Top 25 discussion

[hornetiger]

No undefeated teams left and the Top 10 still dropping like flies as No. 6 Howard Payne loses to No. 13 McMurry 61-60.

[Ralph Turner]

No undefeated teams left and the Top 10 still dropping like flies as No. 6 Howard Payne loses to No. 13 McMurry 61-60.

Please remember that HSU and McM go to Brownwood next weekend for the return engagement.

I think that all 3 ASC-West teams deserve to be ranked at the bottom of the Top10.  I saw the HPU-HSU game on Thursday night!  That was a playoff environment.  HPU fans made the 80-mile drive up to Abilene in both games this week.

[Ralph Turner]

Brandeis women 57, UChicago 48 from Live Stats.

[David Collinge]

Top 25 Scores and Schedule, January 22-28 (FINAL)      

#   1   Scranton (17-2) lost at Mt. St. Mary 69-49, won at Delaware Valley 72-66, and def. Drew 76-52
#   2   Bowdoin (19-1) won at Trinity (CT) 74-59 and won at Amherst 75-47
#   3   Messiah (18-1) def. Moravian 58-54 and won at Lebanon Valley 67-31
#   4   Chicago (16-2) lost to #15 NYU 75-66 and lost to #17 Brandeis 57-48
#   5   Southern Maine (17-1) def. Mass.-Boston 89-62 and won at Eastern Connecticut 73-72
#   6   Howard Payne (18-1) def. Concordia-Austin 55-48, won at #14 Hardin-Simmons 59-54, and lost at #13 McMurry 61-60
#   7   Calvin (17-1) def. Rochester (MI) 99-36 and def. Adrian 67-46
#   8   Rochester (16-2) def. Case Western Reserve 62-41 and def. Emory 75-52
#   9   Wilmington (17-2) lost at Capital 77-69 and won at Marietta 64-34
#   10   DePauw (18-2) won at Rhodes 82-54 and won at Millsaps 88-57
#   11   Hope (17-2) def. Tri-State 91-56 and def. Kalamazoo 101-53
#   12   UW-Stout (17-3) def. UW-Eau Claire 65-52 and def. UW-Whitewater 65-50
#   13   McMurry (17-2) lost to #14 Hardin-Simmons 77-67, def. Sul Ross St. 61-45, and def. #6 Howard Payne 61-60
#   14   Hardin-Simmons (15-3) won at #13 McMurry 77-67, lost to #6 Howard Payne 59-54, and def. Sul Ross St. 93-52
#   15   NYU (16-2) won at #4 Chicago 75-66 and lost at Washington U. 78-71
#   16   Illinois Wesleyan (17-1) def. Augustana 75-57 and won at Carthage 72-70
#   17   Brandeis (14-3) lost at Washington U. 69-50 and def. #4 Chicago 57-48
#   18   Baldwin-Wallace (15-4) def. Mt. Union 68-52 and lost at Ohio Northern 68-62
#   19   Maine Maritime (16-1) lost at Maine-Farmington 66-62 (OT) and won at Husson 56-46
#   20   Mary Washington (16-2) def. Catholic 85-43, def. Marymount 74-56, and won at Hood 91-34
#   21   Kean (17-2) def. Rutgers-Camden 82-48 and lost at William Paterson 69-57
#   22   Puget Sound (15-4) won at Willamette 75-36 and lost at George Fox 64-62
#   23   Emmanuel (15-1) def. Western New England 82-67 and def. St. Joseph (CT) 79-44
#   24   Simpson (16-4) won at Wartburg 65-45, def. Central 93-47, and lost to Luther 61-55
#   25   Lake Forest (15-2) def. Monmouth 68-57 and won at Knox 85-54

[Ralph Turner]

David, we are in the midst of conference schedules. I know that these Top 25 teams will be playing the other round of conference games this week.

#4 Chicago goes to #17 Brandeis on Friday night* and then to Boston for #15 NYU*  on Sunday.

#6 HPU hosts #14 HSU on Thursday night (5:30 pm CST) and then #13 McMurry on Saturday afternoon (1:00 pm CST).

(Wow!  That was a Women's Top 25 discussion that did not include the Lady Bears!)

*Corrected dates!  Thanks David.

