Quote from: deiscanton on March 19, 2026, 07:12:04 AMToday, March 19, 2026, NYU will attempt to tie the 62 game consecutive title defense streak of the Women's Belt^TM that was set by former NCAA DIII school Thomas More during the period from March 20, 2015 (when the Thomas More Saints defeated Tufts in the NCAA DIII national semifinals in the 2015 tournament-- but was later forced to vacate the entire 2014-15 season and the Walnut and Bronze ^TM that went with it due to violations of NCAA player eligibility rules.   However, by previous precedent set on the men's side, Thomas More was not stripped of what was then called the Diva Belt^TM) to March 4, 2017-- when Hope defeated Thomas More in the second round of 2017 NCAA DIII tournament.)

The Violets will be facing the one team this season that is more than capable of ending NYU's title streak with a bang-- the Scranton Lady Royals.   As the #1 contender to the Women's Belt^TM this season, the Lady Royals have not lost a single game this season-- as a matter of fact, no DIII women's basketball team has even taken the Lady Royals to the final 2 minutes of a ball game this season.   The Lady Royals even managed to defeat an ACC team in an exhibition match this season.  (Pitt with a #265 NET rating this season being that team-- which would only make the win a Quad 4 win were the Lady Royals a DI team, but by DIII standards, an equivalent of a Quad 4 win is still very impressive).

The D3 Datacast computer has NYU as a 5 point underdog today-- predicting a Scranton victory tonight by a score of 71-66.   While the Massey computer still favors NYU, it has a scenario in a best of 7 series where Scranton could defeat NYU by 17 points in the third game of that series.   

If Scranton manages to capture the Women's Belt^TM this evening, the Lady Royals will end NYU's streak of title defenses at 61 games, #2 overall in Women's Belt^TM defenses.

As a side note, NYU's DIII consecutive game winning streak in either gender would end at 91 games tonight if Scranton defeats NYU at the Cregger Center this evening.

The main event is on ESPN+ from the Cregger Center at 7:30 PM ET this evening, and it is the game of the day on both the men's and women's sides of the DIII basketball tournaments today. 

Does D3 Datacast take bets on the games? Holy cow, I feel like that would be easy money.

Oh my, where has the time gone! No posts from last weekend? How dare I! But a fun weekend of sectional games where I think UWO started to find a groove. No worries on my end, and my parking spot was waiting for me each day. Today's games should be fun for sure. Not much (free) video I could find on Denison. They are sure handsy on defense. Will be interesting to see if that plays a factor. UWO needs to control the boards for sure. But I think it is a 5 point game either way. And they will shoot. 2000+ shots on the year? Yikes. No wonder their rebounding numbers are high.

And then there will be the other game. Two undefeateds. One hasn't lost since about 1987. Yawn.

Quote from: PauldingLightUP on March 14, 2026, 12:08:23 PMUAA v WIAC Saturday!

Can LX shock the world?

Looks like some great Sectionals this weekend (except maybe for the Cupcake Invitational at NYU). Chicago/Hope......wait, isn't that a TV show?.....should be a battle. I see Hope eeking one out by about 4. UWO/WashU will be a battle as well. Epic matchup in the post. I think whoever doesn't go for shot fakes will win that battle. Of the games I was able to see, WashU might be at a slight disadvantage in the backcourt. I think it will come down to 2 things: Stay out of foul trouble, and don't give up easy points on inbounds plays. Might seem like an obvious thing, but in the 4 games I was able to watch, WashU got 6-10 easy points per game on inbounds plays. Eliminating that would be a huge thing for UWO. And now to leave early so I can get my parking spot. Maybe I can catch a few episodes of Chicago Hope on demand.

Fun weekend at Kolf for the first 2 rounds. Webster came in and really eliminated any kind of rhythm UWO wanted to get into, but Oshkosh was able to get it done. SMU started off hot but WLC ended up being too much for them to handle in the end. On Saturday, Oshkosh got it done in the paint and at the FT line to grab the Sweet 16 spot. Will be interesting to see how this weekend will go. Hopefully Oshkosh can start to click on all cylinders. But now my favorite pastime for the week: Watching film!

