Posters' Poll

[me]

Augsburg dominated St. Thomas last night. I'm now pretty confident I valued them accurately.

Still some significant regional and anchoring bias in the poll vs. reality, but better, at least.

[Team First]

I saw the Augsburg/ St Thomas game online and wouldn't characterize it as a dominating win. The fact that the Tommies only went 4-28 from three didn't help matters but Augsburg only hit 3-16. As I saw things, the difference was that St Thomas had trouble finishing at the rim (or getting to the line) especially after the stretch where Augsburg opened a double digit lead. I've seen St Thomas live early this year and think they are a better team than their record for whatever that's worth. I would agree with the comments that argue that there are many good teams out there and few if any dominating ones; teams that can play poorly and still win. Both of these teams seem to have what it takes to make a post season run but of course they have to get there first...and they have to play well to do that. It's actually a very interesting year.

[me]

Augsburg was up like 18 with 3 to go on the road. That's dominating.

[me]

Oh heck I might as well post it

1. Whitman
2. Wittenberg
3. St. John's
4. Augustana
5. York
6. John Carroll
7. Baldwin Wallace
8. UW-River Falls
9. Washington U
10. UW-Whitewater
11. Whitworth
12. Swarthmore
13. UW-Platteville
14. Wartburg
15. Augsburg
16. Illinois Wesleyan
17. Ohio Wesleyan
18. Marietta
19. UW-Oshkosh
20. MIT
Can I just stop here?
21. Hamilton
22. Emory & Henry
23. Wheaton IL
24. Franklin & Marshall
25. LeTourneau I think (I skipped a number, had to add 25 on later)

I didn't really want to vote for any of the last 5. If I had voted for teams other than these they would have been more OAC, CCIW, WIAC, MIAC...so more yowling from people, probably. So I tried to reward good starts from teams that at least tried to schedule well.

Feeling pretty good about this other than not having ranked Ohio Northern out of fear of outrage. Won't make that mistake again.

Also feeling good about my lack of belief in the NESCAC and Williams in particular. Don't even have Williams or Wesleyan in my 10 on deck teams now.

Moved Wheaton into my top 10 pending their result this weekend. If they can get Augie and North Central both on the road, I say it's warranted.

[me]

1. Whitman
2. Wittenberg
3. St. John's
4. York
5. John Carroll
6. UW-Whitewater
7. Washington U
8. Whitworth
9. UW-Oshkosh
10. Baldwin Wallace
11. Illinois Wesleyan
12. Wheaton
13. UW-River Falls
14. Marietta
15. UW-Platteville
16. Ohio Northern
17. Augustana
18. Hamilton
19. MIT
20. Augsburg
21. Swarthmore
22. Emory & Henry
23. LeTourneau
24. Franklin & Marshall
25. North Central

[Smitty Oom]

Week 2 - Jan 15th   
1   Whitman
2   Yorkpa
3   Wittenberg
4   St. John's
5   Hamilton
6   UW-Whitewater
7   Washington U.
8   UW-River Falls
9   UW-Oshkosh
10   Swarthmore
11   MIT
12   Middlebury
13   Williams
14   Eastern Connecticut
15   Emory
16   IWU
17   Wesleyan
18   Augustana
19   Whitworth
20   John Carroll
21   Baldwin Wallace
22   Emory & Henry
23   Franklin and Marshall
24   Platteville
25   Wheaton (Ill)
ORV   Wooster
ORV   Nichols (Until Burton comes back I'm not as confident)
ORV   Marietta
ORV   Tufts
ORV   Loras

Some Quick Hitters:

Admittedly too high on Whitworth last week due to the nice record. Two losses are to good teams but watching the gmae against Whitman wasn't super impressed with them.

Probably too high on NWU last week as well. I still think Nebraska Wesleyan is a very good team but the loss at Loras in OT made me want a couple more solid IIAC wins before they regain a vote for my poll. Loras had a couple good results. Made ORV for me this week.

Wittenberg and Hamilton made a big jump. To still be undefeated at this point and with both team getting solid conference wins this week I felt it necessary to jump them towards the top. Both look more and more like real contenders each week.

The top 3 WIAC teams are impossible to rank. I think UWW is a slight cut above the rest but can't argue against any way you slice it.

