Thursday, March 23, 2023

Should The NCAA Expand Hoop Brackets?

 

written by STEVE ULRICH
your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III

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TOP STORY

1. Should The NCAA Expand Hoop Brackets?


  
by Eric Prisbell, On3.com


"Since the NCAA men’s tournament bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the structure of one of the jewels in the American sporting landscape has undergone only a nip and tuck here and there. 

Could it be destined for a head-to-toe makeover?

As the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 awaits later this week, one question hovering is whether its days as a 68-team event are numbered. The NCAA’s Division I Transformation Committee’s report in January recommended that sports with a high number of teams increase the number of participants in championships to 25 percent. With 363 Division I men’s basketball teams, that equates to expanding to 90 teams."

>> Court Awareness: "Rewind to 2015, when NCAA officials faced a pivotal moment. Do they extend the original 14-year deal with valued partners CBS and Turner? Or do they hold off and take the event to the open market when the contract expired in 2024? Industry conditions were uncertain, with the cord-cutting trend under way and the streaming movement coming into focus. Ultimately, the NCAA signed the eight-year extension in 2016 and viewed the $8.8 billion figure as impressive. But upon further review, the decision is now widely viewed as a costly, ill-advised one. Just how much did the NCAA leave on the table?"

>> Reality Check: "The NCAA is projected to be shorting itself an average of some $546 million each year from 2016 through 2032. According to Navigate, the NCAA signed an extension with a relatively small 3 percent growth rate. But had it taken the event to market, based on the competitive environment for sports rights eight years later, it could have secured a deal with a 6 percent growth rate."

>> Of Note: "Unless expansion triggers CBS/Turner to re-open the deal – and the understanding is that even expansion wouldn’t re-open it – there may not be a mechanism that enables the NCAA to make up that financial ground, so to speak, in the wake of the 2016 decision."

>> What We're Hearing: “A terrible idea,” said a veteran TV source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of sensitive industry relationships. “If you think regular-season men’s basketball has limited media value now, expanding the tournament might just wipe it out completely. Why bother to watch the regular season if everyone is going to make the tournament?"

>> Continue Reading

A MESSAGE FROM CHI ALPHA SIGMA
 
 

Chi Alpha Sigma is the only national scholar-athlete society that celebrates four-year collegiate student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom and in athletic competition.

Founded in 1996 and with 320 active chapters nationwide, Chi Alpha Sigma recognizes undergraduate college student-athletes who participate in a sport at the varsity intercollegiate level, achieve junior academic standing or higher after their fifth full time semester, and earn a 3.4 or higher cumulative grade point average.

To apply for your chapter today contact Executive Director, Kellen Wells-Mangold, at kellen@ncahs.org or visit chialphasigma.org.
BASEBALL

2. Nothing Is Cold Like Spring Baseball Practice Cold
  

11 Must Have Cold Weather Gear Items for Sports Parents
by Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal


"Spring is nearly here, and with it, the reliable rituals of the season: longer days, colorful blossoms, the delightful return of songbirds and, of course, people completely freezing off their behinds at baseball practice.

Ballplayers, former ballplayers, coaches and parents in our northern and Midwest states are familiar with this time-honored, teeth-chattering, existence-questioning experience. Little League clubs, travel outfits, high school teams return to the baseball diamond, full of vigor and optimism…only to be confronted by practices that feel like they’re happening on the frozen surface of Neptune.

There is no cold like spring baseball practice cold. I don’t care if you’ve summited Everest, traipsed the Antarctic, finished the Iditarod or just emerged from an ice bath with Wim Hof."

>> Why It Matters: "If you’ve ever rudely hit a foul ball off the end of a bat on a 39-degree afternoon and felt your hands go instantly numb, as if they have snapped entirely off your body—well, that’s it, I guess I don’t have hands anymore—you know what I mean."

>> Reality Check: "I haven’t even gotten to the parents, who have the worst job of all: sitting there. You can always tell the experienced spring baseball parents. They’re the ones who show up with thermoses, whiskey, generators, electric blankets, earmuffs and firewood. You haven’t been a baseball parent until you’ve wondered: Would I be a bad parent if I just went and sat in my car? Just for, like, 20 minutes?"

