Top 25 talk

[sac]

Amherst 99 Babson 97  2OT

Babson will feel like they should have closed it out twice, credit Amherst for hitting big shots late in regulation and both OT's.  Terrific game, 2 really good teams.

[Gregory Sager]

I suppose you know your business as the resident formatting pedant.

Actually, I said this as the resident meme pedant.

I didn't know your pedantry needed any qualifiers. 

There are different branches of pedantry, O Dean of KnightSlappy U, and I would be more than happy to explain them all to you at length in excruciating detail.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Interesting that there is basically agreement between the Massey ratings and the Kenpommy ratings on http://detroitjockcity.com/division-iii-mens-basketball-efficiency-ratings/ on the top 3 teams (minus CMS which only has 3 D3 games).

Both rankings have Marietta, Whitman and Hope in the top 4. Both also have Amherst, UW-Eau Claire, CNU and Salisbury in the top 10, but neither in the top 5.

Composite of the two rankings (equal weighting) has:
1. Marietta (1st and 1st, aggregate of 2)
2. Whitman (5)
3. Hope (6)
4. Amherst (14)
5. Babson (15)
6. Eau Claire (17)
7. Salisbury (18)
8. Christopher Newport (19)
9. St. Norbert (20)
10. Neumann (22)
11. Benedictine (23)
12. River Falls (26)

There's less agreement on ranking within the peloton from there. If I had more time and sleep banked I could normalize the actual ratings rather than using the ordinals, but I don't so this is what ya get. It really would just show MC and Whitman extended from the pack.

Basically there's a clear top 3, then a pack of about 8 or 9 depending on whether you include River Falls, then everyone else.

Matchups of teams in the dirty dozen: Amherst over Babson, Marietta over CNU, Eau Claire over St. Norbert, St. Norbert over Benedictine, Hope over River Falls. In all cases, the winner is ranked ahead of the loser. That may not stay true forever, but it seems to suggest that the rankings now are already pretty sentient.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Marietta and Whitman play on December 22nd, so we'll get another data point there.

[Fifth and Putnam]

John Carroll 88
#3 Marietta 76

John Carroll trailed by 6 at the half but put it all together in the 2nd half. Simon Kucharewicz ate up the Pioneers all afternoon finishing with 22 points. Keith Richardson came off the bench for the Pioneers and put in 31. You had to know JCU was going to put the wheels back on the bus at some point this year. They looked like the OAC title contender we all thought they would be at the beginning of the season.

Surely this will cool down the conversation on here the last week or so about Marietta. Maybe not...

[augie77]

Say it ain't so, Spencer.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Anyone that didn't think this would be a very tough game to win either doesn't know the OAC very well or was just fooling themselves. That JCU really needed a win just made it all the tougher.

I'm sure the voters will be more than happy to overreact to it to knock down a team they underrated from the start.

John Carroll played really well in the second half and when you go up there you know what you're going ot get...very physical play that they'll be allowed to get away with.

Gotta run stuff to get your big guy the ball in games like that because they're not going to call the off the ball stuff. They're just not.

Oh well, toughest road trip of the season out of the way early. MC has 5 of their first 6 league games away. I doubt anyone else in the country has that kind of conference start. Adding the two DB games and they have a stretch of 1 in 8 games at home.

But I'm sure the voters will just look at the score and go 'yep, they are who we thought they were.' And still be wrong.

I wouldn't be surprised if they're still top 3 in computers even after this because of the schedule they've played so far. And at the end of the year, John Carroll's going to be right there among the best on their schedule. They're better than Wooster for sure.

Guess JCU got their paybacks for the favoritism shown them when they got rooked out of 1, maybe 2 plays worth of time at the end of the football game.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Say it ain't so, Spencer.

Haha aren't you the one that called me a troll?

Physician, heal thyself.

[augie77]

Has it occurred to you that there's a reason people react so strongly to you?

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Has it occurred to you that there's a reason people react so strongly to you?

Well it would be pretty unusual if there wasn't.

Has it occurred to you that I don't care?

Has it occurred to you that you are a pointless troll?

At least I spur and promote conversation, whatever you think of me. Seems the only thing you exist on this thread to do is troll me.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Anyone that didn't think this would be a very tough game to win either doesn't know the OAC very well or was just fooling themselves. That JCU really needed a win just made it all the tougher.

I'm sure the voters will be more than happy to overreact to it to knock down a team they underrated from the start.

John Carroll played really well in the second half and when you go up there you know what you're going ot get...very physical play that they'll be allowed to get away with.

Gotta run stuff to get your big guy the ball in games like that because they're not going to call the off the ball stuff. They're just not.

Oh well, toughest road trip of the season out of the way early. MC has 5 of their first 6 league games away. I doubt anyone else in the country has that kind of conference start. Adding the two DB games and they have a stretch of 1 in 8 games at home.

But I'm sure the voters will just look at the score and go 'yep, they are who we thought they were.' And still be wrong.

I wouldn't be surprised if they're still top 3 in computers even after this because of the schedule they've played so far. And at the end of the year, John Carroll's going to be right there among the best on their schedule. They're better than Wooster for sure.

Guess JCU got their paybacks for the favoritism shown them when they got rooked out of 1, maybe 2 plays worth of time at the end of the football game.

I doubt it.  My prediction for the next poll (assuming no more upsets) is Babson remains #2, Whitman moves to #3, and Marietta is #4 (at worst #5 behind Tufts).  But whatever happens, remember that you lost fairly decisively to a team who (while ranked in the preseason) entered the game 2-4.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

yeah I guess John Carroll should have played a bunch of cupcakes like Babson.

Anyway, got an evening to have. Laters.

[Mr. Ypsi]

yeah I guess John Carroll should have played a bunch of cupcakes like Babson.

Anyway, got an evening to have. Laters.

Since you have such contempt for the d3hoops.com poll, what makes you so sure Marietta didn't also play a 'bunch of cupcakes'?  You point to the ranked teams Marietta beat, but you demean the poll.  You can't really have it both ways.

[frodotwo]

Stevens Point takes down #12 Hope in Michigan by a 74-72 score in a back and forth match. Missed free throws doom the Flying Dutchmen (17-28 from the line).  Bublitz, Delmore and Nelson (24-19-17) lead the Pointers while Blackledge (17) and Carlson (5-9 treys for 15) lead Hope.

[smedindy]

yeah I guess John Carroll should have played a bunch of cupcakes like Babson.

Anyway, got an evening to have. Laters.

Since you have such contempt for the d3hoops.com poll, what makes you so sure Marietta didn't also play a 'bunch of cupcakes'?  You point to the ranked teams Marietta beat, but you demean the poll.  You can't really have it both ways.

2016 is the year of having it both ways, though.