[David Collinge]

It's okay with me if you include the (Lady) Bears, as they will surely make their triumphal return to the top 25 this week, and, like Chicago, are making the New York/Boston trip this weekend.  (BTW, you have the dates reversed: Friday it's Chicago at Brandeis and Wash U. at NYU, then Sunday NYU hosts the Maroons and Brandeis hosts the Bears.)  I'll post a composite top 25 schedule when the top 25 is announced.

Other games to watch this week include:
* Tue.: Mary Washington at Bridgewater VA
* Sat.: Wilmington at Baldwin-Wallace (Wilma won at home by 3 points, 2 weeks ago)
* Sat.: Emmanuel at Norwich (each have just one loss, prospective #1 Bowdoin)

[atn alum]

trying to figure out what to do with the asc teams within the poll is very tough!

[Balder Eagle]

Seeing how Messiah received seven #1 votes in the last poll are they not in a position to be #1 this week   

[Ralph Turner]

trying to figure out what to do with the asc teams within the poll is very tough!

atn, if HSU had lost in the finals last year by a narrow margin, I would be clamoring for Top 5.  HPU's size would give UW-Stout fits.  HSU's Coach Briggs would pick apart the UW-Stout tape and find a way to match-up.  McM has now played against 2 "big" teams (HPU and UW-Stout) and realizes what they have to do to mix it up at that level.  I think that it was the experience of guarding the 3 posts that UW-Stout ran into the game interchangeably that helped McM prepare for HPU.  HPU's success is that most teams in the ASC don't have a Stacey Blalock, and don't know how to guard her.  HSU has picked up some big posts, too.  Seeing how Coach Briggs makes the modifications should be fun!

On a national level, I would put Tarra Richardson as a 4, and go with a bigger, larger-framed player as a "5".  Tarra runs the floor better than most "5's" in the country.  (I would hate for her to lose out on All-American honors because of this distinction, but I believe that she is worthy of being among the 5 best D3 players in the country in 2006-07!)

Put us (the ASC-West) in around 10th and that should be a conservative pick.

[Balder Eagle]

Other games to watch this week include:
* Tue.: Mary Washington at Bridgewater VA
* Sat.: Wilmington at Baldwin-Wallace (Wilma won at home by 3 points, 2 weeks ago)
* Sat.: Emmanuel at Norwich (each have just one loss, prospective #1 Bowdoin)

A well played playoff caliber game that went to overtime Tuesday.........
UMW-89
Bridgewater-81

[Dark Knight]

Wow, it looks like #18 NYU avenged Sunday's 7-point loss to #11 Wash U with a 25-point blowout victory yesterday. That's a 32-point outcome differential in the two games that were 5 days apart.

#13 Chicago, with a brief moment in the sun as #1 in the Coaches' poll, now is on a three-game losing streak.

#1 Messiah had two big wins against relatively weak teams, and #2 Bowdoin had a slightly-closer-than-would-be-hoped 8-point victory over Bates.

#3 Calvin did about as expected with a 10-point victory over Albion (who defeated Hope a few days ago) and a 21-point victory over Adrian. Big game today against St. Mary's (IN), whom Calvin defeated by one point earlier this year.

#4 Southern Maine escaped with a one-point victory against Eastern Connecticut (11-8) and defeated a weak Husson team by 13. Not a good week I'd say.

#5 Scranton defeated Drew (9-10) by 24 and King's (14-6) by 5 -- results that are about as expected, on average.

[newtonnancy]

Is it possible for the UAA to get 5 teams into the tournament??

[Pat Coleman]

It might be unlikely but there is no prohibition against it.

[Mr. Ypsi]

If any conference ever does it (which I tend to doubt, but who knows) it would almost certainly be the UAA.  They have the unique advantage of being spread over several regions - I just can't see one conference ever taking five spots in a single region.  (And, yeah, I realize pool C is 'national', not regional, but each region only even gets to the table one team at a time.)

[Ralph Turner]

If any conference ever does it (which I tend to doubt, but who knows) it would almost certainly be the UAA.  They have the unique advantage of being spread over several regions - I just can't see one conference ever taking five spots in a single region.  (And, yeah, I realize pool C is 'national', not regional, but each region only even gets to the table one team at a time.)

+1 Mr Ypsi!