Pool C

[wally_wabash]

The NCAA doesn't use common sense. They use criteria.

This statement should be stuck to the top of any thread involving tournament selection. 

[ILGator]

NCC gets a bump in their SOS the next two weeks with Elmhurst at 5-2 and Wheaton at 7-0. However, they finish with North Park who is 2-5.

Won't NCC get a nice jump in SOS by playing Wheaton?

Their SOS will definitely increase, that's for sure.

[Ralph Turner]

There is a distinct possibility that the South Region could not get a Pool C bid this year.

Unless HSU stumbles, you don't think they are a lock?

I hope that a 9-1 HSU is a lock for the reason that they have scheduled hard games.

When the Whitworth contract was signed after the 2008 season, the Pirates had two undefeated seasons in the NWC (2006 & 2007).

HSU had just finished a 4-year run with Linfield.

After the 2009 season, they sign a contract with Willamette, which lost by 3 to UWW in 2008.

They are not shirking opponents.

8-2 is a bit more iffy.  If McMurry beats them, then they lose the head-to-head against another 2-loss South Region (McMurry) team.

[K-Mack]

What's distinctly possible this year (as opposed to years past) is that several 9-1 teams may not get into the playoffs.

I don't think this is very different from other years through Week 8. Maybe by a team or two, but it's very typical to have far more 1-loss teams at this juncture than there are Pool C spots. As you noted, some will drop out of this group, and some undefeated teams might drop into it.

But Weeks 9, 10 and 11 can be plenty of time to thin the herd.

[K-Mack]

I hate to give away my secrets, but the NCAA's stat package features a breakdown of schedule to date and schedule including remaining opponents.

In other words, although we can't tell how the remaining teams on any schedule will perform, we can get an idea of what a team's SOS bump will be like based on the current records of the teams it has yet to play.

I'll add the Pool C picture into this week's ATN, but you guys have a pretty good breakdown here, plus Thursday afternoon is about a day after regional rankings will have everyone chatting away.

[AUKaz00]

Won't NCC get a nice jump in SOS by playing Wheaton?

Their SOS will definitely increase, that's for sure.

As will SJF's after playing Springfield team that will end up 8-2...

So you're picking the Pride to beat Fisher and finish at 8-2?

[theoriginalupstate]

Won't NCC get a nice jump in SOS by playing Wheaton?

Their SOS will definitely increase, that's for sure.

As will SJF's after playing Springfield team that will end up 8-2...

So you're picking the Pride to beat Fisher and finish at 8-2?

Check that, 7-3...

Forgot about the AU win earlier in the year...

[Pat Coleman]

http://d3blogs.com/d3football/2010/10/27/first-2010-regional-rankings/

First regional rankings are out.

[usee]

I wonder what's more useless the first week of NCAA regional rankings or the list of which pool C teams got left at the table on selection sunday? 

[CardinalAlum]

I wonder what's more useless the first week of NCAA regional rankings or the list of which pool C teams got left at the table on selection sunday? 

Good stuff!   

[Mr. Ypsi]

I wonder what's more useless the first week of NCAA regional rankings or the list of which pool C teams got left at the table on selection sunday? 

Oh, definitely the first regional rankings!

They'll be forgotten by next week (except for UWW being #4 the first rankings of last year, and probably UMU being #3 this year! ), but selection 'snubs' can provide fuel for years to come!

[02 Warhawk]

I have a quick question about regional games.  Why does DIII put so much stock into what a team does "regionally"? to me a win is a win in DIII....it shouldn't matter if you traveled 400 miles to get the W, or 100 miles. But for whatever reason the win 100 miles away has more impact than the win that accured 400 miles away.

I'm by no mean critizing the selection process for Pool C bids, I was just curious why that was.

[ADL70]

That is a question I have been asking for at least two years and no one has provided a reasonable justification.  It's also true that a win 400 miles away can have more impact than one 205 miles away.

[Ralph Turner]

I have a quick question about regional games.  Why does DIII put so much stock into what a team does "regionally"? to me a win is a win in DIII....it shouldn't matter if you traveled 400 miles to get the W, or 100 miles. But for whatever reason the win 100 miles away has more impact than the win that accured 400 miles away.

I'm by no mean criticizing the selection process for Pool C bids, I was just curious why that was.

Part of the core values of D-III is to remain locally focused.  Missed class time is an anathema to intercollegiate athletics in D-III.

This works well in the north and east, basically in Ohio and north and east.  D-III doesn't want athletic programs over-emphasizing travel.  A trip from Massachusetts to California is just that. It does not give an advantage over the schools that do not have the travel budget when determining the post season.

For those of us in the western half of the country, and where a minority of D-III is located, the distance restrictions make less sense.  The compromise that was passed to assist us in the less densely populated areas of D-III was when the NCAA accepted NCAA Administrative Regions as one criterion for "in-region".  That lets WIAC, NWC and ASC schools to get in-region games.

The FAQ has the four administrative regions where the NCAA is basically divided evenly in quarters.

FAQ

[K-Mack]

D-III doesn't want athletic programs over-emphasizing travel. 

And when Ralph says that, it's not somebody in an office telling D-III what to do and what not to do. It's the member instiutions who set that agenda, and tell the selection committees what rules to follow.

Missed class time is mentioned; also small institutions on tight budgets have reason to want to de-emphasize travel. They put their money where their mouth is, so t speak, by attempting to reward teams for staying close to home when given a choice.

That just happens to make more sense in sports besides football, where there are more opponents (420+ sted 230+) and more flexibility in scheduling.