>> The Final Word: "Spring baseball is more like stepping into a refrigerated meat truck and hanging there, among the prime rib."

>> Read More

ALUMNI

3. Morrow Carries Underdog Mindset From DIII to NFL
  

Greenville University Football on Twitter: "Nicholas Morrow signs an UDFA  deal with the Oakland Raiders. So excited to watch his career take off!  #EMAP #SilverNBlack #D3fb https://t.co/5wzKiceNpE" / Twitter
by Josh Tolentino, Philadelphia Inquirer


New Eagles linebacker Nicholas Morrow’s NFL journey is atypical.

After he paid his own way to play at Division III Greenville University in rural Illinois, 50 miles east of St. Louis, Morrow arrived in the league as an undrafted free agent, signed by the Raiders in 2017.

Morrow was on the field for every single one of the Chicago Bears’ defensive snaps (1,086) this season. In turn, Morrow led the Bears in tackles with 116 and was second with 11 tackles for loss. It was the first time in over six seasons that he started in every game. He’s hoping to repeat that feat and more with the Eagles."

>> Field Awareness: "Morrow is one of a select group of players to progress from a DIII to the NFL and continues to use that underdog mindset in his daily approach."

>> Quotable: “In DIII, there’s no scholarship,” Morrow said. “You’re paying to play. There’s not that many people watching you play. There’s not that many incentives. So you just play for the straight love of the game. You’re working because you want to play next to your brothers and because you want to compete."

>> Keep Reading

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GOLF

4. On The Tee


Hamilton Men's Golf to Play in NCAA Division III Championship - New England  Small College Athletic Conference 

The spring golf season is underway and the traditional powers find themselves ensconced in their usual location - the top 10 of the GCAA, WGCA and Golfstat rankings.

Men - GCAA

  1. Christopher Newport (8)
  2. Methodist (2)
  3. Emory (1)
  4. Piedmont
  5. Carnegie Mellon
  6. Wittenberg (1)
  7. Illinois Wesleyan
  8. Washington and Lee
  9. Claremont-M-S (1)
  10. Oglethorpe
Men - Golfstat
  1. Emory
  2. Christopher Newport
  3. Methodist
  4. Wittenberg
  5. Guilford
  6. Carnegie Mellon
  7. Claremont-M-S
  8. Piedmont
  9. Oglethorpe
  10. LeTourneau

>> Notable: Emory posted a 15-stroke victory over eight of the top-10 teams in the GCAA poll in last weekend's Jekyll Island Collegiate, including CNU and Methodist. Look for the Eagles to move into the top spot in the next coaches' poll.

>> Complete GCAA Poll (as of March 3)
>> Complete Golfstat Rankings (as of March 21)


Women - WGCA
  1. Emory (12)
  2. Redlands
  3. George Fox
  4. Washington U.
  5. Carnegie Mellon
  6. Washington and Lee
  7. Texas-Dallas
  8. Claremont-M-S
  9. Methodist
  10. Pomona-Pitzer

Women - Golfstat
  1. Emory
  2. Redlands
  3. Washington U.
  4. George Fox
  5. Carnegie Mellon
  6. Pomona-Pitzer
  7. Texas-Dallas
  8. Washington and Lee
  9. Claremont-M-S
  10. Saint Catherine

>> Complete WGCA Poll (as of March 17)
>> Complete Golfstat Rankings (as of March 21)
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STREAMING

5.  Thursday's Watchlist


What we're watching today online.

  WLX#1 Middlebury (6-0) vs. #3 TCNJ (7-0), 4:00
  MLXCentre (5-1) vs. Pfeiffer (8-0), 4:00

NEWS

6.  Lightning Round 


  News

  Wrestling (W)

  • North Central's Yelena Makoyed is one of five finalists for the first USA Wrestling Women's College Wrestler of the Year. The award will be selected by a vote from three major constituent groups: wrestling journalists, women’s college head coaches and the fans. Each of these groups will account for one-third of the vote.
  Baseball  Basketball
  • Vote for Benedictine's Marv Agwomoh in the 2023 State Farm Dark Horse Dunker competition, a social media fan voting competition featuring 16 of the nation’s top under-the-radar players from all levels of college basketball.
  Happy Birthday
  • Cake and candles for Brent Ridenour, head soccer coach, Franciscan; and Erin Monahan, head basketball coach, William Paterson
Do you know someone celebrating a birthday soon? Drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Administrative Committee Meeting Recap

 

written by STEVE ULRICH
Everything you need to know about NCAA Division III, delivered to your inbox 5x per week.
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TOP STORY

1. Administrative Committee Meeting Recap
 



The Division III Administrative Committee met on March 7.

