Hosts not announced, attention moves to invite

The NCAA D-III Handbook says the regional host schools were supposed to be announced on Wednesday. Well, it’s now after 2 a.m. on Thursday, and the NCAA is mum on the issue.

Oh well. I now turn my attention to tomorrow and Saturday’s UW-Whitewater Invitational, featuring No. 7 UW-Oshkosh, No. 10 Carthage College and No. 11 Whitewater. Also at the Invite are Concordia, Elmhurst, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, Lakeland, St. Ambrose and Trinity International.

Oshkosh is ranked first in the Midwest Region rankings, followed by No. 2 Carthage and No. 3 Whitewater. Elmhurst is ranked seventh in the Midwest. Lakeland, the favorite to make the NCAA Tournament as the Northern Athletics Conference automatic qualifier, has a 20-8 overall record.

Key Whitewater Invite Matches: 10/31 Whitewater vs. Concordia @ 1 p.m. 10/31 Oshkosh vs. Carthage @ 5 p.m. 10/31 Whitewater vs. Carthage @ 7 p.m. 10/31 Oshkosh vs. Lakeland @ 7 p.m. 11/1 Whitewater vs. Elmhurst @ 11 a.m. 11/1 Whitewater vs. Lakeland @ 3 p.m. 11/1 Oshkosh vs. Elmhurst @ 3 p.m.

-Ricky Nelson