Top 25 talk

[HOPEful]

Chapman has played a lot of those west coast schools that are just schedule filler.

Agreed. But at what point does an undefeated team deserve to be ranked, regardless of who they've played. IMO, beating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-2) would put them at that point.

[Pat Coleman]

Chapman has played a lot of those west coast schools that are just schedule filler.

Agreed. But at what point does an undefeated team deserve to be ranked, regardless of who they've played. IMO, beating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-2) would put them at that point.

You have to play someone, anyone, in my mind. We have undefeated teams in football all the time who don't get ranked because they haven't played anyone, for example. Not the same in basketball because it's hard to go through a 25-game season playing nobody at all but definitely possible to get through 11 games of a season, go 11-0 and not deserve to be ranked.

CMS is an opponent that should make some more voters take notice.

[HOPEful]

...CMS is an opponent that should make some more voters take notice...

Lengthy response for what appears to be a statement of agreement... 

[smedindy]

Pat, if a football team does go 11-0, then they won a first round playoff game, so I think a ranking would follow, right? 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Pat, if a football team does go 11-0, then they won a first round playoff game, so I think a ranking would follow, right? 

Probably, though there are a handful of first-round opponents who could still rightfully be called 'playing nobody'!  Now, if they get to 12-0....

[Pat Coleman]

Pat, if a football team does go 11-0, then they won a first round playoff game, so I think a ranking would follow, right? 

Probably, though there are a handful of first-round opponents who could still rightfully be called 'playing nobody'!  Now, if they get to 12-0....

Macalester could have gone 11-0 winning the MWC title game ... NEFC teams have done it previously ...

[Pat Coleman]

...CMS is an opponent that should make some more voters take notice...

Lengthy response for what appears to be a statement of agreement... 

Only partial agreement, though.

[madzillagd]

Well here is the list of D3 schools within 1,000 miles that Chapman has not played or won't be playing in conference:




/end

[Greek Tragedy]

Reminds me of Grinnell. I think they went as far as 13-0 one year before they cracked the Top 25. A game or so after that, they played "someone" (Lawrence,  St. Norbert,  Carroll) and lost, never to see them in the poll again (at least for the remainder of the season).

[smedindy]

Pat, if a football team does go 11-0, then they won a first round playoff game, so I think a ranking would follow, right? 

Probably, though there are a handful of first-round opponents who could still rightfully be called 'playing nobody'!  Now, if they get to 12-0....

Macalester could have gone 11-0 winning the MWC title game ... NEFC teams have done it previously ...

Forgot about title games.

Still, even for someone to have a 90% chance of winning each game, stringing 10 or 11 in a row is a feat...

[wooscotsfan]

A bunch of losses by the highly debated 20+ teams... (Obviously, Hope won't be moving up :/)

Winner of Chapman v. Claremont Mudd Scripts on Saturday has to be moving into the top 25, no? Maybe replacing Husson? Or E. Connecticut?

Probably Elmhurst because they proved they can play with Augustana, but not Albion because losing by two to Augustana proves Augustana might not be good.  

Great point Sac -- you move up in this poll if your team plays in the CCIW!   Other conferences are discounted by the poll voters. 

How else can a rational person explain North Central moving up 11 spots since the last poll while Wooster (which also had 4 wins and one quality win just like North Central) went nowhere and they continue to sit in the #14 slot.  Apparently, Wooster needs to apply for CCIW membership 

BTW, a fact based rating based on actual results and each team's actual SOS has Wooster ranked as #7 in the nation (Massey ratings) higher than North Central.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Yeah... because once again we are ignoring the fact that Wooster gained points (48) meaning they moved up people's ballots. They may have stayed at 14, but they gained points. Why should we let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.

Oh... and did anyone consider the fact voters decided that the win by NCC proved what they may have been thinking about the Cardinals and moved them up accordingly while Wooster got the results expected and didn't move as swiftly. I know Wooster moved up my ballot and NCC entered my ballot because Wooster did as I expected (usually means not as strong a move up) and NCC got the job done which encouraged me to move them into the poll.

Conspiracies are beaten like a dead horse (cue the GIF) around here and the facts are always ignored.

[Greek Tragedy]

And there was a week when IWU gained points, but dropped a spot.

[stag44]

CMS vs Chapman on Saturday is going to be a treat of a game. CMS boasts the nations best scoring defense (52.2ppg) while Chapman has a top 10 fg%, 3pt% and scoring margin nationally.

The teams are quite familiar with each other and the winner should be in the drivers seat for the SCIAC and hopefully put into the top 25.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wooster gained a lot in my estimation.  They'd done enough to doubt them this season, but this week helped solidify their reputation in my mind.  Being in the CCIW does help North Central, but I'm guessing winning a game against a good opponent after a very lackluster early schedule helps even more.

I think it's also easier to rank a CCIW team higher early because we all know their conference schedule will wring the truth out of the situation.