First NPI Rankings Show 8 NESCACs in Position for NCAA Tournament

The first NCAA Power Index published today shows an astounding eight NESCAC teams would be in the tournament if final decisions were made today. Tufts (#2) would be an automatic qualifier, while Bowdoin (#5), Amherst (#7), Wesleyan (#9), Middlebury (#13), Bates (#19), Trinity (#21) and Williams (#22) would all receive one of the 13 at-large bids for the 40-team tournament in May. As we have detailed before, this is the first year in which a software program will determine selections and seedings rather than a committee of humans. 

Even though three of the NESCAC teams mentioned above are not ranked in the top 13, they would still make the tournament because 9 teams ahead of them are likely AQs. So if you subtract 9 from Bates’ #19 ranking, for example, they would be among the top 13 teams contending for an at-large bid. It is important to remember that the NPI weights a team’s strength of schedule at 75% and its W-L record at only 25%. That means that this Wednesday’s games like Bates vs. Tufts and Trinity vs. Wesleyan could raise the Bobcats’ and Bantams’ NPI even if they lose. 

Last year only four NESCAC men's lacrosse teams made the NCAA playoffs under the old selection criteria. During the fall soccer season, however, eight NESCAC teams made the playoffs in the first year NPI was used for D3 soccer selection.

We would caution that these numbers have already moved around a bit since they were first published Monday morning, perhaps reflecting weekend results that had not been entered or coaches catching glitches in the data entry. 

The link to the NPI rankings from the NCAA is here.