Scott_TG
Well-known member
At this point, most if not all of the conferences have paused play until Jan 1.
The NCAA announced a proposal to reduce the fields of all DIII championships to 75% capacity, or to just the number of automatic berths if that number exceeds 75% of the field. In the case of DIII WIH, the ten team field at 75% is is 7.5. There are 7 automatic berths (the only conference without one is the WIAC). If they don't round up to 8, the 2021 tournament would leave no mechanism for perennial contentender UW-River Falls or UW-Eau Claire (which has made the tourney the last few seasons) to have a berth to compete for the natty. It would also leave out any of the other WIAC schools should they have a good season.
A WIAC-less tournament could also create an unfair advantage for the MIAC champion. MIAC and WIAC schools usually face off in the first round as the NCHA champ is usually Adrian who is too far away for bussing. That could see the MIAC champion given a bye to the semis by the 500 mile rule alone, even if they aren't the #1 seed in the tourney.
The best thing the NCAA could do is round up to 8 berths and the championship committee gives the WIAC champion the 8th berth, which gets every conference represented.
The fair thing to do in a WIAC-less tournament would be to waive the 500 miles rule if Adrian is the NCHA champion and the MIAC champ is not the #1 seed. The TES shows that Adrian and the usual MIAC contenders (St. Thomas, GAC, Hamline and Augsburg) are about 150 miles over the 500 mile limit, which is only a few extra hours on the bus.
Some other things for a 2020-21 season:
1) CSS head coach Jackie MacMillan has replaced Crystal Lanning (UW-RF AD) as the chair of the DIII WIH Committee. Lanning has served the two year maximum as the chair and has one year remaining on her term on the committee.
2) The selection announcement for the 2021 Tourney will be made at 9 PM ET on Sunday night instead of Monday morning to allow for more preparation.
3) All conferences must go to 3 on 3 OT if tied after regulation.
4) The PWR formula will adjust adjust the RPI weighting within the PairWise formula to 67% for a win and 33% for a loss in games that extend to overtime. This is to balance things out given teams won't play 5 on 5 in OT.
The NCAA announced a proposal to reduce the fields of all DIII championships to 75% capacity, or to just the number of automatic berths if that number exceeds 75% of the field. In the case of DIII WIH, the ten team field at 75% is is 7.5. There are 7 automatic berths (the only conference without one is the WIAC). If they don't round up to 8, the 2021 tournament would leave no mechanism for perennial contentender UW-River Falls or UW-Eau Claire (which has made the tourney the last few seasons) to have a berth to compete for the natty. It would also leave out any of the other WIAC schools should they have a good season.
A WIAC-less tournament could also create an unfair advantage for the MIAC champion. MIAC and WIAC schools usually face off in the first round as the NCHA champ is usually Adrian who is too far away for bussing. That could see the MIAC champion given a bye to the semis by the 500 mile rule alone, even if they aren't the #1 seed in the tourney.
The best thing the NCAA could do is round up to 8 berths and the championship committee gives the WIAC champion the 8th berth, which gets every conference represented.
The fair thing to do in a WIAC-less tournament would be to waive the 500 miles rule if Adrian is the NCHA champion and the MIAC champ is not the #1 seed. The TES shows that Adrian and the usual MIAC contenders (St. Thomas, GAC, Hamline and Augsburg) are about 150 miles over the 500 mile limit, which is only a few extra hours on the bus.
Some other things for a 2020-21 season:
1) CSS head coach Jackie MacMillan has replaced Crystal Lanning (UW-RF AD) as the chair of the DIII WIH Committee. Lanning has served the two year maximum as the chair and has one year remaining on her term on the committee.
2) The selection announcement for the 2021 Tourney will be made at 9 PM ET on Sunday night instead of Monday morning to allow for more preparation.
3) All conferences must go to 3 on 3 OT if tied after regulation.
4) The PWR formula will adjust adjust the RPI weighting within the PairWise formula to 67% for a win and 33% for a loss in games that extend to overtime. This is to balance things out given teams won't play 5 on 5 in OT.
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