Top 25 talk

[ScotsFan]

This is the Preseason Top 25 ballot I submitted this morning.  I feel strongly about the top 10...after that, it was llike picking out of a hat.


1 Washington U.
2 John Carroll
3 Wooster
4 Guilford
5 Franklin and Marshall
6 Richard Stockton
7 DeSales
8 Mass-Dartmouth
9 Cal Lutheran
10 St. Thomas
11 Randolph-Macon
12 Bridgewater State
13 Williams
14 UW-Platteville
15 Amherst
16 UW-Stevens Point
17 Brandeis
18 Oglethorpe
19 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
20 St. Mary's (Md.)
21 Whitworth
22 Transylvania
23 Carthage
24 Ohio Northern
25 Ohio Wesleyan

I like your ballot TQ!  8) 

According to your ballot, there is a possibility that 5 of Wooster's 8 non-conference opponents are ranked!  Wooster's non-conference schedule has the potential to be pretty rugged to say the least!

I also like your positioning of Woo in there at #3 as well! 

Lastly, I wanted to throw out my thanks and appreciation to all those with ballots for all of the work you put in to give us fans something to pass the time from now until the season starts!  I can't wait for the season to get started! 

[Wydown Blvd.]

It should be noted that, historically, some very highly (projected) teams have flopped.

And we all remember UChicago was 22nd in last years preseason poll, and they ended up starting the season 0-12, and finished 6-19. One of the biggest flops I have ever seen since following d3.

[John Gleich]

It should be noted that, historically, some very highly (projected) teams have flopped.

And we all remember UChicago was 22nd in last years preseason poll, and they ended up starting the season 0-12, and finished 6-19. One of the biggest flops I have ever seen since following d3.

I forgot about them... another good example!

[David Collinge]

UPSET ALERT
It's still early (11:51 1st period), but Wooster, playing without two potential starters, is leading Kent State 18-11.  The Scots have hit 70% while holding the Golden Flashes to 33% shooting, and are outrebounding their taller guests 9-6.  You can listen to Wooster's student station here.

Update: KSU defensive pressure leads to an 18-4 run; just under 4:00 left in the half and Wooster trails by 2.
Update: Kent St. scores the last 6 points of the half to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room.  Wooster has committed 14 turnovers to negate advantages in shooting (46% to 28%) and rebounding (+2).
Update: The National Weather Service has canceled the Upset Alert.  Kent State has begun to lay the wood and now leads by 17, 15:00 remaining.
Final: Kent St. 76, Wooster 59

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

#11 Bridgewater State played at Western New England last night - they won 86-83, but it was ugly.  Bridgewater hardly used their bench at all and WNEC had 24 turnovers.  Not a good start for a ranked team.

[magicman]

#3 Guilford jumped out to a 28-0 lead over Greensboro in the 1st 6:30 of play Wed. night and coasted to a 54-17 halftime lead. Final score was 76-49 as 12 Quakers got into the scoring column. Tyler Sanborn only saw 11 mins of action and managed 11 pts with 7 rebounds. Clay Henson scored 14 pts in 16 mins of action.
Guilford not in action again until Nov. 24th when they host Averett.

#5 Richard Stockton rebounds from their opening day loss to easily defeat  Penn. St.-Abington 77-48.

Maryville (Tenn.) travels to #21 Centre and scores a mild upset 72-70. Game really not as close as the final score would indicate. Maryville up by 16 40-24 at the break and maintained a double digit lead most of 2nd half. Up 15 with 5:00 to go, Centre narrowed the gap when they hit some 3's, did the foul parade, and had an uncontested basket to end the game.

#23 Hope actually played Rochester (MIch) Tuesday night Nov. 17th and came away with a 65-50 win.

[chubbyboybaby]

#11 Bridgewater State played at Western New England last night - they won 86-83, but it was ugly.  Bridgewater hardly used their bench at all and WNEC had 24 turnovers.  Not a good start for a ranked team.

Bridgewater had a great season last year, but for many seasons prior to that they have been only decent in a pretty bad conference.  Last year they had good leadership coupled with a nice coach which I believe led to their magical season.  I don't expect to see them in the top 25 list for long.

[kiltedbryan]

There's a bit of talk going on over in the NCAC board about tonight's #4 St. Thomas v. #9Wooster tilt, in which the Tommies simply put on a basketball clinic for 40 minutes, treating the Scots defenders as little more than an occasional annoyance on the way to their dominating 84-53 victory on Wooster's home floor.

Wooster was not the #9 team in the country tonight; in fact they didn't (and haven't) looked much like a top 25 team at all in their first three games.  The Scots do have the talent, I think, to be in the top half of the d3hoops poll, but they'll need to start playing at the level of their talent, first.

On the other hand, even a "bad" Wooster is still a pretty good team.  And that's why I have to say that St. Thomas didn't play like a #4 team in the country—they were much better than that.  Being a devoted Wooster fan, I have a sense of what a #1 D3 team looks like, and the Tommies were it, both tonight and last night when they brushed away Heidelberg 92-55.  Granting that it will be hard to unseat Wash U at #1, I would not put the Tommies lower than #2.

