Top 25 talk

[nwhoops1903]

Whilst it's fun to debate, thankfully there's a mechanism to determine the #1 team when all is said and done.

And no, it's not a contest on memorizing each episode of MSNBC's Lockup, complete with bleeps.

Haha!!  Indeed, MOST of the time this is true.

Yes, that IS the fun of it!

And, of course, we could even indulge in the fun of debating whether or not the winner of a single-elimination tournament is necessarily #1.  They are obviously and indisputably the champion, but given that upsets can happen on any given night, are they indisputably the 'best' team?

[And I say this as a proud fan of d3 College World Series champion IWU (which isn't even single-elimination)!  They won it, they are legitimately the champions.  Were the the 'best' team last year?  I seriously doubt it (except for the two weeks where it most counted). ]

I enjoy the banter as well and like to keep it fun, friendly and fan based.  I think Whitworth IMO has a great resume and of course, an unblemished record.  Wins over LC 2x, Whitman, Carthage, Ripon, Luther, Claremont, and PLU are all quality wins over teams with winning records and good schedule rankings.

Is Williams or Whitworth  better, we most likely will never know for sure.    Seeing a final 4 with those 2, WSP and IWU (I mean Auggy  ) would be a dream come true.

[Bucket]

I disagree. Seeing a Final Four without at least two of the NESCAC teams would be a travesty.

[Ralph Turner]

I disagree. Seeing a Final Four without at least two of the NESCAC teams would be a travesty.

Let's see if they can move them to different brackets so any of them may not meet until at least the round of 16.  

(Of course, we have heard similar appeals from fans of the WIAC, the UAA, the CCIW and the ODAC in previous seasons.)

[Bucket]

[/quote]
Let's see if they can move them to different brackets so any of them may not meet until at least the round of 16.  

(Of course, we have heard similar appeals from fans of the WIAC, the UAA, the CCIW and the ODAC in previous seasons.)
[/quote]

Couldn't agree more!

And I'll add: I'm an ODAC alum (W&L '93), saw some very good basketball back then--Hal Nunelly's Randy-Mac teams, All-American Russell Turner at Hampden-Sydney--and the big three of Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury this year are as good, if not better, than anything I have seen at this level of play.

[frodotwo]

Let's see if they can move them to different brackets so any of them may not meet until at least the round of 16.  

(Of course, we have heard similar appeals from fans of the WIAC, the UAA, the CCIW and the ODAC in previous seasons.)
[/quote]

Couldn't agree more!

And I'll add: I'm an ODAC alum (W&L '93), saw some very good basketball back then--Hal Nunelly's Randy-Mac teams, All-American Russell Turner at Hampden-Sydney--and the big three of Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury this year are as good, if not better, than anything I have seen at this level of play.
[/quote]

Maybe you should get out more.

[CCIWchamps]

While I don't check the list very often, it's really strange not to see Wash U on the Top 25 list after so many years of being in the mix. 

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared--Complete

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	616	Whitworth	23-0	def. Willamette, 115-69; def. George Fox, 89-66
#2	573	Williams	23-1	def. Trinity (Conn.), 86-60; def. #3 Amherst, 74-70
#3	556	Amherst	21-2	def. Brandeis, 79-65; LOST at #7 Middlebury, 61-69; LOST at #2 Williams, 70-74
#4	552	Wooster	21-2	def. Oberlin, 79-62; LOST at #25 Wittenberg, 72-76
#5	522	Augustana	22-1	def. Wheaton (Ill.), 80-77; def. Millikin, 71-51
#6	503	Virginia Wesleyan	20-2	def. #11 Randolph-Macon, 53-50; LOST at Hampden-Sydney, 71-80
#7	491	Middlebury	20-1	def. #3 Amherst, 69-61; def. Trinity (Conn.), 57-56
#8	432	UW-Stevens Point	20-3	def. UW-Eau Claire, 83-70; def. #10 UW-River Falls, 86-70
#9	409	St. Thomas	19-3	LOST at Carleton, 61-67; def. Gustavus Adolphus, 81-70
#10	391	UW-River Falls	19-4	LOST at #8 UW-Stevens Point, 70-86
#11	380	Randolph-Macon	20-4	LOST at #6 Virginia Wesleyan, 50-53; def. Roanoke, 85-52
#12	350	WPI	20-3	def. Coast Guard, 60-47; def. Babson, 69-55
#13	339	Wabash	17-5	LOST to Hiram, 58-70
#14	290	Western Connecticut	19-4	LOST to Rhode Island College, 75-86; LOST at Keene State, 78-82
#15	258	St. Mary's (Md.)	19-5	LOST at Salisbury, 58-61; def. T#36 Wesley, 83-71
#16	223	Eastern Mennonite	18-4	def. Bridgewater (Va.), 81-64; def. Emory and Henry, 82-62
#17	209	St. Norbert	17-5	LOST to Beloit, 52-57; def. Carroll, 60-46
#18	181	Marietta	21-2	def. Mount Union, 81-66; def. Heidelberg, 73-61
#19	178	Ferrum	21-3	LOST to Hampden-Sydney, 83-87; def. Shenandoah, 95-70; def. Christopher Newport, 95-83
#20	138	Chapman	19-3	def. Southwestern (AZ), 85-69
#21	129	Franklin and Marshall	19-4	def. Gettysburg, 68-46; def. Swarthmore, 67-57
#22	105	Ramapo	18-5	def. Rutgers-Newark, 70-62; LOST at New Jersey City, 69-81
#23	68	Illinois Wesleyan	16-6	def. Millikin, 78-53; LOST at Wheaton (Ill.), 76-78
#24	49	Centre	17-4	def. Sewanee, 70-35; def. Oglethorpe, 67-52
#25	44	Wittenberg	17-5	def. Ohio Wesleyan, 76-70; def. #4 Wooster, 76-72

