Quote from: oldknight on November 04, 2025, 07:31:38 PM

Quote from: calvin_grad on November 02, 2025, 03:45:13 PMI don't know anything about D3 football, but with Calvin's 50-20 win over Olivet yesterday, they have guaranteed themselves a winning season in just their second year of football.  This seems like a pretty big accomplishment.  Long ways to go before they are challenging the teams at the top of the league, but win 1 of their last 2 games, and they will finish 4th with a 7-3 record, 4-3 in conference.

When Calvin announced the beginning of football at the school, I asked a knowledgeable person at Calvin how long it would take for one of its teams to have a winning record in a season. "Five years" was the answer I got. Both Trent Figg and the Calvin community should be delighted to see this prediction was far too pessimistic.

Pessimistic indeed, as we learned from Trent Figg in our preseason chat with him ahead of the program's third season that his goal was for his first class to leave the program with a winning record. The success of year two has them on track to meet that goal. Full conversation available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5fA4Koa7ic

Quote from: Inkblot on August 27, 2026, 04:27:56 PMManchester is following Defiance's lead and going NAIA. https://crossroadsleague.com/general/2026-27/releases/20260827odmtxb

There is a slight southward shifting of the conference's footprint when you consider the departures of Defiance and Manchester combined with the addition of Berea. It also leaves Bluffton, a sub-1000 student/low endowment institution for which the current climate in higher education has been particularly difficult, as the northern-most outpost.

That is all the more interesting with rumors that Centre could be considering their options with uncertainty surrounding the SAA.

Brennan Elling has flipped from Kalamazoo to Calvin.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DcRpS9JPO2K/?igsi=MTZydmg3cG9rajlmYw==

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on August 17, 2026, 10:15:22 AMI guess -- I didn't follow that you were talking about someone only enrolled for one year.

You would figure that player would be there if we continue talking about year six, but at that point Player C would be replaced by Player D.

So we're still ever only talking about one seat per year, the only thing that changes is how long a student athlete might occupy that seat. One seat = one tuition payment, regardless of who is "sitting" in that seat.

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on August 16, 2026, 09:35:58 PM

Quote from: ziggy on August 16, 2026, 06:49:09 PM

Quote from: stlawus on August 16, 2026, 03:42:33 PMIf the goal of making d3 5 to play 5 in order to retain enrollment because of decline, it feels like that's mutually exclusive with the schools that have enrollment issues.  Most of the schools in that situation do not have graduate school options.  It feels like a very dangerous game dangling an extra year of competition in front of a 21/22 year old since many are highly likely to want to play an extra year of competition against bottom tier teams even it means another year spending tens of thousands.  There is going to be someone who spends an additional $30k or so in order to play against Goucher.

There is no net impact on enrollment if roster sizes are the same. One roster spot is one enrolled student regardless of how long that student occupies the roster spot.

Is it, though?

One roster spot for four years is four student-athlete years. One roster spot for five years is, well, five.

You...just made my point?

Player A has a four year career, graduates and the roster spot is replaced by Player B in year 5.
vs.
Player C has a five year career and occupies a roster spot for five years.

From an enrollment/tuition standpoint over five years, Player A + Player B = Player C.

Quote from: stlawus on August 16, 2026, 03:42:33 PMIf the goal of making d3 5 to play 5 in order to retain enrollment because of decline, it feels like that's mutually exclusive with the schools that have enrollment issues.  Most of the schools in that situation do not have graduate school options.  It feels like a very dangerous game dangling an extra year of competition in front of a 21/22 year old since many are highly likely to want to play an extra year of competition against bottom tier teams even it means another year spending tens of thousands.  There is going to be someone who spends an additional $30k or so in order to play against Goucher.

There is no net impact on enrollment if roster sizes are the same. One roster spot is one enrolled student regardless of how long that student occupies the roster spot.

