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January 10, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

Welcome to D3 Lacrosse, devoted to NCAA Division III men’s and women’s lacrosse

🥍 Welcome to D3Lacrosse. From the team that brings you D3Playbook every weekday comes a new email newsletter devoted to the creator’s game - at the non-scholarship DIII level.

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Headlines
What is the NPI?
The Women’s ‘Dials’
The Men’s ‘Dials’
RIT’s New Stadium
Lists: Best Non-Conference Records

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1. What is the NPI?

There is a huge change coming for at-large selection to the 2025 NCAA DIII men’s and women’s lacrosse championship … so get used to the initials N-P-I.

NPI stands for NCAA Power Index. It is a system that houses the division’s statistical data and objectively applies the selection criteria to the data based on the sport committee’s established weighted criteria. NPI is a combination of the following: winning percentage; strength of schedule; home-away multiplier; quality win bonus; and overtime results (when relevant).

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» Why Make a Change? The DIII Championships Committee has been reviewing the current team at-large selection process to ensure that selection criteria is applied consistently to teams during selections. The change from the current championships selection process to the NPI will take the data analysis from a subjective application, varying by sport committee, to an objective computer data analysis based on the weights established by each sport committee.

» How Does This Affect Me? Most of the current selection criteria will no longer be used. The following criteria will no longer be used: head-to-head competition; results versus common Division III opponents; results versus ranked Division III teams; and secondary criteria. The NPI will continue to use winning percentage and strength of schedule along with a home/away multiplier and quality win bonus (QWB). The weight of winning percentage versus strength of schedule is often referred to as one of the “dials” that a sport committee can adjust, placing any subjectivity within the criteria themselves. For example, a sport committee could set the dials to 30/70; 25/75, etc.

» Has This Been Tested? Sport committees have reviewed sport specific data for at least three championship seasons (2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24). Committees were able to see the selected championship field versus teams that would have been selected based on the NPI and saw only slight variances between the two fields, almost regardless of the dial settings which have not yet been reviewed by sport committees.

» FAQ and Cheat Sheet for All Sports

2. Women’s Lax NPI

Each sports committee does have the flexibility to determine how to apply the above selection criteria in what is now referred to as “dials.”

When taking into account the weight of winning percentage versus strength of schedule, for example, a sport committee could set the dials to 30/70; 25/75, etc.

The DIII women’s lacrosse committee has applied the following weights for the 2025 season:

Winning Percentage / Strength of Schedule. The committee set the NPI to 25/75 based on their philosophy of the amount of weight that should be given to wins and to the quality of those wins. Encouraging teams to play a strong schedule, but also performing against that schedule.

Home/Away. The committee did not feel that wins and losses should be impacted by location of the games.

Quality of Win Base Multiplier. The committee set the base value at 57.00 based on the last three years of data and trying to pick a value that was equal to or near the top 50. This relates closely to the 48 teams the committee currently ranks across the seven regions and also relates similarly to the team sheet visual of the top 50 teams and how teams perform against them.

Minimum Wins. The committee set the minimum wins to eight. This impacts the teams at the top of the rankings the most and so they looked at what the average number of games played was in the regular season and also how many games teams were keeping if all teams had no minimum required. A majority of teams were keeping eight or more and so the idea was to bring everyone up to that minimum number, but also not make it too high to where teams were being punished based on the strength of the bottom of their conferences.

» Go Deeper
» Webinar

3. Men’s Lax NPI

As with the women’s committee, the men’s group has the flexibility to determine how to apply the above selection criteria with the “dials.”

The DIII men’s lacrosse committee has applied the following weights for the 2025 season:

Winning Percentage / Strength of Schedule. The committee utilized the past three years of data to understand the right combination of winning percentage and strength of schedule. The committee wanted to ensure that a high winning percentage was balanced with an appropriate strength of schedule. The committee decided on 25/75 after reviewing all of the data.

Home/Away. The committee did not put any additional value on a home and/or away win with in the NPI formula. The committee feels a win at home or away should have the same value.

Quality Win Base. The committee relied heavily on the past three year’s data for this information to ensure the average QWB was appropriate. The committee wanted to ensure the quality win base number (52) was not too low or too high so that it could reward teams appropriately based off an important win. The committee also wanted to ensure the QWB was spread out far enough that a win over an institution around the QWB line had a smaller impact, while beating someone near the top had a much larger impact to reward that win.

Quality Win Base Multiplier. The committee decided that .500 provided the appropriate range of rewarding a quality win based off the QWB that was choosen. The .500 multiplier gives appropriate reward for a quality win within the context of a team’s overall resume.

Minimum Wins. The committee noted that 7 wins would be the right number of wins to evaluate an institution’s season, if needed. The committee is aware that most teams will keep more than 7 wins, but 7 was the best way to balance the philosophy that wins should not hurt your NPI while also understanding a critical mass of games is needed to evaluate team’s overall best 7 games for seeding purposes.

» Go Deeper
» Watch Webinar

4. RIT’s New Stadium

The Rochester Institute of Technology is investing more than $50 million into new athletic facilities at the institution, including a stadium complex for the men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer teams.

The stadium complex will feature a modern, lighted venue for 1,180 spectators with locker rooms, training facilities, and concessions, as well as a press box and premium suite accommodations. The facility is scheduled to open in January 2026.

“These changes give us a better opportunity to talk about RIT on a national level,” said Jacqueline Nicholson, executive director of Intercollegiate Athletics. “People know about our hockey and lacrosse teams, but hosting championship-level events will be huge in elevating our profile.”

RIT will serve as host for the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse championship in 2028.

» Read More

5. Lists: Best Non-Conference Records

How did your conference fare against non-league opposition in 2024? Here are the top 10 most successful conferences by winning percentage.

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