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	41	Rochester	18-4	def. Chicago, 65-53; def. Washington U., 83-78
T#27	16	Concordia (Wis.)	20-3	def. Marian, 69-64; def. Lakeland, 79-75; def. Maranatha Baptist, 73-66
T#27	16	Emory	18-4	def. Washington U., 92-67; def. Chicago, 91-87
T#29	13	Becker	20-3	def. Elms, 81-74; def. Lesley, 86-70; def. Southern Vermont, 89-74
T#29	13	Manchester	17-6	def. Bluffton, 81-67; def. Franklin, 80-67
#31	12	Mary Hardin-Baylor	17-6	LOST at Hardin-Simmons, 59-78; LOST at McMurry, 62-65
#32	8	Penn State-Behrend	20-3	LOST at La Roche, 61-67; def. Pitt-Bradford, 82-71; def. Franciscan (Ohio), 75-46
#33	7	Hope	18-5	def. Olivet, 65-60; def. Adrian, 59-55
#34	6	Lewis and Clark	17-6	def. Pacific, 45-42; def. Pacific Lutheran, 78-67
#35	4	Oswego State	19-3	def. SUNY-Cobleskill, 63-62; def. Plattsburgh State, 79-76; def. Potsdam State, 53-47
T#36	1	Hanover	17-5	def. Franklin, 85-72; def. Earlham, 81-61
T#36	1	North Carolina Wesleyan	17-6	def. Greensboro, 73-70; def. Methodist, 93-84
T#36	1	Wesley	16-7	def. Marymount, 64-63; LOST at #15 St. Mary's (Md.), 71-83

[Bucket]

Gotta think that Middlebury moves up to number three, beating the previous number 3 this weekend and with the season's lone loss being @ # 2 Williams. (A five-point battle, played without Middlebury's leading scorer and rebounder.)

[7express]

Thats a lot of losses for teams in the 9-19 range.  If River Falls and Randolph-Macon hadn't lost to top 8 teams I'd say WPI could get a top 10 ranking.

West Conn should have a big drop off, probably down 11, 12, or 13 to either one of the last 2 in the poll, or one of the last 2 out of the poll.

[magicman]

#7 Middlebury defeats Hamilton College tonight 69-56 to go to 21-1.

[7express]

WOW, West Conn only dropped 6 spots??  I'll take it, but even I admit they should've dropped further.

[Mr. Ypsi]

VaWes crushed by EMU, 86-71.  EMU jumped out early (19-3, 25-6) and were never seriously challenged the rest of the way.

[sac]

Wonder if there's ever been a team #1 in its Region but not ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25.

We may find out Wednesday.

[Ralph Turner]

Wonder if there's ever been a team #1 in its Region but not ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25.

We may find out Wednesday.

The Atlantic is not represented in the Top 25, and Rochester (East Region) is not in my Posters' Poll.

+1!  Great observation.

[sac]

Then I guess it could be two #1's not ranked.


...or how about #1 in your region with 4 teams from your region behind you ranked.