Augustana takes a little bit of a dive in my ranks. Haven't watched any games this year but when looking at scores just not too impressed. I tried to distance the amazing run in last year NCAAs to realize they were a bottom tier top 25 team last year, and might be the same this year as well. Another CCIW team makes an appearance for me with the Wheaton Franics' coming in at 25 for me. Love watching Aston play.

Middlebury rights the ship this week with 3 solid wins. They bumped back up a couple spots for me. Still enjoy watching this team play and will be tough in Feb/March.

Lastly, there are a ton of solid teams in Ohio in the OAC and NCAC. Dropped OWU out of top 25, still a talented roster. BWU, JCU, ONU, Wooster and Marietta are all very solid teams that I think are great candidates to fill out the bottom half of a top 25.

[me]

Thought I would be giving the OAC more credit than anyone but nope.

Massey has JCU 5, Marietta 6, Ohio Northern 16, Baldwin Wallace 17.

Top 4 in WIAC 7, 9, 10, 12.

[AndOne]

Week 2 - Jan 15th   
1   Whitman
2   Yorkpa
3   Wittenberg
4   St. John's
5   Hamilton
6   UW-Whitewater
7   Washington U.
8   UW-River Falls
9   UW-Oshkosh
10   Swarthmore
11   MIT
12   Middlebury
13   Williams
14   Eastern Connecticut
15   Emory
16   IWU
17   Wesleyan
18   Augustana
19   Whitworth
20   John Carroll
21   Baldwin Wallace
22   Emory & Henry
23   Franklin and Marshall
24   Platteville
25   Wheaton (Ill)
ORV   Wooster
ORV   Nichols (Until Burton comes back I'm not as confident)
ORV   Marietta
ORV   Tufts
ORV   Loras

Some Quick Hitters:

Admittedly too high on Whitworth last week due to the nice record. Two losses are to good teams but watching the gmae against Whitman wasn't super impressed with them.

Probably too high on NWU last week as well. I still think Nebraska Wesleyan is a very good team but the loss at Loras in OT made me want a couple more solid IIAC wins before they regain a vote for my poll. Loras had a couple good results. Made ORV for me this week.

Wittenberg and Hamilton made a big jump. To still be undefeated at this point and with both team getting solid conference wins this week I felt it necessary to jump them towards the top. Both look more and more like real contenders each week.

The top 3 WIAC teams are impossible to rank. I think UWW is a slight cut above the rest but can't argue against any way you slice it.

Augustana takes a little bit of a dive in my ranks. Haven't watched any games this year but when looking at scores just not too impressed. I tried to distance the amazing run in last year NCAAs to realize they were a bottom tier top 25 team last year, and might be the same this year as well. Another CCIW team makes an appearance for me with the Wheaton Franics' coming in at 25 for me. Love watching Aston play.

Middlebury rights the ship this week with 3 solid wins. They bumped back up a couple spots for me. Still enjoy watching this team play and will be tough in Feb/March.

Lastly, there are a ton of solid teams in Ohio in the OAC and NCAC. Dropped OWU out of top 25, still a talented roster. BWU, JCU, ONU, Wooster and Marietta are all very solid teams that I think are great candidates to fill out the bottom half of a top 25.

Massey has North Central ranked 23rd, ahead of both IWU and Wheaton.
You may be impressed with Aston Francis, and rightly so. Loving to see him play is understandable. But one superstar does not necessarily mean his team is Top 25 material. And, you may be unaware, but North Central beat the Wheaties by 9 Saturday night. In that game, 2 starters from the Wheaton team failed to score a single point. Only two players scored in double figures. One of those two had 11 points.
NCC lost it's first game of the year to a team they shouldn't have. Many other teams have losses that should not have happened. Their other losses are to teams you have ranked 17th, 18th, and 19th.
Not considering the Cardinals should be considered an oversight at this point. 🤔

[Smitty Oom]

Week 2 - Jan 15th   
1   Whitman
2   Yorkpa
3   Wittenberg
4   St. John's
5   Hamilton
6   UW-Whitewater
7   Washington U.
8   UW-River Falls
9   UW-Oshkosh
10   Swarthmore
11   MIT
12   Middlebury
13   Williams
14   Eastern Connecticut
15   Emory
16   IWU
17   Wesleyan
18   Augustana
19   Whitworth
20   John Carroll
21   Baldwin Wallace
22   Emory & Henry
23   Franklin and Marshall
24   Platteville
25   Wheaton (Ill)
ORV   Wooster
ORV   Nichols (Until Burton comes back I'm not as confident)
ORV   Marietta
ORV   Tufts
ORV   Loras

Some Quick Hitters:

Admittedly too high on Whitworth last week due to the nice record. Two losses are to good teams but watching the gmae against Whitman wasn't super impressed with them.

