Top 25 talk

[diehardfan]

Whether Aurora can play with any of the teams that have a good shot at beating any of the teams in the CCIW that actually have a vague shot of being in the tourney still definitely remains to be seen.

What the....  LOL 

In English...??

Whether Aurora can play with North Central or North Park that have a good shot at beating Carthage or Wheaton in  the CCIW that actually have a vague shot of being in the tourney still definitely remains to be seen...

Assuming Elmhurst and Augustana have more than a vague shot at being in the tourney.  So, technically, they've already proven that beating North Central, right?

Oh wow, your post is confusing too! I suppose that's my fault though. My apologies for posting in stream of consciousness while doing other things. What I meant was...

"Whether Aurora can play with any of the teams from the CCIW that have a good shot of actually being in the tourney still definitely remains to be seen."

That's definitely not good grammar either, but that's about as good as you're going to get from me during the work day.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm planning on seeing Aurora tomorrow down in Milwaukee against Wisconsin Lutheran.  Not that I am all-knowing, but I might get an idea of how good they are since I just saw Carthage/IWU and of course the MWC teams and WIAC games.

[diehardfan]

Not that I am all-knowing...

Eh, who are you kidding? We look forward to hearing your thoughts, oh great and powerful Oz!

Seriously, I am so jealous of you! I miss being able to solve my questions about the Top 25 by just hopping into my car and seeing for myself. We will all definitely look forward to your analysis.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Pay no attention to the man behind the Ranger's jacket.

[Greek Tragedy]

Pay no attention to the man behind the Ranger's jacket.

LOL 

[Ralph Turner]

Not that I am all-knowing...

Eh, who are you kidding? We look forward to hearing your thoughts, oh great and powerful Oz!

... We will all definitely look forward to your analysis.

Ditto OS!   +1 in advance!

[diehardfan]

Pay no attention to the man behind the Ranger's jacket.

Nice, do I at least get an assist on that one?  

[John Gleich]

I know that Amherst is undefeated, but is there a chance that Miss. College starts to pick up a few #1 votes?  Going the other way, is there a chance that UW-OshKosh jumps over them after beating the #1 team by 17 points?

Yes there's a chance, and no Oshkosh won't jump over Miss Col IMO.

[Ralph Turner]

And while I understand that, is there precedent for a team ranked this low to host a sectional?

The Top 25 poll has nothing to do with hosting a sectional but I think you were saying it should be a good indicator of possible teams. But if you look at the NCAA manual travel is the first concern of the committee when they award the sectionals, they don't pick the highest ranked teams or the most deserving.

If you win out this year you will probably be in the top 10 which definitely fits into the range of past sectional hosts.

Last year's sectionals went to Week 13's #1 Lawrence , #3 Wittenberg, #4 Amherst, #7 Virginia Wesleyan and #11 Illinois Wesleyan.

The 2005 sectionals went to #1 Stevens Point, #2 Amherst, #9 Albion and #16 Ramapo.

IWU did not host a sectional last year...the Midwest/West was hosted by Lawrence.

Correct 2006 Sectionals as above.

[David Collinge]

Just to complete the list:

2004: #1 Williams, #4 Wooster, #8 Puget Sound, #9 Franklin & Marshall
2003: #1 Randolph-Macon, #3 Williams, #6 Wooster, #14 Buena Vista
2002: #1 Carthage, #3 Catholic, #6 Otterbein, #8 Brockport St.
2001: #1 Chicago, #3 Ohio Northern, #10 Christopher Newport, unranked [#26] Clark
2000: #1 Calvin, #5 William Paterson, #16 Buena Vista, #20 Cortland State

It sucks to be #2. 

[WLCALUM83]

OS, Aurora's Welton gets most of the print, but against Lakeland, all 5 starters scored in double figures, and the Spartans have been hitting on their 3's big time over the last several games. WLC's going to have to be hitting on all cylinders to have a chance, IMHO.

