Top 25 talk

[Knightstalker]

Ramapo really dropped down from 25 to a mythical 38.  I expected to see them drop but not that much.  Only 12 votes this week, I don't know how many they had last week on the preseason poll is showing in the archives.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think a lot of their votes were because of the decent showing last year and the presumed need for a NJAC team in the top 25.  Maybe they just realized that it probably wasn't as necessary as they thought.

[Greek Tragedy]

LAST WEEK'S TOP 25

This should help ya Knightstalker.  All I did was change the web address.  You're right, it's not listed in the archives.


Here's the new top 25:  last week's point total in (...)  Last row is last week's position

1    Illinois Wesleyan-623 (625)   1
2    Wooster-598 (588)   2
3    Wittenberg-543 (567)   3
4    Amherst-537 (517)   4
5    Puget Sound-496 (516)   5
6    Albion-462 (410)   7
7    Hope-457 (390)   8
8    Lawrence-435 (379)   9
9    Worcester Polytech-393 (375)    10
10    York (Pa.)-389 (489)    6
11    Randolph-Macon-293 (257)   12
12    UW-Stout-274 (118)   22
13    Augustana-271 (169)   17
14    Hanover-251 (234)   13
15    Wartburg-245 (217)   15
16    Elmhurst-199 (131)   20
17    Lincoln-185 (115)   23
18    Baldwin-Wallace-180 (127)   21
19    Rochester-174 (177)    16
20    St. John Fisher-171 (168)    18
21    Hampden-Sydney-125 (110)   24
22    Maryville (Tenn.)-120 (96)   [27]
23    Carnegie Mellon-114 (79)   [29]
24    John Carroll-108 (97)   [26]
25    UW-Oshkosh-69 (228)    14

[27] GAC-64 (333)   11
[32]Albright-20 (140)  19
[38] Ramapo-12 (108)  25

[Pat Coleman]

Added those links to the sidebar.

[Greek Tragedy]

Ummm, Amherst gets a first place vote.  They've won all their games, but only one against an opponent with a winning record.  Interesting. 

[Titan Q]

I don't question Amherst or Wooster getting first consideration - they sound like excellent teams.  I do kind of question what would have happened in the past 7 days for someone to make the switch from Illinois Wesleyan.

* On Saturday IWU won by 27 points @ Wash U (now 6-3) - a pretty solid team. 

* Wooster beat 0-10 Oberlin by 59 and of course won by 3 at home vs #3 Wittenberg. 

* Amherst beat 2-6 Western New England by 21, 2-4 Worchester State by 29, and 2-4 Emmanuel by 30 (all 3 at home).


Again, not questioning Wooster or Amherst as #1 teams, but just not sure how you decide IWU is the #1 team when you vote on Monday 12/5 and change on the Monday 12/12 ballot, based on what happened during the voting period. 

In my opinion, the voters owe a little extra duty of care with those #1's...I'd really have to have solid evidence to make a switch there from one week to the next.

[sac]

Clearly Q, the Eastern bias in the poll is showing through. 

[smedindy]

Maybe someone mis-placed their previous ballot and just, uh, forgot who he put at #1 and just winged it??? 

[Titan Q]

Sac, the folks in California probably think IWU (Bloomington, Illinois) is #1 due to "eastern bias"!

[Pat Coleman]

I had to lose a voter because he couldn't make the deadline. The new voter had a different opinion.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Oh sure, Pat - give us the real scoop - and have it make sense - that's no fun   

[Mr. Ypsi]

I had to lose a voter because he couldn't make the deadline. The new voter had a different opinion.

OK, but the OTHER vote?  

(If the new voter was the Amherst partisan, it makes sense - beating #3, even narrowly and at home, might make someone move COW over IWU.)

[PowerBall]

The addition of CMU to the top 25 may surprise many but as the season continues more will jump on the bandwagon of support.  They are poised to play Princeton and learn alot about themselves.  If they hold true to form they will build from that encounter.

They then have a few out of conference games mixed in along with a challenging trip to the northeast.  A much better Brandies team than has been fielded in the past awaits them in Boston and a solid NYU team will also set the challenge for the new year to begin.  If they can take these games with solid wins and stay healthy they should be able to make a strong case for themselves moving up the Top 25 list and position themselves to win their conference. 

There is a lot of basketball left to be played.

[hugenerd]

Most people didnt get a chance to see or hear of Carnegie's exhibition at the University of Pittsburgh last year (yes, the one with Taft and Krauser), but CMU was up by 2 at half time and up by as much as 7 in the second half until their two best players (Maurer and Barlow-Wilcox) fouled out with about 10-12 minutes left and then got blown out.  People may be suprised at how well they fair against a D1 opponent.  I am not saying they are going to win, just that Princeton may be surprised if they take them too lightly.

[hugenerd]

I forgot to include the article if you were interested or didnt believe me:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/college/pitt/pittsburghlive.com/tribune-review/sports/college/pitt/s_270246.html