Top 25 talk

[(509)Rat]

Just as in years past, you have to be careful using point differential when determining how good Whitman is compared to other top 10 type programs/teams. They exploit average teams with the pressure and you see 30-50 point wins against those average teams. Teams that usually also make the trip to Spokane to play Whitworth where the Pirates may only win by 10-20. When they get into the last few rounds of the playoffs, they are going to play against teams that aren't nearly as bothered by the pressure. This year, Whitman and its opponents were both shooting around 50% (not sure how much that's changed in the last week). They need more possessions than their opponents to win, and the further they go the less likely they are to get em. Compare that to another NWC team in Whitworth that is holding opponents to something like 37% from the field. Scores are closer but offensive volume doesn't matter as much.

I don't think UWSP or OWU have a chance against Whitman, but I also don't think Whitman will have the luxury of playing reserves more minutes than Howell like they have recently.

[gordonmann]

I agree for the most part.

I watched Whitman/Colorado College on Friday night. It was clear that CC had no way to deal with the pressure and Whitman pretty much could've named the score they wanted. Whitman is the best team in the country in my mind, but the margin of victory on Friday night isn't a useful metric for measuring the Blues against other teams.

I also like what I've seen from Whitworth a lot. Most of my D3 viewing is now west coast games. Looking forward to the two games between those teams.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

New poll.  Not a ton of movement.

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2017-18/week3

[sac]

This is sort of odd:   Marietta is #20 the highest ranked OAC team but currently sits 2 full games back in the OAC with 2 home losses to contenders  JCU and Baldwin Wallace already.

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (So Far)

Finals week for many schools, so very limited action (so far, and coming up).

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	625	Whitman	6-0	12/17 at Occidental
#2	595	Middlebury	6-0	IDLE
#3	548	Augustana	7-1	def. Rockford, 109-51; 12/16 at Central
#4	487	UW-Oshkosh	7-0	IDLE
#5	475	Williams	8-1	IDLE
#6	468	Ramapo	7-1	12/15 vs. Farmingdale State
#7	449	Whitworth	8-0	IDLE
#8	428	UW-River Falls	7-1	12/16 at Northwestern (Minn.)
#9	397	Lycoming	9-0	12/16 vs. York (N.Y.); 12/17 vs. Marywood
#10	392	UW-Whitewater	8-1	won at Beloit, 83-58
#11	391	Washington U.	7-1	won at Fontbonne, 98-68; 12/17 at T#28 Illinois Wesleyan
#12	380	Swarthmore	8-1	LOST at #34 York (Pa.), 79-83
#13	291	Wartburg	8-1	IDLE
#14	276	Wesleyan	8-0	IDLE
#15	264	Rochester	8-2	LOST to Ithaca, 68-71
#16	263	Hanover	6-2	12/16 at Defiance
#17	218	Ohio Wesleyan	7-1	12/16 at Kenyon
#18	181	Skidmore	6-1	IDLE
#19	157	New Jersey City	8-0	12/16 at Albertus Magnus
#20	142	Marietta	6-2	12/16 at Wilmington
#21	138	St. John's	7-1	def. Hamline, 77-74
#22	102	MIT	10-1	def. Mass-Dartmouth, 88-68
#23	71	Amherst	7-1	def. Springfield, 71-66
#24	45	Nichols	8-1	IDLE
#25	40	Eastern Connecticut	8-1	IDLE

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	34	Wittenberg	8-0	IDLE
#27	31	Hamilton	8-0	IDLE
T#28	29	Illinois Wesleyan	7-1	12/17 vs. #11 Washington U.
T#28	29	John Carroll	6-1	12/16 vs. Ohio Northern
#30	27	Juniata	8-0	IDLE
#31	25	St. Norbert	7-1	IDLE
#32	23	Christopher Newport	6-2	IDLE
#33	17	Lake Forest	7-1	12/16 vs. North Park
#34	14	York (Pa.)	8-0	def. #12 Swarthmore, 83-79
#35	12	Albright	7-1	IDLE
#36	9	Carthage	5-3	12/16 at Calvin
#37	8	Baldwin Wallace	4-2	12/14 at Heidelberg; 12/16 at Capital
T#38	6	Dickinson	5-2	IDLE
T#38	6	Nebraska Wesleyan	8-0	12/17 at Gallaudet
#40	5	Keene State	7-2	IDLE
T#41	4	Cortland	7-1	12/16 at SUNY-Old Westbury
T#41	4	Salem State	7-3	LOST to Endicott, 79-96
T#43	3	Emory	5-2	12/16 vs. Guilford
T#43	3	Franklin and Marshall	8-1	IDLE
T#45	1	North Central (Ill.)	4-4	won at Aurora, 83-68; 12/15 at Alma
T#45	1	Puget Sound	6-2	IDLE

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The basketball season always experiences a lull a month after starting the season. It is one of just a few sports that experiences the ups and downs of scheduling. With finals complete and students headed home for the holidays, teams are left to either take a very long stretch of time off as well or find a way to stay active.

