Coverage and exposure of NCAA Division III is at an all-time high thanks to people like Karl Barkley. He has created a wide-range of resources and content around Division III athletics such that there is something for everyone no matter how they might intersect the D3 world. D3Direct provides an invaluable resource for prospective student-athletes through things like camp lists, recruiting advice and education about important topics like college admissions and financial aid. Even if you’re not a...
Jun 10, 2024•49 min
After a great 2024 Division III basketball season we have a good idea how the teams stack up against each other, but what about conference to conference? With the help of conference efficiency ratings, the massey ratings, NCAA Tournament results and some good old fashioned internet “yeah but I think” we put each conference into tiers then rank the top ten based on the 2023-2024 season. Where does your favorite conference rank? Tune in to this week’s episode to find out and hear our thoughts abou...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 8 min
We were pleased to be joined by Ben Kaplan to talk about his new book Pipeline to the Pros, How D3, Small-College Nobodies Rose to Rule the NBA. As a former Division III guy himself, Ben is well-positioned to write on this topic. We heard from him on his background and how that may have laid the foundation for this project, the early days of how this project got started and ultimately completed, then dug into some of the central figures of the book and the themes and lessons they reveal as a num...
Apr 10, 2024•39 min
Final Four weekend never disappoints and Fort Wayne was once again a tremendous host. We got great games in a great atmosphere with the National Champion Trine Thunder coming out of the weekend with the greatest performances. Join us as we recap the weekend and give some final thoughts on what was a tremendous season of Division III basketball. This week’s show wraps up with a look back at our Final Four picks and “call your shot” for the championship game then look at the final season-long tall...
Mar 19, 2024•54 min
All eyes turn to Fort Wayne, Indiana as the 2024 Division III men’s basketball season is down to its Final Four. Join us as we go through what remains of the bracket to talk about what we saw during the second weekend of tournament play and highlight some of the great games and great performances. Then it’s time to turn our attention to the final three games to be played - two semifinals and a National Championship game. How does the D3 Datacast computer see the semis playing out? Who does the c...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr
We had upsets and blowouts and everything in between as the 64-team field for the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament has been whittled to the Sweet 16. Join us as we go through the whole brackets to talk about what we saw during the first and second rounds and highlight some of the great games and great performances. Then it’s time to turn our attention to the second weekend of the tournament. How does the D3 Datacast computer see the Sweet 16 playing out? What are the updated od...
Mar 04, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Our last show was all about digging deep into the first round matchups we will see when the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament begins on Friday. Now it’s time to zoom out and take a look at the bracket as a whole. How does the D3 Datacast computer see the tournament playing out? Who are the favorites to advance to the second weekend, to the Final Four and to win it all? There is a lot of fun in seeing the unexpected take place in a college basketball tournament but the only way t...
Feb 28, 2024•41 min
The bids have been awarded and the bracket has been set. It’s time for the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament! To get ready for first round play beginning on Friday we walk through each game using the D3 Datacast efficiency ratings to see how the teams stack up in every first round game and assign win probabilities and point spreads. Find out who the computer ratings see as the favorites in each matchup and which could be sneaky good first round games to keep an eye on as the tou...
Feb 27, 2024•2 hr 32 min
The NCAA Tournament selection show aired on Monday afternoon and we all got a chance to see who made the tournament and where they were headed. Matt and Zac give their initial impressions and reactions to the bracket, the seedings, and selections in an early-week bonus episode! Related Links: NCAA Regional Ranking Data: https://d3datacast.com/regional-ranking-data/ Efficiency Ratings: https://d3datacast.com/efficiency-ratings/ D3 Dunks: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwygaeU-Ysfdm8Vq7cPC...
Feb 26, 2024•30 min
We got the release of the week three Division III men’s basketball regional rankings and for the most part they look a lot like the rankings from our predictions! Even with a lot right there were a few surprises, as there always are when regional rankings are released. Join us as we go region-by-region comparing the official release with our predictions and talk about the big decisions along the way - the ones we got right as well as the ones we got wrong. Related Episodes: Week 3 Regional Ranki...
