Wash U, Carthage atop 1st regional rankings

Not a surprise at the top of the Central and Midwest regions in the first NCAA regional rankings. I was surprised that St. Thomas is ahead of St. Olaf since the Oles beat the Tommies this year. Head-to-head goes a long way with me, not so much the ranking committee.

And it’s official – the SOS numbers I linked to are incorrect. That doesn’t surprise me either. The good news is that the NCAA has provided those numbers via a link at the bottom of the release. I will take a closer look at the NCAA in-region records sometime tomorrow. UPDATE:The 16 MW/C ranked teams all have the correct in-region records on the regional rankings release. Don’t laugh. In some D-III sports that is not always the case.

In the Midwest Region, UW-Whitewater being ahead of UW Oshkosh is a head scratcher. Same record. Same SOS. UWO won head-to-head. Seems simple, right? Nope. UWW is No. 2; UWO is No. 4. I also think UW-Platteville should be ahead of Chicago.

Central RegionTeam, in-region record, SOS 1. Washington 16-2 .650 2. St. Thomas 20-2 .605 3. St. Olaf 23-2 .550 4. Concordia-Moorhead 15-2 .560 5. Nebraska Wesleyan 10-1 .503 6. Saint Mary’s 17-5 .564 7. Saint Benedict 16-8 .563 8. St. Scholastica 21-6 .501

Midwest RegionTeam, in-region record, SOS 1. Carthage 11-4 .645 2. UW-Whitewater 18-4 .589 3. UW-Eau Claire 15-5 .615 4. UW Oshkosh 18-4 .589 5. Chicago 20-6 .563 6. UW-Platteville 16-3 .557 7. Elmhurst 13-8 .538 8. Millikin 12-5 .497

My predicted regional rankings

To be honest I like mine better, although I struggled with my decision between St. Norbert and Elmhurst at the bottom of the Midwest.

-Ricky Nelson