[David Collinge]

Top 25 Schedule and Scores, Jan. 29-Feb. 4      

#   1   Amherst (20-0) plays at Rhode Island Coll. Tue., hosts Conn. College Fri., and hosts Wesleyan Sat.
#   2   Wooster (17-2) hosts Allegheny Wed. and hosts #11 Wittenberg Sat.
#   3   UW-Stevens Point (16-2) hosts UW-Eau Claire Wed. and plays at #22 UW-La Crosse Sat.
#   4   Mississippi College (17-1) plays at LeTourneau Thu. and plays at East Texas Baptist Sat.
#   5   UW-Oshkosh (17-3) hosts #22 UW-La Crosse Wed. and hosts UW-Stout Sat.
#   6   St. Thomas (17-2) hosts Carleton Wed. and hosts Bethel Sat.
#   7   Washington U. (16-1) plays at #25 NYU Fri. and plays at Brandeis Sun.
#   8   Virginia Wesleyan (16-3) hosts Bridgewater (VA) Wed., plays at Roanoke Sat., and plays at Washington and Lee Sun.
#   9   Hope (16-2) plays at Olivet Wed. and plays at Albion Sat.
#   10   Augustana (16-3) plays at North Park Wed. and plays at #17 Carthage Sat.
#   11   Wittenberg (16-3) hosts Earlham Wed. and plays at #2 Wooster Sat.
#   12   Elmhurst (15-3) hosts Millikin Wed. and plays at Illinois Wesleyan Sat.
#   13   Whitworth (17-2) hosts Linfield Fri. and hosts George Fox Sat.
#   14   Ohio Northern (15-4) plays at Otterbein Wed. and hosts John Carroll Sat.
#   15   Worcester Polytech (16-1) hosts Clark Wed. and plays at Babson Sat.
#   16   Aurora (17-1) plays at Wisconsin Lutheran Tue., hosts Maranatha Baptist Thu., and hosts Marian Sat.
#   17   Carthage (13-5) plays at Wheaton (IL) Wed. and hosts #10 Augustana Sat.
#   18   Occidental (12-4) hosts Whittier Wed. and plays at Cal Tech Sat.
#   19   Chicago (15-3) plays at Brandeis Fri. and plays at #25 NYU Sun.
#   20   Johns Hopkins (17-2) plays at Swarthmore Wed. and plays at Haverford Sat.
#   21   Puget Sound (14-4) hosts Pacific Lutheran Tue. and hosts Pacific Sat.
#   22   La Crosse (13-6) plays at #5 UW-Oshkosh Wed. and hosts #3 UW-Stevens Point Sat.
#   23   Bates (16-3) plays at Williams Fri. and plays at Middlebury Sat.
#   24   Guilford (14-3) plays at Washington and Lee Wed. and plays at Lynchburg Sat.
#   25   NYU (14-4) hosts #7 Washington U. Fri. and hosts #19 Chicago Sat.

[David Collinge]

Obviously, the new poll is out.  Not too many surprises, but that stray #1 vote to Wash U. is a real head-scratcher in my book.  I'm also surprised to see Bates hang on to #23, and NYU go 0-2 for the week and only drop 1 spot.  UW-La Crosse rejoins the top 25 and gets rewarded by facing two top-5 teams this week.  And congratulations to Amherst for reaching the top spot, although not unanimously.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Obviously, the new poll is out.  Not too many surprises, but that stray #1 vote to Wash U. is a real head-scratcher in my book.

David - listen to the first 20 minute of Hoopsville last night (click here). You will understand were that vote came from.

I am also surprised NYU barely dropped... and I just can't get a head around ONU. They didn't move (because they didn't lose), but those four losses makes me think they are somewhat high!

[David Collinge]

Here's something I did not know:  despite having been in the top ten 62 times (52.5% of all polls, topped only by Wooster-88 and UW-Stevens Point-64), this is just the second week that Amherst has reached the #1 spot (the first being week 8 of the 2003-04 season.)  Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs!