Football Media Day '09

The Centennial Conference's Football Media Day is slated for Wednesday, August 5, with a live chat with the nine head coaches. We'll begin at 11:30 with Moravian, Muhlenberg and Ursinus, while Johns Hopkins, Juniata and McDaniel will follow at 11:55. We'll close the day at 12:20 with Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg. Join the fun and ask the coach of your favorite team a question. We'll try to respond to as many questions from our audience as possible.

College Athletic Conference Takes on the NCAA

by Jeff Greer, USNews.com

"Complying with NCAA rules is a lot harder when a school is feeling the effects of a major economic downturn. So, it shouldn't surprise anyone when a group of small-college presidents and the conference to which their schools belong say they can't afford to keep up with the NCAA's newest set of mandated updates.

There just isn't enough room in some schools' budgets to adhere to the rules that the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel created in 2008, says the Presidents Council of the Centennial Conference, a small, Division III athletics league headquartered in Lancaster, Pa.

The conference, which features 11 full and five associate members, says that dealing with the current economic recession takes precedence over spending extra money on the NCAA's required updates to all members' athletics facilities, Inside Higher Ed reports. The NCAA said that all schools with football teams must give referees wireless microphones to announce penalties. And, for schools with basketball teams, all backboards must have lights that go off when time expires and shot clocks that show tenths of seconds. All the updates must be done before the 2010 fall season.

It's not the changes with which the conference disagrees, Centennial Conference Executive Director Steven Ulrich says—it's the timing of them."

Taking On the NCAA

by David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed.com

"Some small private institutions are bristling at a set of National Collegiate Athletic Association rule changes that will require them to spend money on very specific upgrades to their sporting facilities.

Citing the economic downturn, the Presidents Council of the Centennial Conference has asked the NCAA to reconsider a handful of association-wide changes the Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved last year. The panel, which includes representatives from all three divisions, mandated that all football-sponsoring institutions provide referees with wireless microphones to announce penalties. It also ordered that all basketball-playing NCAA members have shot clocks that display tenths of seconds and are mounted on each backboard. All backboards must also have lights that illuminate when the shot clock has expired.

Though the changes do not become mandatory until fall 2010, and institutions will have had more than two years to make the necessary upgrades, the Centennial presidents argue that, given the recession, it is not prudent for them to spend money on these changes to their sporting facilities when they have other grave financial concerns in their academic departments."

Basketball, Wrestling Begin NCAA Play

The 2009 NCAA Division III Basketball and Wrestling Championships begin today for Centennial Conference teams. The wrestling championship gets underway at noon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with first-round bouts. The women's basketball tournament tips off at 5 p.m. in Brunswick, Maine, while the men's basketball tourney begins at 6 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, and 8 p.m. in Lancaster.

Wrestling
The 2009 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship begins Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Centennial Conference contingent received five seeds when the brackets were released. Merchant Marine grapplers garnered a pair of seeds, including 141 James Beshada (#5), and 149 Dan Twito (#7). Gettysburg 157 Andrew Goldstein received the highest seed at No. 4, while Muhlenberg 149 Rob Kein and McDaniel 285 Brock Glotfelty gained No. 6 seeds. Can the Conference better its 2005 and 2006 performance of four All-Americans? Is this the year when a CC wrestler medals, joining Gettysburg's Jake Dell (1997) and Stevens' Brandon MacWhinnie (2008)? Stop back throughout the day for updates on Centennial grapplers or sign up for Twitter and receive updates on your cell.

Women's Basketball
"It’s a very lucky thing for the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team that the NCAA Tournament takes place in March. With St. Patrick’s Day just a few weeks away and names on their roster like NCAA basketball Kaitlyn O’Malley, Kelly McKeon and Erin McSherry, the Mules hope the luck of the Irish will be with them. “I hope all our Irish descendants help us out,” said senior Bethany Enterline, who is entering her third NCAA Tournament. “[Junior] Katie Ferris went to Ireland and brought us back souvenirs, so hopefully those will bring good luck, too.” The Mules (24-3) face Westfield State (22-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday. The teams travel to Maine, where the host school, Bowdoin, will face Castleton State in the second first-round game tomorrow." The Conference is 18-20 all-time in NCAA games but has not won an opening-round game since the Mules defeated Wesleyan, 57-50, in 2006. Bowdoin is coached by former Swarthmore head coach Adrienne Shibles, who led the Garnet to a 138-96 record over nine seasons (1997-2005). Bowdoin Tournament Website

Men's Basketball
The Conference placed two teams - Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall - in the 60-team field for the second straight season. The Centennial is 22-22 all-time in NCAA games with three trips to the Final Four (F&M: 1996, 2000; Ursinus 2008).

"The Gettysburg College men’s basketball team will make its second-straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament this weekend when it heads to Columbus, Ohio, for the first two rounds of play on March 6-7. The Bullets will be the odd-man out in the four-team regional with a trio of Ohio schools in the mix: host Capital University (24-4), The College of Wooster (22-6), and Thomas More College (19-8). Gettysburg (18-8) earned its fifth trip overall to the tournament after winning the Centennial Conference championship last weekend, beating host and then No. 23 Franklin & Marshall College 73-65 in the finale. Wooster and Thomas More also won their respective conferences, the Fighting Scots earning their 11th championship as a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and the Saints pulling out their first crown as a member of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC). Capital, ranked 13th in the latest D3hoops national poll, was upset in the championship of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament by John Carroll University." Capital Tournament Website

"The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team earned its 20th NCAA Division III Tournament bid announced on Monday and will host the first and second rounds on March 6-7. The Diplomats (22-5) return to the 60-team tournament for the first time since the 2003-04 season. F&M received an at-large bid after falling to Gettysburg 73-67 in the Centennial Conference (CC) Championship game on Sunday. The Diplomats will face Wesley (18-9) in the first round on Friday at 8 p.m. The other first-round game features Brandeis (17-8) and Scranton (21-6) at 6 p.m. Friday's winners will meet in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. Wesley earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in program history by winning the Capital Athletic Conference title with a 64-51 victory over Marymount. The Wolverines are 18-9 on the season, setting the school record for most wins in a season since they moved to Division III. Brandeis is making its third straight NCAA appearance. The Judges earned an at-large bid into the tournament with a 17-8 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the University Athletic Conference. Scranton received a pool B bid after winning their second consecutive Landmark Conference championship this weekend, defeating Susquehanna 80-75. The Royals are making their second straight and 22nd NCAA tournament appearance." F&M Tournament Website

Championship Sunday

It's the final day of our 10-day "Championship Week" with titles on the line in basketball and track and field. Haverford is in position to capture three of the four crowns up for grabs today, as the Fords lead in men's and women's track and play at Hopkins for the men's basketball championship.

You can follow the Fords' quest for track glory at our championship website with updated results after the conclusion of the meet around 4:30.

The women's basketball title game tips off at 2 p.m. between second-seeded Dickinson and fourth-seeded Ursinus. Follow live play-by-play and stats, courtesy of McDaniel sports information.

The men's basketball championship final begins at 3 p.m. between top-seeded Johns Hopkins and third-seeded Haverford. The Blue Jays go for their first Centennial crown since 1999, while Haverford is making its first-ever CC final appearance and its first conference championship game appearance - period - since 1977. Watch all the action on CCTV, listen to the broadcast courtesy of D3hoops.net and follow live play-by-play and stats courtesy of Johns Hopkins sports information.