Sunday night on Hoopsville, Dave chats with a few coaches whose programs are at a cross-roads: finding a way to keep playing or take a break after squeezing in nearly half the season in the opening four weeks. Dave will also take a look at the Top 25 and wonder if things have settled down especially on the men's side.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch the show LIVE starting at 7pm ET right here: http://bit.ly/2CM1ExW

You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Keri Carollo, No. 13 UW-Whitewater women's coach
- Matt Hunter, York (Pa.) men's coach
- Larry Anderson, No. 22 MIT men's coach
- Ryan Scott, D3hoops.com Around the Nation columnist

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (Complete)
(Whitman @ Oxy to be edited in when complete)

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	625	Whitman	7-0	won at Occidental, 73-69
#2	595	Middlebury	6-0	IDLE
#3	548	Augustana	8-1	def. Rockford, 109-51; won at Central, 82-73
#4	487	UW-Oshkosh	7-0	IDLE
#5	475	Williams	8-1	IDLE
#6	468	Ramapo	8-1	def. Farmingdale State, 87-49
#7	449	Whitworth	8-0	IDLE
#8	428	UW-River Falls	8-1	won at Northwestern (Minn.), 69-65
#9	397	Lycoming	11-0	def. York (N.Y.), 75-67; def. Marywood, 82-69
#10	392	UW-Whitewater	8-1	won at Beloit, 83-58
#11	391	Washington U.	8-1	won at Fontbonne, 98-68; won at T#28 Illinois Wesleyan, 95-69
#12	380	Swarthmore	8-1	LOST at #34 York (Pa.), 79-83
#13	291	Wartburg	8-1	IDLE
#14	276	Wesleyan	8-0	IDLE
#15	264	Rochester	8-2	LOST to Ithaca, 68-71
#16	263	Hanover	7-2	won at Defiance, 74-51
#17	218	Ohio Wesleyan	8-1	won at Kenyon, 82-60
#18	181	Skidmore	6-1	IDLE
#19	157	New Jersey City	9-0	won at Albertus Magnus, 81-80
#20	142	Marietta	7-2	won at Wilmington, 100-71
#21	138	St. John's	7-1	def. Hamline, 77-74
#22	102	MIT	10-1	def. Mass-Dartmouth, 88-68
#23	71	Amherst	7-1	def. Springfield, 71-66
#24	45	Nichols	8-1	IDLE
#25	40	Eastern Connecticut	8-1	IDLE

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	34	Wittenberg	8-0	IDLE
#27	31	Hamilton	8-0	IDLE
T#28	29	Illinois Wesleyan	7-2	LOST to #11 Washington U., 69-95
T#28	29	John Carroll	7-1	def. Ohio Northern, 101-95
#30	27	Juniata	8-0	IDLE
#31	25	St. Norbert	7-1	IDLE
#32	23	Christopher Newport	6-2	IDLE
#33	17	Lake Forest	7-2	LOST to North Park, 59-64
#34	14	York (Pa.)	8-0	def. #12 Swarthmore, 83-79
#35	12	Albright	7-1	IDLE
#36	9	Carthage	5-4	LOST at Calvin, 75-79 OT
#37	8	Baldwin Wallace	6-2	won at Heidelberg, 92-86; won at Capital, 83-69
T#38	6	Dickinson	5-2	IDLE
T#38	6	Nebraska Wesleyan	9-0	won at Gallaudet, 99-77
#40	5	Keene State	7-2	IDLE
T#41	4	Cortland	8-1	won at SUNY-Old Westbury, 90-66
T#41	4	Salem State	7-3	LOST to Endicott, 79-96
T#43	3	Emory	6-2	def. Guilford, 84-58
T#43	3	Franklin and Marshall	8-1	IDLE
T#45	1	North Central (Ill.)	5-4	won at Aurora, 83-68; won at Alma, 73-52
T#45	1	Puget Sound	6-2	IDLE

[gordonmann]

Here's the last poll of the 2017 calendar year.

