Posters' Poll

[sac]

If anything, I went out of my way to slip an Eastern team or two in my top 25


I think if I have a bias, its in the much broader definition of Midwest over other parts of the country......ie Great Lakes/Midwest/West Regions combined over others.

[Mr. Ypsi]

My final ballot (with comments), for your edification, amusement, and/or scorn!

1.  Wash U - duh!
2.  St. Thomas
3.  Wheaton - I'm fairly sure Wheaton would win a matchup, but decided to defer to a season undefeated until meeting the national champ
4.  UWSP
5.  UWP
6.  UWW - I still have no idea what the order of the WIAC teams should be, but I know they belong together!
7.  UPS - perhaps a spot or two too high (always tough to assess the Left Coast teams)
8.  Guilford
9.  R. Stockton - finishing 2nd or 3rd was a matter of scheduling, not competition; I was more impressed with who Guilford had to beat to get there
10. TX Dallas - we all had them just about the same
11. Lawrence - they finished the season very strong (though not #2 strong! )
12. Elmhurst - again, we all pretty much agreed
13. F&M - undecided whether this is too high, but they did make the FF
14. UMD - one voter had them even one slot higher, but most of you obviously did not buy into their 25-3 record (I didn't particularly either, but they did finish 27-4)
15. Middlebury - a total flame-out in the tourney, but for the whole year ...
16. JCU - I just wasn't impressed with the OAC this year (though they are never bad)
17. Capital - see JCU
18. Trinity TX - see Middlebury
19. Ithaca - ditto
20. Buena V - not given the opportunity to prove themselves OR flame-out!
21. Farmingdale St - surprised I was nearly a lone wolf on this one - they DID make the Elite 8
22. Centre - see Middlebury (again )
23. Augie - see BV
24. Gwynned-M - beat Amherst (as did many!), played R. Stockton very close
25. DeSales - perhaps too low; they beat Ithaca and UMD to reach the Elite 8

[magicman]

Here's mine. I did mine early Sunday morning and when the real poll came out later on I was surprised to see that I had the same top 15 except for a placement here or there. As Ralph and sac have stated after the 1st tier of teams it's hard to separate the rest of the pack.

1.   Wash U.
2.   Wheaton
3.   UW-Platteville
4.   UW-Whitewater
5.   St. Thomas
6.   UW-Stevens Pt.
7.   Richard Stockton
8.   Guilford
9.   Texas-Dallas
10. Puget Sound
11. John Carroll
12. Capital
13. Elmhurst
14. Franklin+Marshall
15. Desales
16. Ithaca
17. Trinity Texas
18. Carnegie Mellon
19. Buena Vista
20. Wooster
21. St. Lawrence
22. Centre
23. Lawrence
24. Transylvania
25. Whitworth

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

1.   WashU
2.   Wheaton
3.   St. Thomas - beating Point keeps them up here
4.   Stevens Point
5.   Platteville
6.   Whitewater
7.   Richard Stockton - sticking with WashU earned them a jump from #9
8.   Elmhurst - I've had them here for a while
9.   Puget Sound - NWC not as strong as I had supposed
10. Guilford - I thought the ODAC was underrated all year; they proved it
11. Texas-Dallas - Big wins on the road
12. John Carroll
13. Lawrence - Great team, put it all together at the end
14. Capital
15. Trinity (TX) - losing at home hurt them; struggled down the stretch
16. Transylvania - Liked them all year; proved something against Guilford
17. Augustana - CCIW was stacked
18. Buena Vista - Here on reputation, probably should have given DeSales the spot
19. Wooster - Poor man's Lawrence with a big name
20. Franklin & Marshall - Did well in the tournament against poor competition
21. Ithaca - Region not as good as I suspected
22. St. Lawrence - Earned the spot with tourney wins
23. Middlebury - Maybe this should have been the #2 ODAC school?
24. Brandeis - Not as good as their schedule, but the schedule was really good.
25. Mass-Dartmouth - Never liked them, but they won their games.

[Ralph Turner]

I appreciate the comments by my fellow voters! Thanks.