The new Financial and Risk Management Working Group was assigned one of its first priorities to be an assessment of the division. Assessment areas may include evaluating the division’s overall financial value; assessing the value proposition of the national office for Division III conference offices, institutions, and student-athletes; and evaluating the organizational effectiveness of the Division III governance structure.

The committee reviewed funding enhancements being considered that would improve the student-athlete experience at championships. Enhancement concepts include exploring bracket expansion with a consistent access ratio applied to Pool C berths and providing sport committees the flexibility to add one or two flights during the selection process to protect higher-seeded teams within regions to avoid matchups in the preliminary rounds.

The following committee appointments were approved: Committee of Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports - Jami Clinton, UT-Dallas; Management Council - Keiko Price, Emory; Membership Committee - Amy Carlton, American Southwest Conference; SAAC - Myora Slaughter, Rosemont.

Elsewhere

  • The membership may submit a proposal to increase the size of select championship brackets (e.g., football championship bracket).
     
  • The NCAA Board of Governors delayed the implementation of phase three of the current transgender student-athlete policy. The NCAA will continue to implement phase two while the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports evaluates the current policy, and in particular, the impact of Phase III.

>> Read More
A MESSAGE FROM CHI ALPHA SIGMA
 

Chi Alpha Sigma is the only national scholar-athlete society that celebrates
four-year collegiate student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom
and in athletic competition.

Founded in 1996 and with 320 active chapters nationwide, Chi Alpha Sigma recognizes undergraduate college student-athletes who participate in a sport at the varsity intercollegiate level, achieve junior academic standing or higher after their fifth full time semester, and earn a 3.4 or higher cumulative grade point average.

To apply for your chapter today contact Executive Director, Kellen Wells-Mangold, at kellen@ncahs.org or visit chialphasigma.org.
SOFTBALL

2. Core Four at Top of Poll


Emma Nagy - WPI Softball 2023
Abby Nagy, WPI


Despite falling from the ranks of the unbeatens, Salisbury remained atop the latest NFCA Division III softball poll, while Christopher Newport, Trine and Texas Lutheran were locked in at 2-3-4.

  1. Salisbury (10), 17-1
  2. Christopher Newport, 11-3
  3. Trine, 10-2
  4. Texas Lutheran, 13-2
  5. Case Western Reserve, 14-0
  6. Virginia Wesleyan, 12-4
  7. East Texas Baptist, 16-1
  8. Berry, 18-4
  9. Linfield, 14-2
  10. Randolph-Macon, 9-3

>> Unbeatens: There are six unbeaten teams in DIII softball according to NCAA Statistics as of March 20 - Case Western (14-0), UW-Oshkosh (12-0), Cortland (6-0, Tufts (6-0), Elmhurst (4-0) and UW-Whitewater (4-0).

>> Chicks Love The Long Ball: WPI's Emma Nagy and Haverford's Abby Marquis both had three-HR games last week. Nagy blasted a trio vs. Johnson and Wales, while Marquis drilled three vs. Cabrini.

>> Lynchburg 2B Sarah Watts and RHP Angela Sperandeo were named the NFCA Division III Player and Pitcher of the Week.

>> Complete Poll
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SWIMMING

3.   Academic All-Americans


8605

Johns Hopkins junior Kellen Roddy was named the Academic All-American of the Year as the College Sports Communicators released their 2023 Division III Academic All-America men's swimming and diving team.

Roddy, who has a 3.98 GPA as a chemical and biomolecular engineering major, helped the Blue Jays to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships as he won his second consecutive national title in the 1650 freestyle race. He also added a fifth-place finish in the 500 freestyle. Roddy has been named an All-American six times in his career. 

