Who should get a pool B bid?
Friday, April 20th, 2007uessing the at-large bids is one of the mental exercises that D3 fans can play entering the last month of the season. We usually have the official handbook available by now (The updates to the 2006 handbook have yet to be published) so as to know how many Pool B and Pool C bids will be awarded.
If we assume no change from the 2006 allocations (which may be inaccurate because of the conference shifts involving the Lake Michigan Conference, the North East Athletic Conference, and the North Atlantic Conference), we should have 7 Pool B bids and 14 Pool C bids.
In 2006, these seven Pool B bids were awarded to: Aurora, Cal State East Bay, Chapman, St Scholastica, Ithaca, Salisbury and St Joseph’s (Maine). Two more schools from “Pool B” earned an at large bid in Pool C, Emory and Washington (Mo.), both of the UAA. What a difference a year makes.
Aurora, competing in the new Northern Athletics Conference (NAthCon), is having trouble this year. Cal State East Bay is off. York (Pa.) and not Salisbury is the top seed in the Capital AC post-season tourney. St Joseph’s (Maine) is competing in the North Atlantic Conference, which is expected to earn a Pool A bid in 2007.
St Scholastica is ranked #5 in the Midwest Region. The Saints are 17-3 with half of their season remaining. They play in the Upper Midwest AC, a conference that is moving its membership through the provisional stages, so not every conference game will count in the eyes of the committee this year.
Dominican won the Lake Michigan Conference (LMC) tourney in 2006 to earn that conference’s Pool A bid. Aurora from the old Northern Illinois Iowa Conference (NIIC) got a Pool B bid. But, any Northern Athletics Conference team that has NCAA hopes must look to Pool B and C this year and next. Edgewood is ranked 8th in last week’s ABCA rankings at 17-8 overall/9-3 in conference. The NAthCon tourney will be held May 11-13, but no bid awaits the winner, only the chance to rack up wins that may look better to the Regional Evaluation Committee.
Out west, Chapman continues to lead the West Region and is probably secure in that ranking. Pencil in Chapman for a bid. The only curiosity around the Panther fandom is whether Chapman hosts the West Regionals again.
This is at least ten teams looking for possibly 7 spots. Things will change next Tuesday with new regional rankings. And, when the 2007 Handbook is released, we will know if the number of Pool B bids has increased, decreased or remained the same. Keep tuned.
