Top 25 talk

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

It may have been one of the best weekends of the Division III basketball tournaments in recent history. Upsets, close finishes, buzzer beaters, and more. Survive and advance hasn't fit better as a description than after the first two rounds of this year's championships.

Tonight, Dave McHugh recaps it all on Hoopsville tonight. From those who surprised to those who survived. Even the favorites had their moments. Dave will talk to many who are not only still playing, but get a chance to host next weekend and hope it helps them get to the final four.

Hoopsville hits the air at 7pm ET here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/mar6

Guests include (in order of apperance):
- Brian Sortino, Oswego State junior guard
- Jason Leone, Oswego State men's coach
- John Tauer, No. 8 St. Thomas men's coach (Pat Coleman interview)
- Trevor Woodruff, No. 3 Scranton women's coach
- Megan Haughey, Stevens women's coach
- Bob Sheldon, No. 20 Tufts men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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Thanks!

[wooscotsfan]

Utilizing the February 28th Top 25 Rankings, here are the Elite Eight matchups:

#1 Augustana vs. #8 St. Thomas

#2 Benedictine vs. #13 Alma

#4 Christopher Newport vs. NR Wooster

#15 Amherst vs. #20 Tufts

Wooster is the team that the Top 25 voters missed and the Scots return their top 4 scorers next season. 

[David Collinge]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

[wooscotsfan]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

North Central and Emory were both ranked in the last Top 25 poll each with 7 losses.  Wooster also with 7 losses was obviously not ranked.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

North Central and Emory were both ranked in the last Top 25 poll each with 7 losses.  Wooster also with 7 losses was obviously not ranked.

While I greatly respect the NCAC, North Central (CCIW) and Emory (UAA) both play in overall tougher conferences.  The NCAC is more comparable to the MIAA - generally 2 (maybe 3) nationally relevant teams, but not much depth.

[sac]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

Also a bracket that avoided the entire Great Lakes and Midwest Regions.

[David Collinge]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

North Central and Emory were both ranked in the last Top 25 poll each with 7 losses.  Wooster also with 7 losses was obviously not ranked.

I get what you are saying, but Wooster, alongside Amherst, has historically dominated the Top 25 poll since its inception. I no longer know which is #1 and which is #2, but they are 1-2 in top 10 rankings, top 25 rankings, and overall weeks with votes; Wooster has been left out of the poll altogether (i.e. zero votes) only a handful of times ever. I doubt that there's ever been a ballot cast by a voter who didn't give Wooster serious consideration.

[Gregory Sager]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

Also a bracket that avoided the entire Great Lakes and Midwest Regions.

This.

No slight to the Scots, who are certainly very good, but ... this.

[David Collinge]

Probably more a matter of "peaking at the right time;" if there's one program in D3 that generally does not get overlooked by the poll voters, it's Wooster.

Also a bracket that avoided the entire Great Lakes and Midwest Regions.

This.

No slight to the Scots, who are certainly very good, but ... this.

Hey, I'm not the one arguing they should be ranked -- although we all know, I am sure, that they've secured a top 15 slot in the final poll, regardless of what happens from here on out. My point is that they lost to every good team they played in the non-conference (Skidmore, Salisbury, Marietta), then followed that up with conference losses to Wittenberg, Hiram, and Denison (and, of course, OWU), none of which are terrible by themselves but taken as a whole are less than inspiring. And yes, Lancaster Bible, Endicott, and Oswego St. are not a murderer's row, but they are Wooster's three best wins outside OWU, and they put the Scots in the Sectional final. Wooster doesn't win these games in November/December; I call that peaking. Whether that improvement is enough to handle Christopher Newport tomorrow remains to be seen. One thing's for sure: if Wooster wins, it will be attributed at least in part to CNU's geography.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wooster was really young and didn't play a great schedule.  They're surviving on ball control and one guy scoring.  They're going to be a great team next year, that's for sure.  I saw them play two games at Catholic and they weren't even the best team in that pod.  Obviously going on a run will help that impression, but unless they win tonight, I don't know that it would greatly change my perception on them right now.  Walking a tightrope, is how I'd describe them.

That being said, a lot of the teams near the bottom of my poll did poorly in the tournament and won't be ranked, so there will probably be room for Wooster - I just don't know that they're Top 15 (at least until the preseason poll this fall).

[fantastic50]

Wooster was really young and didn't play a great schedule.

The SOS rankings among the 62 NCAA tournament teams refute this.  (Matt Snyder's data.)