The Division III Academic All-America® team had a 3.90 average GPA with the first team boasting a 3.92.

First Team
Drew Albrecht, Kenyon, Sr., 3.98, Molecular Biology
Jack Grabinski, Saint John's, Sr., 4.00, Biology & Environmental Studies
Roderick Huang, MIT, Soph., 4.00, Mathematics / Computer Science
Arthur Kiselnikov, Chicago, Sr., 3.73, Business Economics
Jake Meyer, Emory, Jr., 3.88, Business Administration
Tobe Obochi, MIT, Jr., 3.84, Computer Science / Engineering
Forrest Peterson, Calvin, Jr., 4.00, Engineering
Spencer Pruett, Kenyon, Sr., 3.94, Physics
Kellen Roddy, Johns Hopkins, Jr., 3.98, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Jesse Ssengonzi, Chicago, Jr., 3.72, Computer Science / Economics
Kyle Staubi, WPI, Sr., 4.00, Biomedical Engineering
Brandon Stride, Johns Hopkins, Sr., 3.97, Computer Science / Mathematics

>> Complete Team

BASEBALL

4.   Eastern Connecticut On The Move



Matt Malcom, Eastern Connecticut | photo by Kodiak Creative

Eastern Connecticut jumped three spots into the No. 2 position just behind top-ranked Birmingham-Southern  in this week's D3Baseball.com poll.

  1. Birmingham-Southern (19), 20-2
  2. Eastern Connecticut (6), 10-1
  3. Baldwin Wallace, 13-2
  4. Salisbury, 13-3
  5. Shenandoah, 16-2
  6. UW-Whitewater, 4-0
  7. UW-Stevens Point, 5-2
  8. Endicott, 8-2
  9. Johns Hopkins, 12-2
  10. LaGrange, 14-5

>> Taking Them Deep: Franklin IF Matt Earley became the fifth DIII player to hit three home runs in a game on Monday vs. Trine. Nichols OF Brennan Hyde, Puget Sound 1B Dylan Joyce, Emory OF Ellis Schwartz and N.C. Wesleyan 2B Jackson Hobbs are the other members of the elite group.

>> Running Wild: Bates leads the nation in stolen bases per game, swiping 37 bags in eight games. Brevard, Fitchburg State, Tufts and Union are also recording four steals per outing.

>> Complete Poll
VOLLEYBALL (M)

5.   No Movement In Top 10



Patrick Mahoney, Loras


Same list, different week. The top 10 teams held their spots in the latest AVCA Division III men's volleyball poll.

  1. Stevens (20), 25-2
  2. Vassar (3), 15-1
  3. Juniata, 20-2
  4. Springfield, 18-2
  5. Messiah, 17-2
  6. Carthage, 13-4
  7. North Central (Ill.), 15-3
  8. St. John Fisher, 19-5
  9. NYU, 11-5
  10. Southern Virginia, 12-2

>> Spreading the Wealth: North Central's Tyler Donovan leads the country in assists per set (10.40) with Vassar's Jacob Kim right on his heels (10.38). NYU's Ryan Li is the only other setter with more than 10 helpers per set (10.02)

>> Right Back At Ya: Loras' Patrick Mahoney tops the DIII charts in blocks per set (1.404), while Vassar's Tristan Christofferson is second (1.350).

>> Matches We're Watching: #2 Vassar vs. #9 NYU (Sat.); #8 St. John Fisher vs. #11 New Paltz (Sat.); 

>> Complete Poll
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STREAMING

6.   What We're Watching
    NEWS

    7.   Lightning Round  


       Wrestling

       Swimming
    • The CSCAA announced its award winners and All-Americans for the 2022-23 season. Williams' Sophia Verkleeren and Emory's Ariana Khan were honored as female Swimmer and Diver of the Year, respectively, while Whitman's Tanner Filion and Kenyon's Israel Zavaleta won for the men.

      Lacrosse (W)

      Volleyball

     Track and Field

      Happy Birthday

    • Cake and candles for Juli Fulks, head basketball coach, Transylvania; Libby Ladrach, associate AD, Wooster; and Jeff Schaly, assistant AD, Marietta

    Do you know someone celebrating a birthday soon? Drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com.
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