Top 25 discussion

[David Collinge]

HOW THEY FARED (week of Feb. 4-10) (COMPLETE)   
      
#   1   Hope (20-0) won at Tri-State 85-57 and def. Calvin 66-58
#   2   Howard Payne (21-0) won at #9 McMurry 56-51 and won at Hardin-Simmons 72-60
#   3   UW-Whitewater (20-1) won at UW-Stout 83-72
#   4   Mary Washington (20-1) def. Bridgewater (VA) 81-56 and def. Gallaudet 96-24
#   5   Thomas More (21-0) def. Waynesburg 59-23 and def. Grove City 82-40
#   6   Kean (21-1) def. Rutgers-Camden 88-44 and def. Rutgers-Newark 81-49
#   7   Rochester (17-3) lost at Chicago 56-46 and lost at Washington U. 63-61 (OT)
#   8   Simpson (18-3) def. Central 120-41 and lost at Luther 69-65
#   9   McMurry (18-3) lost to #2 Howard Payne 56-51 and def. Sul Ross St. 89-52
#   10   Messiah (19-2) won at Albright 65-52 and def. Elizabethtown 86-51
#   11   Southern Maine (19-2) won at Thomas 97-45 and lost to Eastern Conn. 65-64 (OT)
#   12   DePauw (19-3) def. Rhodes 78-50 and def. Birmingham-Southern 81-56
#   13   Medaille (19-2) def. Lake Erie 71-62 and lost at Pitt.-Greensburg 77-72
#   14   Tufts (19-2) won at Middlebury 61-46 and lost at Williams 63-46
#   15   William Smith (18-1) def. Vassar 77-50 and def. RPI 70-55
#   16   Illinois Wesleyan (19-2) won at Millikin 77-63 and won at Wheaton (IL) 68-59
#   17   Puget Sound (18-3) won at Pacific Lutheran 75-54 and won at Linfield 62-52
#   18   George Fox (19-2) def. Willamette 78-34 and def. Linfield 69-36
#   19   Baldwin-Wallace (19-2) won at Heidelberg 79-61 and def. Wilmington 71-55
#   20   UW-Eau Claire (18-4) def. UW-Oshkosh 74-42 and def. UW-River Falls 63-52
#   21   Amherst (21-2) def. Connecticut Coll. 73-45 and def. Wesleyan 70-53
#   22   UW-Stevens Point (17-4) lost at UW-Stout 92-79 (OT) and won at UW-Superior 78-60
#   23   Lake Forest (16-3) won at Beloit 62-58 and won at Lawrence 71-60
#   24   Randolph-Macon (17-3) def. Lynchburg 82-66 and lost at Virginia Wesleyan 63-45
#   25   Marymount (19-2) won at Wesley 51-34 and won at Hood 72-42

[daoustian]

Does anyone else think it is odd that Bowdoin isn't even getting votes in the Top 25 poll?  They've had a long run of success historically, so it's not as though they're off the radar.  They're 12-1 in their last 13 and while they had some ugly losses earlier in the season, surely there aren't 40 teams in the country better than them right now.  Don't get me wrong -- it's not like I think they should be in the poll necessarily, but I don't think anyone in the northeast really wants to face them in the tourney. 

[LogShow]

Whats odd is that Puget Sound 17th last week after beating #12 George Fox, which dropped to 18th.  After both teams sweep the weekend and both have identical conference records George Fox leapfrogs Puget Sound all the way back to 12th while Puget Sound moves up only one spot. 

[Ralph Turner]

Whats odd is that Puget Sound 17th last week after beating #12 George Fox, which dropped to 18th.  After both teams sweep the weekend and both have identical conference records George Fox leapfrogs Puget Sound all the way back to 12th while Puget Sound moves up only one spot. 

Actually, I think that the voters are looking at the quality D-III non-conference opponents that GFU has played.

The win over Trinity TX at Trinity is perceived as a good win.  The win over St Mary's IND (MIAA) on a neutral floor is a known quantity.  The 3-point loss on a neutral floor to a very highly respected #14 William Smith is also affecting the voters' opinions.

Therefore, UPS loss was viewed as a rivalry loss.  UPS has two very weak D-III non-conference wins over Nebraska Wesleyan and UC-Santa Cruz.  IMHO, UPS needs to improve its non-conference D-III schedule if it wishes to raise its profile.   

