Automatic Qualifiers and At-Large Teams
The Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship consists of a maximum field of 21 teams, of which 14 are determined by conferences (Pool A) that receive automatic qualification (AQ). The 21 teams are placed in two brackets and are geographically paired whenever possible. The AQ conferences are:
North Evaluation Region
Commonwealth Coast Conference
Empire Eight Conference
Liberty League
Little East Conference
New England Small College Athletic Conference
North Atlantic Conference
Pilgrim League
Skyline Conference
State University of New York Athletic Conference
South Evaluation Region
Capital Athletic Conference
Centennial Conference
Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation
Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
See conferences for members and current standings.
Three berths (Pool B) are reserved for true independents and teams from conferences that do not receive an automatic qualification. Four berths (Pool C) are reserved for teams remaining from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their AQ berth. There are no set minimum or maximum berths from one region. Evaluation regions are as follows:
| North Region |
|---|
| Conferences with AQs | Pool B Teams |
|---|
Commonwealth Coast
Empire 8
Liberty
Little East
NESCAC
North Atlantic
Pilgrim
Skyline
SUNYAC
|
Cazenovia
Green Mountain
Keuka
*Lyndon State
Medaille
Merchant Marine
*Mitchell
*Morrisville
St. Joseph's (Me.)
Wells
*not eligible for the
2008 championship
|
| South Region |
|---|
| Conferences with AQs | Pool B Teams |
|---|
Capital
Centennial
Middle Atlantic
ODAC
PAC
|
Adrian
Catholic
Christopher Newport
Colorado College
Denison
Drew
Fontbonne
Goucher
Greensboro
Hendrix
Kenyon
Moravian
Mount St. Joseph
Oberlin
Ohio Wesleyan
*Saint Vincent
Scranton
Sewanee (U. of the South)
Susquehanna
Tri-State
Washington & Jefferson
Whittier
Wittenberg
Wooster
*not eligible for the
2008 championship
|
Pool B and Pool C berths are determined by the Division III Men's Lacrosse Committee by examining results within the evaluation regions outlined above. Berths from Pool B and Pool C will be selected on a national basis, using regional selection criteria.
There will be no predetermined regional allocations for Pool B and C.
Primary Criteria for Selecting At-Large Teams
All of the following primary criteria, which emphasize regional competition, are considered, but not in priority order:
- Win-loss percentage against regional opponents
- Strength of schedule vs. regional opponents (opponents' and opponents' opponents' avg. winning percentage)
- In-region head-to-head competition
- In-region results vs. common regional opponents
- In-region results vs. regionally ranked teams
Ranked opponents are those ranked at the time of the selection process only. Conference postseason games are included. Contests versus provisional and reclassifying members in their third and fourth years are counted.
Secondary Criteria for Selecting At-Large Teams
If an evaluation of the primary selection criteria listed above does not result in a decision by the committee regarding at-large selections, the following secondary criteria are reviewed (although not in priority order). Results against out-of-region Division III opponents as well as those in other classifications (i.e., provisional teams, NAIA, and the other two NCAA divisions) are used here.
- Out-of-region head-to-head competition
- Overall Division III won-loss percentage
- Results vs. common non-Division III opponents
- Results vs. Division III ranked teams
- Overall win-loss percentage
- Results vs. all common opponents
- Overall Division III strength of schedule
Miscellaneous Selection Information
Input is also provided by regional advisory committees. However, coaches' or other polls or rankings are not used by the selection committee. Teams must play at least 10 regular-season games again Division III opponents in order to be considered for selection. To be considered for Pool B or Pool C selection, an institution must play at least 50% of its competition against Division III in-region opponents.
Although teams are assigned to evaluation regions, the NCAA considers games versus Division III opponents located within 200 miles of its campus to be "in-region" and part of the primary selection/ranking criteria.
Tournament Pairings
Once selected, teams will be grouped in clusters according to natural geographic proximity and then paired on that basis. A team may be moved to numerically balance the bracket if geographic proximity is maintained.
Teams may be seeded on a regional basis using the regional selection criteria. However, geographic proximity takes precedence over seeding.
Teams from the same conference do not have to play one another in the first round as long as geographic proximity is maintained.
The highest seeded team that meets all selection criteria will be selected as the host institution, provided that geographic proximity is maintained.
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