Posters' Poll

[Hugenerd]

What is your justification for putting them ahead of Carthage?

Also, good teams usually can win games on the road (at least some of them).  Wheaton is 2-5 on the road this year, with one of those wins being a 4OT game they wouldnt have won if not for 2 miraculous shots.  They are at home against IWU, so they have a shot, considering they havent lost at home, but they arent going to do anything this year if they cant win a road game. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Even Wheaton fan/posters have been saying they were far overrated earlier.  The two CCIW voters in the PP both had Carthage ranked (22 and 23) but neither had Wheaton.  They might have the best one-two punch in the CCIW with sophomore McCrary and senior Panner, but they have NO bench.

I also wondered about that solo #15 vote for Albright (though not enough to challenge it) - they're 13-2, but who have they beaten?  With that schedule they'd need to be at least 14-1 to even be on my radar.

Oh well, if we all agreed, there'd be no need for a poll!

(And you know it is a MAJOR down year for the CCIW when their only rep is 15th, and the two ORVs were mentioned on only 5 ballots!  By conference standards, the senior class is bad, but we SHALL return!  And for the doubters, my ballot had IWU exactly where they ended up - no home-cookin' here. )

[magicman]

Interesting that Williams almost lost tonight at New Paltz St. The game featured 9  lead changes and 5 ties in the 2nd half alone. With 11 seconds left to play Williams hit a pair of free throws to grab a 70-68 lead and New Paltz came down and had a 3 pointer rim out that would have won it. New Paltz is currently in 7th place in the SUNYAC conference. Williams also beat Cortland St. earlier in the year on the Ephs home court 72-68. Cortland is tied for 4th place in the conference. Either the SUNYAC is stronger than I thought or Williams isn't as good as I've been giving them credit for. 

[Gregory Sager]

(And you know it is a MAJOR down year for the CCIW when their only rep is 15th, and the two ORVs were mentioned on only 5 ballots!  By conference standards, the senior class is bad, but we SHALL return!

I've followed the CCIW for thirty years, and this is the worst senior class I have ever seen. There might only be three or four seniors total on the fifteen-man All-CCIW squad this season. (There were only three seniors on the All-CCIW squad two years ago, but it was a deeper class in terms of borderline All-CCIW players and decent role players. There are hardly any players who fit into those two categories in the CCIW's class of '10. And the CCIW did well in non-conference play two years ago because the junior class -- last year's seniors -- was so spectacular.)

Thing is, this season's junior class isn't all that great, either -- although it does contain d3hoops.com Player of the Year candidate Steve Djurickovic of Carthage. I don't think we'll see more than four or five juniors on this year's All-CCIW team. Put together a really bad senior class and a so-so junior class, and you have a recipe for a really down year for the league as a whole.

The sophomore class is something special, though -- and the freshman class looks really promising, too. I would expect the CCIW to bounce back next year, although not dramatically -- and if what I'm seeing this year holds up, the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons should look a lot like last year in terms of the CCIW being an absolutely dominant circuit.

[KnightSlappy]

I also wondered about that solo #15 vote for Albright (though not enough to challenge it) - they're 13-2, but who have they beaten?  With that schedule they'd need to be at least 14-1 to even be on my radar.

It may be a case of a mediocre team with a good record beating other mediocre teams with good records, or a case of me getting too slappy with my regional rankings, but according to my data, Albright has played the 5th toughest regional schedule in the country.

[Hugenerd]

Interesting that Williams almost lost tonight at New Paltz St. The game featured 9  lead changes and 5 ties in the 2nd half alone. With 11 seconds left to play Williams hit a pair of free throws to grab a 70-68 lead and New Paltz came down and had a 3 pointer rim out that would have won it. New Paltz is currently in 7th place in the SUNYAC conference. Williams also beat Cortland St. earlier in the year on the Ephs home court 72-68. Cortland is tied for 4th place in the conference. Either the SUNYAC is stronger than I thought or Williams isn't as good as I've been giving them credit for. 

This is being pedantic, but the game was actually closer than that (according to the game log).  New Paltz actually had the lead 68-67 until they were whistled for that foul with 11 seconds left, Wang knocked down both FTs to give them the edge 69-68, then New Paltz missed a 3 with 2 seconds left and immediately fouled, and Nate Robertson made 1 of 2 to make the final score 70-68.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

What is your justification for putting them ahead of Carthage?

