The Undefeated and the Winless

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · March 06, 2006, 09:22:00 AM

Lawrence is up to 23-0 for those scoring at home.

smedindy · March 06, 2006, 11:16:59 AM

Or even if you're by yourself!

smedindy · March 10, 2006, 11:38:23 PM

And then there were none (undefeated that is...)

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · March 11, 2006, 10:21:10 AM

Here's the final results:

Winless vs D3 only
Maranatha Baptist (1-23)
Rutgers-Camden (1-23)
Principia (2-22)
Maine-Presque Isle (2-21)*

Winless
Caltech (0-25)
Daniel Webster (0-25)

*Denotes Provisional School

hopefan · March 21, 2006, 05:00:11 PM

Hoops - I know it's a silly task, but I wonder what the outlook for our winless wonders is - who is sure to improve, who might continue their losing ways? DC, how is Caltech going to be next year?

Knightstalker · March 21, 2006, 06:14:38 PM

I am pretty sure this is the worst season Camden has had in several years.

David Collinge · March 21, 2006, 09:02:54 PM

Quote from: hopefan on March 21, 2006, 05:00:11 PM
DC, how is Caltech going to be next year?

Really, really smart.

Three starters from this year's cigarless wonders will have graduated, including Jordan Carlson who was named to the all-SCIAC second team. They do have a legitimately good D3 player returning in 6'6" forward Bryan Hires, who averaged 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in SCIAC play as a freshman. Whether they can build around him as well as their several near-successes this year remains to be seen.

diehardfan · March 21, 2006, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: David Collinge on March 21, 2006, 09:02:54 PM
Really, really smart.

sac · March 21, 2006, 09:46:09 PM

Quote from: diehardfan on March 21, 2006, 09:06:14 PM
Quote from: David Collinge on March 21, 2006, 09:02:54 PM
Really, really smart.

I second that.......nice DC.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · March 22, 2006, 08:56:52 AM

Caltech gave a few teams a run at it this year. They were not the worst team in D-III, they just suffer the ill effects of not playing in New England. I think they could have won 5-10 games playing a NAC schedule or even as an independant in the NE region.

I expect Camden will improve. Principia can't be that bad forever. Presque-Isle is up for consideration for the GNAC, so that might translate into a win or two against D-III opponents.

Caltech is the most likely candidate to appear on this list again next year, but I would hope each of these teams will be replaced by someone new. I just hope its not my school.

Gregory Sager · March 22, 2006, 06:09:18 PM

Quote from: Hoops Fan on March 22, 2006, 08:56:52 AMPrincipia can't be that bad forever.

I'd figured that Principia had some built-in institutional peculiarities, much like Caltech's situation, that make it difficult for that school to field competitive teams. It had occurred to me that the school's unique sectarian ties (they're a Christian Science school) might be something of a hindrance to athletic recruiting. There was a big human-interest piece in the Chicago Tribune a few years ago about the futility of the Principia football team, the smallness of its roster, and the problems engendered in the area of dealing with injuries by the very restrictive doctrines Christian Science applies to medicine.

However, after checking the SLIAC website, it turns out that the Panthers actually do OK in the league's all-sports standings. They typically finish anywhere from fourth to sixth among the eight SLIAC schools in those standings every year, and they seem to do particularly well in the running sports (both men and women) and in women's soccer. Their problems with men's basketball must have some other explanation besides the sectarian one.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · March 23, 2006, 08:45:13 AM

Yeah, Sager, haven't you heard? Scientology is cool now.... oh wait; nevermind.

hopefan · March 23, 2006, 09:21:11 AM

Principia's problem this year was that they lost over 80% of their scoring and rebounding from the previous year due to graduation. That prior year team had made the 4 team conference playoffs. They were extremely inexperienced this year - I didn't see them play, but they didn't play anyone close in the conference this year . Working in their favor next year is the addition to the conference of Lincoln Christian (Eureka also joins) - Prin split with Lincoln this year in nonconference games.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · March 23, 2006, 09:45:43 AM

Yes, but is Lincoln Christian going to be provisional d3 next year? If they aren't its not going to help Principia any. You need d3 (or at least partial d3) wins to get off our list.

David Collinge · March 23, 2006, 11:02:33 AM

Quote from: Hoops Fan on March 23, 2006, 08:45:13 AM

Yeah, Sager, haven't you heard? Scientology is cool now.... oh wait; nevermind.

Despite the fact that Mary Baker Eddy and L. Ron Hubbard looked so much alike, Christian Science and Scientology are not the same thing. Besides, I don't think Christian Science was ever trendy.

I suspect you knew that, based on the "nevermind," but there may be others who confuse these two concepts.