Top 25 talk

[John Gleich]

75-30... Worst "week" ever*?  .71% winning percentage.


*The season started earlier, so it's longer than a week... but still, the length of time shouldn't determine to winning percentage!

[Pat Coleman]

Except that some of these teams wouldn't be in the Top 25 and wouldn't count against this percentage if we'd had a vote last week.

[scout]

so, who do we think will drop out? and, subsequently, who do we think will make appearances in the next poll?

[scottiedawg]

I think Brandeis and MHB will drop out, though it could be close.

Wooster, Chicago, Widener, Virgina Wesleyan, and possibly Lawrence could drop out. 

Capital, St. Mary's, Puget Sound, Whitworth, and UMD are all possibilities to jump into the top 25.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Could Scranton get in?  They're posting solid numbers with a little bit of name recognition.

[with age came?]

Great posts!  Quite a week!!  Further consideration for a top 25 nod - Ithaca.  Undefeated with convincing wins, although the east region is not known as the strongest.

[Ralph Turner]

From this part of the country, I like that Trinity TX and UT-Dallas are receiving votes.

[scottiedawg]

Biggest Risers and Fallers

+22 Transylvania, 44th to 22nd
+19 Whitworth, 34th to 15th
+17 Puget Sound, 31st to 14th
+16 Capital, 28th to 12th

-23 Widener, 23rd to 46th
-25 MHB, 10th t0 35th
-30 Brandeis, 9th to 39th
-30 Lawrence, 19th to 49th


WPI, UR to 17th
Carnegie Mellon, UR to 19th
NC Wesleyan, UR to 24th
Gordon, UR to 27th

Milsaps, 27th to UR
VA Wesleyan, 24th to UR
Chicago, 22nd to UR
Wooster, 21st to UR
Randolph Macon, 14th to UR

[Greek Tragedy]

Nice work, dawg...

That was by spots, now do it by votes! 

[scottiedawg]

Nice work, dawg...

That was by spots, now do it by votes! 

+232 Elmhurst
+224 Capital
+185 Whitworth
+182 WPI
+162 Puget Sound
+156 CM
+153 Amherst
+141 UW Platteville
+111 UMD
+110 Transylvania
+110 St. Mary's
+99 NC Wesleyan
+96 St. Thomas
+95 Elms
+91 UW Whitewater
+87 Gettysburg
+86 IWU
-71 Maryville
-81 Hope
-83 Milsaps
-104 RIC
-134 Ursinus
-150 Widener
-151 VWC
-160 Chicago
-162 Wooster
-165 Centre
-179 Lawrence
-215 Randolph Macon
-285 MHB
-327 Brandeis

[LogShow]

Scottiedawg is putting in work! +1

[LogShow]

Congrats to Puget Sound...back in the Top 25!  And quite a jump (thanks to all the losses)

I suppose I should give Whitworth a little love too 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'm amazed Gordon got up so high so quickly.  Granted 40 points is not a lot, but they did have an uncharacteristically strong start to the season.

There's a lot of talent, but a good amount of inexperience as well.  We'll see how they do the rest of the way.

[scout]

I'm amazed Gordon got up so high so quickly.  Granted 40 points is not a lot, but they did have an uncharacteristically strong start to the season.

There's a lot of talent, but a good amount of inexperience as well.  We'll see how they do the rest of the way.

They did beat William Patterson, MIT, and Oneonta State in the span of a single week. Granted, these teams weren't ranked, but considering the mixed results of the teams at the bottom of the preseason Top 25, and a solid 5-0 start, getting some votes was warranted, I would think.

Still, I'm about as surprised as you are that it happened so quickly.

They have a rivarly non-con matchup at Endicott on Thursday followed by another early season test as they host Salem State on Saturday. Two wins and they should crack the rankings. A loss, and they'll lose what votes they had.

[Hugenerd]

I'm amazed Gordon got up so high so quickly.  Granted 40 points is not a lot, but they did have an uncharacteristically strong start to the season.

There's a lot of talent, but a good amount of inexperience as well.  We'll see how they do the rest of the way.

They did beat William Patterson, MIT, and Oneonta State in the span of a single week. Granted, these teams weren't ranked, but considering the mixed results of the teams at the bottom of the preseason Top 25, and a solid 5-0 start, getting some votes was warranted, I would think.

Still, I'm about as surprised as you are that it happened so quickly.

They have a rivarly non-con matchup at Endicott on Thursday followed by another early season test as they host Salem State on Saturday. Two wins and they should crack the rankings. A loss, and they'll lose what votes they had.

They arent going to jump over anyone based on just the merits of those two wins (if they win both) this coming week.  They would additionally need  a couple of teams in the 20-25 range to lose, then they may break the rankings.  This may have been what you meant but I just wanted to clarify.  It looks like they would need about 50 points to get into the rankings and that would require each voter, on average, to rank them 2 spots higher.  This may not sound like much but considering that most of the voters never see them play, dont know much about the team, and dont know much about the teams they play, it becomes a bit more difficult.

Looking at Gordon's schedule, they dont really play any teams that would be eye-opening wins on the national stage (like against a ranked team).  Therefore, if they want to get ranked they need to (obviously) continue to win but they also need to have people ahead of them lose.  If they break into the rankings, it will be due to a cumalative effect of winning a lot of games in a row, compared to a team with a stronger record or reputation who may sustain their ranking, even with some losses. For example, WPI beat 2 ranked teams over the past couple of weeks, showing that they are one of the best teams in the northeast (arguably top 2 with Amherst).  None of the teams Gordon plays carries that distinction, so you will always be able to make an argument against them (strength of schedule) and for them (potentially their record) and it will be up to the individual voter to decide which factor weighs more in their mind.  It will be difficult to post a signature win with their schedule.