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Q&A

We answer questions about the 2003 Division III basketball selections

Q&A session
Readers wrote in with questions on Selection Sunday and we did our best to answer them.

Q: Why did RMC and H-S end up in the same bracket if geography is supposed to be thrown out?

A: It's a nationally seeded tournament and the committee felt it had four clear No. 1 seeds that could represent the regions.

Q: How can the NCAA snub a women's team like St. Benedict (24-3), whose 3 losses came by a total of 7 points and were against two tournament teams (Carleton, Gustavus), who the Blazers blew out on their home turf?

A: Well, one thing you have to keep in mind is that margin of victory is never one of the criteria. While it's often a good indicator, it can sometimes be misleading, and it's best to leave it alone.

Let's look at St. Ben's compared to the other two teams in the conference. They lost two head-to-head to Gustavus and couldn't get a bid over them. They did split with Carleton but couldn't go over Carleton because Carleton got the automatic bid.

In our mind last night, while doing the projections, we looked at St. Ben's and Scranton head-to-head and chose St. Ben's. But we very easily could have chosen Scranton. The women's committee did that.

Q: Are Hampden Sydney and Randolph Macon in the same sectional? If so, how can this be if both are in the top four according to the rankings?

A: The rankings done by D3hoops.com and the NABC are not used by the committee to select teams to the tournament, nor are they used for seeding the selected teams. Bottom line, they're too close together to separate. The fact that they don't have them potentially meeting until the Elite Eight shows the great respect the committee had for the two teams.

Q: Why is Ursinus the only team to get a bye in the 1st round and have to play the game on the road?

A: It appears that the committee did not have Ursinus as an eligible team to host a game. The facility may not have qualified, or their paperwork may not have been in order.

Q: How close was Lake Forest to receiving a Pool C bid? They had a great in-region record and lost the conference championship in double overtime.

A: Lake Forest was too low in the last regional ranking to be a serious Pool C contender. We identified about 13 teams for the seven spots that were all ranked No. 4 in the region or higher. Lake Forest was No. 7 in the final Central Region poll.

Q: Why does Whitworth have to travel to play a team they've consistently been ranked above all season? That doesn't make sense.

A: We think that the committee has historically shown some willingness to look at factors other than the straight regional record in seeding the tournament, such as strength of schedule. But we're surprised as well.

Q: Why do you feel the Mississippi Colege Lady Choctaws were left out of the NCAA tournament. Was it the strength of schedule and what do you think it would have taken for them to make it in?

A: With no non-conference games against Division III playoff qualifiers, it's hard to get a good read on Mississippi College. The ASC has self-limited its basketball teams to four non-conference games, and when you're using them to play Judson, Loyola, Messenger and Huntingdon, you are not giving the committee anything to judge you on.

Q: Why did Carthage not get selected?

A: One could assume that the Augustana loss was an issue in comparing them to Rockford. Also potentially wins over teams in the tournament. It would be hard for Carthage to improve on the D-III losses but they could pick up some more wins by scheduling more D-III teams.

Catholic has the edge by beating Mary Washington twice and having a higher D-III winning percentage. With Rockford it's a common opponet thing. Ramapo has a better D-III winning percentage. Stevens Point has a better percentage and win over team in tourney.

Q: Do you think one region is weaker than any other on the men's side or do they all look just as competitive?

A: Well, that top one looks real strong. The third bracket has three potential Final Four teams. The second one has two or three. The first one has six or seven.

Q: If Washington U, Hope, Randolph-Macon, and Hampden-Sydney all win their second round games, who is most likely to host the sectional? What are the factors that would contribute to the decision?

A: Good question. First thought is that the Great Lakes hosted South teams last year so the South would get first crack at it (although that doesn't always happen). And with Hope unable to play tournament games at the Civic Center because of the length of the floor and the size of the on-campus gymnasium, that's double the reason. So that leaves Macon or Hampden-Sydney and Macon would be the higher seed. But Wash U has the best facility of those four.

Q: Why did the Hope women at 28-0 not get a bye from the first round when teams with 4, 5, 6, and 7 losses did?

A: There is apparently something the about Hope's schedule that doesn't fit well with the criteria. There's no readily apparent answer we can come up with. But we did recognize this would happen in our projections because we saw it coming from the regional rankings. Hope will definitely want to find the answer to this question and adjust its future schedules appropriately.

Q: With Grove City being left out of the tournament, is it because of "bad" losses to teams like Dickinson and Frostburg State? Also, what must the President's Athletic Conference do to obtain an automatic bid? Obviously some other teams need to be added, any suggestions?

A: We're not going to suggest specific schools to go after, because heck, it could be considered tampering or something. But the PAC needs a seventh team in order to get an automatic bid. And yes, Dickinson, ouch.

Q: What were the factors that led to the DePauw women being excluded this year? If they had still been in the South region instead of the Great Lakes would they have made the field or had a better chance to make it?

A: Good question. DePauw would have been higher in the regional rankings if they were listed with the South teams, but they would have had five fewer wins and just one less loss, so they would have had a lower record. They wouldn't have been good enough in either region.

Q: How is it that UWEC did not get a first round bye? Their only loss was to a top 5 Division II school and they went undefeated in probably the toughest conference. If they win their first round game will they get to host the second round game being they have a better record than Loras and Chapman? Or will they have to play on a neutral site being both of those schools are located in California?

A: That was a puzzler too. Certainly Eau Claire will host -- they definitely don't want to travel both teams to one neutral site. We think that has to be a geographical reason for Eau Claire playing in the first round.

Q: Why do you think Castleton State women didn't get a Pool B bid?

A: Well, they did go 21-7, but they didn't exactly play a very tough schedule.

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