April 5, 2014 by Jesse Moskowitz in Analysis with 23 comments
With Richmond and Messiah reinstated after the initial rankings, we finally have concrete results in Division III.
WPI finished the season without a loss and ended up ranked third overall. They seem over seeded but it was enough to earn New England a third bid after it looked like they may only get one. Middlebury, Brandeis, Wentworth, and Bryant will be hunting for their bid.
The Metro East, New England’s neighbor, ultimately couldn’t come up with a second bid. SUNY Fredonia, Stevens Tech, and SUNY Geneseo will duke it out for the lone spot in Ohio. Sunday at Garden State getting cancelled likely hurt the region.
Puget Sound was a top three team but decided to take the D-I path to Nationals. Ranked fourth right now in a one bid Northwest region, it would appear this has to do with their graduation falling on the DIII College Championships weekend. Bentley, Lehigh, and St. Olaf are now the three favorites in DIII.
Lewis and Clark should only have to fend off Pacific Lutheran for a spot at the College Championships.
The Ohio Valley and Atlantic Coast both had surprising seasons and have been impressive. Messiah played Amherst tough on Saturday at Garden State and earned the Ohio Valley its final strength bid. With Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan dropping out, Messiah really helped out the region. Regionals should be a dogfight.
The Atlantic Coast clearly earned their two bids at Easterns. There are at least five teams that can appear to be capable of making nationals.
The South Central, Southeast, Great Lakes, and Southwest all have just one bid. None seems worthy of more.