1) North Central (Ill.) (18-7, 0.600, CE)
2) Emory (17-7, 0.587, SO)
3) Middlebury (17-10, 0.578, NE)
4) St. Thomas (24-3, 0.564, WE)
5) Amherst (22-5, 0.564, NE)
6) Wooster (20-7, 0.563, GL)
7) Trinity (Conn.) (18-7, 0.563, NE)
8) UW-Oshkosh (17-9, 0.562, CE)
9) Salisbury (21-6, 0.562, MA)
10) Tufts (20-6, 0.561, NE)
11) Alma (21-6, 0.558, GL)
12) Catholic (22-5, 0.556, MA)
13) Marietta (25-3, 0.556, GL)
14) Scranton (18-7, 0.556, MA)
15) St. Olaf (18-9, 0.554, WE)
16) Susquehanna (21-4, 0.554, MA)
17) Plattsburgh State (21-5, 0.552, EA)
18) Oswego State (20-8, 0.552, EA)
19) LaGrange (17-7, 0.552, SO)
20) Elmhurst (21-6, 0.543, CE)

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I guess maybe I should say they didn't win enough on that schedule.  Hiram was their best win until the OWU game on 1/27.  They lost to every decent team they played until then.  It remained their only signature win until the tournament when, as we've established, they've yet to play a better team.

[fantastic50]

I guess maybe I should say they didn't win enough on that schedule.  Hiram was their best win until the OWU game on 1/27.  They lost to every decent team they played until then.

No argument there.  With so many young guys in the rotation, Wooster was not a tournament-caliber team for much of the season.  Had the Scots lost the back-and-forth home game against OWU, I think the NCAC final loss to Denison would have burst their bubble.  Spencer Williams' pair of free throws in the final second probably saved the season.

It remained their only signature win until the tournament when, as we've established, they've yet to play a better team.

We'll never know quite what to say about Lancaster Bible, with such different results against the only two tournament teams they played.  If Wooster has a poor-shooting night against them, the Chargers might still be undefeated.  Maybe that's a quality win for Wooster, and maybe it's not.

Wooster certainly has benefited from getting sent east, and from upsets of Catholic and Marietta.  It is interesting to note that last night's victory at Oswego was only the 2nd true road win for the Scots in their long tournament history, against 11 such defeats.  In the three years they have advanced to Salem, Wooster played nine tournament home games and two (the 2007 sectional) at a neutral site.

While Wooster is among the 25 best teams right now, I also question whether they deserve a spot in the post-tournament rankings, based on the results of the whole season.  In that kind of poll, I don't think that you can ignore bad losses from November and December.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I guess maybe I should say they didn't win enough on that schedule.  Hiram was their best win until the OWU game on 1/27.  They lost to every decent team they played until then.

No argument there.  With so many young guys in the rotation, Wooster was not a tournament-caliber team for much of the season.  Had the Scots lost the back-and-forth home game against OWU, I think the NCAC final loss to Denison would have burst their bubble.  Spencer Williams' pair of free throws in the final second probably saved the season.

It remained their only signature win until the tournament when, as we've established, they've yet to play a better team.

We'll never know quite what to say about Lancaster Bible, with such different results against the only two tournament teams they played.  If Wooster has a poor-shooting night against them, the Chargers might still be undefeated.  Maybe that's a quality win for Wooster, and maybe it's not.

Wooster certainly has benefited from getting sent east, and from upsets of Catholic and Marietta.  It is interesting to note that last night's victory at Oswego was only the 2nd true road win for the Scots in their long tournament history, against 11 such defeats.  In the three years they have advanced to Salem, Wooster played nine tournament home games and two (the 2007 sectional) at a neutral site.

While Wooster is among the 25 best teams right now, I also question whether they deserve a spot in the post-tournament rankings, based on the results of the whole season.  In that kind of poll, I don't think that you can ignore bad losses from November and December.

I'm high on LBC - they got outcoached against Wooster, their best player was hampered by injury, and their schedule hadn't properly prepared them for tournament play.  At the same time, they're probably not better than OWU regardless, so the statement still stands.

Wooster is benefiting most from discipline.  They're just not making mistakes.  I think CNU will be a bridge too far in that regard; I don't think this Wooster squad is good enough to beat CNU, even with mistake-free ball (although CNU has not been at their best in the tournament, so you never know).

Fanelly is obviously a great talent, but this team is winning because the coaches have the other guys extremely prepared to fill their roles.  If they do indeed make it to Salem, you have to put Moore in the COY conversation - even with the relatively weaker competition, he's squeezed every bit out of this team in March.

(And I am typically the farthest thing from a COW apologist.)

[John Gleich]

It is interesting to note that last night's victory at Oswego was only the 2nd true road win for the Scots in their long tournament history, against 11 such defeats.  In the three years they have advanced to Salem, Wooster played nine tournament home games and two (the 2007 sectional) at a neutral site.

That's a very interesting stat. I wonder how that compares to road teams in general in the tournament.

I think it also speaks to the number of times they've hosted, which is a product of his successful they've been (and thus the top 25 conversation)