Feb 21, 2024•31 min
Each week the regional rankings get more and more important and that is certainly the case for the week three rankings as we now enter “once ranked, always ranked” time. Any team that appears in this week’s rankings will count in the results versus regionally ranked opponents primary criteria whether they stay in the rankings for week four or not. We took the updated data for games played through Sunday February 18 coupled with what we feel are some of the lessons we’ve learned from the first tw...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 17 min
The week two regional rankings were released on Tuesday afternoon so it’s time to look back at our predictions and see how we did. For the most part this set of regional rankings was well within our expectation but it always seems like there is a surprise or two and this week was no exception. Join us as we review the second regional rankings and discuss the differences from our predictions and what conclusions we might be able to draw from them. Now that we know how the committee sees the regio...
Feb 13, 2024•23 min
The week one alphabetical regional rankings were fun but we kick things up a notch with a fully ranked set for week two. With updated winning percentages, strength of schedules, results versus regionally ranked opponents to add to the mix and some lessons learned from what we got last week we are back with a new set of predictions for what we think we will see when the new regional rankings are released on Tuesday afternoon. We wrap up with a look back at our week 14 picks and make our picks on ...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 6 min
It’s bonus episode time to take a look at the official first set of regional rankings and compare them with what we had in our predictions episode earlier this week. How did we do? Mostly pretty well! There were some reasons that looked trickier than others so some differences were to be expected. We talk about those differences and make a few observations that could be useful when anticipating future regional rankings. Related Episodes: Predicting the Week 1 Regional Rankings - Episode 67: http...
Feb 06, 2024•30 min
It’s an exciting week on the D3 Datacast as we anticipate the release of the first regional rankings! We’ve crunched the numbers and sifted through the data so all that is left to do is go region-by-region and make our predictions. The official regional rankings for week one will not be a ranked set but will instead be presented in alphabetical order. Our predictions include ranked positions to help determine where we think the hard decisions will need to be made. In some cases the regions look ...
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 20 min
There is a lot of basketball yet to be played but the bubble picture is starting to take shape. In this week’s show we put teams into buckets to describe their chances at an at-large bid to the 2024 Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament should they need it. Things will change over the final few weeks of the regular season but some teams have some margin for error while other teams need to start performing over their season-to-date or projected resumes to keep themselves in the mix as we get d...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Last season saw UW-Whitewater and Nichols make dark horse runs deep in the Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament. Neither team was ranked at all during the regular season but emerged to make legitimate runs. We look back at where Whitewater and Nichols stood at this point in the season last year and try to use them as examples to identify teams that have not been ranked this season that could make surprising runs in this season’s tournament. We wrap up with a look back at our week 11 picks an...
Jan 22, 2024•49 min
There is a lot of ballgame left, so to speak, when it comes to this season and qualifying for the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship. That being said, the developing picture for the national tournament based on season to date and projected rest of season data is letting us develop some expectation on which conferences can expect to be multi-bid leagues. In this week’s show we sift through the current and projected NCAA regional ranking/selection criteria to see which conferences are lock...
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Regional ranking season may still be a ways off but we are far enough into the 2023-2024 Division III basketball season that we can get a feel for which teams might be in the best position to get ranked down the line. It is too early to look at an entire regional picture but in this week’s show we dip a toe into the regional ranking waters. We do so by using the current season to date NCAA criteria data and look at the top three teams in each region. A lot can change over the next few weeks but ...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 20 min
As the Calendar turns to a new year we celebrate the unofficial change from the non-conference schedule to conference play. Using a combination of current conference records and rest of season projections, this week’s show takes a look at what are shaping up to be the five tightest conference races. While our top five was formed based on the razor-thin margins between the top two teams, a few of these conferences are looking very tight at the top even three or four teams deep. We are in for a gr...
Jan 01, 2024•41 min
The thing about having a lot of opinions and making predictions is it turns out some of them are wrong! In this week’s show we go through ten things we thought heading into this season that, at least as of the making of this show, we were wrong about. We also looked back at our week seven picks and make our picks on a new five game slate for week eight. This week’s show wraps up with three questions in the mailbag. If you have something you would like for us to address in next week’s mailbag, le...
