Posters' Poll

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'll be putting my first ballot together today; you should have it before I go to bed tonight.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ok, so I avoided looking at the real Top 25 until I finished going through every conference and looking at 61 schools.

I ranked my top 25 and only had three really wacked out entires in comparison to the d3hoops poll.  The teams from that poll which don't appear on mine were all near misses, which is acceptable to me.

So, I have Carthage at #8, McMurry at #18, and Baruch at #25.

These seem to be extreme outliers and I'm hoping the rest of you can tell me why I'm so far off.

[sac]

Ok, so I avoided looking at the real Top 25 until I finished going through every conference and looking at 61 schools.

I ranked my top 25 and only had three really wacked out entires in comparison to the d3hoops poll.  The teams from that poll which don't appear on mine were all near misses, which is acceptable to me.

So, I have Carthage at #8, McMurry at #18, and Baruch at #25.

These seem to be extreme outliers and I'm hoping the rest of you can tell me why I'm so far off.

The new d3hoops.com poll isn't out for this week yet.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Seven ballots in - more coming?  Greg?  Anyone?

Ok, so I avoided looking at the real Top 25 until I finished going through every conference and looking at 61 schools.

I ranked my top 25 and only had three really wacked out entires in comparison to the d3hoops poll.  The teams from that poll which don't appear on mine were all near misses, which is acceptable to me.

So, I have Carthage at #8, McMurry at #18, and Baruch at #25.

These seem to be extreme outliers and I'm hoping the rest of you can tell me why I'm so far off.

While I usually don't comment while balloting is still occurring (hopefully ), the three you mentioned are all one-of-a-kind.  While most of us have at least one team with no other votes, your pick of Carthage at #8 has them currently tied for 23rd!  I yield to no one as a CCIW partisan, and as long as Steve Djurickovic stays healthy they are a threat to ANYONE (#8 or even higher) on any given night, but Carthage is NOT a top 25 team.  But, although sometimes 'eccentric', I value your input too much to reject the ballot on that pick alone.  Welcome back!

[Ralph Turner]

Ok, so I avoided looking at the real Top 25 until I finished going through every conference and looking at 61 schools.

I ranked my top 25 and only had three really wacked out entires in comparison to the d3hoops poll.  The teams from that poll which don't appear on mine were all near misses, which is acceptable to me.

So, I have Carthage at #8, McMurry at #18, and Baruch at #25.

These seem to be extreme outliers and I'm hoping the rest of you can tell me why I'm so far off.

Thanks for the figurative "shoutout"!

#18 might not be too bad if we can survive the conference.  The ASC has become more balanced and has attracted better athletes as programs have seen the benefit of D3 ball.

Last season, the ASC had five good teams in the West by the end of the season.  The East had 2-3.  UMHB lost at host Millsaps on a Hail Mary buzzer beater in the second round.  Millsaps lost to National Champion Wash U in the Elite 8.  If the best team in the ASC can be slotted at 18, then that may be a good pick.

I am amazed at how balanced the nation is this year.  Pabegg's power rankings (on the Pool C board) have some interesting factoids.  North Central IL comes out at the #5 Pool C team this week and #20 overall.  (They have a 69-66 win over McMurry in Vegas from November.)  McMurry pulls as the #10 Pool C team and #28 in his power ranking.  (After the loss by UTD at home to UOzarks 66-68, we may move up a bit!)

The fact that startles me most is that the last regionally ranked team in the East (#5) is the #36 team in the power rankings!

Baruch is not on the power rankings.  Carthage is 8th in the MW and #62 overall.

Thanks for the consideration.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The new d3hoops.com poll isn't out for this week yet.

Yes, I know, but when I put together my first Top 25 in January, I try not to be biased by the poll already in existence.  I'll usually follow who's been #1, but I don't pay much attention to the real poll until I've done my first one.

I work my way through every conference, looking at the schedules and opponents of the top teams.  This year, I selected 61 schools for further consideration.  I separated them into three groups based on my impressions (definitely in, maybe in, only in if I run out of teams in the other groups).  Then I work my way from the top group into the second and (if needed) the third.