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2017-18/week4

No poll next week on Christmas day. We plan to do one on January 2nd (Tuesday) since it'll be tough to wrangle 25 ballots on New Year's Eve and New Year's morning.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Here is my ballot for Week 4 (sorry about not having one for Week 3): http://bit.ly/2klDkeI

[Greek Tragedy]

Here is my ballot for Week 4 (sorry about not having one for Week 3): http://bit.ly/2klDkeI

So I'm guessing Harrison and Wiggins have significant injuries since neither have played all year? Also, is Scadlock done for the season as well?

[nescac1]

Kyle Scadlock has indeed been reported as out for the year with an injury.  Tough blow for him, and for the Ephs, as he was playing like an all-American prior to getting hurt.   I don't know about the Whitman guys, but if one or both are hurt, that would make for a pretty tough first semester for the pre-season top 3 (including Augustana losing Wofford).  Such are the breaks in hoops.  And then Whitewater, another one of the pre-season favorites, seems to be missing some firepower as well.  Looks like it's going to be a WIDE open year in D3, for sure, with some of the most talented squads already hurting ...

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (So Far)

It's almost two weeks until the next poll is released, but here's what's happened so far, and what's coming up.

(edit -- see the slightly-more-up-to-date report below.)

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Here is my ballot for Week 4 (sorry about not having one for Week 3): http://bit.ly/2klDkeI

So I'm guessing Harrison and Wiggins have significant injuries since neither have played all year? Also, is Scadlock done for the season as well?

Kyle Scadlock has indeed been reported as out for the year with an injury.  Tough blow for him, and for the Ephs, as he was playing like an all-American prior to getting hurt.   I don't know about the Whitman guys, but if one or both are hurt, that would make for a pretty tough first semester for the pre-season top 3 (including Augustana losing Wofford).  Such are the breaks in hoops.  And then Whitewater, another one of the pre-season favorites, seems to be missing some firepower as well.  Looks like it's going to be a WIDE open year in D3, for sure, with some of the most talented squads already hurting ...

Yes... Scadlock, as noted above, is out for the season - Williams mentioned it in a game recap which I applaud them for... and not sure exactly what is up with Harrison and Wiggins... hopefully we learn something officially at the D3hoops.com Classic next week. Interestingly, Bridgeland didn't mention anything about the two when we discussed the entire team returning in the opening Hoopsville of the season ... unless I am forgetting something.

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (So Far)
Only a few more results in this update. On the women's side, it includes upcoming games through Monday, January 1 (because Gordon Mann said that the next poll will come out on Jan. 2). As it turns out, there are no ranked mens' teams scheduled to play on Monday, so I will post the completed men's report on Sunday night, with the women's report on Monday night.

(deleted -- superseded by the complete report which follows)

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (Complete)
One last result (#12 Wesleyan @ Springfield, tip off 6:30) will be edited in later this evening.