[Pat Coleman]

If Anders Halversen plays like that on a regular basis, they well could be.

[elfinley]

Chapman beat #14 Cal Lutheran 80-74 on Friday.

[Darryl Nester]

Here is the first "How They Fared" report of the 2009-10 season.  After a few more polls, the number of teams will decrease from the nearly-unmanageable 59 on this list.  Scores in italics had not yet been posted to the scoreboard; I hope I got all of those correct (and also adjusted the records of those teams).

(Edited to strike out two three exhibition games.  Please let me know if there are others in this list.)

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	625	Washington U.	3-0	def. MacMurray, 88-53; def. T#57 Ohio Wesleyan, 85-68; def. #26 Illinois Wesleyan, 76-71
#2	526	John Carroll	3-0	LOST at Cleveland St., 75-92; def. Olivet, 90-83; def. Centenary, 120-106; def. Scranton, 96-77
#3	517	Guilford	2-0	def. Methodist, 91-72; def. Greensboro, 76-49
#4	500	St. Thomas	2-0	def. Heidelberg, 92-55; def. #9 Wooster, 84-53
#5	498	Richard Stockton	3-1	LOST to Baruch, 67-68; def. Penn St.-Abington, 77-48; def. Western Connecticut, 88-86; def. Vassar, 91-62
#6	489	Franklin and Marshall	2-0	def. New York City Tech, 102-40; def. #54 Gwynedd-Mercy, 81-70
#7	399	DeSales	2-1	def. Penn State-Berks, 73-35; LOST to (n) New Jersey, 71-76; def. Berkeley  @ Albright, 92-47
#8	397	Mass-Dartmouth	2-1	def. Johnson and Wales, 105-77; LOST to University of New England, 84-86; def. Springfield, 76-70
#9	393	Wooster	1-2	LOST at Albion, 55-57; def. #37 Carnegie Mellon, 74-61; LOST to #4 St. Thomas, 53-84
#10	389	UW-Stevens Point	3-0	def. St. John's, 81-57; def. #16 Whitworth, 101-79; def. #18 Puget Sound, 70-55
#11	352	Bridgewater State	2-1	def. Western New England, 86-83; def. Lehman, 68-56; LOST to (n) St. Joseph's (L.I.), 71-78
#12	295	Texas-Dallas	1-1	LOST at Austin, 77-79 OT; def. Howard Payne, 73-60
#13	289	UW-Whitewater	2-0	def. T#55 Carthage, 82-81; def. Aurora, 89-83
#14	184	Cal Lutheran	0-1	def. Afghanistan National Team, 83-78; LOST at #29 Chapman, 74-80
#15	171	Wheaton (Ill.)	2-0	def. Trine, 54-39; def. McMurry, 88-72
#16	169	Whitworth	1-1	LOST to (n) #10 UW-Stevens Point, 79-101; def. UC Santa Cruz, 81-75
#17	166	UW-Platteville	2-1	def. Clarke, 73-66; def. Aurora, 86-79; LOST at T#55 Carthage, 65-78
#18	162	Puget Sound	1-2	LOST to Evergreen St., 97-108; def. UC Santa Cruz, 94-79; LOST to #10 UW-Stevens Point, 55-70
#19	149	Randolph-Macon	3-0	def. Marymount, 63-51; def. Rutgers-Newark, 76-60; def. Lebanon Valley, 73-59
#20	147	St. Mary's (Md.)	3-0	def. McDaniel, 83-56; def. Salisbury, 78-76; def. Hood, 89-77
#21	130	Centre	0-2	LOST to Maryville (Tenn.), 70-72; LOST at #28 Transylvania, 60-68
#22	123	Brandeis	2-0	def. Lasell, 90-79; def. Emerson, 69-52
#23	109	Hope	1-0	def. Rochester (Mich.), 65-50
#24	106	UW-Oshkosh	1-1	LOST at St. Norbert, 52-60; def. #50 Lawrence, 66-55
#25	95	Amherst	2-0	def. Maine-Farmington, 76-51; def. #38 Ithaca, 92-67

