Top 25 talk

[Titan Q]

Great top 25 talk tonight gents. Oshkosh is an interesting team to say the least. I'm just not sure Elmhurst dominated Oshkosh Q. The Buejays dominated the first six minutes yes, but not the game. It's not like Bluejays put the game away early in the second and benches were emptied. Oshkosh made their runs and it was a one possession game under a minute.

Thank you!  We have fun with that!

Maybe "dominating" is too strong, but consider:
* Elmhurst had a 10 point lead at half.
* EC held an average lead of about 7 points throughout the 2nd.
* In the final 38 minutes of this game, UWO only had the ball and a chance to tie one time (0:48 2nd, Elmhurst 3-point lead); and never in those final 38 minutes had the ball and a chance to take the lead.

Whether the word is "dominating" or "convincing" or whatever, it was pretty impressive.


https://elmhurstbluejays.com/boxscore.aspx?id=4823&path=mbball

[WUPHF]

It was definitely an impressive and convincing win.

It is interesting, the language we use to describe games.

One man's grind it out, tough win is another man's but they led by 8-10 for the final 10 minutes and won by 14.

[Gregory Sager]

It was definitely an impressive and convincing win.

It is interesting, the language we use to describe games.

One man's grind it out, tough win is another man's but they led by 8-10 for the final 10 minutes and won by 14.

As I like to say, a person's school doesn't need to offer any Ph.D. programs for him to earn a doctorate in spin.

[Titan Q]

This is not my final ballot (I need to think about some more), but it is probably pretty close.

1. Swarthmore (4-0)
2. Emory (4-0)
3. Amherst (3-0)
4. Wittenberg (2-0)
5. Middlebury (5-0)
6. Nichols (4-0)
7. UW-Platteville (4-0)
8. St. Thomas (3-1)
9. Wash U (4-1)
10. Nebraska Wesleyan (4-1)
11. Johns Hopkins (4-0)
12. Elmhurst (3-0)
13. Christopher Newport 5-1)
14. St. John's (3-1)
15. UW-Oshkosh (2-2)
16. Carthage (5-0)
17. North Central (1-1)
18. Wooster (3-0)
19. Marietta (3-0)
20. Randolph-Macon (6-0)
21. Whitman (4-1)
22. Augsburg (2-0)
23. Whitworth (5-1)
24. Augustana (3-1)
25. Centre (4-1)
-----
Watch List:

Rochester (5-0)
Wabash (3-1)
Illinois Wesleyan (4-1)
Guilford (4-1)
Hope (3-0)
Buena Vista (6-0)
Springfield (5-0)
Oswego St (3-0)
Colby (5-0)
John Carroll (3-0)
Hamilton (4-0)
UW-La Crosse (4-0)
Monmouth (3-0)
Lake Forest (3-1)
WPI (5-1)
Yeshiva (5-1)
Texas-Dallas (2-2)
Muhlenberg (6-0)
Scranton (4-1)

I didn't make any changes here - this is the Week 1 ballot I submitted.  I'm sure I will end up looking stupid on many of these - that is how it goes - but based on the data we have now that feels like a solid ballot to me.

The "watch list" is not necessarily complete - just a list of other teams I checked out.  It helps when people post teams that are deserving of consideration here.  It's impossible to catch them all.

Ryan had me watching my first Yeshiva game Thursday night.  I didn't quite pull the trigger but they're on the radar!

[WUPHF]

+1 For full disclosure, I am ABD at this point...

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

We agree on 20 teams, Bob, not too bad - although four of the five I don't have are in your Top 15.  So there's that.

Yeshiva plays Williams a little later this year.  That might be a good one to watch.  The Macs were outclassed in previous meetings, but I think those squads will be a lot more evenly matched this year.  Turell continues to improve and, to quote Michael Jordan - His ceiling is the roof!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

That Top 25 was brutal.

[Pat Coleman]

We have a poll!
https://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2019-20/week1

[Titan Q]

People are still voting for Wheaton...wow.

[SpringSt7]

We agree on 20 teams, Bob, not too bad - although four of the five I don't have are in your Top 15.  So there's that.

Yeshiva plays Williams a little later this year.  That might be a good one to watch.  The Macs were outclassed in previous meetings, but I think those squads will be a lot more evenly matched this year.  Turell continues to improve and, to quote Michael Jordan - His ceiling is the roof!

That game is much later this year than it had been the past two--think it's a mid week game in early February off the top of my head. Will certainly be a good game and probably better off for the Ephs as they are a young team that needs to gel, but it'll be much too late to serve as any sort of a litmus test.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

People are still voting for Wheaton...wow.

They've looked better than I expected so far.  I feel less bad about people voting for them.

[Gregory Sager]

They've looked better to me than I've expected, too. But they don't look like a Top 25 team -- at least not yet.

More time to gel and the (eventual) addition of Luke Anthony could very well change that down the road.

[WUPHF]

Maybe the voter is looking to Ken Massey for advice.

Wheaton is currently rated No. 16.

[Gregory Sager]

Shame on them if they are. Massey's database is woefully inadequate this early in the season.

[Titan Q]

People are still voting for Wheaton...wow.

They've looked better than I expected so far.  I feel less bad about people voting for them.

I'm still calling out "lazy voting" on this one.

If you were really digging into Wheaton's results, wouldn't you end up voting for Lake Forest instead? Lake Forest won at Wheaton in a game the home team never led.

And while I obviously do not have access to the Wheaton voters' ballots, I'll bet (strong gut feeling) they have Wheaton ranked ahead of Elmhurst or Carthage or both.  I doubt they are voting for 5 CCIW teams -- NCC, Augie, Elmhurst, Carthage, and Wheaton.  Having Wheaton ahead of any of those other 4 would be "lazy voting."

I can't prove my lazy voting theory, but I'm feeling pretty sure about it.  I say protect the Whistlblower, but bring these D3hoops.com pollsters here to the board for some healthy ballot debate.

https://www.d3hoops.com/teams/Wheaton_(Ill.)/men/2019-20/index

https://www.d3hoops.com/teams/Lake_Forest/men/2019-20/index