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	625	Whitman	11-0	won at La Verne, 96-67; won at Redlands, 119-93; def. (n) T#42 UW-Stevens Point, 77-64; def. (n) #14 Ohio Wesleyan, 92-90
#2	595	Middlebury	7-1	LOST to (n) #25 York (Pa.), 87-90 OT; def. (n) Clarks Summit, 81-58
#3	559	Augustana	10-1	won at T#42 UW-Stevens Point, 74-58; won at #10 Washington U., 72-57
#4	504	UW-Oshkosh	10-1	won at George Fox, 79-58; won at Willamette, 77-57; def. (n) St. Mary's (Minn.), 87-50; LOST to (n) Ripon, 80-83
#5	501	Williams	9-2	LOST to (n) Hamline, 71-73; won at Cal Lutheran, 82-71
#6	488	Ramapo	9-3	won at Yeshiva, 90-71; LOST to (n) #14 Ohio Wesleyan, 69-98; LOST to (n) Central, 69-74
#7	450	Whitworth	10-1	LOST to Wheaton (Ill.), 84-92; def. UW-Stout, 79-71; def. Calvin, 88-58
#8	435	UW-River Falls	9-1	def. (n) St. Olaf, 72-49
#9	412	Lycoming	13-0	def. SUNY New Paltz, 89-68; def. Carnegie Mellon, 88-71
#10	409	Washington U.	9-2	LOST to #3 Augustana, 57-72; def. Westminster (Mo.), 79-71
#11	390	UW-Whitewater	10-1	def. (n) Finlandia, 90-60; won at #31 St. Norbert, 89-78
#12	320	Wesleyan	9-1	def. (n) Fitchburg State, 79-62; LOST at Springfield, 67-72
#13	313	Wartburg	9-2	def. (n) T#42 UW-Stevens Point, 75-66; LOST to (n) Augsburg, 64-68
#14	243	Ohio Wesleyan	9-2	def. (n) #6 Ramapo, 98-69; LOST to (n) #1 Whitman, 90-92
#15	231	Swarthmore	9-1	def. Framingham State, 80-48
#16	223	Hanover	8-3	LOST to (n) #19 Marietta, 53-63; def. (n) Ohio-Chillicothe, 93-54
#17	213	New Jersey City	10-1	LOST to (n) Johns Hopkins, 56-72; def. (n) Shenandoah, 68-55
#18	194	Skidmore	6-2	LOST at Guilford, 77-80
#19	149	Marietta	8-3	def. (n) #16 Hanover, 63-53; LOST at #30 Wittenberg, 70-83
#20	146	MIT	10-1	IDLE
#21	139	St. John's	8-1	def. UW-Superior, 89-67
#22	110	Rochester	8-2	IDLE
#23	89	Amherst	7-2	LOST at Southeastern (Fla.), 65-76
#24	75	Nichols	8-1	IDLE
#25	68	York (Pa.)	11-0	won at T#34 Dickinson, 66-63; def. (n) #2 Middlebury, 90-87 OT; won at Washington and Lee, 118-110 OT

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	37	John Carroll	9-2	def. La Roche, 108-86; def. (n) Olivet, 111-90; LOST at Hope, 94-104
#27	35	Eastern Connecticut	9-2	def. (n) Penn State-Behrend, 63-60; LOST to (n) Cabrini, 76-87
#28	34	Hamilton	10-0	def. (n) Lebanon Valley, 102-83; won at Moravian, 98-94
#29	29	Juniata	11-0	def. Pitt-Bradford, 95-62; def. Penn State-Abington, 92-69; def. Manhattanville, 96-54
#30	24	Wittenberg	11-0	won at Heidelberg, 89-85; def. Ohio University Chillicothe, 95-46; def. #19 Marietta, 83-70
#31	23	St. Norbert	9-2	def. North Central (Minn.), 75-62; def. Blackburn, 65-52; LOST to #11 UW-Whitewater, 78-89
#32	15	Christopher Newport	9-2	won at Virginia Wesleyan, 71-68; def. Shenandoah, 74-71; def. Johns Hopkins, 54-44
#33	9	Illinois Wesleyan	9-3	won at Chicago, 76-65; LOST at T#36 Emory, 56-72; def. (n) Birmingham-Southern, 81-74
T#34	6	Albright	10-1	def. Wilkes, 72-65; def. Penn State-Harrisburg, 91-85; def. TCNJ, 69-64
T#34	6	Dickinson	6-4	LOST at Lebanon Valley, 55-86; LOST to #25 York (Pa.), 63-66; def. Misericordia, 60-59
T#36	5	Emory	8-2	def. #33 Illinois Wesleyan, 72-56; def. Transylvania, 87-83
T#36	5	Franklin and Marshall	10-1	def. Randolph, 78-53; def. Delaware Valley, 89-62
T#36	5	Nebraska Wesleyan	11-0	won at Marymount, 87-46; won at Grinnell, 121-103
#39	4	Cortland	9-2	def. (n) Southern Vermont, 94-85; LOST to (n) Washington and Lee, 72-93
T#40	2	Baldwin Wallace	9-2	def. (n) St. Vincent, 77-60; def. (n) Hope, 79-71; def. Bethany, 94-71
T#40	2	Bethel	8-2	won at UW-Superior, 84-71
T#42	1	North Central (Ill.)	7-4	def. Albion, 92-78; def. Robert Morris-Chicago, 117-72
T#42	1	Puget Sound	7-3	LOST to (n) Calvin, 84-93; def. (n) UW-Stout, 96-86
T#42	1	UW-Stevens Point	6-5	won at Edgewood, 71-64; LOST to #3 Augustana, 58-74; LOST to (n) #13 Wartburg, 66-75; LOST to (n) #1 Whitman, 64-77