NCDA – Page 9 – National Collegiate Dodgeball Association

Power Rankings: April 2023

Team writeups provided by the NCDA Power Ranking Panel

1) Michigan State – Michigan State remains #1 in the country after a month without any action leading up to Nationals. The Spartans will look to keep their undefeated season alive next week in Athens, OH, attempting to become the first team since 2009 GVSU to finish a season as undefeated National Champions. Nationals will be the final tournament for a handful of Spartan Legends, all from the same star-studded 2019-20 rookie class. Those players include Barry Butler III, Jack Girling, Josh Kramer, and DQ McClean. This group looks to finish off impressive careers at MSU and add to an already strong resume of 2 MDC Titles and a National Runner-Up finish in 2022. This core is not alone for Michigan State, with other young stars on the roster including a rookie duo as good as any in the country (Matt Barriball and Nick Fedewa). Michigan State is one of the very best programs in collegiate dodgeball history, but the one thing they have never accomplished is winning a national title. 2023 looks like their best opportunity yet to do so. Can the Spartans cap off the season on top, or will they make a deep run but fall short like countless seasons of the past? We will find on Sunday, April 16 in Athens.

February WBOTM Q+A: MSU Women’s Team

With the start of the NCDA’s Women’s Division, Michigan State has put in all of their efforts to start their own team and it paid off. Starting the year with one returning women’s player, the Spartans were able to recruit eight more athletes, creating the NCDA’s first ever full women’s roster. Since September, they have worked tirelessly to not only learn the game and all of its rules, but learn more about each other and establish a team foundation. Coming from very different sports and academic backgrounds, we have decided to highlight the Michigan State Women’s Club Dodgeball Team for February and learn more about their success in forming our first full Dodgette squad.

How to Strengthen your Shoulder/ Elbow

Every dodgeball player has dealt with various aches and pains. It limits the way we can play the game we love. Whether it’s taking too much ibuprofen, missing practices, or limited throw counts in games everybody has had to deviate from the way they want to play at some point.

-Written by UMD Coach Zach Fernald

Cavalier Classic Recap

The last East Coast tournament of the year took place last weekend on April 1st in Charlottesville, VA at the University of Virginia (UVA). A three game round-robin took place between UVA, James Madison (JMU), and Maryland (UMD). While this may not have been the largest tournament, each game had some interesting takeaways.

My Central Region Overtime-6

The college dodgeball championship is right around the corner and the excitement heading into nationals is growing. Nationals will have some of the best games of the year, which means there is a good chance that we see overtime matches. Overtime matches usually constant of a team’s six best players on the court and they can be on the court for many different reasons. Below let’s take a look at some of the top players from the central region that I think you might want to consider having in your overtime six.

My Ohio Overtime-6

Below is Leo Rockamore’s Ohio Region OT-6:

Brett Liming
Ryan Ginsberg
Cory Heitmann
Terence Checkett
Ryan Engleman
Clay Egleston

Brett Liming

The OG Bearcat. The NCDA Slim Reaper. Brett Liming has been putting on a show and half this year and is a huge part of Cincinnati’s success this year. In their right corner Brett has done it all. He’s known for being a fierce weapon on offense, whether on the front line or in transition; but is highly underrated in his ability to catch and survive in clutch situations. Whether racking up kills in transition, picking opponents off on the cross, or snagging a catch out of a team throw, Brett is a major threat to anyone he faces. I would even go so far as to say he’s the most complete player in the league right now. Don’t take your eyes off the Slim Reaper.

My Michigan Overtime-6

The following was written by Matt Barnett of Western Michigan:

Honorable Mention: Josh Hill (GVSU)

Most people know who he is and know what a good player he is as well. The only thing stopping him from being on this list is lack of games played this year. To my knowledge, he’s only played one game and it was their loss to MSU at MDC this year.

My East Coast Overtime 6

As we head into the last week and a half before Nationals, I wanted to highlight some of East Coast’s top performers this season!

Evan Eschenburg (JMU #10)
James (JT) Turner (JMU yes, also #10)
Hunter Stewart (PSU #2)
Adam Butz (UMD #9)
Nick Spear (JMU #99)
Cloud Tapia-Manon (PSU #20)

5 Matchups Everyone Wants to See at Nationals

With nationals just around the corner, we thought it would be a great time to highlight some matches we have not seen this season. The following are five matchups that many fans are hoping to see at Nationals. There have been plenty of fantastic ones this season with lots of out of region travel, but there are still more we would love to see.

