WCLL Division 2 Champion

by **WCLLPREZ** on Mon May 05, 2008 1:48 pm

Monday, May 5, 2008:

Biola defeated UC Santa Cruz in the WCLL Division 2 Championship game, but shortly before that game Biola notified the WCLL that they had inadvertently played an ineligible player who had participated in their last five regular season games. As a result the WCLL Board of Directors vacated Biola's championship. The second place team, UC Santa Cruz has been named the WCLL Division 2 Champion and will receive the WCLL Automatic Qualifier to the MCLA National Championship Tournament.

**Sponsor**

by **RopeNoRope** on Mon May 05, 2008 1:59 pm

Ohh bittersweet. Good luck to UCSC. I believe it is only their second year in the WCLL - 2, and now they are going to the tourney.

Heard a rumor they were going to try and move to Division 1 next year. Any truth to that?

by **SDSULAX** on Mon May 05, 2008 2:03 pm

Do they have a Division 1 football program?

by **Baller1** on Mon May 05, 2008 2:43 pm

No, but I'm sure they have a Division 1 Ultimate Frisbee Team. Does that count?

by **BigheadTodd** on Mon May 05, 2008 2:43 pm

SDSULAX wrote:Do they have a Division 1 football program?

Does Sonoma?

by **Dan Wishengrad** on Mon May 05, 2008 2:46 pm

Baller1 wrote:No, but I'm sure they have a Division 1 Ultimate Frisbee Team. Does that count?

Only if their mascot does not leave a slimy trail on everything it crawls over.

by **SDSULAX** on Mon May 05, 2008 4:14 pm

Sonoma was grandfathered into Division 1. UCSC was not.

by **BigheadTodd** on Mon May 05, 2008 6:32 pm

So in the WCLL can teams petition to play up?

by **Maple Leaf** on Mon May 05, 2008 6:40 pm

BigheadTodd wrote:So in the WCLL can teams petition to play up?

not sure what you mean by petition, but lots of WCLL teams play in Division 1 that do not have NCAA Div 1 football teams (which by my understanding is the only current criteria for playing MCLA Div 1)

Chapman
Sonoma
UCSB
Claremont
LMU
USD
Chico
SMC
Davis

by **SDSULAX** on Mon May 05, 2008 11:34 pm

It is discouraged, if everyone wants to play in Division 1, Division 2 will never get to where the MCLA would like it to be, a competitive Division for smaller schools.

by **buffalowill** on Tue May 06, 2008 11:15 am

I think that it will be tough or perhaps impossible at this point to separate MCLA DI and DII be school size and not skill when almost HALF of the WCLL DI are teams that do not meet the current criteria and are "grandfathered in".
I feel that, at least in the WCLL, DI and DII will be divided be skill level. Not the ideal situation, but inevitable with so many "exceptions". Difficult call.

by **Maple Leaf** on Tue May 06, 2008 11:39 am

i agree with Will on this....

how are you going to encourage schools to play at the Div 2 level, when there is nothing holding them back from playing at the highest level. Chapman by all definitions should be a Div. 2 school, they are small and DIII for the NCAA. If a school like that can be a top program nationally what is holding back other schools. I think it has little to do with enrollment or other quantitative metrics, but more about coaching, and building up a consistent program.

The WCLL is the most successful league in the country. Like Will said, the models works for us. As a result, however there isn't a whole lot of talent in Div. 2.

Other conferences have strong Div. 2 competition, but weak Div 1 teams (i.e. UMLL) so i think they are strong proponents of separating divisions based upon size rather than skill. Conferences are going to support what is best for them. I think it makes little sense to force big schools to play Div. 1 or suffer consequences. What team is going to want to play down in Div. 2 , not be eligible for playoffs or awards. That proposal is going to force teams to move up to the Div. 1 before their programs are ready to make the jump.

Look at Div. 2..... If large schools were forced to play Div 1, UNLV, UCI, CSUF, UCSC, SJSU would all have to move up. This would decimate the Div 2, leaving them with 5 teams and no AQ for nationals. You would also have 5 teams playing Div. 1 that would not be able to compete with any of the teams they are playing. The strength of the WCLL is that Div 1 is comprised of talented teams. The addition of these teams would only weaken the conference, and force top ranked teams to fill their schedule with cupcake games.

I understand the positions of other conferences, but i strongly suggest that WCLL object to any changes to the structure of the conference.

If it ain't broke... don't fix it

by **SDSULAX** on Tue May 06, 2008 12:15 pm

It is broke. This has been discussed at the national level and won't be fixed here, but feel free to discuss it all you want.

by **camthrax** on Tue May 06, 2008 6:22 pm

I like the idea of growing the competition in the second division. At times it can feel like a good percentage of the players don't take the league seriously. For instance, my team (Oxy) only managed to field fourteen eligible players, while usually playing with twelve at a game. We have trouble recruiting (and lose some players after their freshman year) because a lot of guys who played high school ball aren't convinced that the games we play mean anything. This is for some teams more so than others, as Biola and others show a lot of commitment every year, and I'm sure I'll take this back next season when Oxy turns around.

by **Dr. Jason Stockton** on Tue May 06, 2008 6:29 pm

RopeNoRope wrote:Ohh bittersweet. Good luck to UCSC. I believe it is only their second year in the WCLL - 2, and now they are going to the tourney.

Heard a rumor they were going to try and move to Division 1 next year. Any truth to that?

After falling 15-3 to Biola in the championship game, it just doesn't make sense for the Slugs to petition to move to the D1 level. . .what exactly would they stand to gain from such a move?

From their game report:

Slug motility was just not there. This sorry performance reflects a team that worked hard for a quality win and then went on luxurious vacation just when things started to matter. We sacrificed what could have been our first Divisional title since 1993, simply because we quit. Unforgivable.

I hope they can turn things around before Texas. . .really too bad we're not going to see a very talented Biola team at Nationals. Best of luck to the Slugs against Dayton. . .