Posters' Poll

[Mr. Ypsi]

As for standards, I have always wondered about the "standard deviation" for Mr Ypsi.   

I believe Mr. Ypsi to be an above standard deviate.

I used to sometimes include a joke question on stat final exams:

Your instructor is best described as
a. mean
b. a standard deviate
c. at variance with reality
d. a t-and-A man [Sandler's A is a simplified formula for the t-test for matched samples]
e. obsessed with normal (and some abnormal) curves
f. a clear case of regression

I told students that I would accept any answer except 'b' - I may be a deviate, but am never 'standard'!

[NCF]

After reading many of your posts, I would have to agree.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

1.   Whitewater - They were my top pick much of the year, only proven in the tournament.
2.   MIT - They beat a lot of teams I didn't think they should, once is luck, several times means there's something intangible there I didn't see initially.
3.   Virginia Wesleyan - Preseason #1; they have the talent.  They also beat some good teams.
4.   Whitworth - I actually thought they were better than VaWes, but it was close enough, I let the head to head decide.
5.   Franklin & Marshall - Solid team play; late injury to Milligan hurt overall performance.
6.   Cabrini - Vastly improved my opinion of them in the playoffs, but the eye test keeps them here.
7.   Amherst - Lots of talent, but court awareness and ability to adapt leaves something to be desired.
8.   Illinois Wesleyan - Obviously very good, but I couldn't reward all those losses.
9.   Hope - Never was quite a believer, but the 2OT game against IWU was huge.  I still think they're likely better than IWU, but we have no real way to tell.
10. Middlebury - Great defensive team, but some serious deficiencies.
11. Wittenberg - They just kept hanging in there all season.
12. North Central - Probably better than this, but just didn't prove it at the end of the year.
13. Mary Hardin-Baylor - Great team, upset in the first round, which doesn't help prove their schedule was actually good (which I believe, but can't prove).
14. Eastern Connecticut - I doubted all year; they kept coming through.
15. Oswego State - I think their likely better than ECSU, but playing in the East Region means they have to prove themselves in the tournament.
16. River Falls - Strong team from a strong conference and a stronger than you'd think schedule.
17. WashU - Probably tailed off near the end of the year, but there's a gap after them, so they had breathing room.
18. Wooster - Mediocre Woo squad with a couple of fortunate wins.
19. Wheaton - CCIW was actually better than they appeared.  Tournament win, helped.
20. Transylvania - Believe it or not, I had them in the top 12 much of the year, tournament performance brought them back down to Earth.
21. Staten Island - Impressed with them in person, lots of deficiencies, but not deep ones.
22. Stevens Point - This is purely a result of some pretty strong wins and a great schedule.
23. Albertus Magnus - Ray Askew.
24. Hobart - Mike Neer.
25. Western Connecticut - Daquan Brooks (whose supporting cast is slightly less impressive than that of Askew's).

[BoBo]

. . .
16. River Falls - Strong team from a strong conference; still beat WW twice.
. . .
22. Stevens Point - This is purely a result of strong early season performances.

CORRECTION:  River Falls beat UWW once, in the WIAC Tournament Championship game.  UWW beat RF twice in the regular season.

Stevens Point played and beat UWW twice in the regular season. 



Source

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

. . .
16. River Falls - Strong team from a strong conference; still beat WW twice.
. . .
22. Stevens Point - This is purely a result of strong early season performances.

CORRECTION:  River Falls beat UWW once, in the WIAC Tournament Championship game.  UWW beat RF twice in the regular season.

Stevens Point played and beat UWW twice in the regular season. 

Noted and corrected.

[Gregory Sager]

I have so far never felt a d3 champion was unworthy of also receiving the #1 vote, though I might have made an exception in 1996 on ethical rather than athletic grounds - all true d3 fans believe the title game that year should have been Hope vs. IWU, rather than the Prop 48 transfers for Rowan!)

Not true, Chuck. I don't consider what John Giannini did to be an ethical violation. He scrupulously obeyed the rules when he brought those Prop 48 players into the Rowan program. How can he be blamed for taking advantage of a perfectly-legal loophole that he didn't create?

The fault was with the NCAA for leaving open that loophole in the first place. not with Giannini and Rowan for using it. Frankly, I've always been surprised that more schools didn't take advantage of it. If they had, Rowan wouldn't have appeared to be such a glaring outlier.

In my mind there is a clear distinction between what is legal and what is ethical (oftentimes the greatest disgrace is what IS legal).  Rowan did nothing against the rules.  To me, at least, what they did was definitely against what d3 is all about (which was seemingly confirmed by the swift passage of the 'Rowan Rule').

