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Coverage of the women's Final Four

2005 season

2005 NCAA women's tournament basics

Who's in? Alvernia Baldwin-Wallace Bowdoin Brockport State Cal Lutheran Calvin Chestnut Hill Colby-Sawyer Denison Edgewood Emmanuel Franklin Frostburg State George Fox Greensboro Howard Payne Ithaca Maine Maritime Mary Washington Messiah Millikin Mount St. Mary Randolph-Macon Richard Stockton Ripon Rockford St. Benedict Salem State Scranton Simpson Southern Maine Springfield Staten Island Trinity (Texas) UW-Stout Washington U. Webster William Smith

When are the selections announced?
Selection Sunday is Feb. 27.

Who goes to the tournament?
Fifty teams go to the tournament — 39 conference champions, 7 runners-up from those conferences (Pool C) and 4 teams who are not in those 39 conferences (Pool B).

What conferences
receive automatic bids?
Automatic bids are awarded to the champions of:
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference: Frostburg State
American Southwest Conference: Howard Payne
Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference: Chestnut Hill
Capital Athletic Conference: Mary Washington
Centennial Conference:
City University of New York Athletic Conference: Staten Island
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin: Millikin
Commonwealth Coast Conference: Colby-Sawyer
Empire 8: Ithaca
Great Northeast Athletic Conference: Emmanuel
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference: Franklin
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Simpson
Lake Michigan Conference: Edgewood
Liberty League: William Smith
Little East Conference: Southern Maine
Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference: Salem State
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Calvin
Middle Atlantic Commonwealth: Messiah
Middle Atlantic Freedom: Scranton
Midwest Conference: Ripon
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: St. Benedict
New England Small College Athletic Conference: Bowdoin
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference: Springfield
New Jersey Athletic Conference: Richard Stockton
North Atlantic Conference: Maine Maritime
North Coast Athletic Conference: Denison
Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference: Rockford
Northwest Conference: George Fox
Ohio Athletic Conference: Baldwin-Wallace
Old Dominion Athletic Conference: Randolph-Macon
Pennsylvania Athletic Conference: Alvernia
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Webster
Skyline Conference: Mount St. Mary
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Cal Lutheran
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference: Trinity (Texas)
State University of New York Athletic Conference: Brockport State
University Athletic Association: Washington U.
USA South Athletic Conference: Greensboro
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: UW-Stout

What dates are tournament games?
Wed., March 2: First round
Sat., March 5: Second round
Fri., March 11: Sweet 16
Sat., March 12: Elite Eight
Fri., March 18: Final Four at Virginia Wesleyan College, Virginia Beach
Sat., March 19: Championship at Virginia Beach

Who selects teams in Pool B and Pool C?
The selections are made by the Division III women's basketball national committee, with one member from each region. Each national committee member chairs a regional committee of 4-7 people. This committee produces the regional rankings the last five weeks of the regular season.

How does the committee evaluate strength of schedule?
The Division III Championships Committee approved the following index to assist in the evaluation of teams’ relative strength of schedule (new in women's for 2004):

The index:
• Includes only contests versus regional competition leading up to the championship.
• Is calculated by adding the total number of points and dividing by the number of games.
• Defines a neutral games as being in neither team’s locale and, as such, is awarded as if it were an away game.
• Is calculated for ratings using an opponent’s regional record at the time of the rating and for selection to the championship using an opponent’s final record at the time of selection.

How many teams go from each region?
It doesn't work that way anymore. Now the Pool B and C bids are made on a national basis, meaning it is possible that nine teams could go from the Central and only three teams from the East. Once the 50 teams are selected, they will be grouped into (theoretically) geographically based brackets of six teams each. Two brackets will have seven teams, or one bracket will have eight teams, in order to reach 50.

Why 50 when the men have 48?
There are more Division III women's basketball teams than men's teams. The number of teams in the NCAA tournament in each sport is based on the number of schools that sponsor the sport — one playoff spot for every 7.5 teams. The field in all NCAA Division III tournaments will be expanding in 2006 to one spot for every 6.5 eligible teams, with women's basketball in line to increase to about 62 teams. All new bids will go to Pool C.

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