Top 25 talk

John Gleich · January 04, 2006, 10:09:31 PM

Stout lost at the buzzer to La Crosse

66-56 with 3:27 remaining, North Central leads Illinois Wesleyan

titanfan · January 04, 2006, 10:14:04 PM

It 66-60 North Central over Illinois Wesleyan @ the Shirk Center with 2:30 to play. This North Central team is really good.

Mr. Ypsi · January 04, 2006, 10:36:53 PM

IWU falls to NCC - going to be an interesting poll next week!

sac · January 04, 2006, 10:45:04 PM

1,- 2 - 3 - 4 from the Great Lakes?

Mr. Ypsi · January 04, 2006, 10:48:37 PM

sac,

Barring upsets, I judge that highly likely (except I doubt IWU will fall THAT far).

sac · January 04, 2006, 10:54:54 PM

I doubt that as well Cabs, but its going to be tough to sort out that top 5.

Incidently the way the NCAA ranks teams, #1 and #2 in the GL would be Albion and Hope (no inregion losses) Witt and Woo have both lost in region.

Looks like I might get to see Final Four caliber teams eliminated in round 2 and 3 again this year

........of course I now expect a meteoric rise from NCC into the top 25.

Pat Coleman · January 04, 2006, 11:16:04 PM

Yep. I think most of the voters were waiting for this game to find out what North Central was made of and as long as they were competitive I would have put them on my ballot win or lose.

Mr. Ypsi · January 05, 2006, 02:02:36 AM

I imagine the top 5 will be nearly unanymously Albion, Hope, IWU, Witt, and Woo (alphabetically!) - I could make a good case for ANY order amongst them!

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · January 05, 2006, 08:56:47 AM

Half the top 25 lost last night: IWU, Stout, Wartburg, Elmhurst, ONU... well half of them that played anyway... or else it just seems that way.

Anyway, I really thought this Wartburg team was underrated. Anyone closer to the situation know more? Was I way off or is Loras just a lot better than we thought?

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · January 05, 2006, 09:07:17 AM

Obviously, another night or two like this one, and the whole thing is screwed up, but it looks like a boon for the GL teams in next week's top 25. Although I can see six or seven teams getting first place votes; it should be very interesting indeed.

Coach C · January 05, 2006, 11:20:06 AM

Another night like this and it's screwed up? It's a mess now!!!!

I have to think that if hope remains undefeated, they are the #1 team in the nation, and they should be ok against Olivet. That sets up a meeting with top 5 Albion on the 11th.

Should be interesting!

C

Pat Coleman · January 05, 2006, 12:56:37 PM

They may very well be the best team. Not sure where the voters will come down on it, but Hope was on my short list. I expect IWU might still get a couple of No. 1 votes. Won't say more here because I don't want to influence the voters.

Greek Tragedy · January 05, 2006, 01:16:31 PM

Not sure about Loras. They did beat Whitewater to start the year off and the Warhawks are 4-0 in conference and 8-2 overall. But then again, Loras got smoked by Platteville and they are 1-3 and 6-6 overall!

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · January 05, 2006, 01:35:53 PM

I'm sure at least one of the voters will stick with IWU and I can imagine whoever the heck has been voting for Amherst will be able to convince him or herself to continue now that IWU has lost as well. Witt, Woo, Albion and Hope are obvious choices, Larry hasn't lost yet. Any or all of those teams could see top votes; I'm really looking forward to seeing how things pan out... lots of movement.

iwumichigander · January 05, 2006, 03:21:54 PM

I could understand the loyalty to Amherst as like many upstate New York and New England teams it sits out over the holidays. A 1/03 loss to Occidental with Williams coming up 1/7 might change that vote.

Not expecting 24 first places votes for IWU but not anticipating a single vote either. Its non-conference wins were against quality D3 & NAIA teams with significant margins of victory.

With Hope and Albion going head to head on 1/11, its possible voters will take a 'wait and see' approach on those two teams.