[usee]

Ok, peer pressure got to me. Here's my final poll, which I did before seeing the final D3Top 25

1. WashU
2. Wheaton
3. UWPlatteville
4. St Thomas-they got hammered in the 2nd half vs Wash U but beat UWSP
5. Richard Stocton-Final 4 was enough for me.
6. UWWhitewater-they and UWSP are interchangeable here
7. UWStevens Pt
8. Guilford
9. UPS
10. John Carroll-maybe a bit too high because of inconsistency but OAC top teams are tough
11. Franklin Marshall-Their final 4 run made me put them higher than I would have liked
12. Capital-see JCU
13. UT Dallas
14. Elmhurst-They should have won on their own floor in round 1 despite the tough draw.
15. Lawrence-#2 no way but their late season push showed their improvement.
16. Middlebury
17. Trinity-I would have liked to see them outside of the texas sub bracket
18. Ithaca-about what I thought
19. DeSales-Kent Raymond jr carried them
20. Centre-I probably had them too high.
21. Elms-I don't think a bad shooting night in the tourney knocks them completely out
22. UMass D
23. Buena Vista-would have liked to see what they could have done.
24. Trannsylvania
25. Whitworth

I didn't vote for Augie. Although I believe they are as good or better than 2/3rd of the poll I am a believer that you have to do what it takes to get into the tourney. 1 more win at a key time by a sr laden team and they would have been dancing.

[Mr. Ypsi]

There are a number of votes that interest me; for the moment I'll focus on one.  The voter for Wooster as 19 (Hoops Fan) and one of the two voters for 20th (magicman) have identified themselves.  Personally I had them (at best) 35-45 (and I'm kinda fond of Woo ).  I'm wondering if anyone could convince me on those votes?

[ScotsFan]

There are a number of votes that interest me; for the moment I'll focus on one.  The voter for Wooster as 19 (Hoops Fan) and one of the two voters for 20th (magicman) have identified themselves. Personally I had them (at best) 35-45 (and I'm kinda fond of Woo ).  I'm wondering if anyone could convince me on those votes?

As not being a participant in the posters' poll, I wasn't going to say anything, but seeing as how the topic of Wooster came up, I thought I would chime in.  Hope you don't mind an outsider's opinion... 

I've always felt all year that Wooster was a bit overlooked in the polls.  They had their struggles at the beginning of the season, but they were also very young and it took them some time to come together as a team.  And by the end of the season, they were playing some pretty darn good basketball.  Good enough to take a Capital team that had been ranked in the top 10 all season to the brink on their home floor. 

Also, lets not forget that they beat Gettysburg pretty convincingly in the 1st round of the tournament.  The same Gettysburg that beat Final 4 participant F&M not once, not twice, but THREE times during the season!  If that doesn't scream that F&M had an easy road to the Final Four (relatively speaking), I don't know what does.  Put Wooster in F&M's bracket and maybe the Scots would have found their way to Salem.  Who knows?

As far as where I would rank Wooster, it's a tough call.  Personally, I think they were a legit top 25 team even though most of the pollsters didn't think so.  I always thought 20-25 is where I would have slotted them in.  I definitely think 35-45 is way too low IMHO.  No offense Mr. Y!    That's just my Black and Old Gold colored shades opinion!  8)

Looking ahead to next year, where do you all see yourselves slotting Wooster in the polls?  With losing only one senior on the roster and gaining arguably their best player coming back from a medical redshirt, should they be considered a legitimate top 10 team?  I kind of think top 10 may be a bit too high, but 10-20 range shouldn't be out of the question by any means.

[Mr. Ypsi]

There are a number of votes that interest me; for the moment I'll focus on one.  The voter for Wooster as 19 (Hoops Fan) and one of the two voters for 20th (magicman) have identified themselves. Personally I had them (at best) 35-45 (and I'm kinda fond of Woo ).  I'm wondering if anyone could convince me on those votes?

As not being a participant in the posters' poll, I wasn't going to say anything, but seeing as how the topic of Wooster came up, I thought I would chime in.  Hope you don't mind an outsider's opinion... 

