Though the fall season has yet to end, the university should feel pretty good about its transition to the NCAC.
Right now, DePauw has three fall sports — field hockey, men's soccer and volleyball — that have made a splash in the new conference and are in contention for their respective championships.
The field hockey team dominated this season, losing only to Lynchburg College, ranked No. 3 in the nation and Denison University, ranked No. 20 in the nation. Last week, for the first time since the late 1990s, the team broke into the NCAA Div. III coaches' poll at No. 20. After last Saturday's loss to Denison, they dropped out of the top 20. With a young core of players lead by an equally strong veteran presence, the team should be breaking into those rankings more frequently.
Men's soccer, with a 15-2-1 overall record and an 8-1 record in the NCAC, has continued to gather larger crowds, but perhaps not large enough for the team's demonstrated successes. The program's last losing season was in 1981, when the Tigers went 6-9 under the direction of current Athletic Director Page Cotton. The Tigers are hungry for national play after being snubbed from a post-season berth last season despite winning the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title.
Volleyball finished second in the SCAC last year and already has a chance to repeat that success in the NCAC. They will have to go through Wittenberg University, the winner of the past four NCAC crowns, if they want to finish on top.
In the NCAC, all teams that take the conference championship receive an automatic bid to post-season play. This opportunity was not available in the SCAC.
All three of those teams relied on at-large bids — meaning their fate rested in the balance of a Div. III selection committee that looks at regional and national rankings but is not always consistent in following them (like men's soccer last season).
Coaches can boast about Div. III tournament appearances in recruiting new players. They attract the attention of talented student athletes and improve the overall collegiate experience.
It's an exciting time to be a DePauw Tiger. For a liberal arts university that prides itself on its academic and leadership opportunities, we should note its student-athletes are excelling on the field, too.
—Sports Editor Michael Appelgate contributed to this editorial