2019 NCAA Tournament

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Start time of the first game on Friday can be anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00 (host team's choice).  Second-round games start at 7:00.  Exceptions can be made by the NCAA in appropriate circumstances, as when Yeshiva played a Friday afternoon game last year, finishing before the start of the Sabbath.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2018-19DIIIMBB_PreChampManual.pdf

We heard rumblings that they may try to spread them out a little bit more throughout the day, but I have no real confirmation on that.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Start time of the first game on Friday can be anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00 (host team's choice).  Second-round games start at 7:00.  Exceptions can be made by the NCAA in appropriate circumstances, as when Yeshiva played a Friday afternoon game last year, finishing before the start of the Sabbath.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2018-19DIIIMBB_PreChampManual.pdf

This actually may change this year ... stay tuned.

We heard rumblings that they may try to spread them out a little bit more throughout the day, but I have no real confirmation on that.

What he said ...

[Inkblot]

Massey and the efficiency ratings both have Augustana as the only top-16 team in the lower right quadrant.

[WUPHF]

I do wish they would start games earlier.  I would probably take a few hours off work to watch.

[Gregory Sager]

While no bracket will ever be perfect, I'd say this is the most balanced D3 tourney bracket I've seen, and it should produce four very high-caliber teams in the Final Four:

Top left has number 2, 8, 11, 14 and 16 teams in most recent D3 hoops rankings. 
Bottom left has 5, 6, 7, 13, 15
Top right has 1, 4, 9, 10
Bottom right has only 3 and 12, so certainly the weakest on paper, but has a lot of teams that may not be highly ranked but who no one would be eager to play (Plattesville, Baldwin-Wallace, New Jersey City, Marietta, Wheaton, Capital).

Massey and the efficiency ratings both have Augustana as the only top-16 team in the lower right quadrant.

Fleshing this out:

Whitman section (upper left quadrant)
d3hoops.com top 25 ranked teams: six (2, 8, 11, 14, 16, 24)
d3hoops.com ORV teams: one
average d3hoop.com rank for section: 21
Massey top 25 rated teams: five (2, 5, 10, 11, 18)
Massey average for section: 64.75

Rochester* section (lower left quadrant)
d3hoops.com top 25 ranked teams: six (5, 6, 7, 13, 15, 20)
d3hoops.com ORV teams: two
average d3hoops.com rank for section: 21
Massey top 25 rated teams: five (6, 7, 13, 17, 22)
Massey average for section: 75.75

Nebraska Wesleyan section (upper right quadrant)
d3hoops.com top 25 ranked teams: eight (1, 4, 9, 10, 18, 21, 22, 23)
d3hoops.com ORV teams: two
avearge d3hoops.com rank for section: 20
Massey top 25 rated teams: eight (1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 21)
Massey average for section: 60.19

Augsutana section (lower right quadrant)
d3hoops.com top 25 ranked teams: three (3, 12, 17)
d3hoops.com top 25 ORV teams: five
average d3hoops.com rank for section: 23
Massey top 25 rated teams:  five (3, 19, 20, 24, 25)
Massey average for section: 65

*Otherwise known as the Amherst-masquerading-as-Rochester-due-to-the-women-getting-first-weekend-preference section

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I hate to say it as a voter, but I'm not sure the D3hoops.com Top 25 is the best judge of the brackets this year.  Maybe if we did a Top 50.

[nescac1]

Looking holistically at all the competing data, the Nebraska Wesleyan bracket is clearly the strongest and by a decent margin, but not ridiculously out of whack with the others.  The other three brackets look essentially even with one another.  That's pretty darn good, given geographical constraints.   Maybe they could have flipped the Wooster and Oshkosh pods, and then moved the Oshkosh pod down to the bottom of the Augustana bracket (with the Oswego pod moving up to where the Wooster pod is now).  Other than that, looks quite solid. 

[fantastic50]

Based on my computer rankings (of best teams, not most deserving of tournament bids), here is a similar breakdown...