These schools will form my "watch list" for the rest of the season.  I've been doing this for four years now and there's only been one school on a final Top 25 (mine or the d3hoops poll) that wasn't on my initial list.  It's a system that works for me.

Granted, I'm not in CCIW country, but it just appears that Carthage has a legitimate record so far, including a recent win over Augustana.  I'm sure the rest of the season will bear witness to their rightful location, but I'm sticking with it for now and I apologize for messing with the numbers this week.

Also, I see Baruch lost already this week, so we have probably seen the last of them on my ballot.  Those are the sorts of games they need to win to prove themselves.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'll just point out that the new Massey numbers have Carthage, McMurry, and Carroll (the team I should have picked #25 instead of Baruch) in the top 25 and UMASS-D (a team I don't think is very good) at #34.

So, my picks seem to jive with a mathematical system that makes little sense until the full season is played out.


I'll take it!

[Mr. Ypsi]

POSTERS' POLL (week ending 1-18):

1.  Wheaton      195 (1,1,1,1,1,2,2,4)
2.  St. Thomas    190 (1,1,2,2,2,2,3,5)
3.  Wash U         185 (1,2,3,3,3,3,4,4)
4.  UWSP            177 (2,3,3,4,4,4,4,7)
5.  UWP              161 (3,5,5,5,6,6,7,9)
6.  Buena V        153 (5,5,5,6,7,7,9,11)
7.  UWW            147 (6,6,6,7,7,9,10,10)
8.  Capital          137 (6,7,8,8,8,8,9,17)
9.  Trinity TX      134 (5,7,9,9,10,10,11,13)
10. Amherst       131 (4,8,9,10,10,10,12,14)
11. UPS              125 (6,8,10,11,12,12,12,12)
12. St. Norbert   101 (8,11,13,13,13,15,17,17)
13. Augie           100 (11,11,12,12,13,14,14,21)
14. Ithaca           93 (9,11,13,13,14,16,16,23)
15. R. Stockton   87 (11,13,14,15,16,17,17,18)
16. UMD             72 (12,14,14,16,16,19,19,-)
17. TX-Dallas     64 (15,15,16,18,19,19,20,22)
18. CMU             61 (14,16,17,17,18,19,20,-)
19. Elms             47 (15,15,15,17,23,24,-,-)
20. Elmhurst       42 (16,18,18,20,20,24,24,-)
21. Roanoke       37 (19,20,20,21,21,22,22,-)
22. Middlebury    22 (15,22,23,24,25,25,-,-)
t23 Anderson      20 (19,19,20,-----)
t23 W. Paterson  20 (18,21,22,23, ----)

25. Carthage       18 (8 )

26. Randy Mac     15 (21,21,23,25,25)
t27 F&M               13 (20,23,24,24)
t27 Gettysburg    13 (21,23,23,25,25)
t29 McMurry          8 (18)
t29 Salem St.        8 (18)
t29 Whitworth      8 (22,22)
32. Centre            5 (21)
33. Carroll            4 (22)
t34 Chapman       2 (24)
t34 SJF                2 (24)
t36 Baruch           1
t36 DeSales         1 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks Mr Ypsi.

The vote breakdown may be the most valuable thing about this poll.  I believe that it shows the breadth of support for a team at a certain level.

Hoops fan,

Massey came out with his polls tonight.  FYI, McMurry came in at #34 (in the MOV).  They still have 6 road games left in conference play, and then the top four in the ASC-West go to the East champ for the 8-team tourney.

Thanks to the other 7 pollsters.

If you even have ever given just a thought to doing this, please re-consider. With your study of the best teams, you can derive your own ballot, and then ably justify your ballot.  As you look at the votes that each team gets in the balloting, you know that you have your own opinion as to whether the voters are about right or way off!

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks to Wartburg!  We can now re-consider BV.

The Judges have issued their verdict on Amherst.

There seems to be one outlying voter on Augie, Capital, Ithaca, UMass-Dartmouth, and CMU.

We can watch their votes over the next few weeks.

[magicman]

Thanks to Wartburg!  We can now re-consider BV.

