Top 25 talk

[Ralph Turner]

+1 David!  Thanks!

[David Collinge]

Thanks, everyone; I'm glad you enjoy it.  It makes the effort worthwhile.   

I do a similar weekly report for the women's top 25, over in the women's top 25 room, if you're interested.

[cardinalpride]

Top 25 News and Notes, Vol. VIII, Issue 112

It looks like the settling process may have begun.  After three weeks of near-record level participation in the top 25 voting, the poll returned to a semblance of normality this week.  About 17% of the teams that received votes last week fell off the table this week.  Four new squads were added to the voting, but they nabbed only a collective 18 votes, about two-tenths of one percent of the available votes.  At the other end of the scale, nine of last week's top ten teams remained in that august group, despite two of them losing games this week.  Seven of those nine teams saw their voting support increased, further consolidating the top of the poll, and helping to establish a mini-break between the #8 (Whitworth, 420) and #9 (Lawrence, 355) positions.

Wooster maintained their hold on the #1 spot in the poll, nabbing one first-place vote from #2 Amherst.  Wooster defeated #6 Wittenberg at Springfield, marking the first time in that rivalry-within-a-rivalry that the team ranked #1 going into the game won the game.  Oddly, each time the #1 team has been involved in that game, the visiting team has come out on top.  Despite the loss, the Tigers maintaind their position as the #6 team in the poll, due in part to the drop of #7 Ohio Northern, 17-point losers at home to unranked Baldwin-Wallace.  Wittenberg and Ohio Northern square off in Ada next Tuesday (12/19.)

Debutantes:
Congratulations to the Guilford College Quakers, who for the first time ever received votes in this week's poll. 

Streakers:
The record streaks are all still intact:

• #1 Wooster, with 112 straight poll appearances and 42 straight weeks in the top 10, and
• #2 Amherst , with 67 consecutive top 25 placements.
• #21 UW-La Crosse attracted voter interest for the 10th straight week.
• Illinois Wesleyan saw their consecutive voting streak snapped at 39 straight weeks.
  

High-Water Marks:
#4 St. Thomas achieved its highest-ever rank this week, as did #15 Averett, #16 Bates, #19 Aurora, and #21 UW-La Crosse.  #8 Whitworth tied their highest-ever mark for the third straight week.  La Crosse re-enters the top 25 for just the second time ever, having been absent since early 2002.  Congratulations to all these teams!

Milestones:

• #4 St. Thomas and #10 Augustana are each in the top 10 for the tenth time;
• This week marks #6 Wittenberg's seventy-fifth appearance in the top 25;
• Calvin received votes for the 80th time;
• #24 DePauw and Occidental are vote-getters for the 40th time each, and North Central attracted the voters' attention for the 20th time.

It bears occasional mention that all of the records in this category are held by #1 Wooster, who has been in the top 10 eighty-two times, in the top twenty-five 104 times, and in the list of vote-getters a perfect 112 times.

Congratulations to all of these outstanding programs! 

DC, I'm curious to know where NCC fits into the news and notes section of your report.  Thanks!

[Pat Coleman]

Under Milestones, if I read correctly.

[David Collinge]

Under Milestones, if I read correctly.

Yeah, I'm not sure what you mean, cardinalpride.    

[kiltedbryan]

I'm guessing that cardinalpride would like to know what North Central's numbers are, even if they currently aren't at a round number that you would note in the weekly report, DC.  So cardinalpride probably wants to know what NCC's high water mark is, and its current streaks, even if they aren't at a milestone stage.

At least, that's the best I can figure...

[woosterbooster]

In the Massey Ratings this week, Wooster has moved into the top spot among DIII teams and is #143 overall.  Directly behind them, at #144, is Wisconsin Stevens-Point.  These two DIII schools lead all NAIA schools in the ratings and only trail six DII schools: #96 North Dakota State, #110 Virginia Union, #112 Winona State, #125 Central Missouri, #126 Emporia State, and #139 Southeastern Oklahoma.

Wooster and Wisconsin Stevens-Point lead such DI programs as George Mason, Iowa, Princeton, St. Josephs, Minnesota, and Utah.

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb

[cardinalpride]

Under Milestones, if I read correctly.

Yeah, I'm not sure what you mean, cardinalpride.    

I'm guessing that cardinalpride would like to know what North Central's numbers are, even if they currently aren't at a round number that you would note in the weekly report, DC.  So cardinalpride probably wants to know what NCC's high water mark is, and its current streaks, even if they aren't at a milestone stage.

At least, that's the best I can figure...

what Scotsbrod said is correct.  I would like to know if NCC has any kind of streak of its own going right now.  Also, it's high water mark.  I do realize whatever the numbers maybe that they're not milestones nationally but could be milestones as far as NCC's history is concerned.  I hope this is a bit more clear.  Thanks in advance BC!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Actually they updated Massey since yesterday and Stevens Point is now tops for D3.  But it's still way too early for his algorithms to fit because after Averett at #3 it's Mary Washington, Guilford and Johns Hopkins.

[Ralph Turner]

I really wonder how good Johns Hopkins is.  McMurry lost to Rowan in the Hopkins tourney by 5 points, without our starting point guard who sustained an ankle injury in the first minutes of play.  Hopkins only beat Rowan by 2.  Rowan has since lost to Ramapo.

Comparative scores are somewhat challenging, but I don't think that the algorithm has settled Hopkins into its correct range.

JHU's next game is versus MissCollege at the Westmont Tourney.

[woosterbooster]

Actually they updated Massey since yesterday and Stevens Point is now tops for D3.  But it's still way too early for his algorithms to fit because after Averett at #3 it's Mary Washington, Guilford and Johns Hopkins.

Yep, it sure is updated, must have happened shortly after my post.  For some reason, they're still missing Wooster's win over Mt. Union, which would probably help them out a bit.

[David Collinge]

North Central has been in the top 10 one time, when they were #10 in Week 13 of last season.  They had a 12-week ranking streak going (back to Week 6 last season) until this week; prior to that they had only cracked the top 25 twice, in Weeks 7 and 8 of the 2004-05 season (#21 each time).  As noted above, NCC has received votes in 20 polls, including the last 15 consecutively.  The first time they received votes was in Week 8 of 2003-04 (13 votes), the only votes they received that season.

Hope that helps. 

[cardinalpride]

North Central has been in the top 10 one time, when they were #10 in Week 13 of last season.  They had a 12-week ranking streak going (back to Week 6 last season) until this week; prior to that they had only cracked the top 25 twice, in Weeks 7 and 8 of the 2004-05 season (#21 each time).  As noted above, NCC has received votes in 20 polls, including the last 15 consecutively.  The first time they received votes was in Week 8 of 2003-04 (13 votes), the only votes they received that season.

Hope that helps. 

Thanks DC! 

[Titan Q]

Wheaton missed a 3 at the buzzer, falling to Division I Northwestern (Big Ten) by 2 points.  The Thunder led most of this game.

Wow.

[patcummings]

Wheaton missed a 3 at the buzzer, falling to Division I Northwestern (Big Ten) by 2 points.  The Thunder led most of this game.

Wow.

Wow is right Bob.  Northwestern isn't exactly Utah Valley State or UC-Riverside in the D1 ranks.  A CCIW over a Big Ten would be MAJOR.  As the score stands, it almost counts as a win to me.