Win or go home
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Pool A bids: No. 8 Hardin-Simmons (8-1, 7-1 ASC), No. 10 Trinity (8-0, 4-0 SCAC)
Both conference leaders have what should be clear sailing to their respective conference championships. Hardin-Simmons is at Texas Lutheran (4-4, 4-5 ASC) and Trinity is at home to face Millsaps (2-5, 1-4 ASC).
A loss by Hardin-Simmons would probably be fatal to the Cowboys’ postseason chances. Trinity could very well get in but would lose home-field advantage with a loss.
Pool C bids: No. 9 Mary Hardin-Baylor (7-1, 6-1 ASC), DePauw (7-1, 5-0 SCAC)
Both these teams might have won their conference outright if not for Hurricane Rita. Mary Hardin-Baylor destroyed McMurry (5-4, 4-4 ASC), and I guess piling it on a defenseless team to the tune of 72-0 is what you need to do to prepare for the postseason. One shudders to think what the Crusaders will do against an Austin (1-8, 1-7 ASC) squad that finally got its first win in over a year just two weeks earlier. DePauw’s challenge is substantially more formidable. The Tigers clinched at least a tie for the SCAC championship when they rolled over Rose-Hulman (5-4, 2-3 SCAC) by a 60-21 count. However, thanks to Rita, DePauw and Trinity never met, and the next tie breaker, overall losses, goes in Trinity’s favor if TU can defeat Millsaps. DePauw, ranked No. 10 in the South Region last week, probably clinches a Pool C bid if it can upset No. 19 Wabash (9-0) in this week’s Monon Bell rivalry. This is the first time in many years that the Bell game has had playoff implications for both teams. Wabash is possibly a No. 1 seed should it win on Saturday.
A loss by either team eliminates them from playoff consideration, but it’s incredibly unlikely UMHB has anything to worry about.
Still in the picture, needs help: Huntingdon (7-1)
The Hawks just keep on winning, but the five-point loss to Trinity may be enough to keep them out of the playoffs. A good win on Saturday at Westminster (Mo) won’t help as the game wasn’t “in region.” Hell, there’s hardly anything within 200 miles of Montgomery, so about the only chance these guys will ever have of making the playoffs as an independent is to go undefeated, which even the NCAA couldn’t ignore. It hardly seems fair, which once again points out the stupidity of a selection system that assigns significantly more value to games played against geographically “close” opponents. This may (arguably) be a decent idea in basketball, but it’s nothing but stupid in football. It’s time to count all Division III games equally, regardless of distance between teams. If anything, games played out of region should count for more, not less. You try traveling from Texas to Oregon and see how easy it is to win.
In the meantime, Hawks supporters — if ever you wanted a good reason to join a conference with an automatic qualifier, you have one.
Win a close one, drop in the polls?
Interesting to note that this was the second time this year that Trinity (Texas) won a game and yet dropped a position in the D3football.com’s Top 25. I don’t mind teams being dropped in the polls when they win less than impressively, but I’d like to see this applied to all teams winning in such fashion. I didn’t see Delaware Valley go down when they had a one-point win (of course, it was the same week Ithaca lost ahead of them), nor Occidental who has had no fewer than three single touchdown wins.
The polls don’t “matter,” because we have playoffs, but at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt voters to be a little more consistent. And, yes, I did graduate from Trinity 20-odd years ago.
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce
It’s Sunday evening as I write this, and in about twelve hours I hop on a plane for some company business. You didn’t think any D3football.com paid the bills, certainly? The result is that I just don’t have the time to talk about DePauw-Wabash. Keith McMillian will be going to the game and will file a full report on the lunacy that is the Monon Bell rivalry. I may even try to take in the game from afar at a local watering hole. The game will be telecast nationally on DirectTV channel 321.
It also means that all I have time for in this week’s column is the “meat.” There are lots of other stories worth covering, but I still have to pack and sack before getting up a 3 a.m. on Monday. Sorry.
My personal, not related to the NCAA “South” Region Top Five:
1. No. 10 Trinity
2. No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor
3. No. 9 Hardin-Simmons
4T. Huntingdon
4T. DePauw
Honorable mention: Howard Payne (6-3, 6-2 ASC)
72-0 is nice but I’m still keeping the team on top that has yet to lose a game. DePauw seems to have found their offense this week and for that I’ve elevated them into a tie for fourth with Huntingdon.
PS to Ferrum fans: your team isn’t eligible for the list above. You want the Around the Mid-Atlantic, which covers your conference and those nearby. I understand you’re in the top three over there.
Next week
We’ll do a post-mortem on the regular season and look at what the playoffs will hold, besides the likely usual Texas Triangle.
Questions, comments, and story ideas are always welcome: ron.boerger@d3football.com.