Top 25 talk

[John Gleich]

I know it's not the traditional top 25...  but the Massey ratings #'s 1,3,4,6, and 9 all lost.  Amherst (2) and Hope (8) had byes... only two of the top 10 teams actually won, in Brandeis and Bowdoin!

[Titan Q]

Many of us have been talking all season long about the parity in Division III this year, and the fact there does not seem to be anything remotely resembling a dominant team.  I believe that more than ever after Round 1 of the tournament.

There are about 15 teams with a legitimate shot to win this thing.  There isn't anything close to those Kalsow/Bennett Stevens Point teams out there this year.

I know as a D3hoops.com Top 25 voter, this has been my toughest season.  I have yet to figure out who the top teams are and which teams are in the "next tier."  I'm just not sure the Top 25 means all that much this year.  I'll bet unranked Loras and Wheaton (and many other unranked teams, like IWU, which beat Wheaton 3 times) are as good as many teams in the poll.  That makes it a really fun year to be a D3 fan.  We're in for a great tournament!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I don't care what the brackets looks like Coast Guard over UMASS-D will not be an upset.  CGA is a better team.

[smedindy]

UM- Dartmouth. 43rd in Massey using MOV and SOS of 157
Coast Guard. 24th in Massey using MOV and SOS of 115.

Hoops Fan may be onto somethin'....

[eclinchy]

Also, with three common opponents, CGA beat two of the three by greater margins than UMD did.

Roger Williams -- CGA by 9 (63-54), UMD by 7 (67-60)
Johnson and Wales -- CGA by 26 (86-60), UMD by 19 (87-68)

Albertus Magnus -- UMD by 51 (102-51), CGA by 27 (96-69)

On the other hand, the power rankings favor UMD, which has quality wins over teams like Brandeis and RIC, while CGA's schedule was ridiculously soft up until they beat Trinity.

It's a tossup.  I'd lean UMD, but I'm definitely biased because I've seen UMD's talent firsthand and I haven't gotten a chance to watch CGA in person this year.  I just have this hunch that Reece Freeman, the UMD point guard, will be too quick for the Bears.

[smedindy]

Well, Massey has Coast Guard's schedule tougher than UM-D, though.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

You have to look at when they played the common opponents though.  Coast Guard came into the season highly respected in New England because they were bringing back so many key players.  They struggled mightily at the beginning of the season, only really turning it on in the second half of conference play.

UMASS-Dartmouth had the big win over Brandeis early on, but seems to have peaked in that game.  Deis was their only high-quality opponent outside their own conference (which is second tier to begin with).  They surprised me being better than Keene, but they haven't looked better than RIC all season.

I think this is one case where the record fools a lot of people.  They're better than they were supposed to be, but not as good as the voters have had them.  Plus they've been falling off of late.

I may be grasping at straws when I make random statements about teams in the rest of the country, but I'm confident on this one.  No LEC is worthy of a Top 25 spot this season, even though a couple of teams are right in the 26-40 zone.

[Hugenerd]

Upset or not, CGA wins 50-47, even though they missed about half a dozen FTs down the stretch.

[John Gleich]

Buena Vista tops UWSP 54-53

[Hugenerd]

WashU-Augie going to OT.  Tyler Nading fouled out for WashU with 0.9 seconds left in the game, Augie made the two resulting free throws to tie it.

[HopeConvert]

#1, #3, #5, #7, #11, #13, #14, #16, and #25 are still alive from the top 25. All others have seen their seasons end. It is quite a tournament so far.

EDIT: Forgot Rochester

[Hugenerd]

3 of those 8 ranked teams are from the UAA.

[HopeConvert]

3 of those 8 ranked teams are from the UAA.

No question they were the best league this year. The tournament only confirms that. Who'd have guessed, though, that only Wheaton would be left from the CCIW and no WIAC team left. Amazing.

[daoustian]

Who'd have guessed that 16 of the top 25 would be out after weekend 1?  That doesn't happen every year -- does it? 

[Hugenerd]

Who'd have guessed that 16 of the top 25 would be out after weekend 1?  That doesn't happen every year -- does it? 

That will likely be 17, Oxy is about to lose to Whitworth.  Down 9 with 24 seconds to go.