Interesting read focusing on the real estate side of recent closures in higher education: https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/shuttered-colleges-selling-only-asset-113009535.html

Updated following news of the UEC absorbing the AEC on July 1, 2027

Provisional Pipeline for 2026-27 (now confirmed)
3rd year provisional members: Carlow, Penn State-Brandywine
2nd year provisional members: Regent, Johnson and Wales (NC)
1st year provisional members: Azusa Pacific (reclassification from D2), St. Francis (PA) (reclassification from D1)
Exploratory year: Maine-Augusta

Provisional Pipeline for 2027-28 (expected)
Full Membership: Carlow, Penn State-Brandywine
3rd year provisional members: Regent, Johnson and Wales (NC)
2nd year provisional members: Azusa Pacific (reclassification from D2), St. Francis (PA) (reclassification from D1)
1st year provisional members: St. Anselm (reclassification from D2)

*Games against Year 3 provisional members count the same as games against full-members for NPI and tournament selection purposes

Conference Changes Starting in 2026-2027
Alfred State leaves the AMCC for the SUNYAC
Alverno (Women only) leaves the NACC for the C2C
Anna Maria (MASCAC) closes
Azusa Pacific joins the SCIAC (full D3 member 2028-29 academic year)
Luther leaves the ARC for the MWC
Maryville leaves the CCS for the SAA
Marywood leaves the AEC for the MAC Freedom
McMurry leaves the SCAC for the ASC
Neumann leaves the AEC for the MAC Commonwealth
New Jersey City leaves the NJAC for the CUNYAC merges into Kean (no NJCU NCAA D3 athletics)
Rosemont (UEC) ceases athletics (merging into Villanova)
St. Francis (PA) joins the PAC (full D3 member 2028-29 academic year)
Schreiner leaves the SCAC for the ASC
SUNY Cobleskill leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
SUNY Delhi leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
SUNY New Paltz leaves the SUNYAC for the NJAC
Valley Forge (UEC) closes
Wesleyan (Ga.) (Women only) leaves the D3 for NAIA
Virginia Wesleyan becomes Batten University (effective July 1, 2026)
Expecting 42 automatic bids, 22 at-large bids (C2C loses MBB AQ)

Conference Changes Starting in 2027-2028
Centenary (N.J.) joins the UEC (AEC absorbed)
Concordia (WI) leaves the NACC for the CCIW
Gwynedd Mercy joins the UEC (AEC absorbed)
Immaculata joins the UEC (AEC absorbed)
Keuka leaves the Empire 8 for the AMCC
Marymount joins the UEC (AEC absorbed)
Millsaps leaves the SAA for the SCAC
Pratt leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC
St. Anselm joins the NEWMAC (full D3 member 2029-2030 academic year)
St. Elizabeth leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC
Southwestern leaves the SAA for the SCAC
Vermont State Castleton leaves the LEC for the MASCAC
Expecting 41 automatic bids, 23 at-large bids (UEC absorbs AEC, C2C remains without MBB AQ)

Quote from: sac on August 07, 2026, 08:55:39 AMHope schedule
https://athletics.hope.edu/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Pretty solid.

Cool to see St. Thomas making a trip up.

Quote from: Kuiper on July 27, 2026, 05:30:44 PMHere is more information on the FloSports Channel, which is not limited to college sports

https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/07/22/flosports-launches-free-streaming-channel-on-prime-video/

As someone who let Amazon Prime lapse, I can confirm that the new FloSports channel is indeed available for free. Within Prime Video (accessible through the Prime Video app or website) is a set of free channels that don't require any sort of membership or subscription to be able to stream - like their version of Pluto TV, for those who are familiar with that platform.

Will this move the needle in a meaningful way for Division III? I'm not so sure given it is just one channel showing one thing at a time and there is so much under the Flo umbrella that there is a lot of competition for airtime. I haven't been able to find much in the way of a schedule of events but in the limited amount I have tried to access the channel I have seen replays of FCS football, D1 softball and D1 women's basketball (some not even from the past season). It will be interesting to see how things play out this fall when hopefully they lean more into live games and week-of replays.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on July 16, 2026, 08:40:00 AMThe SCAC has extended their Flo partnership through 2031, a two-year extension.  The release claims a 78% YoY increase in "total live viewership" in the second year of the contract recently ended, though (of course) no mention is made of the drastic reduction that took place the previous year.

I am a little surprised we are seeing conferences already agreeing to extensions rather than taking more of a wait and see approach. However, the wording of the SCAC release suggests to me that it is perhaps an avenue to get more out of the deal than they were initially.

QuoteAs part of the extension agreement, SCAC member institutions will have full access to the FloSports Production Suite, a comprehensive collection of hardware and software tools developed exclusively for FloSports partners.

