Top 25 talk

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Shocking that anyone would even dare to pose the question!
But, if for no other reason than the above, it would seem like the answer very well might be no. 

Of course it's not. It's quite silly because it has nothing to do with a real definition of karma, but rather disagreement, mostly, and possibly disapproval (which is where being able to -k without it being associated with a post comes in).

It's high school foolishness.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Does anybody else have the sneaking suspicion that our President-Elect*** is a closet Marietta fan?  Recent posts sound very much like tweets we've come to see.  Everything he's associated with is "the greatest", no acknowledgement of weakness, and if you disagree you're a loser.  There are many other similarities....

Could it be??

Make Marietta Great Again!   

***Not a political statement; rather an observation regarding temperament.

Great post. Would read again.

And people accuse me of trolling and threadjacking? This is like the Christmas miracle of trolling and threadjacking.

[Titan Q]

Unfortunately just an exhibition for both teams, but an impressive win by Benedictine over NAIA D2 defending national champ Indiana Wesleyan...

http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2016-17/contrib/2016122102n4b8

I believe safe to say Indiana Wesleyan is much closer to a really strong D2 team than a top D3 team.

Being an exhibition, I'm not clear if both teams played their starters...but this result definitely caught by attention.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Unfortunately just an exhibition for both teams, but an impressive win by Benedictine over NAIA D2 defending national champ Indiana Wesleyan...

http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2016-17/contrib/2016122102n4b8

I believe safe to say Indiana Wesleyan is much closer to a really strong D2 team than a top D3 team.

Being an exhibition, I'm not clear if both teams played their starters...but this result definitely caught by attention.

It does look like Ind. Wesleyan played the second unit.

[smedindy]

Normal people who think the Top 25 poll is meaningless would just ignore it without passing.

My work in Higher Ed Advancement says that if they complain, that means they care about it. If they don't care of find it 'meaningless' you'll never know because they won't say a word.

[sac]

Unfortunately just an exhibition for both teams, but an impressive win by Benedictine over NAIA D2 defending national champ Indiana Wesleyan...

http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2016-17/contrib/2016122102n4b8

I believe safe to say Indiana Wesleyan is much closer to a really strong D2 team than a top D3 team.

Being an exhibition, I'm not clear if both teams played their starters...but this result definitely caught by attention.

I can only speak for Indiana Wesleayn (they're a hobby of mine) their star 6-7 kid Mahurin and 6-3 Sr. G Peters did not play in the game.  Both were All-Crossroads League last year.  The minutes distribution looks relatively normal otherwise.  They are a very deep team.

Its going to be quite a battle between IWU and St. Francis for the Crossroads and probably also the NAIA II title.

[PeterEscobar]

Try to lay it at my doorstep if you want

You honestly think voters do not vote for Marietta because of you?

#MakeMariettaGreatAgain

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Normal people who think the Top 25 poll is meaningless would just ignore it without passing.

My work in Higher Ed Advancement says that if they complain, that means they care about it. If they don't care of find it 'meaningless' you'll never know because they won't say a word.

Did I say meaningless? I don't think I would have said that. Maybe I did, feel free to look it up if I did.

It has meaning because people use it for PR for their program, for recruiting, etc. Which is why it's important to give teams credit for their accomplishments at that point in time, rather than playing favorites based on history or geography.

[Pat Coleman]

Even Massey starts the season with history baked into his ratings.

[PeterEscobar]

Normal people who think the Top 25 poll is meaningless would just ignore it without passing.

My work in Higher Ed Advancement says that if they complain, that means they care about it. If they don't care of find it 'meaningless' you'll never know because they won't say a word.

Did I say meaningless? I don't think I would have said that. Maybe I did, feel free to look it up if I did.

It has meaning because people use it for PR for their program, for recruiting, etc. Which is why it's important to give teams credit for their accomplishments at that point in time, rather than playing favorites based on history or geography.

Actually, you did....

You'll be disappointed. The poll is just a collection of knee-jerk reactions that mean nothing.

[PeterEscobar]

Does anybody else have the sneaking suspicion that our President-Elect*** is a closet Marietta fan?  Recent posts sound very much like tweets we've come to see.  Everything he's associated with is "the greatest", no acknowledgement of weakness, and if you disagree you're a loser.  There are many other similarities....

Could it be??

Make Marietta Great Again!   

***Not a political statement; rather an observation regarding temperament.

He has the same people doing fact-check, that's for sure... **see previous two posts**

[smedindy]

Even Massey starts the season with history baked into his ratings.

I think Sagarin and KenPom do too, at least until there are enough games so teams get connected to each other.

The RPI doesn't, but the RPI is like the SOS in that it allows a team to schedule it's way to a good rating (i.e. the NESCAC method in playing good teams from poor leagues, which some D-1 coaches accuse the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, and Missouri Valley in doing constantly.)

[Pat Coleman]

Dear readers of Top 25 talk on D3boards.com,

In recognition of the holiday season and in the interest of preserving goodwill among people, I am locking the Top 25 talk board here on D3boards.com for the next 24-plus hours.

I hope you use this time to reflect on what's important in life, on how best to interact with your fellow human beings, how to disagree in a humane manner rather than resorting to name-calling, ridicule and a generally intolerant tone.

It matters fairly little to me how you may think this board got this way. That answer isn't nearly as simple as has been suggested around here. The point is, the tone will not be allowed to continue. However, I would like for it to return to normal in a natural way, rather than my having to remove posters, as it were, from the site of competition.

