College Basketball: Division III Efficiency Ratings 2017

NCAA Division III men’s college basketball efficiency ratings for the 2016-17 season calculated based upon Ken Pomeroy’s method.

The NCAA Division III college basketball regular season has finished (including conference tournaments), and the 64-team tournament field has been announced. With the season concluding it’s time to archive the year’s efficiency metrics for all 426 teams.

Offensive and defensive efficiency ratings (points per 100 possessions) are calculated for each team game (counting only games in which a Division III team played another Division III team). These ratings (along with a tempo metric) are put through an iterative process that takes into account the strength of each team’s opponent until the numbers stabilize.

See this linked page for a full explanation of the process (or to see the current numbers in future years).

Division III basketball fans should be very familiar with the team names toward the top of the rankings. It’s no surprise to see teams from the WIAC, NESCAC, and UAA — three of the strongest conferences in the diviaion — prominently featured in the top 25 positions.

A note about the results: efficiency metrics tend to reward pure wins and losses much less than human top 25 polls. It certainly doesn’t do much to reward close wins against inferior competition.

The teams that rise to the top either (1) perform well against top-not competition or (2) beat average competition by a significant margin. It’s fairly rare that a team with a below average strength of schedule could reach the top ten or twenty spots unless they’re consistently winning games by 20-30 points.

Conference numbers can be found below the team data. Some scrolling may be required to view the numbers in their entirety.

Next: D3 Men's Basketball Efficiency Ratings

The NCAA Division III Tournament will begin with first and second round games on March 3 and 4.