Top 25 talk

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It would be hard for me to vote a team #1 that was clearly not as good as some others just because they got hot for one weekend.

Again, this is an unlikely scenario, but still, if we're giving them the title of best team on the year (implied by the ranking), I would hope they would have made a decent case throughout the year.  Any of the top 15-20 teams in the country, maybe the whole top 25 would be unquestionably #1 if they were able to run the tournament, but if someone below that happened to win, I think there might be some voters who doubt their #1 credentials.

[Knightstalker]

I look at it this way.  You win the championship on the court, the field etc. you are number 1 no matter your ranking at the start of the post season.  Following your reasoning the Colts were really the number one NFL team this past season even though they lost to the Steelers who then went on to win it on the field.  You win, you are ranked number one period.  Just my stupid opinion.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

See I wouldn't agree with your NFL analogy.  The 32 teams in the NFL and 12 in the playoffs are very different than the 400 in d3 and the 59 in the tournament along with the deserving teams who get left out.

Admittedly, this is would be a very unlikely situation.  I was just using it to gauge people's ideas of voting.

We could use the extreme example.  Would you think less of someone for voting Lawrence #1 if they lost to Wisconsin Lutheran by 1 in triple overtime in the championship game?  I picked Tufts originally because they had an easier path and frankly a more legitimate shot.

I wouldn't hesitate to call that team the National Champion or expect them to forgo the accolades that accompany the great feat that winning a tournament like this, but I don't think that necessarily makes them #1.  That being said, it would take pretty dire circumstances for me not to vote the winner of the tournament #1.

[smedindy]

No, if you win the title, you are #1.

Period.
Paragraph.

And I don't care if it IS York (NY) - they won it - they get to be #1.

And it's not getting hot for a weekend. It's getting hot for three weeks against some stout competition.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

If Tufts beat, Endicott, Cortland, Hamilton and WPI by one or two points each, that's not all that impressive to me.

Winning the final four, would however, require them to get hot for a weekend.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I just want someone to admit that it could be a possibility, even if it had a one in a million chance.

[smedindy]

No, Hoops Fan - win by one, win by 100, you win that many games in a row - you're hot - no matter what.

[TigerFan_1973]

The NCAA still irks me with DI football where they can't seem to find the way to make that happen with a little 8 or 16 team tournament.

It might interfere with the studies of the scholar-athletes at the big schools!

[wooscotsfan]

"scholar athletes at big schools"  -- sounds like an oxymoron! 

[sac]

If I were a fan of Oxy.........I'd be offended by that. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It sounds like a great screen name for a poster.  I wonder if anyone has it already?

[Dark Knight]

I wonder if anyone every calls their hoops team the "Oxy 5" -- and whether they ever get acne.

[Titan Q]

Let the annual Street & Smith's debate begin...

(Division III preview by Chuck Mistovich, Basketball Times)

1. Illinois Wesleyan
2. Mississippi College
3. UW-Oshkosh
4. York
5. Virginia Wesleyan
6. Ursinus
7. Amherst
8. Ramapo
9. Wittenberg
10. Wilkes


Illinois Wesleyan

Coach Scott Trost's Titans are loaded.  The top eight scorers return on this senior-laden team that was 21-5 last year, and they are looking every bit as good as the Wesleyan team that won the NCAA Division III Tournament in 1997.  All-America candidates are 6-6 Keelan Amelianovich (17.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and 6-3 Adam Dauksas (15.1 ppg, 5.6 apg).  Wesleyan also features 6-7 Zach Freeman (14.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and three 6-6 inside men who make the Titans look more like a Division II team than Division III.  These seniors have reached the NCAA playoffs three straight years with a combined 64-18 record.


Street & Smith's Preseason All-America Team:

First

Keelan Amelianovich, Illinois Wesleyan
Adam Dauksas, Illinois Wesleyan
Tyler Rhoten, Trinity (Conn)
Justin Wansley, Randolph-Macon
Tyler Winford, Mississippi

Second

Chris Braier, Lawrence
Sekani Francis, Lehman
Cedric Isom, East Texas Baptist
Kyle Myrick, Lincoln (Pa)
Daniel Russ, Wittenberg

From almost 6 months ago.  They had all four Final 4 teams in their Top 10...not a bad effort.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Their pre-season AA teams look pretty good, too.  I suspect Myrick and Braier will probably be first-team, rather than second, though I'm unsure who will get unseated.

[Ralph Turner]

On the All-American team, ETBU's Cedric Isom was first team All-South Region and MissColl's Tyler Winford was 2nd team All-South.

Both players had good seasons, altho I have to believe that the breadth of the panel on the polls and the teams was not as wide as Pat Coleman's.

Miss College's style of play does not match up well in the Great Lakes Sectional.