I've always felt all year that Wooster was a bit overlooked in the polls.  They had their struggles at the beginning of the season, but they were also very young and it took them some time to come together as a team.  And by the end of the season, they were playing some pretty darn good basketball.  Good enough to take a Capital team that had been ranked in the top 10 all season to the brink on their home floor. 

Also, lets not forget that they beat Gettysburg pretty convincingly in the 1st round of the tournament.  The same Gettysburg that beat Final 4 participant F&M not once, not twice, but THREE times during the season!  If that doesn't scream that F&M had an easy road to the Final Four (relatively speaking), I don't know what does.  Put Wooster in F&M's bracket and maybe the Scots would have found their way to Salem.  Who knows?

As far as where I would rank Wooster, it's a tough call.  Personally, I think they were a legit top 25 team even though most of the pollsters didn't think so.  I always thought 20-25 is where I would have slotted them in.  I definitely think 35-45 is way too low IMHO.  No offense Mr. Y!    That's just my Black and Old Gold colored shades opinion!  8)

Looking ahead to next year, where do you all see yourselves slotting Wooster in the polls?  With losing only one senior on the roster and gaining arguably their best player coming back from a medical redshirt, should they be considered a legitimate top 10 team?  I kind of think top 10 may be a bit too high, but 10-20 range shouldn't be out of the question by any means.

Thanks for the input.  You have convinced me that 35-45 is too low; I remain unconvinced on 19th or 20th.

As to your last paragraph, that's why the PP doesn't begin until January!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There are a number of votes that interest me; for the moment I'll focus on one.  The voter for Wooster as 19 (Hoops Fan) and one of the two voters for 20th (magicman) have identified themselves.  Personally I had them (at best) 35-45 (and I'm kinda fond of Woo.  I'm wondering if anyone could convince me on those votes?

What Scotsfan said.  Wooster really struggled at the beginning of the year, but they finished strongly.

I had Gettysburg in the 20-30 range most of the season, despite their often confusing losses.  Plus the performance against Capital and maybe a little does of name recognition.

You'll also notice that despite me putting Woo up at #19, they are ahead of only teams that competed on the right side of the tournament bracket.  In my mind Wooster was the last team on the left side worthy of ranking and they seemed to fall ahead of those final five teams.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Time to bring this back from page 2!

The Posters' Poll for this season will commence after games of January 9th.  As always, polls are based on games thru Sunday, with ballots expected by Tuesday evening.  PM your 1-25 ballot to 'Mr. Ypsi'.  

I hope there will be plenty of voters to keep me hoppin'!  And it is not too soon to start paying attention to the national scene if you are interested in joining us.

[Reminder: this is in no way intended as competition for the official d3hoops.com poll.  I won't ever post results before Pat's poll comes out by way of respect, and would appreciate if ballots were submitted before a voter has seen the 'real' poll.  Much of the enjoyment, as well as edification, is in seeing how we differ and trying to figure out why we think team X is over- or under-rated!]

[Ralph Turner]

I'm in.

Thanks, Mr Ypsi, for running this again this season.

+1!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

You can always count on me... to skew the numbers.

[Gregory Sager]

Ditto ... except for the numbers-skewing part.

[magicman]

Time to bring this back from page 2!

The Posters' Poll for this season will commence after games of January 9th.  As always, polls are based on games thru Sunday, with ballots expected by Tuesday evening.  PM your 1-25 ballot to 'Mr. Ypsi'. 

I hope there will be plenty of voters to keep me hoppin'!  And it is not too soon to start paying attention to the national scene if you are interested in joining us.

[Reminder: this is in no way intended as competition for the official d3hoops.com poll.  I won't ever post results before Pat's poll comes out by way of respect, and would appreciate if ballots were submitted before a voter has seen the 'real' poll.  Much of the enjoyment, as well as edification, is in seeing how we differ and trying to figure out why we think team X is over- or under-rated!]

I'll do it again. Always fun and you do a great job running it Chuck.

Won't the poll commence after games of Jan. 10th? That's a Sunday.