MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TeeDub]

Jordis Rocks:

I don't mind you comparing Oxy to Weber State. The Wildcats won their conference and played in the NCAA postseason tournament. I guess that makes Redlands what, Montana?

OxyBob

Nice return...a clear winner 

[Gray Fox]

This is awful.

Meier was just named to the first team SCIAC as a freshman.

A few seconds can change a whole lifetime.

[Pat Coleman]

Perhaps Oxy was overrated all year and it only now caught up to them.

Ponder, for a second, what happened to the best team that Oxy beat all season -- St. Thomas lost in its first playoff game. Ponder what happened to Mississippi College when it played a ranked team -- it got spanked.

Bad combination for Oxy to be on the wrong end of.

From your last sentence of your diatribe, I'm assuming you don't want to hear evidence, but hey, votes happen.

[Pat Coleman]

Sorry, of course, the St. Thomas game wasn't a win either.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Bob,

You're omitting the fact that the previous poll was voted on AFTER the tourney selections were announced.  Since those not making the tourney had no additional wins or losses, it would be illogical to assume they would fall very far (or necessarily even at all).  If Oxy had been ranked 15th despite not making the tourney (which they wouldn't have been, since that would have meant losing the conference's top spot), they quite likely would have fallen less - afterall, they wouldn't have lost again!

[Pat Coleman]

When regular season votes take place, voters are looking at a few weeks of data, to get the sense of how a team is playing recently. When the season is over, however, the entire body of work is taken into account.

No. 15 Occidental (19-6)
Nov 17   N   St. Thomas (24-4)   63-72   L   La Verne, CA
Nov 21   N   La Sierra (11-14)   78-70   W   H
Nov 24   N   Notre Dame de Namur (non-Div III)   59-66   W   Cal State Stanislaus
Nov 25   N   Cal State-Stanislaus   75-71   L   A
Nov 29   N   Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo   81-62   L   A
Dec 02   N   La Sierra (11-14)   55-70   W   A
Dec 16   N   Chapman (21-5)   67-62   W   H
Dec 29   N   Wisconsin Lutheran (15-11)   92-65   W   Caltech
Dec 31   N   Williams (16-12)   78-65   W   H
Jan 06   N   Robert Morris-Springfield (non-Div III)   71-65   W   H
Jan 10   Y   Caltech (1-24)   103-40   W   H
Jan 13   Y   Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (15-10)   71-56   W   H
Jan 17   Y   Pomona-Pitzer (16-8)   54-70   W   A
Jan 20   Y   Cal Lutheran (17-8)   56-68   W   A
Jan 24   Y   Redlands (17-7)   106-109   L   H
Jan 27   Y   La Verne (6-20)   49-70   W   A
Jan 31   Y   Whittier (9-16)   82-60   W   H
Feb 03   Y   Caltech (1-24)   31-108   W   A
Feb 07   Y   Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (15-10)   68-51   L   A
Feb 10   Y   Pomona-Pitzer (16-8)   76-59   W   H
Feb 14   Y   Cal Lutheran (17-8)   41-40   W   H
Feb 17   Y   Redlands (17-7)   106-116   W   A
Feb 19   Y   La Verne (6-20)   85-54   W   H
Feb 22   Y   Whittier (9-16)   61-63   W   A
Mar 02   N   Mississippi College (27-3)   68-51   L   A

Losses   St. Thomas (24-4), Cal State-Stanislaus, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Redlands (17-7), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (15-10), Mississippi College (27-3),

[Mr. Ypsi]

Not so fast, Bob.  Since about two-thirds of your post was complaining about the ranking of Oxy versus the ranking of Elmhurst, La Crosse, and Witt, and since you specifically cited that comparison in referring to 'this lame, ridiculous poll', that goes just a wee bit beyond your 'wry wit' (which I happen to appreciate, but this wasn't it, or at least not JUST a witticism).

Besides which, you were correct!  IF Oxy had not made the tourney but was nevertheless ranked #15 AFTER to tourney field had been announced, they indeed would NOT have fallen 11 slots.  Despite a probably unfair draw (I happen to agree with you) and the highly unfortunate loss of your best player, getting blown out in the first round IS more damaging than not playing a game.

[Pat Coleman]

It's only meaningless because you don't like it. That doesn't render it inaccurate.

[snoop dawg]

It has to be extremely difficult to complile a Top 25 Poll in d3.  The difference between publics and privates can really make it difficult to evaluate a teams record.  I realize that certain conferences are considered stronger than others but, you can get an extremely strong team from a wek conference and vise versa.  I believe this complicates the process even more.

Without teams from the various regions playing each other frequently in preseason or during the season it has to be extremely difficult to accurately rate a team compared to others from the other regions.  I can see how Oxy could have been overrated, no offense intended, until after the tourney when, you actually have the better teams from each region and the best teams from each region playing each other.  Just my opinion.

[D O.C.]

Terrible news from the CLU basketball program.

Perhaps now is a decent time to clear the air about what happened to the football players who received DUI's before an important game they blew.

The school can get through this but it will take fortitude and someone's guiding hand for a better future.

[Amherst95]

Re Amherst and Williams, the general point about the NESCAC championship game was already made, but I wanted to add that Amherst played Williams two other times this season and beat the tar out of them.  That Williams team will be strong for the next two or three years though.

Anyone who's interested, check out the NESCAC board.  My argument there that the SCIAC is underrated is based principally on seeing Sam Betty in action last year.

[Amherst95]

Btw I don't think there's anything wrong with that poll . . . a factor some have ignored is the low-ranked or unranked teams that proved their worthiness in the tournament.  E.g. Brockport State was unranked beforehand, but lost to Wooster in OT in the Elite Eight after three impressive wins in the first three rounds.  Would anyone seriously argue Occidental should outrank them in the final poll?

[Amherst95]

Finally, congratulations to your team for winning the whole thing.

OxyBob

Thanks!  We were so close a couple of times before.  I wish Amherst would come out here more often so I could see them play.

Last year I was back east and after Amherst's second round game I ended up listening to the second half of Oxy - Puget Sound game on my computer.  They nearly had it.  Adjusting to that tempo right after playing CMS must have been a challenge.  OTOH you do play Redlands a lot.

Which reminds me:  Has Redlands ever played Grinnell?  That would be fun to watch.

[snoop dawg]

What would we do without the internet?   Are their eyes red from the camera flash or could it be the "evil hootch"?  Oh, to be young and stupid again!

[OxyFan21]

Real or not, I hope that PC removes those pictures.  No sense in posting them on this site.

In other news, just heard that Oxy's AD will be retiring in July.  Wonder what this means for the future...