Is Williams Eligible for the NCAA Tournament or Not?

FRIDAY UPDATE: Will Hopkins, the Associate Director of the Championships Division of the NCAA, reached out to CACLAX today to correct his earlier statement during a March appearance on the CACLAX podcast. Hopkins originally said that a team like Williams would not be eligible for the DIII NCAA tournament because of a losing record. In an email to CACLAX today, Hopkins shared the following update:

“We always had the restriction of at-large teams need to have a .500 or better record to be selected. In talking with the championships committee (the committee that oversees all DIII championships) did not put that restriction with the NPI. So, there has been no restrictions applied to NPI requiring a team be .500 or better. So currently, all teams that meet the basic requirements to be eligible for the championship can make the tournament based solely on its NPI rank. Sorry for the confusion.”

It now appears that if Williams’ current NPI ranking holds up, the Ephs will make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team.

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Controversy and confusion are swirling around the Division III selection process for the NCAA tournament. Supporters of teams on the bubble are assuming that Williams is ineligible for an at-large bid because of their losing record. Similar to needing a .500 or better record to be bowl eligible in college football, the head NCAA administrator for DIII lacrosse told the CACLAX podcast earlier this spring that a team like Williams with a 7-9 record would not be allowed in the tournament. Williams officials and fans are contesting that view.

In the CACLAX podcast recorded on March 20, 2025, Will Hopkins, the Associate Director of the Championships Division of the NCAA, was asked if a team with a losing record could nonetheless secure an at-large bid. Hopkins responded: “From an at large perspective, you do have to have a .500 record. Now we don’t have to have a .500 record for an AQ.” (The relevant discussion begins at the 24:00 mark.) Hopkins is an experienced executive in charge of the new format for DIII lacrosse national championship selections and he also played the game at a high level on dominant Delaware teams in the late ‘90s. 

CACLAX emailed Hopkins with a request for clarification late on Monday, but has not heard back as of press time. 

Williams currently sits “bubble in,” just ahead of Kean and Trinity, for one of the 13 at-large bids for the tournament. If Williams is allowed to stay in the tournament, it is likely that one or both of Kean and Trinity would be bounced out. Having Williams in the tournament also affects the seedings and geographic placement of teams near them in the standings like Endicott, St. John Fisher and Stevens. 

Some fans of other bubble teams are expressing frustration that Williams could be considered for an at-large spot given their losing record and Hopkins' public statements. “A sub .500 team at-large will not get in the tournament,” one Kean fan posted online this week. “The only way is if they are an AQ. 24:28 into the podcast the NCAA rep lays it out. Goodbye Williams.”

Not surprisingly, Williams supporters have a different view. Jack Quinn, longtime Sports Information Director at Williams, told CACLAX on Wednesday: “I have not heard anything from the NCAA. You are the first one to tell me you need a winning record. That negates the purpose of the Power Index.”

Quinn is referring to the new NCAA Power Index (NPI) that was implemented across all DIII sports last fall. Rather than relying on human selection committees, the NCAA tournament bids are now determined by a computer algorithm. Similar to the RPI which has been used by college basketball for many years, the NPI calculates a team’s merit based on their win-loss record and their strength of schedule. The use of the NPI in men’s soccer produced some consternation last fall when a record eight NESCAC teams qualified for the DIII soccer tournament. 

Perhaps because this is the first year of using the NPI and that NCAA officials may not have considered that the computer model would allow for a 7-9 team to be ranked highly, there are no available written materials to reinforce Hopkins’ statement that a team needs a .500 record to be at-large eligible. Regulations published on the NCAA’s 2025 lacrosse playoff website are out of date and refer only to the prior selection criteria and not to the new NPI standards. Hopkins hosted a webinar for DIII lacrosse coaches back on September 23, 2024, and the issue of whether a team needed a .500 or better record was not discussed. Similarly, NPI cheat sheets, FAQs and an accompanying memo produced by the NCAA are also silent on the issue. The only directive on the .500 record question comes from Hopkins on the CACLAX podcast.

In addition to citing Hopkins’ statement on the CACLAX podcast, Trinity supporters are suggesting that if there is a gray area in the regulations, their team should be in the tournament over Williams since the Bantams won their head-to-head game 13-9 in Williamstown.

In the meantime, Trinity and Kean continue to hold team practices while waiting for clarification from the NCAA. “With the NPI being a new element in the selection process this year, we’re leaving it to the committee and those who understand the full picture to make those decisions,” Kean head coach Alex Lopes told CACLAX in an email this morning. “We're as curious as anyone.” Taking the high road, Lopes also complimented Williams on a good season against strong opponents.

As Selection Sunday is only three days away, team representatives have told CACLAX they are hoping for more clarity on the situation. At this time of year, teams are juggling upcoming final exams, graduations and travel logistics for possible NCAA appearances.

We will update this story as more details emerge.