Just posted some graphs on Twitter, and figured this was the best board to post them to on here. Should come as no surprise that the WIAC has the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. Given that and their projected winning percentage in those games, the conference should be setup nicely to assist any 8-2 (or "7-2" of you play a non-DIII opponent) teams in getting an at-large bid to the playoff.

I have heard the same, if APU wanted in the SCIAC...they need to play football. I can't verify if true.
Obviously admin's commitment is key for any school, but APU has some real potential given its size, enrollment criteria, location, and facilities/programs.

Glad the league will be back to 8 teams, help keep travel cost down overall.

Inquiring minds want to know! 😉 LOL.

Cortland

Traditional opener against Rochester with SLU on the same weekend. Added Vassar this year which should be a good one.  17 games this season which is light compared to years past.

People are getting so scarce here, and especially in the offseason. 

One of the reasons cited for Oregon's budget issues is relevant to a lot of DIII schools

QuoteIn a town hall Monday, University of Oregon President Karl Scholz said it appears unlikely that state funding will make up for the drop in out-of-state tuition from California students, as well as the reduction in international students.

He said new data showing lower than expected enrollment, paired with high pension costs and federal funding uncertainty, have put the university in a difficult position.

Most DIII schools are not state schools where there is a difference in tuition rates for in-state and out-of-state students, but many of them are in states or areas with declining populations and they have been looking to highly populated states like California, and to international students, to make up for those shortfalls.  To me, that's the band-aid solution for the demographic cliff too.  The problem with relying upon international students is that they may have their visas denied for political reasons and even if they don't, the threat may keep them away.  That leaves trying to draw students away from highly populated places like California, but that's a hard sell for many schools without deep discounting.  More California students are staying in-state now and those that leave, aren't leaving for the liberal arts colleges in large numbers.  Still, I've seen tons of schools recruiting for students in California these days, and not just for athletes. I've even heard of coaches being under orders from their college admission departments to bring in a few kids from California just to try to establish a foothold there.

But you can bet they'll find the money for sports and NIL for the athletes!

Quote from: justafan12 on June 09, 2025, 09:27:07 AMSomeone please explain to me how a player can be national player of the year and not even be the player of the year in her own conference.  D3 awards can be a bit strange at times.

One year the national player of the year was only a 2nd team AA. 

Guessing it was because she was the national player of the year last year when her team won the national title, and whoever voted this year did so with name recognition as a primary factor.

But from a more hypothetical standpoint -- these things can happen if a player has a great postseason that elevates them above where they were a month earlier. It could happen if a conference votes solely on conference games and ignores great performances by players in the non-conference portion of their schedule.

I am guessing you're referring to 2016 with the other oddity? I do see that was the first year they had a national player of the year, and perhaps they didn't have all of their procedures in place. They didn't have anyone from UT-Tyler on the first team to choose from -- the mistake is probably not having Batten on the first team in the first place, rather than elevating her to player of the year after she posted an 0.29 ERA in the supers and World Series.

DI troubles at Oregon:
Top University of Oregon administrators said layoffs, program cuts and hiring freezes could be on the horizon to manage a $25.7 million budget deficit.

Centre shirt in a park in Newport News, Va