D3 Datacast

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 w...

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...

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 wh...

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 re...

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 fu...

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 he...

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...

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 m...

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...

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 criteri...

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 t...

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 questi...

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...

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 bal...

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 Poo...

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 fou...

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 team...

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...

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...

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...

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 Quillma...

We are about a week and a half away from the release of the preseason Top 25 for the 2023-24 Division III basketball season. In anticipation of that we are pleased to be joined by Top 25 voter Akiva Poppers! Akiva and our very own Matt Snyder make up two of the 25 voters in the men’s poll. We hear from them about their process leading up to putting together the first ballot of the season. Beyond t...

We are pleased to be joined by Calvin head men’s basketball Bill Sall in advance of the 2023-24 Division III basketball season. We get Bill’s thoughts on how the D3 game has changed since his playing days at Calvin, the transition from coaching at the Division II level and the impacts of the extra COVID year of eligibility and the early practice period. Calvin returns most of their production from...

Every new Division III basketball season brings some level of change. The changes for the 2023-24 season can be categorized as more minor than major but there are changes nonetheless. Join us for this episode as we walk through and discuss what these changes are - from the number of NCAA tournament bids given to automatic qualifiers and at-large teams to changes to the conference landscape. We wra...

We are calling the Division III basketball offseason over and are moving into season mode! That means it is time to fire up the D3 Datacast computer for another season of fun. Naturally, we’re starting our lead up to the 2023-2024 season with a review of the preseason efficiency ratings. In this episode we go through a review of what a preseason rating is, what they mean and what they don’t mean....