Also, anyone else see the yearly mystery as to why officiating changes so much when we get to the NCAAs? Needless to say, some of the crews left a little to be desired.

Quote from: badgerwarhawk on March 01, 2026, 11:50:26 AMHere's some information from Datacast:
           NPI      ALR
Oshkosh     69.49    2
WW          63.67    10
Platt       62.25    18
RF          60.23    14

NPI: National Power Index
ALR: At Large Rank

These aren't official but it's looking like, with LaCrosse as the AQ, we're a 5 bid league.  I seems odd that RF ALR is better than Platt's with Platt having a higher NPI

I think there may be a mix-up with ALR and Overall Seed in your list. UWO should be ALR 1, WW 4, PLT 8

Quote from: scottiedawg on February 28, 2026, 08:23:11 PMI bet the committee will avoid the UW-Oshkosh v. UW-Superior regular season rematch and put the SLIAC winner against the Titans.

You know it has been a long day when I totally forgot about that game........and I was at that game.

I'll make the first bracket prediction: UW-Superior plays Oshkosh in the first round.

But the scheduling is going to be interesting. Regions 7 and 9 have 23 likely teams in the tourney, with 8 in the top 16, though I believe UWLX can't host if men are in line to host.

And, as always, sorry to the 4 West Coast teams.

Oof. Not a 4th quarter to remember in Oshkosh. 1-10 from the floor, and LX hit the big ones. WIAC Tournament final has been the elusive one. But, I think it comes down to the parking spot. 0-2 when I don't get my lane. Might have to head to the Bookstore as well this week to get some new gear for the NCAAs. Best of luck to all the teams selected Monday.

Little bit of a battle in the first before UWO was able to pull away from RF last night. Titans got hot from deep to extend the margin, then had a comfortable second half. Checked the other game at halftime, and I'm not sure LX had missed a shot yet. Should be a fun one tomorrow at Kolf. I tried to get the band to start a "Let's Play Football" chant in the 2nd half, but no dice. Looks like WIAC will be a 5-bid league.

D3 NPI rankings as of now:

UWO - 1 AQ
UWW - 7 Pool C1
UWP - 16 Pool C5
UWL - 26 Pool C11
UWRF- 38 Pool C20

What a difference a parking spot makes. UWO jumps out to a 9-0 lead, RF gets it down to 2 at 13-11 before the Titans pull away. A bit more energy in this game than Wednesday's game. Couldn't get a "let's play football" chant started, either.

Quote from: scottiedawg on February 05, 2026, 09:35:54 AM

Quote from: Voice of the Titans on February 05, 2026, 08:13:45 AMbut the difference was the fact that UWP got 80% of the 50-50 balls, and took full advantage. Something like 19 second chance points on 13 offensive boards. When you're getting 40% of your points on a second effort, that's huge when 90 total points are scored.

YUP. I feel like Platt saved at least 3 balls going out of bounds, turning that into an offensive board and continued possession. Their effort was VERY VERY high.

About 2:15 to go, UWP missed a shot, scrambled for control, missed another shot, scrapped for another rebound, kicked it out to Mackiewicz who canned a 3 to go up 4. That let a lot of air out of the building.

Tough one at Kolf last night. I'll take my portion of the blame.....even though I got there earlier than usual, someone took my parking spot. First game all year in a different spot. Could have altered the outcome. As for the actual game, points were at a premium. UWO missed a good number of bunnies, but the difference was the fact that UWP got 80% of the 50-50 balls, and took full advantage. Something like 19 second chance points on 13 offensive boards. When you're getting 40% of your points on a second effort, that's huge when 90 total points are scored. Back at it on Sunday.

Rare road trip for me last night to Whitewater, with the obligatory stop at The Waypoint (before or after the game?). A very "oof" Q1 for the Titans, but I think the last minute of Q2 was the key. Being able to cut it from 9 to 5 (great song, as well) was big. Forcing 4 Turnovers and 0-5 shooting to end Q3 didn't hurt as well.