New-look bracket long overdue By Pat Coleman D3football.com  Eight years after the Division III football playoff structure changed to allow for teams to move between regions and make the postseason brackets more balanced, the NCAA finally produced a bracket that attempted to make that a reality.In a year in which no East Region team presented itself as a strong candidate for the top seed, it had one imported: Mount Union, the nine-time national champions. UW-Whitewater, the top seed in the West region last year and winners of consecutive all-expenses-paid trips to Salem, Va., was moved to the North as a top seed, while Central claimed the top spot in the West. Washington & Jefferson was the top seed in the South. And all I can say is, it’s about time. “We felt like we had a clear top four teams,” NCAA championships committee liaison Wayne Burrow said Sunday morning, “and wanted to make sure they each got a top seed.” I can only hope this is a harbinger of things to come. The walls between regions, which were abolished after 1998, came down finally this season. In the past, the only attempts at competitive balance have come at the bottom of the bracket, with a couple of teams moved across regional lines. How much impact can a No.6 or No. 7 seed have on the strength of the bracket? But moving a No. 1 seed has impact. It’s not as if East Region No. 1 seeds have had anything to write home about. In the history of the expanded playoffs, those teams are 5-8. Back in 1999 we advocated moving a team over to become the top seed in the East. Lycoming was available, sitting as the No. 2 seed in the South, and is a heck of a lot closer to the East Region than Mount Union is. (In 1999 the MAC was in the South Region.) It seems this year’s committee placed a stronger emphasis on teams in strong conferences, as well. The WIAC went through some years where it was underrepresented in the NCAA playoffs but this year the conference actually got a gift – not just a second team in the playoffs but another chance to win two first-round games. The OAC runner-up has always gotten extra respect because teams have to play Mount Union in the regular season. And the Empire 8, well, two at-large bids says a lot for what that conference looks like these days. The old committee might well have given Curry the No. 1 seed based on its 11-0 record. The committee also split up teams in the two strongest conferences. UW-Whitewater and UW-Eau Claire are on opposite ends of the bracket and could meet in the Stagg Bowl, as could Mount Union and Capital. Now, admittedly, there are dangers in all this. Where do we fall down the slippery slope toward subjective rankings and going back toward the old days? The less political the process is, the more open it is. And the more open the selection process is, the easier it is for teams to know what they need to do to get in. So bravo, NCAA. But be careful. | |
| Permalink | Nov 11, 2007 | |
We pick: Who's in and out? And 1,100 games later, here we are, on the verge of Selection Sunday's release of the 2007 Division III football playoff brackets. This night every year, we go over all the numbers, decide who we think the at-large teams will be, break the 32 teams into four brackets, seed the brackets and pair up the teams. We attempt to emulate the NCAA's process as much as possible, and last year we got every at-large team correct. If you think it sounds simple, it isn't. And with the NCAA adding a different wrinkle to the selection process this season (opponents' winning percentage and opponents' opponents' winning percentage replacing Quality of Wins Index), the job changes a little bit. Will we nail the 10 at-large bids? Find out Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. But these are our picks. Scroll down for more coverage of Saturday's final day of the Division III football regular season. ESPN's Chris Fowler said of The Walk that Williams players take after their homecoming win, "I've covered college football for 20 yrs and the highest level and it was the neatest thing I've ever seen," but that could refer to several things that happened in Week 11. Try the four-overtime thriller that clinched an automatic bid, a two onside-kick comeback that fell just short, another cardiac fourth-quarter rally, rivalries galore and more. | |
| Permalink | Nov 11, 2007 | |
East must scale Mount It's been a long day for Division III fans, after the excitement of Saturday wore down and the thrill of the release of the 2007 playoff bracket. Want to find out who rode the bubble all the way into the postseason? Who is staying home? It's all in the Daily Dose, Post Patterns and on the bracket. It's about time we got a bracket that looks like this, says Pat Coleman. Mount Union moved out of region? That's a first for this format. The NCAA told D3football.com that they wanted to make sure the top four teams got No. 1 seeds and it worked out geographically. You can catch the two-minute version of the selection show rundown on ESPNU's Web site. Also, enter our Playoff Pick 'em Contest and see your name in lights! Why UW-Eau Claire and not Whitworth? Whitworth was higher in the regional rankings entering Saturday's games, but the NCAA committee says the numbers favored Eau Claire after the dust settled. Whitworth had a sizable advantage in regional winning percentage, while Eau Claire had a small advantage in opponents' winning percentage and a bigger advantage in opponents' opponents' winning percentage. Check out the bracket and keep an eye on ESPNews for more Division III coverage. They taped a segment that will run throughout the day. | |
| Permalink | Nov 11, 2007 | |
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