Top 25 talk

[John Gleich]

... They lost to some team... northish of them...

Kindly disregard my last comment...  but just the same, Go Eagles!

[Greek Tragedy]

MORE FREE BASKETBALL!  La Crosse and Platteville going to a second OT!  68 apiece.

[John Gleich]

Double OT in La Crosse!

[Cards7580]

Lots of BLUE scores on that list so far this week 

Maybe Friday and Saturday are upset days.

[LogShow]

Maybe its a new trend...I like blue, those are pretty much the teams that are "favored" to win.  But if the past weeks have been any indication, a few upsets will surface this weekend.

[pbrooks3]

UMD's massey mov SOS drops to 145
Centre's is 202
Mary Hardin Baylor's is 156

It's tough to assess these teams, because although their record speaks volumes, their schedules do not.  However, just because they have played lax schedules does not mean they are not worthy of a high ranking.  We just won't know till the tournament. 

...and last year in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament (March 2007).
Wooster 73  Centre 56

Moreover, Centre's top 5 scorers this season (Britt, Thomason, Nestheide, Noll, Crowdis) all played in that tournament game vs. Wooster.  Yes, Wooster graduated some of their top players but Centre did as well (John Patterson and Matt Jacobson were senior starters for Centre last season).  My guess is that #15 Wooster would probably beat them (again) on a neutral court this year.

My point?  Centre is not the #5 team in the nation.  Not even close.
 

WSF, I'm having a little trouble following your logic here.  First, that tournament game was @ Wooster- they certainly weren't playing on a "neutral" floor. Perhaps you mean to use a neutral floor just as a comparison technique...but then don't present the score from last year's NCAAs like it was on a neutral floor- it was in fact an emotional final home game for Wooster's seniors.

Also, Centre convincingly beat Capital in round 1 of that tourney last year, 69-55. That Capital squad is essentially the same one that is currently ranked #8 in the country (Cap graduated only one player, and he was about the 3rd guy off the bench).

So, I read Centre's performance in last year's NCAAs as a good one: they beat a good team in Capital, who was both the regular season and tournament champion of the respected OAC...then they lost to a Wooster team that clearly had the talent and the drive to make a run at Salem.  My impression from watching Centre last year in those two tournament games was that they could easily have been a sweet sixteen team if they hadn't drawn a Wooster team hell-bent on Salem (and playing its last home game of the year).

I talked to several Centre fans during those games, and they almost universally noted that it was next year (ie. this season) that they were really looking forward too.  I think they clearly expected to be better this year.

Much more to the point, though, for the current Top 25, is that I sincerely doubt the voters look back at all at last season's tournament results, for the very reasons you indicated: players change, teams change, and schedules change. They have to evaluate the teams as they have played this season, with the players they have this season...and by that evaluation, 18-1 with an 18-game winning streak looks pretty strong in a year of tight parity at the top.

Didn't have a chance to weigh in on these posts from earlier in the week, kiltedbryan.  I'm a Centre partisan and I pretty much concur with your comments.  Clearly the game at Wooster in the tournament last year was no neutral site game.  I will also concede that Wooster has played a tougher schedule than Centre this year and normally does every season.  Centre truly does miss the post presence this season of the 6'10" John Patterson, but they've compensated on the offensive end with stellar senior guard play in Nestheide and Britt.  Nestheide won Player of the Year in the SCAC last season, and Britt is a strong contender for this award in 2008.  These two guys have willed the team through two tough games against good opponents in Millsaps and Trinity (TX) the past 2 weekends.  In the first one at Millsaps, Britt hit a 28 footer to tie the game at the end of regulation & send it to OT for a victory by 10 points.  A week later in San Antonio, Nestheide carried the squad from 16 down in the 2nd half to force OT with an old fashioned 3 point play that led to a 9-point win.  These guys absolutely thrive on pressure and it's hard to measure their determination and grit when looking at stats.  The Colonels are well-coached and have heady players that stick together when the chips are down.  I'm hoping they have a shot at hosting this season rather than having to travel as we did last year.

[pbrooks3]

#5 Centre (of the SCAC) beats Birmingham Southern tonight 63-46 to extend their winning streak to 19 games. 

[Hugenerd]

Rochester avenges last Sundays loss with a 1 point win at Chicago only a layup by Ndubizu with 3 seconds left.

[Hugenerd]

WashU also avenges their 31  point loss to CMU, with an 11 point win at home.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Geez, 26-1 so far; the women's top-25 already has four red scores.  Better have some upsets tomorrow or this 'parity differential' is gonna look bad!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

If it's is a quite week... what in the world am I going to talk about on Hoopsville

[John Gleich]

Might we be getting some separation between teams who are going to step up and those that will fall away...?

Four OT games so far this week... with the top 25 gittin' 'er done.  Also, another 3 games won by 4 or less.

[kiltedbryan]

If it's is a quite week... what in the world am I going to talk about on Hoopsville

Maybe the theme could be "One of these weeks isn't like the others."   

[Mr. Ypsi]

If it's is a quite week... what in the world am I going to talk about on Hoopsville

Maybe the theme could be "One of these weeks isn't like the others."   

Good point.  d-mac, this year NOT having upsets is an 'upset'!

[magicman]

LogShow

Ouch!  That one must have hurt. Only the 2nd red # put up this week. I said only 4 or 5 but I didn't think that would be one of them. Sorry.