Posters' Poll

[7express]

POSTERS' POLL, January 26:
  (Due to ties we have 11 in the top 10, and 26 in the top 25! )

1.  UWSP        175 (unanimous)
2.  Cabrini       163 (2,2,2,2,2,4,5)
t3. Amherst     151 (2,3,3,3,4,4,12)
t3. Wooster      151 (3,3,4,5,5,5,6)
5.  IWU            135 (4,5,6,6,7,8,11)
6.  Wash U       132 (3,6,6,7,7,10,11)
7.  Wesley        130 (2,4,5,9,9,10,13)
8.  UWW           123 (6,7,8,9,9,9,11)
9.  M. Washington 103 (5,7,11,12,14,15,15)
t10 Augie*           101 (8,8,9,12,12,14,18)
t10 WPI*             101 (3,4,10,10,13,18,23)
12. St. Norbert   100 (8,8,9,11,13,14,19)
13. Purchase        98 (7,10,10,12,13,15,17)
14. Brockport*       87 (6,8,11,12,17,17,24)
15. Williams         78 (7,10,12,13,17,19,-)
16. TX-Dallas*        60 (11,14,15,15,20,21,-)
17. Bowdoin         55 (13,15,16,19,20,22,22)
18. St. Thomas     50 (14,16,16,17,20,23,-)
19. Wittenberg     46 (13,15,18,18,23,23,-)
20. A. Magnus      41 (14,17,18,20,20,-,-)
21. St. Mary's       35 (14,18,18,19,-,-,-)
22. Ohio Wesleyan 28 (16,19,20,21,-,-,-)
23. Dickinson*        16 (17,21,24,-,-,-,-)
24. Messiah           15 (16,22,25,-,-,-,-)
t25 Dubuque*          13 (20,22,24,25,-,-,-)
t25 Whitworth        13 (21,21, 24,25,- - -)

t27 Marietta            12 (19,21)
t27 Plattsburgh        12 (16,24)
29. R. Stockton        11 (16,25)
30. Randy Mac           9 (22,22,25)
31. Va. Wes               8 (21,24,25)
32. Wheaton              7 (19)
33. DePauw               6 (23,23)
34. C. Newport*           4 (22)
t35 Staten Island       3 (24,25)
t35 Calvin*                  3 (23)

And I thought I had Wesley too low    Someone put them second?!?!?!?!?!?
And I don't even how Dickinson, Dallas, or Dubuque on my next 8 out list.  Damn, looks like I really screwed Brockport, oops!

* are my outliers

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I put Wesley second.  Followed by Amherst and Cabrini.

I've had Wesley in the 6-10 range for most of our ballots so far.  I had Wooster, Augustana, and IWU in 2-4 last week and decided with all of them losing, to drop them down to the second half of the Top Ten.  Looking at who was around to rise, I was left with those three.  I wasn't exactly happy about any of them, but I can't make a case than any other schools are looking or playing better right now.

I'm not entirely sold on any of them and I know the least about Wesley, but they've played the toughest schedule so far and are in a very difficult conference.  Obviously we'll see how they do with Cabrini real soon.

[John Gleich]

Sorry I didn't join in this week. I got stuck after #1....   

[smedindy]

I may have put Wesley too low, but it made sense at the time.

[KnightSlappy]

My yet-unpublished and never-before-seen ballot.

1   UW-Whitewater
2   UW-Stevens Point
3   St. Norbert
4   Augustana
5   St. Olaf
6   Wooster
7   Babson
8   Brockport State
9   Illinois Wesleyan
10   Cabrini
11   SUNY-Purchase
12   WPI
13   Texas-Dallas
14   Bowdoin
15   Amherst
16   Calvin
17   St. Thomas
18   Washington U.
19   Albertus Magnus
20   Dickinson
21   Penn State-Behrend
22   Centre
23   Staten Island
24   Virginia Wesleyan
25   Wittenberg

[sac]

justification needed for Whitewater

[KnightSlappy]

justification needed for Whitewater

I'm interested in that too, why did you all rank them so low?

[sac]

Stevens Point 79  Whitewater 67
http://athletics.uwsp.edu/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=4683

Point led by double-digits for approximately 25 minutes and by over 20 for a disturbing amount of time.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Not to mention Stout 74, Whitewater 69, and LaX 88, Whitewater 83.  I think our 8th or d3hoops' 10th is about right.  I can't see how 1st can possibly be justified when they are currently 3rd in their own conference!

But KS, come join us next week anyway!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

justification needed for Whitewater

I'm interested in that too, why did you all rank them so low?

I've had St. Olaf on my radar all season.  They've been hovering just outside the Top 25 for lack of a signature win.  I think they're a better team than St. Thomas, but since I don't have the Tommies ranked, it's tough to get St. Olaf in there.

I'm curious why you're so confident in them.  I could see them as a Top Ten team, I just have no way of knowing right now.

As much as I like being Captain Outlier, I really do try to have some defensible reason for making the crazy choices I make.

[KnightSlappy]

Whitewater and Stevens Point are very close. I have Whitewater as being the only team in D3 to have both a top 10 offense and top 10 defense.

[smedindy]

Whitewater and Stevens Point are very close. I have Whitewater as being the only team in D3 to have both a top 10 offense and top 10 defense.

That's all well and good, and I believe in metrics.

But you play to WIN THE GAME!

By hook, crook, outscoring, or being unrelenting on defense.

You don't just PLAY TO PLAY!

[KnightSlappy]

Whitewater and Stevens Point are very close. I have Whitewater as being the only team in D3 to have both a top 10 offense and top 10 defense.

That's all well and good, and I believe in metrics.

But you play to WIN THE GAME!

By hook, crook, outscoring, or being unrelenting on defense.

You don't just PLAY TO PLAY!

But is the point of a Top 25 poll to be descriptive or predictive? That is, are we trying to say what each team has done (i.e. who they've beaten), or how well they're likely to perform in the future?

I prefer the latter.

[Greek Tragedy]

You don't just PLAY TO PLAY!

Don't just say something to say something. TGHIJGSTO^TM

[Greek Tragedy]

But is the point of a Top 25 poll to be descriptive or predictive? That is, are we trying to say what each team has done (i.e. who they've beaten), or how well they're likely to perform in the future?

I prefer the latter.

That's called a preseason poll.