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	72	Illinois Wesleyan	3-1	def. Benedictine, 89-79; def. Webster, 78-49; def. Johnson and Wales, 101-62; LOST to #1 Washington U., 71-76
#27	69	Middlebury	2-0	def. Swarthmore, 65-57; def. Haverford, 55-42
#28	59	Transylvania	2-1	LOST at T#55 Carthage, 54-76; def. Berea, 77-66; def. #21 Centre, 68-60
#29	49	Chapman	2-0	def. MLI Team Afghanistan, 78-52; def. Pomona-Pitzer, 71-53; def. #14 Cal Lutheran, 80-74
#30	47	Calvin	1-1	LOST to Ferris St., 68-88; LOST to Grace Bible (Mich.), 68-83; def. Lake Forest, 85-78
#31	46	Oglethorpe	1-1	LOST to Emory, 81-85 OT; def. Methodist, 87-85 OT
#32	43	St. Lawrence	0-2	LOST to Brockport State, 72-75; LOST to (n) #54 Gwynedd-Mercy, 77-87
#33	38	Elms	3-0	def. Plattsburgh State, 86-72; def. Arcadia, 80-62; def. Brooklyn, 97-89
#34	37	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	1-1	def. George Fox, 76-67; LOST at Willamette, 86-94
#35	35	Catholic	2-2	def. St. Vincent, 70-58; LOST at York (Pa.), 76-82 OT; LOST to (n) Wittenberg, 45-70; def. Gettysburg, 69-48
#36	28	Christopher Newport	0-1	LOST at Roanoke, 72-73
#37	22	Carnegie Mellon	1-2	LOST to T#44 St. John Fisher, 65-70; LOST at #9 Wooster, 61-74; def. Heidelberg, 72-65
#38	19	Ithaca	2-1	def. Hobart, 108-93; def. Endicott, 78-69; LOST at #25 Amherst, 67-92
#39	18	Augustana	3-0	def. Simpson, 58-53; def. Beloit, 66-53; def. MacMurray, 85-65
#40	15	Bethel	1-1	def. Neb. Christian, 93-21; LOST to UW-Stout, 73-78
T#41	13	Capital	0-0	IDLE
T#41	13	Rhode Island College	2-1	LOST at Rhode Island, 76-101; def. Springfield, 62-59; def. Clark, 74-72; LOST to Colby, 62-75
T#41	13	Williams	2-0	def. Southern Vermont, 98-74; def. Cortland State, 72-68
T#44	12	Elmhurst	1-1	def. Hamline, 79-70; LOST to St. Norbert, 61-63
T#44	12	St. John Fisher	1-0	def. #37 Carnegie Mellon, 70-65
T#44	12	Virginia Wesleyan	3-0	def. Averett, 81-66; def. Greensboro, 80-72; def. North Carolina Wesleyan, 78-68
T#44	12	Widener	3-0	def. Immaculata, 75-50; def. St. Joseph's (Bklyn.), 112-58; def. Rowan, 65-60
#48	11	Salem State	0-2	LOST to Springfield, 63-74; LOST at #49 Worcester Polytech, 70-81
#49	10	Worcester Polytech	3-0	def. Becker, 85-80; def. Worcester State, 101-64; def. #48 Salem State, 81-70
#50	8	Lawrence	1-3	def. Marian, 77-68; LOST to #24 UW-Oshkosh, 55-66; LOST at Cornell, 60-65;LOST at Coe, 56-61
#51	6	Farmingdale State	0-1	LOST at Hofstra, 48-87
T#52	5	Buena Vista	2-1	def. Wayne St. (Neb.), 62-61; LOST at Grand View, 65-74; def. Grinnell, 126-85
T#52	5	Trinity (Texas)	1-3	LOST to (n) Midwestern St.  @ St. Edwards, 52-63; LOST to (n) Texas A&M-Commerce  @ Austin, Texas:, 58-67; LOST at Mary Hardin-Baylor, 52-78; def. Schreiner, 61-52
#54	4	Gwynedd-Mercy	1-2	LOST at Rutgers-Camden, 60-62; def. #32 St. Lawrence, 87-77; LOST at #6 Franklin and Marshall, 70-81
T#55	3	Carthage	2-1	def. #28 Transylvania, 76-54; LOST to #13 UW-Whitewater, 81-82; def. #17 UW-Platteville, 78-65
T#55	3	MIT	3-0	def. Emmanuel, 68-54; def. John Abbott  @ RPI, 78-38; def. RPI, 56-55
T#57	2	Carroll	1-1	def. North Park, 87-75; LOST at UW-La Crosse, 64-84
T#57	2	Ohio Northern	1-2	LOST to Hanover, 53-55; LOST to (n) McMurry, 69-72; def. Trine, 71-63
T#57	2	Ohio Wesleyan	1-1	LOST to (n) #1 Washington U., 68-85; def. Johnson and Wales, 73-65

[LogShow]

I can hear Puget Sound tumbling down the ranking   

[Hugenerd]

Great stuff Darryl.

[John Gleich]

So 12 of the top 25 lose (3 teams twice) and 23 of the 34 ORV teams (including 6 of them twice and 2 of them three times).  Not placing value on any of the losses, but the 11 ORV teams that didn't lose could skip into the top 25, though it isn't likely that all of the teams that lost will drop out completely.  Are there any teams not on the top 25 radar that could jump in to the top 25 after the first couple of weekends?

[sac]

#30

47

Calvin

1-1

LOST to Ferris St., 68-88; LOST to Grace Bible (Mich.), 68-83; def. Lake Forest, 85-78

Calvin's loss to Ferris State was an exhibition game and should not count against them.