Top left (Whitman) bracket
Top 25 teams: Five (2, 7, 13, 18, 22)
Top 50 teams: 7
2nd 50 teams: 5
Sub-100 teams: 4

Bottom left (Rochester) bracket
Top 25 teams: Four (6, 8, 9, 17)
Top 50 teams: 9
2nd 50 teams: 4
Sub-100 teams: 3

Top-right (Nebraska Wesleyan) bracket
Top 25 teams: Nine (1, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 24)
Top 50 teams: 10
2nd 50 teams: 4
Sub-100 teams: 2

Bottom-right (Augustana) bracket
Top 25 teams: Five (3, 15, 20, 21, 25)
Top 50 teams: 10
2nd 50 teams: 4
Sub-100 teams: 2

It's pretty clear which one is the toughest (though it could have been worse this year.)

[fantastic50]

Looking holistically at all the competing data, the Nebraska Wesleyan bracket is clearly the strongest and by a decent margin, but not ridiculously out of whack with the others.  The other three brackets look essentially even with one another.  That's pretty darn good, given geographical constraints.   Maybe they could have flipped the Wooster and Oshkosh pods, and then moved the Oshkosh pod down to the bottom of the Augustana bracket (with the Oswego pod moving up to where the Wooster pod is now).  Other than that, looks quite solid.

I think that the Wooster pod's placement (and even Wooster hosting at all) could have been influenced by geography.  It gives a plausible sectional host that everyone can reach, since Augustana is more than 500 miles from either Marietta or Oswego.  However, if Aston Francis puts up 50 points and ousts Wooster, which seems quite plausible, then Augie flies to Marietta for the second weekend.

[nescac1]

Ahhh, makes sense fantastic50.  So if things go according to chalk, who will be the four likely hosts in the sectionals? 

[Gregory Sager]

Looking holistically at all the competing data, the Nebraska Wesleyan bracket is clearly the strongest and by a decent margin, but not ridiculously out of whack with the others.  The other three brackets look essentially even with one another.

My thoughts as well. Even Ryan, a Top 25 voter, admits that the d3hoops.com poll is probably a little off, so I disregard the poll's implication that the Augustana section is weak. The various data ratings (including Drew's) seem to have three of the four sections fairly even, with the Nebraska Wesleyan section, while clearly the strongest, not quite making it up to Bracket of Death standards.

[fantastic50]

Ahhh, makes sense fantastic50.  So if things go according to chalk, who will be the four likely hosts in the sectionals?

Hamilton (with both Whitman & CNU having to fly in)
Amherst (RMC can drive)
North Central (Guilford must fly, but NWU can drive)
Wooster (Augustana can drive, barely, by way of Fort Wayne)

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I put it in the Preview, which isn't out yet, but Oshkosh shouldn't have to play St. John's that early, but they did lose their conference tourney, so you get what you get.  The problem, in my eyes, is that it's not a reward for SJU either.  I can see them not wanting to put the MIAC champ against the CCIW champ, but I do think switching SJU and Loras would've made it a little better.

That quadrant is the toughest, for sure.  Augie's is the easiest, but the difference isn't too great - and certainly better than we've seen in the past.  Augie also may have to go on the road in the second weekend, which definitely make things trickier for them.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie's section is perhaps the easiest in terms of there being fewer top-notch teams, but in terms of the overall collection of sixteen teams it's not any easier than the Rochester or Whitman sections. In fact, it grades out slightly tougher in both Drew's and Ken Massey's ratings.

[Greek Tragedy]

I put it in the Preview, which isn't out yet, but Oshkosh shouldn't have to play St. John's that early, but they did lose their conference tourney, so you get what you get.  The problem, in my eyes, is that it's not a reward for SJU either.  I can see them not wanting to put the MIAC champ against the CCIW champ, but I do think switching SJU and Loras would've made it a little better.

That quadrant is the toughest, for sure.  Augie's is the easiest, but the difference isn't too great - and certainly better than we've seen in the past.  Augie also may have to go on the road in the second weekend, which definitely make things trickier for them.

I really think Oshkosh, and to a lesser extent, St. John's, really gets punished for not hosting. I believe if it wasn't for the women hosting, Oshkosh would've been playing at home this weekend.