Dec 25, 2023•55 min
Now that the majority of Division III men’s basketball teams have played at least eight games the D3 Datacast computer is relying completely on current season data. With that switch flipped it is time to take a fresh look at the ranking landscape from an efficiency ratings perspective. In this week’s show we take a look at the current Top 40 in the efficiency ratings then break it all down to see which teams have the best offenses and defenses. The efficiency ratings review wraps up with a look ...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr
A total of 67 different teams have been named on at least one ballot for the D3Hoops.com Top 25 polls that have been released so far this season. In this week’s show we dig into the efficiency ratings found on D3Datacast.com to see who some of the best teams are that haven’t received any votes. There are seven teams inside the computer rankings top 40 that haven’t found their way onto a Top 25 ballot as of yet. Are these teams being snubbed? Flying under the radar? Ready to sneak up on fans who ...
Dec 12, 2023•57 min
Back by popular demand (probably), it’s our Pool C fantasy draft! The 2023-2024 Division III basketball season is a few weeks old so it’s time to take an early look ahead at how things might turn out at the end of the regular season. Matt and Zac take their shot at an early Pool C projection in the form of a fantasy draft contest. Each host makes eleven picks to be filed away until the real 22 Pool C selections are made. Who will emerge victorious when the actual bids have been awarded and each ...
Dec 04, 2023•54 min
Computer ratings and human Top 25 voters alike are getting caught up as we transition from preseason to in-season rankings. We take a look at some of the notable early-season movers, both up and down, in the computer efficiency ratings as well as Matt’s ballot for the new Top 25 poll out this week. We also looked back at our week three picks and make our picks on a new five game slate for week four. This week’s show wraps up with two questions in the mailbag. If you have something you would like...
Nov 27, 2023•47 min
Week two was another banger in the Division III basketball world, highlighted by some terrific events like the Great Lakes Invitational. We are back from our weekend at the GLI hosted by Wittenberg and have plenty of thoughts on the eight teams we saw there. Let us take you team-by-team through the great field of teams as we present them in “power rankings” order based on what we saw from the teams in their two GLI games. We also looked back at our week two picks and upset watch and make our pic...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Wow, what a first week of the 2023-2024 Division III men’s basketball season! The preseason number one team loses not once but twice while others got off to impressive starts. We’re here to talk about what we saw over the first week of action, break it down and give our thoughts on what it all does, or doesn’t, mean going forward. We also open the mailbag, review the week one picks, make our picks for week 2 and do the same for upset watch. Then it’s time to say thanks to our teammates on Patreo...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 3 min
We have officially made it through the offseason and the first week of the 2023-24 Division III basketball season is here! It’s time to get back into season mode with the show format you came to expect last season. With the season just beginning our week one episode is all about previews and predictions. Let’s get things started with a look at Matt’s Top 25 ballot and talk about it as well as the preseason poll. We solicited the #d3hoops community looking for bold predictions and hot takes and h...
Nov 06, 2023•59 min
The 2023-2024 NCAA Division III men's basketball season is right around the corner. The new season gets off to a fast start with a ton of great matchups in just the first few weeks. Whether it comes in the form of a tip-off tournament, a great event like the Great Lakes Invitational, or just a regular non-conference game scheduled between teams, the first part of the season is loaded with big time games. In today’s episode we go through 50 of the best matchups that we will see in just Novemb...
Oct 30, 2023•49 min
The season hasn’t started, we don’t have a Top 25 poll and some rosters haven’t even been posted. Perfect time to pick some conference champions, right? It is definitely way too early to do that with much conviction but it’s never too early to have some fun and that’s what this episode is all about. We were pleased to be joined by Friends of the Program Karl Barkley, Ryan Whitnable and Bob Quillman for a way too early conference champions draft. The rules are simple: make a pick in snake draft o...
Oct 23, 2023•36 min
