I guess I don't mean historically but most fun/competitive to play in right now? I keep not wanting to play D III, and today I decided to figure out why. I've decided to give it a shot in a good conference, maybe I've been wrong...

Can't be in Tark, Knight or Rupp - already have teams there and I'm a one handle guy.
Thanks!

     d3 wooden might be worth a look for you.

I'm in two good DIII conferences..... Freedom in Naismith and Heartland in Iba

Upstate Wooden is consistently thrashing D3 RPI records and is pretty active.               

Might want to take a look at Allen since signups start tomorrow.

In Allen, the two dominant conferences are Captial and North Atlantic.

I should point out that I'm in the North Atlantic but I think what I'm saying is without bias.

The Capital is almost always the better overall conference.  In the past 20 seasons, there *might* have been 2 seasons where our two conferences weren't in the top 3 and the majority of the time we are 1-2.  And in those 20 seasons, the Capital has had the #1 spot 14-15 times.

In terms of quality per team, the North Atlantic wins out.  It's been very rare for the Capital to have more than two Sim AI teams.  The North Atlantic has typically had at least four Sim AI teams.  But when it comes to NT bids, we are just about the same.

I would argue that the NAC is in better shape going forward.  The Capital had a group of 7-8 core coaches that were outstanding.  The NAC has had 5-6.  But a couple seasons ago a majority of the core left the Capital -- they got some good replacements for some, but not all the programs.  Meanwhile, the NAC has kept our core and in the past three seasons we had a couple of our alumni return to the conference after making the journey to D1.  Must say something that they wanted to come back, no?  I have thought the quality of human coach in the NAC at least matched that of the Capital but they have always had us on numbers.  Right now I think we have them on quality and quantity.

Right now, the NAC actually has 8 human teams and the Capital has just 7.  This might be the first season in a long while where we are on "level" playing field.  And if you are looking for immediate help, the NAC dominated in the past postseason with 6 bids and 13 wins so will have the biggest boost of recruiting dollars going forward.

For what it's worth, the last time Billy  did his dynasty rankings of the top 50 teams, here is how it went.  I figured I'll note what coaches have had turnover since that probably influences things quite a bit.  The Capital has turned over a lot but best programs in the NAC for the most part are stable.

#2 Capital - Goucher (coach replaced, but with one with outstanding D3 success)
#3 NAC - Castleton
#4 Capital - St. Mary's (coach replaced, but with one that jumped from D1)
#5 NAC - Thomas
#15 Capital - York (coach replaced, new one wasn't good and now Sim AI)
#17 Capital - Chestnut Hill (coach replaced, but with one that jumped from D1)
#18 NAC - Elms
#22 NAC - Maine Maritime (coaches have been rotating and the current coach is new but just went to the Final Four)
#37 Capital - Mary Washington
#38 NAC - Lasell
#39 NAC - Maine, Presque Isle (currently Sim AI and has been for four seasons)
#41 Capital - Marymount (coach replaced, new one wasn't good and now Sim AI)


So I'd say the North Atlantic is your best bet.  If you want to be in a different region of the US, both the MIAC and the Northwest are a couple of steps behind as a conference but both conferences have a really strong group of 3-4 coaches even if it lacks depth.

i nominate CCIW knight

I wish there was a way to see the CC before joining...that's mostly what I am looking for I think is an active forum. Generally this leads to good levels of competitiveness by itself, so that usually works out - at least when I've found the right D II places. I'm hoping its more or less the same in D III. Kujay, thanks for all that - can you tell me who the coaches are that are in there? I've always wanted to coach at Presque Isle...

Posted by jetwildcat on 3/13/2011 1:45:00 PM (view original):
i nominate CCIW knight

I know good things about the CCIW, but I'm already at Valdosta St in Knight, and I'm not going anywhere...

Posted by alblack56 on 3/13/2011 12:46:00 PM (view original):
I'm in two good DIII conferences..... Freedom in Naismith and Heartland in Iba

al, I'll keep it in mind - it would be nice to get me some al black lovin' since I left Shaw...but the lure of tomorrow signups is pretty enticing :)  lol...

Posted by jetwildcat on 3/13/2011 1:45:00 PM (view original):
i nominate CCIW knight

I ultimately think the Tark USA South might turn into the stronger experiment conference due primarily to the presence of narcotico and the greatest d3 dynasty extant.

Dacj, Take a look at the CCIW in IBA as well. There are only 5 of us right now but a 6th has signed up for next season. We are extremly active the CC has constant chatter, on everything imaginable, not just our games. Good bunch of guys in for the long haul. Plus Wheaton has been a major force in the past but several seasons ago they were abandoned, someone needs to come in and bring them back to prominence again.

im confident that our d3 wooden conf is the toughest.

I'll just put in a plug that the S. Cal in Knight has had a team in the championship game 3 straight years and is 2nd in RPI.  We may not be the glamorous group you always hear about, but we tend to give the CCIW a bit of worry every postseason.  This season we had another 7 teams in the post-season, and the 'bad' programs were taken over from sims in the last 2-3 seasons.

But you can't do it in Knight... so pretend you didn't see this ;)

Posted by asher413 on 3/14/2011 12:55:00 AM (view original):
I'll just put in a plug that the S. Cal in Knight has had a team in the championship game 3 straight years and is 2nd in RPI.  We may not be the glamorous group you always hear about, but we tend to give the CCIW a bit of worry every postseason.  This season we had another 7 teams in the post-season, and the 'bad' programs were taken over from sims in the last 2-3 seasons.

But you can't do it in Knight... so pretend you didn't see this ;)

we always have more real contenders, even if we don't get the most teams in or have the #1 rpi

I think Wooden is the best overall-- check out the NAC, Michigan, and Midwest for openings. All good conferences with lots of dedicated coaches. Naismith is fun, but only if you can get into Freedom or Capital (and we haven't had openings in the CAC in ages)...