I think Carthage is better.  This is probably a result of my previous polls.  It's exactly the reason I go back and do the whole thing from scratch at the end of the year.  I just don't have the time to do that every week.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Either the SUNYAC is stronger than I thought or Williams isn't as good as I've been giving them credit for. 

I think it's probably a little of both.  I've had my eye on a few of the SUNYAC teams this year, but they keep losing to each other.

[scout]

Either the SUNYAC is stronger than I thought or Williams isn't as good as I've been giving them credit for. 

I think it's probably a little of both.  I've had my eye on a few of the SUNYAC teams this year, but they keep losing to each other.

So how large is your 'Teams to Keep an Eye On' list now? I know you had said that it was down to 70 as late as Friday of last week.

It would be interesting to see how home teams are faring compared to years past. I feel like we're seeing a dramatic decrease in home winning percentage, but that could be wrong. I'm just doing an eye test and am curious about how teams will do come tourney time (both in conference and nationally) with home court advantages...

[Mr. Ypsi]

I received an 11th ballot about noon today.  I won't repost since changes were pretty minor (a couple of teams well down the list traded places, and Rochester rose from 26th to 24th), but it did point out how close the battle for 2nd was: if this ballot were included, Guilford and EMU exactly tied for second!

[Ralph Turner]

I received an 11th ballot about noon today.  I won't repost since changes were pretty minor (a couple of teams well down the list traded places, and Rochester rose from 26th to 24th), but it did point out how close the battle for 2nd was: if this ballot were included, Guilford and EMU exactly tied for second!

Thanks to "#11".  Glad to have another fan participating.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I received an 11th ballot about noon today.  I won't repost since changes were pretty minor (a couple of teams well down the list traded places, and Rochester rose from 26th to 24th), but it did point out how close the battle for 2nd was: if this ballot were included, Guilford and EMU exactly tied for second!

Thanks to "#11".  Glad to have another fan participating.

Actually he's a long-time voter, but whose schedule makes him iffy for this season - some weeks in, some not (one other long-time voter is also in that situation).

But I did just pick up a new voter, who will start next week - if everyone manages to participate in the same poll, we're up to 13!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Either the SUNYAC is stronger than I thought or Williams isn't as good as I've been giving them credit for. 

I think it's probably a little of both.  I've had my eye on a few of the SUNYAC teams this year, but they keep losing to each other.

So how large is your 'Teams to Keep an Eye On' list now? I know you had said that it was down to 70 as late as Friday of last week.

It's at 62 right now, but I think I'll have to add a few here and there.  70 or 75 is probably where I should be.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I received an 11th ballot about noon today.  I won't repost since changes were pretty minor (a couple of teams well down the list traded places, and Rochester rose from 26th to 24th), but it did point out how close the battle for 2nd was: if this ballot were included, Guilford and EMU exactly tied for second!

Thanks to "#11".  Glad to have another fan participating.

Actually he's a long-time voter, but whose schedule makes him iffy for this season - some weeks in, some not (one other long-time voter is also in that situation).

But I did just pick up a new voter, who will start next week - if everyone manages to participate in the same poll, we're up to 13!

We're practically on fire here at PP headquarters - yet another poster has just joined up (though he warns he may be sporadic due to med school applications).

In a perfect week - 14!

[Hugenerd]

I received an 11th ballot about noon today.  I won't repost since changes were pretty minor (a couple of teams well down the list traded places, and Rochester rose from 26th to 24th), but it did point out how close the battle for 2nd was: if this ballot were included, Guilford and EMU exactly tied for second!

Thanks to "#11".  Glad to have another fan participating.

Actually he's a long-time voter, but whose schedule makes him iffy for this season - some weeks in, some not (one other long-time voter is also in that situation).

But I did just pick up a new voter, who will start next week - if everyone manages to participate in the same poll, we're up to 13!

We're practically on fire here at PP headquarters - yet another poster has just joined up (though he warns he may be sporadic due to med school applications).

In a perfect week - 14!

So are we getting an updated list today?