Standings as of 2023-04-02

In the 2023 Season, we have 36 technical upsets in 180 ranked matches (80.00% success rate) across 21 events.

This season marks the introduction of the NCDA Hybrid Ranking System as voted on by member teams during the 2022 election. The Hybrid Ranking System uses a combination of the Gonzalez System and the NHL Points System.

The Gonzalez System is a computer ranking model similar to Elo and is a rating exchange system based on research performed by World Rugby. It has been adapted by the NCDA to the demands of College Dodgeball, but can be tuned and customized endlessly to incorporate accurate data. It has been used to help determine seeds for the Nationals bracket since Nationals 2014, and was used exclusively for each Nationals bracket between 2017 and 2022.

The Champ Points System is a point-reward system based on the outcome of a match. A team who wins a match is awarded 2 points whether in regulation or overtime, a team who loses a match in overtime is awarded 1 point, and a team who loses in regulation is awarded 0 points.

College Dodgeball Championship Belt

The following was written by content writer Matt Gonzalez (UNL). Throughout the history of the NCDA, there have been a variety of methods used to determine who the best team in the league is. The league has come a long way from the power rankings of its early years to the current hybrid system of the Gonzalez and Champ systems. One thing has remained constant though, there have always been critiques of the rankings systems. What if there was a simpler solution? What if there was a way to track an undisputed best team at any given time?

Thus, the concept of the College Dodgeball Championship Belt is born. A lineal championship belt, one that only exchanges hands when one person wins a head-to-head matchup, is used in sports like boxing and mixed martial arts. What would the history of the NCDA look like if this is how the top ranked team was determined?

Zanderthon Throw-Down 7 Recap

The annual Zanderthon Throw-Down took place on February 25th at the University of Wisconsin Platteville. It was an event between current members and some familiar faces from the alumni. Even though it was just Platteville and its alumni, it made for a fun and exciting day of competitive dodgeball. Let’s take a look below at the results on the day.

WAR VI Recap

This past Saturday, 11 teams from 3 different regions made the drive to Akron, Ohio to compete in the largest tournament of the season outside of nationals. A lot of teams were able to play new opponents from different regions, allowing viewers to get a preview of how they will stack up with each other down the road in April. In this article, we will discuss whether each team’s stock is rising, falling, or just staying neutral.

WAR VI Preview

As we roll into what is often the largest inter-region tournament before Nationals, each of the 11 teams in attendance have something big to play for. With squads coming from as far as Lincoln, Nebraska to just right down the road in Kent or Cleveland, this event will surely not disappoint. Lets start with a team by team breakdown of what we should be seeing come Saturday and some WAR history starting with the newly #1 ranked team in the country.

Cincinnati Secures Second Consecutive Ohio Dodgeball Cup

On Saturday, February 25th, Ohio State University hosted the 2023 edition of the Ohio Dodgeball Cup tournament, and for the second straight season, the Cincinnati Bearcats were declared champions. The tournament, featuring all 8 active Ohio region teams, was played in a single elimination format, with consolation and placement matches giving a final ranking to each team. Here is how each team did:

Cincinnati (3-0 Record: W 8-0 Kent State, W 7-0 Akron, W 3-2 Ohio State)
Ohio State (2-1 Record: W 7-0 Cleveland State, W 4-3 Ohio, L 2-3 Cincinnati)
Akron (2-1 Record: W 6-1 Bowling Green, L 0-7 Cincinnati, W 3-2 Ohio)
Ohio (1-2 Record: W 6-2 Miami, L 3-4 Ohio State, L 2-3 Akron)
Bowling Green (2-1 Record: L 1-6 Akron, W 6-0 Kent State, W 4-1 Miami)
Miami (1-2 Record: L 2-6 Ohio, W 6-1 Cleveland State, L 1-4 Bowling Green)
Kent State (1-2 Record: L 0-8 Cincinnati, L 0-6 Bowling Green, W 3-1 Cleveland State)
Cleveland State (0-3 Record: L 0-7 Ohio State, L 1-6 Miami, L 1-3 Kent State)

While the one seed lived up to their positioning coming into the tournament, and Ohio State battled back throughout multiple matches, not everything else went by “chalk” on Saturday. Let’s dig a little deeper into each team’s performance, and really pull some key takeaways that those who were not in attendance or able to watch at home should know.