Probably too high on NWU last week as well. I still think Nebraska Wesleyan is a very good team but the loss at Loras in OT made me want a couple more solid IIAC wins before they regain a vote for my poll. Loras had a couple good results. Made ORV for me this week.

Wittenberg and Hamilton made a big jump. To still be undefeated at this point and with both team getting solid conference wins this week I felt it necessary to jump them towards the top. Both look more and more like real contenders each week.

The top 3 WIAC teams are impossible to rank. I think UWW is a slight cut above the rest but can't argue against any way you slice it.

Augustana takes a little bit of a dive in my ranks. Haven't watched any games this year but when looking at scores just not too impressed. I tried to distance the amazing run in last year NCAAs to realize they were a bottom tier top 25 team last year, and might be the same this year as well. Another CCIW team makes an appearance for me with the Wheaton Franics' coming in at 25 for me. Love watching Aston play.

Middlebury rights the ship this week with 3 solid wins. They bumped back up a couple spots for me. Still enjoy watching this team play and will be tough in Feb/March.

Lastly, there are a ton of solid teams in Ohio in the OAC and NCAC. Dropped OWU out of top 25, still a talented roster. BWU, JCU, ONU, Wooster and Marietta are all very solid teams that I think are great candidates to fill out the bottom half of a top 25.

Massey has North Central ranked 23rd, ahead of both IWU and Wheaton.
You may be impressed with Aston Francis, and rightly so. Loving to see him play is understandable. But one superstar does not necessarily mean his team is Top 25 material. And, you may be unaware, but North Central beat the Wheaties by 9 Saturday night. In that game, 2 starters from the Wheaton team failed to score a single point. Only two players scored in double figures. One of those two had 11 points.
NCC lost it's first game of the year to a team they shouldn't have. Many other teams have losses that should not have happened. Their other losses are to teams you have ranked 17th, 18th, and 19th.
Not considering the Cardinals should be considered an oversight at this point. 🤔

I was quite aware of that result, and it was home for your Cards if I am not mistaken. If the other starters are so bad I feel like it should have been a bigger beat down that just 9 points. 

NCC is playing better as of recently and I agree, I probably should have had them on the personal ORV category at least. But Wheaton did beat Whitworth in WA while NCC lost to Whitworth on a neutral floor. Granted, a Head-to-Head is probably more telling then the transitive property... But it is just one point, as I had them ranked 25.

Wheaton has a Massey rating of 29, only 6 behind NCC. They have a SOS of 26 while NCC SOS is 35. I would say its pretty close.

[me]

As someone that voted for North Central, I agree with this. They impressed me with their inside-outside game. Wheaton looked like a team with a great player and one that might even be too good for some of his teammates.

They both played Whitworth and Wheaton won and North Central didn't. Wheaton beat Baldwin Wallace and North Central lost to a lower-caliber team from the same league in Heidelberg (though Heidelberg has played just about everyone close), and Wheaton won at Augustana and North Central lost to Augustana at home.

It could be true that North Central ends the year the better team. But Wheaton has shown more so far, this past weekend notwithstanding.

[AndOne]

It is pretty close.
I guess my follow-up question would be who is the better team right now?
The Cardinals have won 8 in a row. 

[me]

Did anyone else vote?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Did anyone else vote?

Most voters send a PM to the poll compiler, rather than posting a ballot here (which could potentially effect other voters).  We like the Australian secret ballot!   (Though maybe you don't yet have enough posts to have PM rights?  Can't recall the rules on that.)

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Did anyone else vote?

We're at 8 ballots so far... I sent a PM a little bit ago to the remaining 3 as a reminder.

[me]

Did anyone else vote?

Most voters send a PM to the poll compiler, rather than posting a ballot here (which could potentially effect other voters).  We like the Australian secret ballot!   (Though maybe you don't yet have enough posts to have PM rights?  Can't recall the rules on that.)

Sorry, thought it was optional. Plus I figured it would start conversation...that has not really happened. Hopefully that means everything i did made sense haha.

I think this poll is gonna end up being better than the real one, though.

Ryan and Dave's conversation on Hoopsville could influence voters too.