BOTM: 2017 November

Baller of the Month – November 2017 Kristofer DeJesus

Kris DeJesus

Kris DeJesus is November’s BOTM, and I’ve gotta say, this was very well deserved.  Everyone loves a good underdog story, and for many years that has been the Stevenson Mustang’s reputation.  However, with all the blood, sweat, and (maybe?) tears that Kris has put into this program, we are seeing the fruits of that labor.  He has lead this team to their first wins in program history, and has also demonstrated that his talent level is above and beyond the average NCDA baller.

The kid can do it all.  Catch, throw, block, you name it.  More or less, the dodgeball version of Boobie Miles.  Kris has a big presence on the court as both a player and leader for this team, that much has been easy to see this year.  I had a chance to chat with Kris to talk about his success and congratulate him on being our November BOTM.

Continue reading “BOTM: 2017 November”

Midway Conference Report Cards

It is the end of the semester and it is time to grade the teams of the Midway Conference.  This is at the request of Anthony Goetz of Midland University, ask and you shall receive, I just hope it is to your liking. The grading will be done by the yours truly, your favorite content writer.  For this semester, some of the teams were very active and others were still trying to put a team together.  This makes it challenging to grade these crews as I have yet to see them play.  Let’s take a look at each team and the grade I feel they earned. Continue reading “Midway Conference Report Cards”

Power Rankings – December 2017

NCDABelow are the power rankings for December.  This list was co-created by Kevin Bailey and Jacob Leski.

*These Power Rankings have no impact on the league’s official standings.

1) Central Michigan

The Chips took a massive risk playing 6 games in two days and it payed off, just barely. The big question I have is whether or not these captains will be able to keep their team motivated to keep working in this large gap of time where no one plays. If he can, I expect this success to continue. – Jacob Leski

Very impressive first half of the season for Central Michigan.  They dodged a few bullets during their 6-game weekend a few weeks ago.  Sure, they are a beatable team, but the bottom line is that the Chippewas perform when the game is on the line.  Championship level teams find a way to win close games, and that is the biggest difference between CMU and GVSU so far this season. – Kevin Bailey Continue reading “Power Rankings – December 2017”

Standings as of 2017-11-21

Standings are aimed to be released by the end of every Tuesday. 

Note: Since the publishing of the 2017-11-14 article, three forfeits were applied to the Wahoo event for team dropping out. The following obligatory Exec Board vote result was 7 of 7 in favor.  Per our SOP, the forfeits were against a Ghost Team, added after the last of the matches at Wahoo as part of that event, but before the Bobcat Bash. One of these forfeits classified as a minor technical upset (exchanging 1.056, ranking 228 of 268 technical upsets).

We had three events prior to the short Thanksgiving break, with one multi-team event and two rivalry matches: a budding UNL/Midland rivalry in Nebraska, and the historic Battle of the Valleys.

In the 2018 Season, we have 32 technical upsets in 130 ranked matches (75.38% success rate) across 23 events. This past weekend, we had two technical upsets in nine ranked matches. Since 2010-09-25, we’ve played 1380 ranked matches across 222 events. 268 of those are considered technical upsets in the Gonzalez System (success rate of 80.58%). A technical upset is when a lower rated team defeats a higher rated team.

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 the Nationals 2017 bracket.  Continue reading “Standings as of 2017-11-21”

NCDA joins USA Dodgeball

CALIFORNIA – The Executive Board of the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association has voted 7 of 7, plus Director of Nationals assent, to join USA Dodgeball as a Founding Member Organization. NCDA President Felix Perrone is a member of the first Board of USA Dodgeball, and the NCDA will be the oldest organization of the Founding Members.

We’re proud to announce that we will be joining this new nonprofit organization, to help achieve their goal in unifying all dodgeball in the country while still keeping our freedom to operate as an independent organization. The NCDA will remain the premier governing body for collegiate dodgeball in the United States, but now we will have access to even more resources and players to help bring competitive dodgeball to every university and college in the country. We’re excited for this because it is the next step for taking our beloved sport to a new level.  Continue reading “NCDA joins USA Dodgeball”

Midland Mayhem Invitational- Recap

It is a little late, but here is the recap for the Midland Mayhem Invitational held back on November 11, 2017.  The teams that competed were University Wisconsin- Platteville (UWP), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), and Midland University (MU). Each team came prepared to play and brought the energy.  Results for the day: UWP 2-0, UNL 1-1, and MU 0-2.  Let’s take a look at the matches of the day. Continue reading “Midland Mayhem Invitational- Recap”

Midterm Report Card: Grading the East Coast

We have reached a point in the season where we have started to get an idea of where teams stand and what they’re potentially capable of.  Sean Smith, former Towson University dodgeballer, and I have teamed up to give our takes and grades from what we’ve seen so far out of the East Coast.  For some teams, they will love their grades.  For some teams, they will hate them.  But at the end of the day, these are just some not-so-scientifically assigned grade based on early observations this season.  For the overachiever students out there it may be hard to accept the grade you get, but fear not, there will be more chances to bump your grade up later this season.

Continue reading “Midterm Report Card: Grading the East Coast”

Standings as of 2017-11-14

Standings are aimed to be released by the end of every Tuesday.

In the 2018 Season, we have 29 technical upsets in 118 ranked matches. This past Saturday, we had two technical upsets in nine ranked matches, one of which was an Overtime upset.

Since our League was founded in April of 2005, to present we’ve seen thousands of matches between schools. All 50 schools that have played in the NCDA have been campus recognized club sports and/or student organizations. Over the eight seasons of reliably recorded matches, starting with the 2011 Season on 2010-09-25, we’ve played 1368 ranked matches. 265 of those are considered technical upsets in the Gonzalez System (success rate of 80.63%). A technical upset is when a lower rated team defeats a higher rated team.

Roughly 220 box scores from Seasons 2005 to 2010 are recorded, but we know there are more unrecorded matches, roughly estimated to be about 300 matches played in the statistical dark ages from Seasons 2005 to 2010.

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 the Nationals 2017 bracket. Continue reading “Standings as of 2017-11-14”