Why are some D3 teams better than others?

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Oct 15, 2013
727
63
Seattle, WA
I get what you are saying @MNDad , but I think that still perpetuates the myth of it as some sort of ranking system where people believe their daughter is going to get her college fully paid for.

D1/D2/D3 refers only to the amount of money a school wants to spend on the sport. The rest of what you say absolutely can go hand in hand with that, but that isn't what determines those classifications.


Here's a list of all the D1 schools ranked by RPI: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi I'm guessing there are more than a few teams on this list that most people have never heard of. A lot of them don't have anything in common with the Oklahomas and the UCLAs other than the D1 designation. I'm pretty sure the top D1 and D2 teams would be more than just competitive against many of them.

Massey says Tufts beats South Carolina State 7 out of 7 times.

 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
Here's a list of all the D1 schools ranked by RPI: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi I'm guessing there are more than a few teams on this list that most people have never heard of. A lot of them don't have anything in common with the Oklahomas and the UCLAs other than the D1 designation. I'm pretty sure the top D1 and D2 teams would be more than just competitive against many of them.

Massey says Tufts beats South Carolina State 7 out of 7 times.


You could also take some of the low RPI D1 teams, put them in D2 or D3 and they go from bottom feeder to competing for a National ChampionShip. Plug SC State into any D3 conference and they’d have a winning record.
 
Oct 15, 2013
727
63
Seattle, WA
You could also take some of the low RPI D1 teams, put them in D2 or D3 and they go from bottom feeder to competing for a National ChampionShip. Plug SC State into any D3 conference and they’d have a winning record.

Possibly. For fun (I love simulators) I ran SC St in a seven game series against Tufts and all of Tuft's regular season opponents in Massey. They came out 29W 34 L. I know it's just a simulator, but it's a pretty good one.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
Possibly. For fun (I love simulators) I ran SC St in a seven game series against Tufts and all of Tuft's regular season opponents in Massey. They came out 29W 34 L. I know it's just a simulator, but it's a pretty good one.

I’ve run simulations in the past on Massey’s and it usually seems close. It is fun.

P.S. you’ve got too much time on your hands. :)
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
For the player who sticks with the game through HS and is reasonably competent, it seems far more a matter of goals and motivation than odds.

This is so true. If you just keep playing, you can play college ball...somewhere. For some parents and players, they see the college ball that is happening on TV and think there is no way my kid can play college ball. They also might be playing TB on a team that doesn't know how to get kids recruited and those kids just fall to the wayside. Playing on team where ALL the kids have the same goals to play in college makes a difference too. It's just a difference vibe. There were lots of kids that I know could play ball, but I think they get De-motivated for a number of reasons.
 

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