[LogShow]

I do agree with that resoning.

[Ralph Turner]

David, Item #3 of this week's Around the Nation Final Four mentioned that the 30 votes given to #25 DeSales was the lowest vote total by #25 ever.

To me, the significance is that we have a clearly defined group of Top 25 teams.  Only 38 teams received any votes, and I only count 158 votes going to the remaining 13 teams "receiving votes"  (or 1.8253% of the total).

If we have no upsets at the bottom of the poll, we may even fewer votes cast outside the Top 25 teams.  I do not expect this homogeneity to remain into the playoffs, tho'.

[Pat Coleman]

David, Item #3 of this week's Around the Nation Final Four mentioned that the 30 votes given to #25 DeSales was the lowest vote total by #25 ever.

To me, the significance is that we have a clearly defined group of Top 25 teams.  Only 38 teams received any votes, and I only count 158 votes going to the remaining 13 teams "receiving votes"  (or 1.8253% of the total).

If we have no upsets at the bottom of the poll, we may even fewer votes cast outside the Top 25 teams.  I do not expect this homogeneity to remain into the playoffs, tho'.

I see a clearly defined group of 24 teams, not 25. There's only six points separating 25 from 27 and UW-Stevens Point has certainly done enough to make up that one-point gap.

[Ralph Turner]

David, Item #3 of this week's Around the Nation Final Four mentioned that the 30 votes given to #25 DeSales was the lowest vote total by #25 ever.

To me, the significance is that we have a clearly defined group of Top 25 teams.  Only 38 teams received any votes, and I only count 158 votes going to the remaining 13 teams "receiving votes"  (or 1.8253% of the total).

If we have no upsets at the bottom of the poll, we may even fewer votes cast outside the Top 25 teams.  I do not expect this homogeneity to remain into the playoffs, tho'.

I see a clearly defined group of 24 teams, not 25. There's only six points separating 25 from 27 and UW-Stevens Point has certainly done enough to make up that one-point gap.

That concept, even more precisely expressed...
Thanks!

[David Collinge]

HOW THEY FARED (week of Feb. 11-17) (COMPLETE)      
      
#   1   Hope (22-0) won at Olivet 79-58 and def. Adrian 88-65
#   2   Howard Payne (23-0) def. Mary Hardin-Baylor 80-38 and def. Concordia-Austin 60-51
#   3   UW-Whitewater (21-2) def. UW-Platteville 94-64 and lost at UW-Stevens Point 64-62
#   4   Mary Washington (21-2) lost at St. Mary's (MD) 57-53 and def. #22 Marymount 81-50
#   5   Thomas More (23-0) won at Washington & Jefferson 59-47 and won at Geneva 64-57
#   6   Kean (21-2) lost at New Jersey 79-71
#   7   Messiah (21-2) won at Lycoming 56-36 and def. Widener 78-29
#   8   DePauw (20-3) def. Centre 85-51
#   9   McMurry (20-3) def. Schreiner 85-60 and def. Texas Lutheran 106-39
#   10   Illinois Wesleyan (21-2) def. Augustana 90-33 and def. North Central (IL) 93-68
#   11   Simpson (21-2) won at Buena Vista 91-75 and def. Wartburg 62-47
#   12   George Fox (20-3) lost at Lewis and Clark 45-35 and def. Pacific 69-34
#   13   Rochester (18-4) lost at Brandeis 71-64 and won at NYU 73-65
#   14   William Smith (19-2) lost at St. Lawrence 71-55 and won at Clarkson 75-57
#   15   Southern Maine (21-2) def. Mass-Boston 69-40 and won at Rhode Island Coll. 70-51
#   16   Puget Sound (19-4) lost at Whitman 53-51 and won at Whitworth 64-54
#   17   Baldwin-Wallace (21-2) def. Otterbein 81-56 and won at Muskingum 61-51
#   18   UW-Eau Claire (18-5) lost at UW-Stevens Point 57-43
#   19   Medaille (21-2) won at Penn St.-Behrend 59-44 and def. Penn St.-Altoona 82-59
#   20   Amherst (22-2) won at Trinity (CT) 77-51
#   21   Tufts (21-2) def. Bowdoin 83-56 and def. Colby 84-60
#   22   Marymount (20-3) def. Villa Julie 64-35 and lost at #4 Mary Washington 81-50
#   23   Washington U. (16-6) won at Case Western Reserve 74-65 and lost at Emory 68-66
#   24   Lake Forest (18-3) won at Illinois Coll. 68-57 and def. Grinnell 71-49
#   25   DeSales (21-3) won at Delaware Valley 84-55 and def. FDU-Florham 79-43

[Ralph Turner]

David, Item #3 of this week's Around the Nation Final Four mentioned that the 30 votes given to #25 DeSales was the lowest vote total by #25 ever.

