Top 25 talk

[David Collinge]

Top 25 Scores and Schedule, January 22-28 (UPDATED with Saturday afternoon scores)

#   1   UW-Stevens Point (16-2) lost to#8 UW-Oskosh 72-55
#   2   Amherst (20-0) def. So. Vermont 111-67, won at Colby 69-58, and won at Bowdoin 73-55
#   3   Wooster (17-2) def. Kenyon 89-54 and won at Earlham 64-51
#   4   Virginia Wesleyan (15-3) def. Hampden-Sydney 75-49, lost at Emory & Henry 124-101, and plays at #25 Guilford Sun.
#   5   Mississippi College (17-1) def. LeTorneau 72-51 and def. East Texas Baptist 66-46
#   6   St. Thomas (16-2) won at St. Olaf 78-53, def. Hamline 90-71, and won at Macalester 87-55
#   7   Whitworth (17-1) won at Pacific 77-69 and plays at Lewis & Clark Sat.
#   8   UW-Oshkosh (17-3) won at #1 UW-Stevens Point 72-55 and def. UW-River Falls 90-67
#   9   Hope (15-2) def. Tri-State 101-57 and hosts Kalamazoo Sat.
#   10   Washington U. (15-1) def. Brandeis 68-64 and hosts #24 NYU Sun.
#   11   Elmhurst (15-2) def. North Central 98-84 and plays at #12 Augustana Sat.
#   12   Augustana (15-3) def. Illinois Wesleyan 64-62 and hosts #11 Elmhurst Sat.
#   13   Puget Sound (14-3) lost at Willamette 119-108 and plays at George Fox Sat.
#   14   Ohio Northern (15-4) def. Heidelberg 83-80 and won at Baldwin-Wallace 83-74
#   15   Occidental (11-4) lost to Redlands 109-106 and plays at La Verne Sat.
#   16   Wittenberg (16-3) won at Wabash 64-51 and def. Denison 87-65
#   17   Worcester Polytech (16-1) def. Coast Guard 76-68 and won at Wheaton (Mass.) 67-64
#   18   Aurora (17-1) def. Lakeland 94-76 and def. Benedictine 83-79
#   19   Bates (16-3) def. Emmanuel 75-57, won at Wesleyan 59-56 (OT), and lost at Conn. College 82-65
#   20   Carthage (12-5) won at North Park 64-62 and hosts Illinois Wesleyan Sat.
#   21   Wheaton (Ill.) (12-5) won at Millikin 71-57 and plays at North Central Sat.
#   22   Johns Hopkins (13-2) def. Gettysburg 83-67 and won at Washington Coll. 72-54
#   23   Keene St. (16-3) won at Plymouth St. 58-57, won at Mitchell 79-69, and lost at Mass.-Dartmouth 97-74
#   24   NYU (14-3) lost at Chicago 62-60 and plays at #10 Washington U. Sat.
#   25   Guilford (14-2) def. Randolph-Macon 76-65 and hosts #4 Virginia Wesleyan Sun.

[gordonmann]

Willamette shot a ridiculous 69.8% (35-53) in the win over UPS.

[ScotsFan]

Amherst (in Maine), Wooster (at Earlham without their starting center), and #4 VWC (at Guilford) all have non-trivial weekends.  It wouldn't shock me to see Mississippi College atop the poll next Tuesday.  But #1 is Amherst's to lose.

Well, Wooster is currently down 2 at the half in Richmond and VA Wes was just shocked by Emory & Henry 124-101.  So maybe the Marlins were guilty of looking a little past E&H towards their game with Guilford tomorrow.

Also, #1 Amherst passed it's first Maine test downing Bowdoin  73-55.

[David Collinge]

Also, #1 Amherst passed it's first Maine test downing Bowdoin  73-55.

Actually, that was the second Maine test; they also passed the first, beating Colby Friday, and Amherst figures to be the new #1 come Tuesday.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I am sure Amherst will be the #1 on Tuesday... but will it be unanimous?

They are the only team remaining without a loss on the season... but Mississippi Colelge is playing very good basketball and Wooster is always good.

Who else could get #1 votes? VWU killed thier chances... and it would be tough to go with Whitowrth since they did lose to Puget Sound... but that is their only loss.

Good luck voters!

[Ralph Turner]

I am sure Amherst will be the #1 on Tuesday... but will it be unanimous?

They are the only team remaining without a loss on the season... but Mississippi Colelge is playing very good basketball and Wooster is always good.

Who else could get #1 votes? VWU killed thier chances... and it would be tough to go with Whitworth since they did lose to Puget Sound... but that is their only loss.

Good luck voters!

Dave, Amherst's situation is that they may have a first place ranking that is 25 votes wide and one inch deep. 

I think that the voters will concede the Lord Jeffs #1, because they have done everything that their schedule has demanded.  Of course, we are looking to their emerging from the Sectionals to give the final opinion.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  #3 Wooster 64  Earlham 51

Wooster played solid defense in this game to pick up a nice road win.
Wooster was led in scoring by Devin Fulk with 16 points, Tom Port with 15 points (11 boards) and Evan Will added 10 points.

Wooster is now 17-2, 10-0 NCAC    Next game at home vs Allegheny on 1/31

GO SCOTS!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Ralph - completely agree. Lord Jeff's deserve their votes... but really... who else does.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph - completely agree. Lord Jeff's deserve their votes... but really... who else does.

Dave, the breadth of the quality of this field is outstanding.  Becasue we don't have a stellar team that is running away with this season, we may not recognize how balanced D3 is this season.

The tourney should be wide open with several mid-seeds progressing deep into the tourney.

[John Gleich]

Ralph - completely agree. Lord Jeff's deserve their votes... but really... who else does.

How about Point?  They've lost two games, yes, one to a D-2 team, the other to one of the hotter teams in the country, top 10 foe UW Oshkosh.  I really don't think that Point should automatically lose all of their credibility due to one game.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph - completely agree. Lord Jeff's deserve their votes... but really... who else does.

How about Point?  They've lost two games, yes, one to a D-2 team, the other to one of the hotter teams in the country, top 10 foe UW Oshkosh.  I really don't think that Point should automatically lose all of their credibility due to one game.

I am not saying that UW-SP will lose crediblity.  The narrow aspect of this debate is "first place" votes.

[John Gleich]

I was talking about credibility as a team deserving of #1 votes 

#8 Oshkosh dispenses with River Falls 90-67

[FisherDynasty]

Don't ask me how Amherst wasn't already ranked #1 if they don't get the 1 spot this week i'll that would be ludacris.

[Ralph Turner]

Don't ask me how Amherst wasn't already ranked #1 if they don't get the 1 spot this week i'll that would be ludacris.

Amherst is the Lord Jeffs.  Ludacris (aka, Christopher Brian Bridges) is a rapper!

[Pat Coleman]

Don't ask me how Amherst wasn't already ranked #1 if they don't get the 1 spot this week i'll that would be ludacris.

Yeah, because that win against Bates looks better every day. Brandeis too.