Saw this on Twitter/X: https://my.omeda.com/portal/report/EmailPreviewDeploymentExternal.jsp?aW5Ccm93c2VyPXkmU3BsaXRJZD00NDE2OCZFbnZpcm9ubWVudElkPTEyNTY4

"The Q-Cast's Bob Quillman reports a 'very successful UAA MBB program' is seeing a 73% drop in total viewership in its first year on FloSports, with total minutes watched down 56% and viewership of its top five games falling by 70%. Quillman adds that a current top 25 men's basketball program is seeing viewership fall from 704 to 177 and women's basketball viewership fall from 437 to 90. (link, link, link); Willamette Director of Athletic Communications Chris Sabato adds via X: 'This is unsurprising and not unexpected. What's also unsurprising is the average view time probably increased 200x. Unfortunately this is a long play and we won't know the actual effects for several years.' (link)

"'In a statement to D3.ticker, FloSports notes: 'These figures are inconsistent with our data and any historical comparisons are not an apples-to-apples exercise. On average, viewership is multiples beyond what Mr. Quillman shared, with top games more than 10x those viewer numbers on the FloSports platform. Historically, FloCollege partners see a rise in viewership for live and on-demand events, with added lift from 'Game of the Week' broadcasts on social media, highlights, and broad editorial coverage across our channels. As with all our partners, we constantly review viewership data to identify areas for improvement, noting that these improvements come over time on the platform. FloCollege is a tireless advocate for Division III sports, evidenced by a multi-million dollar commitment to help the schools, teams and athletes in this space unlock their full potential. We are always exploring new ways to support our partners and look forward to engaging Mr. Quillman around our shared goal of growing the game at the Division III level.'" (link)

^^^ I just found this article, which provides a bit more detail.

https://cardinalnews.org/2026/01/27/averett-finalizes-sale-leaseback-deal-for-athletic-campus/

It includes this: "Averett may repurchase the facilities at any time for the original sale price, according to the university's announcement. Under the terms of the sale and leaseback, the $18.15 million price will be paid over three years. Averett will lease the campus for a maximum of $7.45 million over 10 years.

"Under the leaseback agreement, Averett will have first priority to use the property, but the announcement Monday noted that the university, DRF and RIFA will "explore additional ways to utilize the property for the benefit of the region," which could include sporting events and concerts."

So the purchasers appear to be wanting to help the university and the region and see the possibility of other entities renting them as well, to help offset the cost of the acquisition.

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on February 15, 2026, 07:33:46 PM

Quote from: y_jack_lok on February 15, 2026, 07:33:03 PMForgot to mention that when the Averett starters were introduced at RMC yesterday, they were four sophomores and a freshman. The next couple of seasons look bright for the Cougars.

If the school stays open!

Yeah, that's an issue, but they're working on it. https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/01/29/averett-university-enters-salelease-back-agreement/

Forgot to mention that when the Averett starters were introduced at RMC yesterday, they were four sophomores and a freshman. The next couple of seasons look bright for the Cougars.

RMC split the season matchups with Averett, avenging the loss in Danville 86-50. Another game where all available Jackets got playing time, no one played more that 25 minutes, and scoring was spread out among 13 players.

Guilford needs a win over either Averett or Shenandoah to lock up the final conference tournament slot. The winner of Wednesday night's EMU vs Shenandoah game will still have a shot if Guilford loses at Averett.

Congrats to the Webster Gorloks and Coach Bunch on setting a new record for most wins in a season by notching win #21 today vs Greenville. Webster had won 20 games in a season four times previously, all under Coach Bunch.

Today's win was also #15 in a row, which could also be a new Webster record.

Quote from: hasanova on February 12, 2026, 01:14:03 PMHuge road win for the Quakers last night.  In a 12-team conference where only the top 8 make the tournament, even #8 is still a pretty good team.  Raise your hand if you want your team to play Guilford in the first round.

I don't know how the coaches and players might feel, but I'd accept that challenge for RMC since it would be a home game for the Jackets. A semi-final or final round game in Salem is another matter.

Guilford gets a win at Roanoke last night, separating them by two games from Shenandoah and EMU for the 8th spot in the tournament. EMU kept its hopes alive, though, by downing W&L in OT. They'll likely have to win out vs Lynchburg, Averett, and Shenandoah (with whom they are currently tied at 4-9). It now seems less likely that there will be two or more teams tied at 6-10.