To me, the significance is that we have a clearly defined group of Top 25 teams.  Only 38 teams received any votes, and I only count 158 votes going to the remaining 13 teams "receiving votes"  (or 1.8253% of the total).

If we have no upsets at the bottom of the poll, we may even fewer votes cast outside the Top 25 teams.  I do not expect this homogeneity to remain into the playoffs, tho'.

This week, 38 teams received any votes in the poll.  "#26-#38" received 211 votes total.

[LogShow]

Puget Sound had its nice 12 game win streak snapped and drops fairly hard in new poll...bummer. But the good news is  George Fox also dropped a game.  It appears that IF UPS and G Fox both win out UPS now owns the tie breaker...so all is not lost

[atn alum]

holy crap...top 25s end saturday with a 44-1 mark this week

[Mr. Ypsi]

holy crap...top 25s end saturday with a 44-1 mark this week

Yeah, but there will be another speck of red tomorrow when #25 hosts #8.

[David Collinge]

HOW THEY FARED (week of Feb. 18-24) (COMPLETE)      
      
#   1   Hope (24-0) won at Kalamazoo 91-53 and won at Alma 69-40
#   2   Howard Payne (25-0) won at Texas Lutheran 88-34 and won at Schreiner 85-44
#   3   Thomas More (25-0) def. Chatham 65-34 and def. St. Vincent 88-39
#   4   UW-Whitewater (23-2) won at UW-Oshkosh 86-78 and def. UW-River Falls 82-38
#   5   Messiah (23-2) won at Lebanon Valley 74-57 and def. Albright 66-57
#   6   Mary Washington (23-2) won at Wesley 74-46 and won at Villa Julie 75-32
#   7   Kean (22-3) def. Richard Stockton 95-39 and lost at Rowan 78-75
#   8   DePauw (22-3) won at Sewanee 76-61 and won at #25 Oglethorpe 76-73
#   9   McMurry (22-3) won at Concordia-Austin 46-39 and won at Mary Hardin-Baylor 61-54
#   10   Illinois Wesleyan (23-2) def. Elmhurst 93-64 and won at Carthage 75-56
#   11   Simpson (23-2) won at Coe 86-79 and def. Cornell 83-53
#   12   Southern Maine (23-2) def. Plymouth State 75-37 and won at Western Conn. 56-54
#   13   Baldwin-Wallace (23-2) won at John Carroll 60-47 and def. Marietta 72-49
#   14   Amherst (23-2) def. Colby 83-53
#   15   Tufts (22-2) def. Middlebury 71-60
#   16   Medaille (23-2) won at La Roche 60-43 and def. Hilbert 64-39
#   17   William Smith (22-2) def. Hamilton 66-48, def. Union 76-59, and def. Skidmore 68-51
#   18   George Fox (22-3) def. Whitworth 69-45 and def. Whitman 66-41
#   19   Rochester (19-5) def. Case Western Reserve 92-71 and lost to Emory 59-56
#   20   UW-Stevens Point (21-4) won at UW-La Crosse 62-48 and won at UW-Platteville 91-70
#   21   Lake Forest (20-3) def. Monmouth 68-48 and won at Knox 70-31
#   22   Puget Sound (21-4) def. Lewis and Clark 68-62 and def. Willamette 73-47
#   23   UW-Eau Claire (20-5) def. UW-Platteville 76-67 and def. UW-Stout 77-74
#   24   DeSales (22-3) won at Arcadia 79-54
#   25   Oglethorpe (21-4) def. Centre 87-66 and lost to #8 DePauw 76-73

[FlightofthePetrel]

I'm glad to see Oglethorpe didn't drop out of the top 25 this weekend even after going 1-1.  Even though they played the #8 team close and lost I figured they would drop out.  Guess a quality loss was enough to keep them in.