Top 25 talk

[Titan Q]

So in anticipation of a Top 25 ballot tomorrow, I would love for as many posters as possible to submit two simple lists here:

Overrated Teams

Preseason Top 25 teams that are either too high, or don't belong in the Top 25 at all.  Since "receiving votes" teams are not rated, they should not be listed here.


Underrated Teams

Teams that are in the preseason Top 25 but too low, or teams not in that should be.



If a team is currently ranked about where they should be, no need to list anywhere.  You're just noting the teams you feel strongly about one way or the other (overrated or underrated).

Also, no need to provide commentary on each team if you don't want (if you do, great)...two simple lists is great.

Interested to see what people think.  Thanks!

[wooscotsfan]

Titan Q - thanks for the opportunity; here are some thoughts.

Overrated Teams:
Washington University - 3 Losses, Rebuilding and not Top 25 right now
UW Whitewater - Graduated Stars, Thumped by Wheaton, 2 Unimpressive Wins against average/weak teams
Guilford - 2 Losses already, Rebuilding

Underrated Teams:
Wabash 6-0  Impressive Win over #2 Randolph-Macon, will challenge Wooster in NCAC
Capital 4-0  #2 Team in the OAC?
DePauw 4-0  Plays Wabash in next week
Amherst 3-0 

[nwhoops1903]

Here you go Titan.

Overrated Teams

#2 575 Randolph-Macon 4-1           maybe 5-10 high
#5 503 Carthage 3-2                      maybe 10 high
#7 446 Franklin and Marshall 3-1    maybe 5 high
#11 341 St. Mary's (Md.) 3-1            maybe 2-3 high
#14 236 Anderson 2-1                      maybe 5 high
#17 177 Hope 1-2                              probably 20 high
#19 174 Guilford 3-2                          maybe 5 high
#20 152 Washington U. 2-3               probably 20 high
#22 126 Plattsburgh State 3-1          maybe 2-3 high
T#38 11 Merchant Marine 2-2                   probably 10 high

Underrated Teams

#12 282 Virginia Wesleyan 6-0         maybe 5 low
#16 194 Whitworth 4-0                     probably 10 low
#18 176 John Carroll                          maybe 2-3 low
#24 106 Augustana 3-0                     probably 10 low
#28 66 Wheaton (Ill.) 3-1                  maybe 5-10 low
#29 55 Brandeis 4-0                          maybe 5 low
#31 41 Chapman 3-1                         maybe 5 low
T#36 16 DeSales 4-0                               probably 10-15 low
T#38 11 Amherst 3-0                              maybe 10 low
#40 10 Ramapo 4-0                                      probably 10-15 low
#42 8 Gettysburg 3-1                                 maybe 10 low
T#45 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2-1                 maybe 10-20 low
T#45 4 UW-River Falls 4-1 def.                        maybe 15-20 low
T#48 3 Ripon 2-1                                                maybe 15 low
T#52 2 Christopher Newport 4-1                        maybe 15 low

Wabash 6-0  top20 team
Capital 4-0    top25 team
DePauw 4-0  top25 team
Amherst 3-0  top25 team

[Ralph Turner]

Darryl, I can't thank you enough for doing "How they fared" again!

His effort is worthy of generous karma by the readers!   

[nescac1]

New England has gone roughly according to form.  Williams and Middlebury are both probably about right.  Amherst is too low but they really had to start low after a poor season last year.  They have top 25 talent, and probably belong in the 20-25 area.  MIT and WPI both suffered VERY surprising early season losses, but I still think that at least MIT is a deserved top 20 team and, once their star center returns to health (hopefully), they should go on a major roll.   RIC has lost once as well, although they've rebounded well since then.  Brandeis is probably the most underrated New England team, no surprise in light of how many players they lost, but their frosh class is clearly legit and ready to make huge contributions right away.  Could easily climb into the top 25 soon, especially playing in an uncharacteristically weak UAA. 

The one New England sleeper to really watch out for is Keene State.  They are 4-0, thumping all four opponents, and without last year's star (and the leading scorer in the LEC) Derek D'Amours.  Not sure when he is scheduled to return, or even what the issue is.  Keene brought in a D-II transfer second semester last year, and THREE scholarship transfers (including two D-1 transfers) before tihs season, to add to a pretty solid homegrown talent base, including D'Amours as well as last year's LEC rookie of the year.  All four transfers are playing substantial roles already.  A team that no one talked about before the season, but they could make major waves in New England this year, and even possibly nationally depending on how fast they come together as a team.  I can't recall any team in the eastern portion of D-III bringing in so much transfer talent at once since the infamous Rowan teams of yore ... all that being said, probably need to win a few more before they are a top 25 candidate. 

[frodotwo]

2 cents worth


Over rated


Carleton
Carthage
Case Western
Chicago
Franklin
Guilford
Loras
Wash U
Wittenberg




Under rated

Augustana
Brandeis
Ramapo
UW River Falls
Wabash
Whitworth

[Mr. Ypsi]

2 cents worth


Over rated


Carleton
Carthage
Case Western
Chicago
Franklin
Guilford
Loras
Wash U
Wittenberg




Under rated

Augustana
Brandeis
Ramapo
UW River Falls
Wabash
Whitworth

While Carthage will take a big fall in the next poll, I'm not at all sure that they are overrated in the long run.  They have incontestably the best player in d3 (coach's son, Steve Djurickovic), and once his teammates adjust to him being TRIPLE-teamed, and score when open, they should be fine.  They are still gonna give IWU a heckuva run for the CCIW title (as will Augie and Wheaton).

