Top 25 talk

[wpifan]

So far this year WPI is looking good, ranked 10 in the country. I guess we will see if they beat Williams. Good luck guys!

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  #2 Wooster 109  Denison 73

Wooster gets their opening NCAC road win at Denison.    Wooster made 15 three point shots tonight and had six players in double figures led by James Cooper with 19 points, Kyle Witucky with 16 points, Devin Fulk with 15 points, Tim Vandervaart with 14 points and Tom Port with 13 points.

Wooster is now 5-0 and plays at Earlham on Saturday afternoon.

GO SCOTS!!

[Titan Q]

On opening night in the WIAC, a final from Stevens Point...

UW-Stevens Point 74
(#7) UW-Oshkosh 61

Changing of the guard game?  Not tonight.

I'm not sure the WIAC has a great team right now.

[John Gleich]

I'm not sure the WIAC has a great team right now.

I'd agree with that.  RIGHT NOW, there aren't any really clear great teams.

Oshkosh was clearly overrated at the beginning of the season.  Though they were playing well at the end of the year last year, they were inconsistent (they lost to La Crosse at home, Eau Claire took them to overtime in the quarterfinals of the WIAC tourney).  Funny, Ted VanDellen said HE thought they were overrated... (the guys on Hoopsville said they thought it was coachspeak... I'm not so sure).

After La Crosse's good start, they lost to Whitewater tonight.  Whitewater is an enigma to me, I really don't know what to think about them at this point in the year other than the fact that they're not consistent.  Platteville has lost a couple this season, but then they go ahead and take care of Elmhurst tonight.  Stevens Point lost to Lakeland, but then they bounce back and down Oshkosh, fairly convincingly, to run the home winning streak to 24 games.  Stout looks like they may be a top team in the conference, and they have the win against St. Thomas to show, and played Wooster tight.  They destroyed rival Eau Claire 72-35 tonight.

I think that a number of WIAC teams have the potential to be a national contender by the end of the year.  IMO, any one of Stout, Whitewater, La Crosse, Oshkosh, Platteville, or Stevens Point could emerge.  It's just WAY too early to really make an educated guess as to which team it will be.  Some of these teams are young and need to discover themselves.  Some have great potential and expectations and need to rise to the occasion.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I've liked Stout since last year.  They didn't quite get it together, but they seemed to have a really strong foundation.  We'll see how it works out this season.

[Coach C]

I am also struck by the WIAC's lack of dominance against non-conference foes so far this year.  Not sure what to make of all of this.

C

[cardinalpride]

I am also struck by the WIAC's lack of dominance against non-conference foes so far this year.  Not sure what to make of all of this.

C

Coach, I know what to make of it.  OVERRATED!!!  I'd take the top five teams in the CCIW over the top five teams in WIAC this year!!!   Any comments from the chat room...

[John Gleich]

... Like Elmhurst over Platteville...?  Oh, wait a second...

[David Collinge]

I'd hate to pass judgment on the basis of an early-season tournament played far from home, but I watched UW-Stout closely in their two games at Wooster and they're not remotely as good as Stevens Point was last year.  The only reason they beat St. Thomas (by 1 in OT) is because of poor coaching decisions by the Tommies' coach.  The game with Wooster was never really in doubt.  Stout's a very athletic team, and you can see they have talent; but if they're the best in the WIAC this season, then the WIAC is down.

[Greek Tragedy]

So, the WIAC is dead and buried and now joins the ranks with the [fill in the blank]? 

Well, there were 10 1st team All-Conference players last year and 7 of them were seniors.  The top two teams, Platteville and Point, both lost two senior 1st team All-Conference players (Reitzner and Temperly for Platteville and Kalsow and Bennett for Point).  It's early.  I'm surprised about some of the hiccups the WIAC has had in preseason, oops, I mean nonconference (just kidding GS!).  For the record, Stout is picked 4th by the SIDs. 

The WIAC is hardly overrated.  They've proven in the past that they are one of the top conferences in the nation.  Anyway, we'll see where we stand in Feb.!

[Mr. Ypsi]

OS,

Don't go getting paranoid on us!  I haven't seen anyone claiming (or even implying - well, maybe Cardinalpride, but he was still only saying top 5) that the WIAC is not still the overall #1 conference in d3.  It's just that the EARLY signs don't seem to suggest that the WIAC has a legitimate threat for the title.

Someone may yet emerge, but right now I'm not expecting a Wisconsin team (unless it is Lawrence!) to be in Salem.  And I am by no means 'burying' Oshkosh after three games!

(Though with NP's early success, just MAYBE the CCIW is the top-to-bottom #1 conference THIS year!  LONG way to go on that!)

[cardinalpride]

... Like Elmhurst over Platteville...?  Oh, wait a second...

PS,  Platteville is one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the WIAC and so is Elmhurst for the CCIW.  Platteville should be able to win a home game by a single point.  A game that they could have easily lost as well!  Give me something better than that!!!  Your top 3 teams all have bad losses.  You can't say the same for the CCIW!!

Cardinal Pride starts with Me!!   Go Cards!!!

[David Collinge]

I'm not saying or implying that the WIAC is not still the top conference in D3 hoops.  Indeed, I'm implying the opposite: because the WIAC is the top league, it must have teams better than Stout.  And I'm not a Stout hater; I had the distinct feeling throughout the Stout/St. Thomas game that I was watching a playoff preview.  Both are good teams with a lot of potential.  But neither seemed to be up to the standard set by Stevens Point the past two seasons, Eau Claire before that, or any of the great Bo Ryan Platteville teams. 

[Gregory Sager]

You guys are being mighty hard on the WIAC -- and prematurely so, IMHO. Why is everyone in such a rush to judgment already? I'm looking at my office calendar right now and, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, today's date appears to be December 2. Some of you sound as though you're already prepared to hand out NCAA bids. 

(Though with NP's early success, just MAYBE the CCIW is the top-to-bottom #1 conference THIS year!  LONG way to go on that!)

I have no idea what you're talking about, Chuck. NPU has had no early success this season. The Vikings have been badly beaten by a Benedictine team that looks as though it may be facing a down year; they lost to CURF for the first time in four decades, and in the crackerbox to boot; they lost big to a wretched St. Norbert team; and they've won a pair of one-point home contests over a couple of teams that any CCIW squad should've turned into grease spots.

If you're arguing that NPU's performance to date is proof of the CCIW's relative prowess, then you're subverting your own argument. The Park has all sorts of excuses -- youth, injuries -- but the bottom line is that they are floundering.

[retired12]

Potsdam has started 4-0, but still not in the top 25 even after last years success.  Anyone out there with thoughts on this?