I, for one, will enjoy spending my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in peace, not having to deal with the latest missiles fired from one poster to another. And I hope the rest of you will find some time for self-examination about how to debate and discuss in a manner that allows for the possibility that, in fact, you as a poster do not have all the answers, and in fact, someone else might indeed be right.

From all of us at D3sports.com, happy holidays.

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (So Far)

Here are the results of the past week, plus those coming up as we await next Monday's new poll.

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	609	Babson	9-1	12/31 at #26 Chicago
#2	597	Whitman	9-0	def. (n) King's, 80-62; def. (n) #4 Marietta, 72-71; 12/30 vs. Crown; 12/31 vs. Buena Vista
#3	573	Amherst	8-1	12/31 vs. Keystone
#4	549	Marietta	8-3	LOST to (n) #17 Wesleyan, 65-81; LOST to (n) #2 Whitman, 71-72
#5	480	Salisbury	8-0	12/28 vs. T#33 Ramapo; 12/29 vs. Hardin-Simmons
#6	474	Rochester	10-0	IDLE
#7	471	St. Norbert	5-2	LOST at UW-Oshkosh, 45-58; 12/29 vs. Finlandia; 12/30 vs. TBA
#8	449	Whitworth	8-1	won at Chapman, 78-69; def. (n) Alma, 99-72; 12/30 vs. Buena Vista; 12/31 vs. Crown
#9	422	Christopher Newport	6-2	12/28 vs. Pitt-Greensburg; 12/29 vs. TBD; 01/01 vs. #32 Virginia Wesleyan
#10	392	Tufts	8-2	IDLE
#11	351	UW-Eau Claire	8-1	12/28 vs. Gustavus Adolphus; 12/29 vs. UC Santa Cruz
#12	318	Benedictine	7-3	LOST to (n) Menlo, 70-72; 12/31 vs. Concordia (Wis.)
#13	241	North Park	8-1	won at Albion, 84-65; 12/30 vs. Manchester
#14	230	Susquehanna	9-1	def. (n) Eastern, 82-76
#15	219	Hope	7-2	def. Spalding, 79-51; def. Johnson and Wales, 100-75; 12/29 vs. #37 Williams; 12/30 vs. TBA
#16	212	UW-Whitewater	9-0	def. Trine, 85-60; def. T#41 Ripon, 109-96; 12/29 vs. Lawrence; 12/30 vs. Central
#17	209	Wesleyan	11-0	def. (n) Washington and Lee, 66-61; def. (n) #4 Marietta, 81-65
#18	191	Illinois Wesleyan	8-2	def. #26 Chicago, 72-54; 12/29 vs. T#29 Middlebury; 12/30 vs. TBD
#19	173	Wartburg	9-2	def. (n) SUNYIT, 70-56; LOST to (n) #20 North Central (Ill.), 91-94 2OT; 12/31 at Waldorf
#20	149	North Central (Ill.)	8-3	def. (n) #19 Wartburg, 94-91 2OT; def. (n) Wheaton (Mass.), 89-77; 12/29 at UW-Stevens Point
#21	136	Swarthmore	8-1	12/30 at Hood
#22	113	UW-River Falls	9-1	12/30 vs. St. Olaf
#23	68	Neumann	8-0	12/30 vs. Scranton
#24	67	Denison	8-1	IDLE
#25	60	Washington U.	6-3	12/29 vs. Ohio Wesleyan; 12/30 at T#43 Wooster

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	53	Chicago	8-2	LOST at #18 Illinois Wesleyan, 54-72; 12/31 vs. #1 Babson
#27	50	New Jersey City	9-1	12/29 vs. Gettysburg; 12/30 vs. TBA
#28	39	Emory	6-2	12/29 vs. Berry; 12/31 vs. Hampden-Sydney
T#29	35	Lycoming	10-1	12/29 vs. Fredonia; 12/30 vs. TBD
T#29	35	Middlebury	7-1	12/29 vs. #18 Illinois Wesleyan; 12/30 vs. TBA
#31	26	Keene State	6-2	12/28 at #40 WPI; 12/30 vs. University of New England
#32	25	Virginia Wesleyan	7-2	12/30 vs. Mary Washington; 01/01 at #9 Christopher Newport
T#33	20	Brockport	8-1	IDLE
T#33	20	Ramapo	9-0	12/28 vs. #5 Salisbury; 12/29 vs. Gustavus Adolphus
#35	19	Endicott	6-2	12/29 vs. Southern Maine; 12/30 vs. Regis (Mass.)
#36	11	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	6-1	12/28 vs. Emerson; 12/29 vs. Oberlin
#37	9	Williams	8-1	12/29 vs. #15 Hope; 12/30 vs. TBA
#38	8	Bethel	7-1	12/30 vs. UW-Superior
#39	6	Carroll	6-3	won at Milwaukee Engineering, 87-70; LOST at Loras, 78-85; 12/29 at University of Dallas; 12/31 at Austin
#40	4	WPI	7-2	12/28 vs. #31 Keene State; 12/30 vs. Eastern Nazarene
T#41	3	Capital	8-3	IDLE
T#41	3	Ripon	6-1	LOST at #16 UW-Whitewater, 96-109; 12/29 at Willamette; 12/30 at Pacific
T#43	2	UW-La Crosse	7-3	won at Northland, 62-45; 12/31 vs. Coe
T#43	2	Wooster	5-5	LOST at Lewis and Clark, 82-87; 12/29 vs. Hobart; 12/30 vs. #25 Washington U.
T#45	1	Misericordia	8-1	12/29 vs. TBD; 12/30 vs. TBD
T#45	1	St. Thomas	6-3	IDLE

[Greek Tragedy]

Thanks for the update, Darryl! A nice way to start off the D3hoops morning.