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| It was an uncomfortable wait for St. John Fisher and fans following the Cardinals' loss in the Empire 8 semifinals, but the team got second life in the NCAA Tournament. St. John Fisher athletics photo |
St. John Fisher received a second lease on life via the NCAA Tournament, one of 20 at-large teams chosen for the 2016 Division III women's basketball Field of 64.
Dave and Pat Coleman successfully projected 19 of the 20 at-large bids on Sunday night in their mock selection, seen live on Hoopsville. For St. John Fisher, it's jubilation, while for DeSales, it's dejection as the Bulldogs were the one team we projected in that the committee chose to leave home.
The committee took the following at-large teams: Tufts; Bowdoin; Rochester; Rowan; Marymount; UW-River Falls; Stockton; Ohio Northern; UW-Stevens Point; Guilford; Denison; NYU; SUNY Geneseo; Christopher Newport; Johnson & Wales; Moravian; Carnegie Mellon; Wartburg; UW-Whitewater; St. John Fisher.
As we mentioned in our projection last night, this was a particularly tough year for teams looking to host. Amherst, Tufts and St. Thomas men all host in the first weekend, preventing their women from being able to do the same. (This priority alternates from year to year.) So the Amherst women are playing at Rowan, a team which deserved hosting rights on its own merit, in our estimation. Tufts' pod is at the Universty of New England and St. Thomas is at UW-River Falls.
On top of that, George Fox was denied hosting privileges because of the NCAA's financial restrictions. But at least they are at UW-Stevens Point, and not sent with the California teams to play at Texas-Tyler. And Lynchburg, the top seed in its pod, is sent to Maryville because of geography.
More analysis to come.
Pat and Dave are on Hoopsville to interview tournament teams and will take your questions but you can also ask them in the comments below.