference tourneys going so ... right. The regional realignment cleaned things up as well.

[hickory_cornhusker]

I figured that Muhlenberg and Wheaton (Mass.) had a shot, but no go.  We were fairly accurate on the others.  St. Olaf and Merchant Marine looked good for most of the season, but never quite got themselves into the spotlight.

Elmhurst surprised me, but good for them.  They have been strong for the past three or four years.  Mary Hardin-Baylor was another surprise.

Elmhurst was helped big time by the region's top three teams all getting Pool A bids. Had there been an upset or the UAA had done the tiebreaker differently, elmhurst likely would have been left out. This is the first year in half a dozen following the central that I remember conference tourneys going so ... right. The regional realignment cleaned things up as well.

Central Region went right and the North Region was a complete mess. No #1 seed won their conference tourney.

[sean-o]

Central Region went right and the North Region was a complete mess. No #1 seed won their conference tourney.

Ugh.

[Jim Matson]

Yeah, the loss by Carroll was a bit of a surprise.  The MIAC though never really had a clear powerhouse like in past seasons.  St. Olaf always seemed a bit on the edge, and Augsburg faded earlier in the season.

That Loras loss was tough, but the loss to Wheaton earlier showed that the Duhawks aren't quite as strong defensively as they were in 2008.  I think they do well in the post-season.

[fatplayer]

How do you see the Dominican pod match ups coming out.  I see Dominican the definite favorite. St. Olaf and Whitewater should be a good game. I have not seen St Olaf play so a pick would be a real guess. I like Dominican and UWW in final though.