Top 25 talk

[True Basketball Fan]

I know Lawrence is good, but I'm the most surprised with their win over Oshkosh, or is it that Oshkosh is a bit overrated, and that we shouldn't be that surprised.

[Coach C]

PS -

Usually one can count on Sager or Raplh for the obscure D# hoops fact.  YOu are now in a category all by yourself.

C

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  #3 Wooster 77  Methodist 63

First round game at the Emory & Henry tourney in Virginia.  Wooster was led by James Cooper with 21 points.

Methodist has won the USA South Conference the last two seasons and been in the NCAA D3 tourney both years.

Wooster plays host Emory & Henry in the tourney championship game tomorrow afternoon.

[Matt Letourneau]

#25 Catholic defeated Scranton 72-63 today...

I hope this calms down some talk that CUA doesn't belong in the Top 25.  Scranton never led in the 2nd half, and CUA didn't even get particuarly special performances from their big guns.  They've a very deep, well rounded team with a lot of size and guys that can shoot. 

[hopefan]

Note 9 of the top 15 have lost through Friday's games


Those unscathed are IWU, Woo, Amherst, York, Hanover (Barely), and Witt.

Also note 5 WIAC schools were voted for..3 in the top 20, 2 down below   -  all 5 have lost in the first week

[augiedad]

As expected, Hanover lost at all to the #4 NAIA D1 team, Robert Morris.

http://www.hanover.edu/sports/hcmbb.htm

[smedindy]

That's just bad tourney drawing, there. Everyone knows that if you host, you play the pansy the first round! 

[John Gleich]

Well, Oshkosh manages to break the two-loss curse by smashing Finlandia 80-49. 

Per the Oshkosh website...

UWO lead FU 32-25 at halftime and score the first 14 pts our of the gate to start the second to take a 46-25 lead and never look back.

As noted, the top 5 (at least as noted in the votes from the past top 25 poll found here) WIAC teams all have at least one loss.  In fact, the WIAC, who has consistenly lead all other conferences in non-conference winning percentage in recent years (I don't have any stat on that... does anyone else?), appears to be faltering a bit.  Hmm... well, I was going to figure out the winning percentage, but some of the records appear to be wrong... UWW is only 2-1, not 3-1, UWPlatte is 3-2, not 4-3 (and it's late... I don't have the energy to look the rest up).

But I DO know....

that UWSP, who hadn't lost a regular season non-con game since the last millenium (Dec 29, 1999) lost tonight.  Whitewater had lost just 3 non-cons since the 2000-2001 season.  They lost their opener.  Oshkosh, who is the conference favorite, dropped their first non conference game.  Platteville, who is currently #20 in the country, stands at 3-2 (their wins have been blowouts, the losses have been close).

It's going to be interesting to see how the WIAC turns out.  Traditionally, the WIAC has had multiple teams in the top 25 throughout the year (especially at the beginning of the year, before the conference canabalizes itself).  However, the two teams "leading" (at least in total wins) the WIAC at the moment are UW La Crosse (5-0) and UW Superior (3-0), both whom pulled up the rear in the last three seasons, taking (or tying for) 7th, 8th, or 9th in the conference.  One might question the competition (Superior went 9-0 in non-con last season on their way to a 5-11 conference record, this year's opponents are a combined 0-9, and Sup has won by margins of 1, 1, and 7 points), but La Crosse's wins have been impressive (23, 19, 10, 12, and 13) even though they've been playing possibly sub-par competition (a these teams are a combined 7-12, with wins over teams -Lakeland and Coe- who have beaten conference opponents UWSP and UWEC).  Interestingly, Platteville also handily beat the team, Loras, who handed Whitewater their first loss.

What does it all mean?  It's too soon to tell.  But it appears that a pecking order may be filtering out and that teams other than the usual suspects may find themselves atop the WIAC standings, and into the top 25 before the year is through.

The real test begins Wednesday, with the first conference games.  It seems SO early to be starting in the conference... but the time is here!

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  #3 Wooster 150  Emory & Henry 101

Not a typo...Wooster set an all time school record for most points in a game as they totally outplayed the host Wasps to win the E&H tourney. 

Wooster was led by Tom Port with 33 points, James Cooper with 26 points and Tim Vandervaart with 20 points and 17 boards.

Wooster shot 70% from the floor, held E&H to 32% and outrebounded E&H by a 73-36 margin.  E&H plays the "System" style hoisting up three point shots and Wooster had too much talent and defensive intensity for them.

Wooster is 4-0.  Next up is Denison in the NCAC opener.  GO SCOTS!!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

New Top 25 out


1     Illinois Wesleyan (25)     4-0     625     1
2    Wooster    4-0    591    3
3    Wittenberg    4-0    525    10
4    Amherst    2-0    510    5
5    Puget Sound    2-1    497    4
6    York (Pa.)    3-0    484    6
7    UW-Oshkosh    1-1    438    2
8    Hanover    4-1    405    9
9    Albion    3-1    369    8
10    Worcester Polytech    4-0    308    17
11    Randolph-Macon    2-0    297    18
12    Rochester    4-1    286    23
13    Gustavus Adolphus    3-0    255    19
14    Hope    4-0    254    —
15    Lawrence    2-0    227    —
16    Mississippi College    3-0    224    21
17    St. John Fisher    2-1    211    7
18    Wartburg    3-1    193    14
19    Catholic    4-0    169    25
20    UW-Whitewater    2-1    160    13
21    John Carroll    3-1    129    16
22    Elmhurst    2-1    125    15
23    Virginia Wesleyan    2-1    112    11
24    Ramapo    2-1    98    12
25    Augustana    2-0    87    —

Dropped out: No. 20 UW-Platteville, No. 22 Aurora, No. 24 Calvin.

Others receiving votes: Hampden-Sydney 81, Albright 77, Baldwin-Wallace 76, Maryville (Tenn.) 74, Rutgers-Newark 35, Lincoln 31, Transylvania 27, UW-Stout 20, Trinity (Texas) 18, UW-Platteville 16, Calvin 15, Potsdam State 14, Williams 9, Carroll 9, Aurora 9, Widener 7, Trinity (Conn.) 7, Ursinus 6, Southwestern 6, UW-Stevens Point 4, Hamilton 3, St. Thomas 1, New York University 1, Dominican 1.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Lincoln should have been in this week, but they will definately make it next week after beating RMC last night.  Their crazy schedule could bode well if they post in impressive record.  Finishing the season early means they can climb the rankings while other teams fall.

VAWes and Whitewater both fell last night as well.

[njlincolnlion]

Hoops Fan:

Where do you think Lincoln will end up in the top 25 poll, if they don't suffer a set back between now and the next poll?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gosh, I have no idea how to predict that.  I think a lot of it will depend on how the current 25-15 slots do over the next week.  Although, I think Lincoln deserves any spot between 25 and 15 that they get.  They have already played a rough schedule and it just gets crazier for them.  Assuming they perform equally valiantly the rest of the season (no major injuries or strings of losses, I think they have already made a case for themselves, expecially when considered regionally).

[smedindy]

How much respect would Lincoln get from the voters? Some may be reluctant to pull the lever for Lincoln just because it's a bit out of the ordinary.

Not that they wouldn't be deserving, and they did pick up a goodly number of votes this time around.

[David Collinge]

Did anyone besides me notice that the top three teams this week are also the top three teams all-time (in terms of total wins, that is)?