Top 25 talk

[PoppersMacsLive]

Is Mahoney definitely not back for RPI? Haven't heard the Engineers mentioned in a while so I am under the assumption that he isn't back--if he is back then RPI is a no-brainer Top 25 team.

[stlawus]

I believe Mahoney is indeed a graduate student and will be playing this year.   And I agree, RPI will be dangerous.  They lose 2 starters from their 2019-2020 squad including their best shooter but they still have plenty of talent.

[PoppersMacsLive]

Thanks stlawus. RPI looks like the class of the LL.

Here's my Preseason Top 25:

1 Randolph-Macon
2 Yeshiva
3 Illinois Wesleyan
4 Emory
5 Johns Hopkins
6 Trine
7 Tufts
8 Marietta
9 WashU
10 Saint Joseph (CT)
11 UW-Platteville
12 Swarthmore
13 Mary Hardin-Baylor
14 RPI
15 Penn State-Harrisburg
16 UW-Oshkosh
17 Wheaton (IL)
18 Brandeis
19 UW-La Crosse
20 WPI
21 Elmhurst
22 Rochester
23 Dubuque
24 Utica
25 Roanoke

Considered but excluded: St. John Fisher, Muhlenberg, Whitworth, Ripon, Amherst

[nescac1]

Very solid top 25, other than Swarthmore is in my view way too low.  58-5 including a championship appearance and wire to wire number one ranking over last two seasons of play, and all but two guys back, including top three scorers - one of whom was National ROY.  The bigs they lost were quality, but they have talented young guys behind them and Landry doesn't miss a beat when key guys graduate, they just get better each year.  I see them as a sure-fire top five team.

[PoppersMacsLive]

I know I'm definitely lower on Swarthmore on paper (cannot stress this enough, because having not played in 2 years they are difficult to evaluate preseason) than most. My reasoning, in short, is twofold: 1) Although they were the #1 ranked team, I did not view them as the best team in the country in 2019-20 (I had them behind 3 other teams); 2) Swarthmore's ability to run their offense out of the post will be limited by the departure of their two star senior forwards, and while I'm sure Kosmalski will have his team ready to go for opening day, he stylistically would certainly like to play out of the post. I'm sure young guys will step up, but I don't see any indication on paper that they will be able to replace O'Dell and Shafer.

Very solid top 25, other than Swarthmore is in my view way too low.  58-5 including a championship appearance and wire to wire number one ranking over last two seasons of play, and all but two guys back, including top three scorers - one of whom was National ROY.  The bigs they lost were quality, but they have talented young guys behind them and Landry doesn't miss a beat when key guys graduate, they just get better each year.  I see them as a sure-fire top five team.

[stlawus]

Interesting to see that you have Utica top 25.   I've always thought that Utica (in all sports) should be better than they have been.   SLU usually rolls with the same non-conference schedule outside of a game or 2 and I've always wanted them to schedule games against Utica. 

[PoppersMacsLive]

Utica won the E8 Championship over regular season champs St. John Fisher and return all 5 starters. Their two losses last year were to Nazareth and St. John Fisher, both of whom they then defeated in the E8 Conference Tournament. They were pretty impressive down the stretch last year, and certainly deserve Preseason Top 25 consideration, although I don't expect to see them in the D3hoops poll. Hopefully I'll be wrong about this!

Interesting to see that you have Utica top 25.   I've always thought that Utica (in all sports) should be better than they have been.   SLU usually rolls with the same non-conference schedule outside of a game or 2 and I've always wanted them to schedule games against Utica.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Two notes:

I'm not sure Kosmalski will continue to play out of the post in the same way they did with O'Dell and Shafer. And, I've got Swat about five spots lower than Poppers. Until we see how the post works out, they've got a lot to prove, at least when it comes to top ten.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I just got a peak at the Lynchburg roster for this season.  They've got both Tharon Suggs and TC Thacker listed as grad students, returning.  That makes them a very formidable team, definitely worth considering for the Top 25.

[Titan Q]

The preseason Top 25 ballot I just submitted...

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1447912086156320770?s=20

[Greek Tragedy]

The preseason Top 25 ballot I just submitted...

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1447912086156320770?s=20

Saying Rensselaer might throw off a couple of casual fans. LOL

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The preseason Top 25 ballot I just submitted...

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1447912086156320770?s=20

Saying Rensselaer might throw off a couple of casual fans. LOL

That's how they're listed in the system; we don't have a choice.

[Greek Tragedy]

Interesting. So RPI, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is Rensselaer in the system, but WPI, Worcester Polytechnic Institute is WPI in the system? LOL. Ok...

[Greek Tragedy]

By the way, if the voters already didn't know, Patrick Mahoney is back for Rensselaer this year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Interesting. So RPI, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is Rensselaer in the system, but WPI, Worcester Polytechnic Institute is WPI in the system? LOL. Ok...

I think its a pre-existing system.  It's not like Pat came up with it or anything.  I'm assuming its pulled over from the Presto system that assigns names to all the schools by some inscrutable process.