Top 25 discussion

[Pat Coleman]

With all the regional rankings, bracket selection and related discussion I hadn't looked at the WBCA rankings for a while.  Am I the only one who thinks those rankings look pretty much like a simple winning percentage listing, maybe with a slight NESCAC leaning thrown in?

I haven't studied the WBCA poll at all this year. A few years ago, it was basically a mirror of ours, but I don't know if adding two new voters (plus the usual turnover) has changed that or not.

[scottiedawg]

Biggest Vote Increasers
Scranton: +99
Smith: +84
Baldwin-Wallace: +83
Trinity TX: +83
Messiah: +79
UW-Eau Claire: +74
Ithaca: +71
Hardin-Simmons: +55
Gettysburg: +30
UC Santa Cruz: +18
DeSales: +18
Whitman: +14
NYU: +14
Simpson IA: +13
Cortland St.: +13
Rhodes: +11

Biggest Vote Decreasers
DePauw: -106
John Carroll: -83
Mary Hardin-Baylor: -82
Wartburg: -80
E Tx Baptist: -73
Springfield: -71
UW-Whitewater: -58
Tufts: -55
Amherst: -42
Trine: -40
Marietta: -30
Trinity CT: -23
UW-Oshkosh: -21

[IC798891]

Feels like Ithaca finally made a jump. Picked up another win over a RR team (St. Lawrence for the third time this season) while Scranton just keeps going up in the poll and IC's win over them keeps looking better and better.

[scottiedawg]

Feels like Ithaca finally made a jump. Picked up another win over a RR team (St. Lawrence for the third time this season) while Scranton just keeps going up in the poll and IC's win over them keeps looking better and better.

beating St. Lawrence, Vassar, St. Lawrence over the past few weeks, paired with 4 teams above them losing major votes (MHB, Wartburg, ETBU, Springfield) resulted in them jumping up in votes and placement.

noticed that Catholic ended their year @ Elizabethtown, @Scranton, @ Elizabethtown, @Scranton, and now play @ Ithaca. Quite the rough stretch!

[ronk]

  Going to be a very interesting Xs & Os battle between Coach Raymond(Ithaca) and Coach Donahue(Catholic). I anticipate a game in the 40s.

[saratoga]

Catholic will pull out a 4 point victory by going 16 for 18 at the line.

[PauldingLightUP]

2023 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship is set for 12pmET on Saturday April 1st on CBSSN per Paramount release.

[CNU85]

It must be getting close to tipoff. Preseason poll is out, rosters and schedules posted. I'm liking it all!

[HOPEful]

Posted this on the MIAA board, but applicable here too...

Kate Majerus returning for a fifth year is huge for Hope, but #1 is just too lofty considering they lost arguably their 3 best players.  A starting rotation of Morehouse, McKinney, Bagley, Majerus, and Feenstra is certainly worthy of being in the top 10, but I don't know how an educated voter puts them ahead of NYU returning everyone, Transylvania returning 4 of their 5 starters from last year, and/or Whitewater returning Grundahl.

Gone is Hope's ability to run teams out of the gym through whole line changes and playing 10 players deep as though there's no difference in the ability between the starters and the second unit. Also gone is Olivia Voskuil, who's length was such a huge part of why Hope's defense was so suffocating the last several years.

[CNU85]

Until someone dethrones Hope, you're still #1, even with graduation having an impact. That's how I see it. A good returning group. Let someone else prove the pollster wrong - on the court!

Enjoy it!

CNU landed a fantastic transfer at G. Add in our All-American G and returning players and it should be another good year for Broderick's squad. But that's why they play the games....let's start the fun!

[HOPEful]

Until someone dethrones Hope, you're still #1, even with graduation having an impact. That's how I see it. A good returning group. Let someone else prove the pollster wrong - on the court!

You and I see the purpose of polls differently, especially in D3 women's basketball. Last year was last year. And it will be celebrated and remembered looking up at the rafters at the banner. But #1 in the poll should go to the best team right now...And the unknowns for Hope going into this season are much greater than the unknowns for NYU, Transylvania, and Whitewater.

Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of reasons to believe Hope can make a deep run yet again this season. But I would argue that it's final four or bust for NYU, Transylvania, and Whitewater. If I'm tiering my rankings, those three are tier 1. M Tier 2 is Trinity, CNU, Smith, Amherst, and Hope. If I were a voter, I'd have Trinity 4, CNU 5, and Hope 6. I don't have Scranton on that list, because they're losing Abby Anderson. I don't have Trine because they're losing Tara Bieniewicz. You don't lose girls that good and not feel it. Hope lost three such players in Kennedy, Olivia, and Sydney.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The argument is there for NYU for sure.  I don't think Transylvania was a top team last year and I'd personally like to see improvement, before I push them into the #1 conversation.  As for Whitewater and Hope - Hope sure lost more, but they're also returning a ton.  I'm not sure the difference between what each team has coming back is super stark.

For me, though, the team no one's talking about is UC Santa Cruz.  They return the entire roster, plus an all-conference caliber player who missed last season due to injury.  Their schedule was weird last year, which prevented a Pool C bid, but they've got a killer schedule this season with 15 d3 games, including ETBU, UMHB, CNU, and Whitewater (not to mention D1 Santa Clara).  They've obviously got a lot to prove as well, given the lack of context, but they're a VERY good team, even if most of the voters are unsure.  I'm a believer.

[HOPEful]

... I don't think Transylvania was a top team last year and I'd personally like to see improvement, before I push them into the #1 conversation...

Huh? They went undefeated last season and lost to a very, very good Trine team in the elite eight. They were up 19-8 in that game when Trine made a defensive adjustment that Transy couldn't figure out. But I'd argue Trine was the best defensive team in the country last year. A LOT of teams couldn't figure it out.

Now, we had conversations last year about not having Transy at #1 just because they were undefeated. But bringing back the four best players from that team has to at least put you in the conversation.

[thebear]

New Paltz returns 97% of their minutes per game, and adds back Olivia Badura who was a starter on their 2019-2020 NCAA tournament team.  The Hawks beat Cortland 2 out of three times last season, not sure why they aren't at least receiving votes.

[scottiedawg]

I think they have the exact profile that could get lost in a preseason poll. Good thing everyone gets to show it on the court. :-)