[John Gleich]

One underrated team to keep an eye on is UW Superior.  They're 4-1, with the one loss being to D-II (and quasi-crosstown rival Minnesota Duluth).

I'm not sure if they have proven themselves enough to be in the poll because the best team they've beaten is Gustavus Adolphus at 2-2.  They host River Falls (who appears to be great against any team not named St. Thomas... 0-2 vs. schools with that name!) on Wednesday in a game that could show us something about each of these schools.

For both River Falls and Superior, after their head-to-head matchup, they have tough draws on Saturday...  Superior has to make their longest conference trip of the year, to Platteville (which, after a 4-0 start, lost to 0-4 Loras last night... hmm...) and River Falls hosts Stevens Point.

Stout may also be a team to watch.  They're 3-0 against D-III competition but 0-2 against D-II and NAIA-II comp.  They host Stevens Point Wednesday and Whitewater on Saturday.  Last year, they beat both of these teams (both ranked in the top 10) in the same week!

All of that is to say... that it's pretty unclear who the top half of the WIAC will be this year (and thus who will be #2 or #3, etc).  I can see any number of teams rising to that spot (Whitewater, River Falls, Superior, Stout, Platteville, or La Crosse). 

Eh, maybe not La Crosse... they've started 2-4, and though they've got the conference's top scorer, they don't have much else.  We'll have to see if they have better success in the league than they did outside of it.

[Gregory Sager]

Wash U is 0-2 on the non-conference swing I talked about recently, with 3 tough ones left...

...and I'd be very surprised to find Washington U. outside the poll in February.

I think it depends on two things, David.

1) How many losses will the Bears rack up in these non-conference games...

* Nov. 22, @ Augustana
* Nov. 28, @ Hanover
* Dec. 4, vs Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
* Dec. 11, @ Wheaton
* Dec. 18, vs Illinois Wesleyan

and,

2) In what appears to be a down year in the UAA, is Wash U (picked as the favorite) truly better than everyone else, or is there some parity near the top?  In other words, will the Bears go, say, 12-2 or will they go 9-5?  


Wash U does appear to have some very serious questions right now in their rotation...depth maybe being the biggie.

CMS may not be as tough a foe for the Bears as initially thought; according to the SCIAC room, the Stags' star player, All-Region pick Chris Blees, blew out his knee and is done for the year.

[stag44]

CMS may not be as tough a foe for the Bears as initially thought; according to the SCIAC room, the Stags' star player, All-Region pick Chris Blees, blew out his knee and is done for the year.

tough break for the stags... hopefully they can come up with their first EVER win against Wash U this weekend. I'll be travelling down for the weekend, so hope to see any of you down there.

The Stags were primed to bust into the top 25 as well, but the unfortunate injury and subsequent loss to UC Santa Cruz will hinder many votes for them.

[oldchap]

I know I will sound like an inveterate homer, but I'll do it anyway. I also risk having eggs on my face by the end of the season, but I don't care... 

Chapman for most of last season, except for the very beginning when no one really believed or even realized the true value of the team, hovered at the bottom half of the Top 25 rankings. While I think there is a huge gap between the top half and the bottom half of the rankings, I do believe that Chapman's team this year is every bit as good as last year's and therefore should appear somewhere in the Top 25 (20-25 would be fair). Sure, they lost 3 senior starters this year, but they are also returning 8 players, some of which were getting significant play time in past seasons and are showing huge improvement so far. Most importantly they are returning Riley and Ramme, who in my view, are both contenders for All-Independent First Team, perhaps even MVP's.

So far they lost to LMU, a division I team, in a close exhibition game that was hotly contested and have won against 3 Division III teams. If they stay healthy and don't have an off-night (Indenpendents biggest fear), they could very well qualify as a Pool B contender for their second post-season tournament.

[Hugenerd]

Top 25 is out:

http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2010-11/week1

Lots of movement this week, as expected (14 of the previous Top 25 teams lost at least 1 game since the last release, 7 of them dropped out of this weeks rankings).

[nwhoops1903]

Top 25 is out:
http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2010-11/week1
Lots of movement this week, as expected (14 of the previous Top 25 teams lost at least 1 game since the last release, 7 of them dropped out of this weeks rankings).

Top 25's Big Risers:

School

amount

Wabash	+35
Christopher Newport	+23
Ramapo	+18
Amherst	+15
Augustana	+12
DeSales	+12
Brandeis	+10
Wheaton	+7
Whitworth	+6

bold previously ranked

[Ethelred the Unready]

Top 25 is out:
http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2010-11/week1
Lots of movement this week, as expected (14 of the previous Top 25 teams lost at least 1 game since the last release, 7 of them dropped out of this weeks rankings).

Biggest movers up in Top 25:

Wabash                                +35
Christopher Newport               +23
Ramapo                                +18
Amherst                                +15
Augustana                                 +12
DeSales                                 +12
Brandeis                                +10
Wheaton                               +7
Whitworth                                  +6

bold previously ranked

And still, Rust gets no love.....

[sac]

And still, Rust gets no love.....