Regional Rankings Final (2023)

The fourth and final Regional Rankings were released. These were the rankings used for at-large selections. Last year, they didn’t come out until Wednesday so a bit earlier this year.

Here are the changes for each region from the last rankings:

Region I

• Williams moved up swapping spots with Colby.

Region II

• MIT moved into the top spot swapping with Springfield.

Region III

• Manhattanville moved up to 5^th from 7^th.

• Both St John Fisher and William Smith dropped one spot.

Region IV

• Ramapo moved from 5^th to 2^nd.

• Stockton, Kean and Stevens all dropped one spot.

Region V

• Eastern moved from 7^th to 5^th.

• Franklin & Marshall dropped from 5^th to 7^th.

• Stevenson added at 6^th. Swarthmore dropped.

Region VI

• Berry swapped with UMW and took the 2^nd spot.

• Virginia Wesleyan dropped from 5^th to 7^th. Covenant and Centre moved up 1 spot each.

Region VII

• Calvin dropped from 2^nd to 4^th. Both CMU and Otterbein moved up 1 spot each.

• Ohio Wesleyan dropped to 7^th. CWRU and Mount Union moved up 1 spot each.

Region VIII

• Transy and Mt St Joseph swapped spots.

• Millikin was added while UWSP was dropped.

Region IX

• St Catherine dropped one spot.

• Coe added at 6^th. Nebraska Wesleyan dropped.

Region X

• Pomona-Pitzer dropped from 5^th to 7^th swapping with ETBU.

• (Update) CMS moved to the top spot. Trinity dropped to 2.

We had three teams added this past week (Stevenson, Millikin and Coe). The two of those three needing at-large bids got them. The rest was positioning. Every region made a change. This was the first time Region III made a change. Remember that the three teams that were replaced this week still count as regionally ranked teams for purposes of Ranked Results.

From my Selection Eve article where I tried to predict the regional rankings:

• Tufts was ahead of Williams and Williams jumped Colby. I got that right although I didn’t know if Williams was also going to jump Tufts.

• I got the Stevenson add by Region VII. I wasn’t really sure why they were dropped. They got added in front of Franklin & Marshall, which was huge as they got a bid. (Not sure it was deserved although I predicted it.)

• I didn’t get the Virgina Wesleyan drop. Might be something to look at in a Case Study.

• I correctly got the CWRU jump. I still had Ohio Wesleyan ahead of Mount Union, which the RAC did not. This is definitely going to be a Case Study because I looked at this yesterday and this should not have happened. What I think happened was that the RAC Chair couldn’t get Ohio Wesleyan in so they elevated Mount Union. Once Mount Union got in, they changed the rankings after the fact to reflect it. I believe this ranking will violate the criteria.

• I didn’t have the Millikin/UW-Stevens Point switch although it didn’t matter. Both deserved to go.

The Region X positioning is strange to me and probably worth a Case Study. Pomona-Pitzer lost to a regionally ranked team in La Verne. ETBU beat two teams not regionally ranked. This was enough to jump Pomona-Pitzer? The RAC penalized a team for losing to a much better team? How did Whittier jump Pomona-Pitzer when both lost to a ranked team? None of this mattered but I always find the manipulation of criteria interesting. One thought and I have no way of knowing if this is true, maybe the Selection Committee got involved here. Week 2 had ETBU in 5^th just like the final version. Maybe Week 3, when it changed, was an override by the Selection Committee? This last one didn’t matter because ETBU had a bid. No need to override. It’s definitely worth a look because I’m not sure I’m going to find the logic in it all.

In this article last year I wrote, “In the end, when predicting I needed to just pick 3 New England teams and every Region V team and I would have been a lot closer.” Last year, we thought that only 2 New England teams would go. I remembered the Region V quote this year, which is why I choose Stevenson. It wasn’t based on criteria. I thought New England deserved 3 or 4 bids this year so I should have bumped it based on last year’s observations. I’d still take UW-Platteville or Ohio Wesleyan over Williams.

Speaking of Platteville, another case study will focus on the WIAC. The consistently get snubbed during selection. I think they were probably the toughest conference this year. UAA was also really good. Who wasn’t nearly as good were the NESCAC or NEWMAC. Each of those got three teams into the tournament. For the record, the UAA got 5 teams in while the WIAC only got 3. The UAA and the WIAC played outside of their region while most of the New England teams did not. The WIAC is also hurt by being in Region VIII. There are so many strong teams but only 7 get ranked. No credit for Carthage or IWU or UW-Eau Claire. I would take all three of those teams over at least 8 of the teams ranked in the two New England regions. This is one reason why the criteria favors New England and how they get 5 at-large bids.

Alright, it’s all about the tournament now and it arrives fast. Safe travels to the teams flying or driving. Good luck to all. I had looked at doing a day trip (flight) to one of the regionals hosting a West team but it just didn’t work out. Too many long drives from the airport. Boston was possible but they don’t have any late returning flights.

(Update – I was talking to someone tonight at pickleball and they mentioned CMS was in first over Trinity. I totally glossed over that. I just assumed that had stayed the same. Why drop Trinity for winning their conference while CMS did the same. Now, it could be because CMS picked up 2 ranked wins while Trinity did not. I will have to look at this to in a later Case Study.)