Top 25 talk

[Hugenerd]

Playing top 25 teams is a bit easier when you have as many as 4 ranked teams in your conference and conference play starts in November or December, but I guess that is both an strength and a weakness of the top conferences (strength if you win those games, weakness if you lose them, but overall a strength).  NESCAC teams will start conference play in January and those teams will be tested by years end.  They typically ease into the season because their practices dont start until November 1, so they have 2 weeks less preparation than most of their early season opponents.  MIT plays Harvard in December, as well as ORV Bridgewater and WPI (#26) in January.  Plattsburgh plays Middlebury in January and ORV West Conn in November.  I am not certain of this, but at first glance it appears that UTD is the only team in the top 25 to not play any currently ranked or ORV team the entire season.

[Hugenerd]

Guilford looks to be the biggest stretch in the top 25

I thought the same thing, nescac1.

Agreed.

You could make the same argument about WashU (which Titan already has), but it seems those teams final rankings from last season kept them in the top 25 (when you dont know who to go with, its easy and justifiable to go with a top ranked team from last season).

[Pat Coleman]

I believe there can be only one biggest stretch, and to me Guilford is a far bigger stretch than Wash U. So I could make the same argument, but I won't.

[Titan Q]

In the ORV category, Wheaton (IL) getting all those votes surprised the heck out of me. 

Wheaton has a 1st Team All-American candidate (6-6 F Tim McCrary), but also has some serious questions to answer heading into the season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

In the ORV category, Wheaton (IL) getting all those votes surprised the heck out of me. 

Wheaton has a 1st Team All-American candidate (6-6 F Tim McCrary), but also has some serious questions to answer heading into the season.

It seems like there's just not much consensus near the bottom of the poll - so we've got a lot of voters throwing up names of consistent programs.  Guilford and WashU have experience, if nothing else, which, I suppose is a safer bet at this point than unexperienced teams you're also not entirely confident about.

[Titan Q]

DePauw beat Evansville 66-62 in exhibition play...

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables

[sac]

You might take a look at DePauw.  20-8 last season.

http://www.depauw.edu/ath/mbasket/

huh, look at that!   


write up and boxscore
http://gopurpleaces.com/news/2010/10/30/MBB_1030100442.aspx?path=mbball

http://gopurpleaces.com/custompages/Mens%20Basketball/2010-11%20Stats/ex1.htm

[Titan Q]

Take for what it's worth (which isn't much), but a couple Top 25 scrimmage scores from this weekend...

#5 Carthage 91
#1 UW-Stevens Point 80
(at Carthage)


#4 Illinois Wesleyan 68
#10 St. Norbert 54
(neutral court)


As with all scrimmages, these were played as two separate 20:00 periods, not as a regular 40:00 game.  The combined scores are above.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Titan Q - first and foremost... great work. I will admit it helped me when putting together my Top 25 simply on the fact that some of the stuff I was looking for was easily found this year... instead of hours pouring through the internet.

As for Guilford, Wash U, etc... I just couldn't put those two in my Top 25's. It seemed harsh to take those squads high finish last year and kill them because of what they lost... but, in my opinion, those squads lost so much they basically look like brand new programs with what is left. How can anyone deem them a Top 25 team as a result. If anything, last year's results/finish can't be used as a barometer simply because those that helped them achieve those lofty levels aren't there anymore.

I was also surprised by some of the ORV's... one in the Mid-Atlantic certainly surprised me, but they only got one vote, so I won't harp on it.

I have said it often, the Pre-season poll is the toughest poll to put together as a pollster. You are trying to balance reputation, previous seasons, losses and returns of players, along with new season's schedule, conference influence, and coaching experience. I would be lying if I said I put my list together and only made minor changes... often I have five or six different drafts that include minor changes in all of them.

The only poll that might be as hard is somewhere in late December or early January when a number of teams have overachieved, underachieved, surprised, disappointed, dealt with injuries, etc. and I realize that my poll needs to be completely redone and comparing anything I put together for that week to any previous poll is useless (I term this as blowing up my ballot - happens usually once a season).

Only other note... west coast teams. Tough to vote for some as their schedules can sometimes be weak (i.e. Chapman) or their conference doesn't provide the competition many of us hope it would (i.e. NWC) or they just don't prove that their success out west translates to the tournament (women certainly have proven otherwise, just not the men). Feels weird leaving a west coast team off my Top 25 as I always think there are teams that deserve to be there... but I will have to wait and see (watching Whitworth).

[Pat Coleman]

Preseason poll is really difficult.

The first regular-season poll isn't much easier, though, because there are so many results to sift through and you have to try to figure out what percentage perception and what percentage reality to use.

[Greek Tragedy]

Take for what it's worth (which isn't much), but a couple Top 25 scrimmage scores from this weekend...

#5 Carthage 91
#1 UW-Stevens Point 80
(at Carthage)

Looks liks Point's in big trouble this year! lol    Were there chants of "Overrated!" in the stands? 

[John Gleich]

Take for what it's worth (which isn't much), but a couple Top 25 scrimmage scores from this weekend...

#5 Carthage 91
#1 UW-Stevens Point 80
(at Carthage)

Looks liks Point's in big trouble this year! lol    Were there chants of "Overrated!" in the stands? 

Does a team really deserve to win when they give up 51 points in the second half?!  Check out the CCIW board for some comments on the scrimmage.

[Titan Q]

Take for what it's worth (which isn't much), but a couple Top 25 scrimmage scores from this weekend...

#5 Carthage 91
#1 UW-Stevens Point 80
(at Carthage)

Looks liks Point's in big trouble this year! lol    Were there chants of "Overrated!" in the stands? 

Does a team really deserve to win when they give up 51 points in the second half?!  Check out the CCIW board for some comments on the scrimmage.

Point, there was talk somewhere a while back about a Stevens Point returning starter potentially not coming back this year...I think it's someone who plays football too. (I can't remember who exactly.)

Was that player at the Carthage scrimmage?  (And expected to be back on the basketball team this year?)

[tomt4525]

Titan, you'd be thinking of Jared Jenkins.  He isn't back yet and it isn't determined yet if he will be coming back, probably won't know until he shows up on the bench for a game.

[Greek Tragedy]

Last year Oshkosh was 5-11 in the WIAC and Elmhurst 1-13 in the CCIW.

Norb's only beat Elmhurst by 2 last year.  Point by won by 8 and La Crosse won by 10. 

Oshkosh was very inconsistent last year.  They'd go on the road and lose to Whitewater in OT, but get blown out at home to Eau Claire, play Point tough at Quandt, get destroyed at Kolf by Point.  Up and down. 

Obviously Jared Jenkins isn't joining the team until after football season.  He usually sits out or plays sparingly for the first couple of games to get into basketball mode.  If he doesn't play, Point will be knocked down a couple a rungs.