RMC got off to a fast start last night and Shenandoah got off to a slow start. The Jackets had an 18-point lead after seven minutes. From that point on it was a pretty competitive game, but RMC was able to add a bit to its lead the rest of the way. Only one Jacket played more than 18 minutes. All 17 players saw action and 13 of them scored.

The next two games, both at home, give RMC the opportunity to go 1-1 on the season vs Averett and VWU and lock up the #1 seed in the conference tournament.

Quote from: hopefan on February 11, 2026, 08:02:09 AMSo here is the ugly truth..

Webster is running away with the conference championship...they could finish 23-2, 16-0

BUT... what happens if they get upset in the conference tourney... highly unlikely that they will get a NCAA tourney bid

Webster is currently at #75 with an NPI of 57.953, so pretty close to a zero chance that they will get an at-large if they don't win the SLIAC tourney. Also, going 16-0 in conference is still going to be tough with three of four games on the road to conclude the season, and the home game being Greenville, who they were lucky to beat earlier. The final two games are at Lyon and MUW, who are #2 and #3 in the standings and who played the Gorloks tough in Grant gym. And I'm not overlooking tonight's game at Eureka. Anything can happen.

^^^ Thanks for sharing that. I've been wondering how those low and mid level D1 schools fit in to what's happening. I also wonder what the NCAA as a whole is going to look like as time goes on.

Re: Guilford. Three of their four remaining games are against teams above them in the standings. I think you are right, that the final team in the tournament, whoever it is, will finish at 6-10. And I think there could be a tie-breaker involved.

^^^ Great analysis there. With no mention of Bridgewater or EMU, are they mathematically out of the picture for sure? Bridgewater sure surprised me with their win at Averett. The do have tough games ahead -- home vs VWU and RMC and on the road vs EMU and W&L. But four wins (cough, cough) would put them at 7-9. EMU is home vs W&L and Shenandoah and away vs Lynchburg and Averett. A slightly easier slate than Bridgewater. Winning out (clears throat) would also put the Royals at 7-9. Is 7-9 likely to be the worst record of a team that qualifies for the tournament? I'm asking because figuring this stuff out is too big a challenge for me.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on February 07, 2026, 10:17:27 PMwith Liam Joyce receiving some nifty passes and having a perfect shooting game (9-9 fgs, 6-6 fts) for 24 points.

This seems to me like a D3hoops.com Team of the Week caliber performance. I hope whoever needs to do something to make that happen takes notice and acts on it.

A good game in Crenshaw. I hadn't seen UMW play except for the end of their game vs Yeshiva and brief look-ins on a couple of random games. So I wasn't familiar with them or their players. They are a good team and it's easy to see why they are ranked so highly. Robinson, their leading scorer, had early foul trouble and only played eight first half minutes. He did play all 20 minutes in the 2nd half but wound up with only seven points, all from the free throw line, going 0-10 from the field for the game. Kudos to the Jacket defense, limiting a 25ppg scorer to so few shots.

UMW's defense made it tough for RMC to get inside looks in the first half, but that got corrected in the second half, with Liam Joyce receiving some nifty passes and having a perfect shooting game (9-9 fgs, 6-6 fts) for 24 points. Overall RMC hit on 15 of 24 two-pointers and 12 of 21 threes making 60% of their fg attempts along with 85% of their free throws. Tough to beat a team when it shoots so well, even with the Eagles taking 10 more shots than the Jackets.

-- VWU ties RMC for first place in the conference with its win at Randolph.
-- Roanoke gets a road win at EMU.
-- Bridgewater hands Averett a rare home loss by a surprising 13 points.
-- W&L squeaks out a one point home win over Guilford.
-- H-SC, still short-handed, handles Shenandoah in Farmville 73-64.
-- Lynchburg had the day off.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on February 02, 2026, 06:49:23 PMD3 Datacast has Mary Wahington at Randolph-Macon on Saturday as its game of the week, with RMC as a 10.5 point favorite. Seems to me that their computer needs tweaking. They seem to agree. They were surprised to see such a huge spread and both picked UMW to at least keep it to a single digit game, though neither mused about the possibility of the Eagles actually winning. But I'd just call it a tossup.

But, that's getting ahead of things. First the Jackets have to get past H-SC on Wednesday.

RMC by 11.