The Judges have issued their verdict on Amherst.

There seems to be one outlying voter on Augie, Capital, Ithaca, UMass-Dartmouth, and CMU.

We can watch their votes over the next few weeks.

And Rhode Island College just dropped Anchor on UMass-Dartmouth. I think Hoops Fan owned up to that outlier vote on UMD and I have to agree with him. I had them at #19 and considered putting them lower. Still remember how high they were ranked last year(#2 in week 10) and they couldn't win their conference tournament. Then got a Pool C bid and 1st round bye only to go 1 and done.

[usee]

I would be interested in which voter thinks there are 3 teams better than Wheaton right now. Obviously some Raymond speculation going on.

I am also higher on Capital and Trinity than almost all the pollsters. I was surprised by the strong consensus of Tx-Dallas but I don't have the history.

Interesting stuff. thanks Ypsi!

[Ralph Turner]

POSTERS' POLL (week ending 1-18):

1.  Wheaton      195 (1,1,1,1,1,2,2,4)  Lost at home to Carthage 55-54
2.  St. Thomas    190 (1,1,2,2,2,2,3,5)
3.  Wash U         185 (1,2,3,3,3,3,4,4)
4.  UWSP            177 (2,3,3,4,4,4,4,7)
5.  UWP              161 (3,5,5,5,6,6,7,9) 
6.  Buena V        153 (5,5,5,6,7,7,9,11) Lost at Wartburg 66-80
7.  UWW            147 (6,6,6,7,7,9,10,10)  Lost at UWP 78-86
8.  Capital          137 (6,7,8,8,8,8,9,17)
9.  Trinity TX      134 (5,7,9,9,10,10,11,13)
10. Amherst       131 (4,8,9,10,10,10,12,14)  Lost at home to Brandeis 58-73
11. UPS              125 (6,8,10,11,12,12,12,12)
12. St. Norbert   101 (8,11,13,13,13,15,17,17)
13. Augie           100 (11,11,12,12,13,14,14,21)
14. Ithaca           93 (9,11,13,13,14,16,16,23)
15. R. Stockton   87 (11,13,14,15,16,17,17,18)
16. UMD             72 (12,14,14,16,16,19,19,-) Lost at home to RIC 66-69
17. TX-Dallas     64 (15,15,16,18,19,19,20,22) Lost at home to UOzarks 66-68
18. CMU             61 (14,16,17,17,18,19,20,-)
19. Elms             47 (15,15,15,17,23,24,-,-)
20. Elmhurst       42 (16,18,18,20,20,24,24,-)
21. Roanoke       37 (19,20,20,21,21,22,22,-)
22. Middlebury    22 (15,22,23,24,25,25,-,-)
t23 Anderson      20 (19,19,20,-----)
t23 W. Paterson  20 (18,21,22,23, ----)

25. Carthage       18 (8 )

26. Randy Mac     15 (21,21,23,25,25) Lost at VWC 76-82
t27 F&M               13 (20,23,24,24)
t27 Gettysburg    13 (21,23,23,25,25)
t29 McMurry          8 (18)
t29 Salem St.        8 (18)
t29 Whitworth      8 (22,22)
32. Centre            5 (21)
33. Carroll            4 (22)
t34 Chapman       2 (24)
t34 SJF                2 (24)
t36 Baruch           1
t36 DeSales         1 

I have only included losses.  Any others that I missed?

[Ralph Turner]

Ok, so I avoided looking at the real Top 25 until I finished going through every conference and looking at 61 schools.

I ranked my top 25 and only had three really wacked out entires in comparison to the d3hoops poll.  The teams from that poll which don't appear on mine were all near misses, which is acceptable to me.

So, I have Carthage at #8, McMurry at #18, and Baruch at #25.

These seem to be extreme outliers and I'm hoping the rest of you can tell me why I'm so far off.

Hoopsfan #8 Carthage 55, D3hoops.com #1 Wheaton 54!   

Hoops fan is goooooooood!

[fcnews]

Carthage makes Mr. Ypsi look like a guy with a crystal ball.