Quote from: TUAngola on July 09, 2026, 05:25:51 PMTrine MBB schedule has dropped  https://trinethunder.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

It's a whopper of a non-conference lineup, only 1 game against a team that had a losing record last year, plus the 2 TBD games in Vegas will be against quality teams.  4 home games, 2 road games, and 5 neutral court games in non-conference action.  Nothing too crazy schedule wise in the MIAA as the power teams are all spread out for the most part (Olivet, Hope, Calvin). 

(N) Oswego State 23-5
(A) Case Western 12-13 or Kenyon 10-15
(H) UW Eau Claire 14-11
(H) UW Oshkosh 17-9
(H) Anderson 18-10
(A) Ohio Northern 18-9
(H) UW Stevens Point 19-8
(N) Dubuque 18-10
(N) Saint John's 16-11
NABC Vegas - TBD
NABC Vegas - TBD

Trine will play Redlands in Las Vegas. It's a tournament format so their other opponent will be determined by what happens between Elmhurst and Emory.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on July 01, 2026, 12:47:06 PM

Quote from: Kuiper on July 01, 2026, 12:22:40 PMGiven the growth of the C2C in Virginia/North Carolina with the additions of J&W Charlotte and Regent (once the latter fully transitions), I wouldn't be too surprised if they ditch UC Santa Cruz and Alverno and just form a conference of their own.  It's too bad because UCSC doesn't have a lot of options for conferences that would take them given their size and public status.  They likely would have to go independent, but they play as an independent for regular season scheduling already.  Alverno is only restarting athletics and has a lot of nearby options if they can get somewhat competitive.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure that Alverno will cease to exist within the next few years, making a quest for a new conference affiliation a moot point. If somehow the school beats the odds and manages to survive, it's likely to be without athletics. The Inferno have mostly been awful across the board when it comes to sports in the quarter-century-plus that they've been D3, and I don't think that they were any better when they were NAIA before that. More to the point, fielding full rosters has been a chronic problem for them over the years, so it doesn't seem like the school has ever tried to use athletic recruiting as an admissions tool.

It seems to me Alverno only serves as a matter of short-term convenience for the C2C anyway as it allows them to retain at least retain their AQs for women's sports. The men's side has exhausted their grace period and now has to wait until Regent and JWU Charlotte are fully countable. It may sound callous but Alverno's status is rather superfluous to the league at that point.

I know the C2C is controversial but I'm glad it exists as it does to at least provide some kind of option of last resort. It would be a shame to see Santa Cruz kicked to the curb. If that does happen, maybe they would be an interesting travel partner with Colorado College in the SCAC?

Happy July 1, the day on which most (all?) of the conference changes for the 2026-2027 become official.
I was reminded of this thanks to the New Paltz X account: https://x.com/NewPaltzMBB/status/2072321095835783376

Quote from: BaboNation on June 03, 2026, 12:23:21 PM

Quote from: ziggy on June 03, 2026, 10:47:54 AM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on April 24, 2026, 10:45:30 AMThere's nobody in the NEWMAC who shies away from competition.  Maybe CGA, Emerson, and Salve could do a little better, but they're not dragging anybody down.  The teams need to be good enough to win some of those games, but you've got a lot of serious programs and serious coaches.  I don't think it'll be an issue for NPI.

In strict NPI terms, if you go 0-5 in your toughest non-conference games, you over-scheduled. If you go 5-0, you may have under-scheduled. A conference's at-large chances really comes down to each team in the league being able to find and perform at their sweet spot waaaaay more than whether a conference schedule is 14 or 16 or 18 games.

I just think that as the number of conference games increase and as the number of non-conference (discretionary) games decrease the overall strength of the conference can play a big factor, good or bad.  And the overall strength of the conference can be measured by how well you do in those discretionary games, which are ideally against reasonably good teams.  If too many teams within the conference find their sweet spot in the 225+ rankings they'd better do well in those games.

Right, a conference game is by definition a .500 outcome for the league as a whole whereas two teams playing non-conference games could go 1.000 (or 0.000). Playing fewer non-conference games would be a positive for a conference that would otherwise aggregate a below .500 mark in those games and a negative for a conference whose teams would combine to go better than .500.

Regardless of the number, at-large chances really come down to having a depth of teams that can stack up as many wins as possible against as good of competition as they can get them. *Almost* any win is better than any loss.

It's in a team and conferences best interest to have all non-conference schedules tuned to the appropriate level to balance risk and reward.