I agree with you that there is a distinction between what is legal and what is ethical, and I should've made that more clear. So, thanks for saying that. But my point here is that what Giannini did was ethical. Unethical behavior requires a negative proof. What is that negative proof? After all, the D1 transfers would not have been able to play for the Profs if they had not been academically eligible at the time that they transferred to Rowan. That means that their prior Prop 48 status was water under the bridge at that point.

And since they were academically eligible, that means that the only negative proof remaining is their original Prop 48 status. And is it fair -- is it ethical -- to penalize students in good standing who are in their fifth year of college for what they did in high school? To me, that seems to go against the whole idea of earned merit. I'm not saying that any of those guys had a redemptive experience in college with regard to their diligence in terms of study habits, time management, willingness to seek extra help, mental focus, or anything else. Perhaps they did; perhaps they didn't. What I'm saying is that their transcripts as of the fall of 1995 belied the academic deficiencies for which they had been penalized in the first place four years earlier.

(Please note that I'm not making any statements here as to the competence or the soundness of judgment of Rowan's admissions department, or to the course selections of those Prop 48 players at their D1 schools, or to the academic rigor of those D1 schools and those particular courses. I'm simply taking the situation as it stood at face value ... since accepting such institutional particulars is truly what D3 is all about.)

Knightstalker's WIAC redshirting analogy is a good one. Redshirting also created a competitive imbalance, and it, too, was eventually altered by NCAA legislation. But I don't think that I would want to hang my hat on NCAA legislation in terms of what is ethical and what isn't, Chuck. After all, that brings you right back around to your point about the distinction between legality and ethicality.

I didn't have any complaints about the so-called "Rowan Rule" being put into effect, because I saw its purpose as being essentially one of deterrence. If high school athletes were aware that their options would be limited to three years of competition in any division of the NCAA if they failed to achieve the prescribed benchmarks for GPA, core courses passed, and for the SAT or ACT, it would theoretically help motivate them even further to succeed as students. Unfortunately, the fact that the legislation was a response to Rowan's winning the national championship (as is indicated by the nickname "Rowan Rule") made the legislation look remedial rather than progressive. (The other unfortunate thing about it is that the fact that the NCAA and the NAIA were more competitive than cooperative in those days made that deterrent a bit more toothless than it should've been.)

BTW, Chuck, you've gone from speaking on behalf of "all true D3 fans" in your original anti-Rowan assertion to speaking in terms of "to me, at least". A case of backpedaling, or are you saying that you're the only true D3 fan?

Frankly, I've always been surprised that more schools didn't take advantage of it. If they had, Rowan wouldn't have appeared to be such a glaring outlier.

Maybe they did and we just didn't know about it. No national coverage in 1996 to spread the news.

Good point, although it seems to me that we would've heard something about other teams using a former Prop 48 player or players, given how loudly people screamed about Rowan doing it.

[Knightstalker]

Maybe Rowan was the only school that was actually successful doing it?

[NCF]

Maybe Rowan was the only school that was actually successful doing it?

Good point!

[Ralph Turner]

I'm in! When?  Voting starts after Sunday January 6th?

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm in! When?  Voting starts after Sunday January 6th?

I'll check the 'scoreboard' calendar to decide between the 6th and 13th, but definitely in that vicinity.

It would be great if we could consistently make it up to 12-14 this year!

[Mr. Ypsi]

We'll have had more than 1 1/2 months of games by Sunday, January 6th - plenty of time to separate the 'sheep from the goats'.  (I've always wondered about that expression - which are the good guys: sheep or goats?  Would you want to be either?)  Of course, as always, which teams are which varies from week to week!

So, first Posters' Poll of the season begins with games thru Jan. 6.  Please submit ballots with a PM to me - by Tuesday evening if at all possible, though I am open to requests for extensions.  (I'd rather post a poll of 10-12 on Wednesday night, than a poll of 7-8 'on time' - but a poll of 13 on Tuesday would be fantabulous!)  Most weeks there a very few (if any) relevant games on Sunday, so I usually have the basic outlines of my ballot by Saturday night.

[John Gleich]

Plenty of time to separate the 'sheep from the goats'.  (I've always wondered about that expression - which are the good guys: sheep or goats?  Would you want to be either?)  Of course, as always, which teams are which varies from week to week!

Read Matthew 25:31-46

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The 6th might be a week too early for me.  Busy weekend.  I'll try, but I might have to skip the first week.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Reminder to all interested posters - the first PP of the season is for games through today.  Please PM a ballot to me by Tuesday evening, if at all possible.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'll see if I can work on a list.  Busy week, though.