Posters' Poll

[frodotwo]

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.

The way Whitewater was playing prior to La Crosse, I was thinking that they were the most dangerous team in the WIAC, but then they lost at La Crosse. A week later Stevens Point went to La Crosse and won by 19.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

St. Thomas must have heard us dissing them.  A 51-12 halftime lead over Macalester.  That's a rough half.  Wow.

[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!

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?

Yes.

[7express]

I'll try to update mine during the halftime show of some football game that's being played tonight, and send it in later tonight.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hey, guys: the Stupor Bowl has been effectively over for two+ hours - why no ballots except my own?

[frodotwo]

Actually I think it was over 12 seconds into the game 

Here's mine.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Actually I think it was over 12 seconds into the game 

Here's mine.

In retrospect, sure.  But I really thought Peyton would win this one, and a 2 point deficit is nothing in the NFL.  When it got to 15-0, I figured the Broncos were in deep doo-doo; after Percy Harvin returned the opening KO of the second half to make it 29-0, I found other things to do!

[7express]

I did my ballot during halftime, but since the top 25 was a complete landmine this week (a lot of teams lost, especially in the middle of the pack [7 teams from #12 to #22 in my last week poll lost at least 1 game this week]) AND there were a lot of close home wins against less than stellar competition, so it took me a while to go through the mess and decide who should be placed where.  Even though it was completed during halftime, I couldn't submit until after the game ended which I just did.  After #1 I am extremely unconfident of the other 24.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm confident of the top two (as are most of the rest of the voters), and reasonably confident of 3-12 (teams, not order), but quite a crapshoot after that.

Still only five ballots in.  Awaiting magicman, FCGG, and John Gleich from this year, sac who told me he would probably join later in the year, and such past voters as Ralph, Gregory, Charles, hugenerd, hopester, a_s, etc. - not too late to join in!

We've never had more than 8 so far this year- in past years we counted on at least 12!

[magicman]

Mine is in finally.

[Greek Tragedy]

Off the top of my head, I don't recall any posts from hugenerd in awhile.

[magicman]

Off the top of my head, I don't recall any posts from hugenerd in awhile.

I believe his last post was about 10 to 11 months ago. He was working on some big time medicine delivery system I think. Probably up to his neck in research. Plus MIT is not all that good so he's waiting for a better season.

[Mr. Ypsi]

FCGriz PM'd me that his would be in later this evening; have not yet heard from John Gleich.  Anyone else in the pipeline?  If I don't hear anything otherwise, I'll post soon after I get the ballot from Griz.  (Former voter KnightSlappy has re-joined us - some of his teams are MUCH higher or lower than the rest of us, but since he does some of the numbers that Hoopsville relies on, I'm sure he could defend his choices vigorously! )

[Mr. Ypsi]

I have now received (and tabulated) FCGG's ballot - I'll wait about another hour in hopes something else will slip over the transom!

[Mr. Ypsi]

My ballot:

POSTERS' POLL, 2-2-14:

1.  UWSP      200 (unan1mous)
2.  Cabrini     176 (2,2,2,2,2,2,3,17)
3.  IWU         167 (3,3,4,4,5,6,6,10)
4.  UWW        155 (2,4,7,7,7,7,9,10)
5.  St.Norbert 150 (3,6,6,8,9,11,12,13)
6.  Wash U     146 (3,4,4,5,5,10,10,20)
7.  Wesley      140 (2,3,3,7,8,8,12,25)
8.  Wooster     137 (5,6,7,8,8,9,9,19)
9.  Amherst    132 (5,5,6,8,9,11,16,16)
10  Brockport  127 (3,7,8,9,11,12,14,17)
11  M. Washington 114 (4,5,10,11,12,13,13,-)
12  WPI           113 (4,5,9,10,11,12,18,24)
13  Williams      91 (6,9,11,12,14,15,24,-)
14  Purchase     86 (11,11,14,15,16,17,17,21)
15  St. Thomas  81 (7,13,13,15,16,16,21,-)
16  Bowdoin      76 (4,13,17,18,18,19,21,22)
17  Ohio Wes     62 (13,14,15,16,17,20,25,-)
18  TX-Dallas     52 (12,14,18,18,19,23,-,-)
19  Messiah       40 (10,16,19,21,24,-,-,-)
20  A. Magnus    36 (18,18,18,20,21,25.-.-)
21  Va Wes        33 (15, 19,20,21,22,-,-,-)
t22 Randy Mac   28 (17,19,20,23,24,25,-,-)
t22 Augie           28 (12,15,24,25,-,-,-,-)
24  Dubuque      26 (14,19,22,23,-,-,-,-)
25  Calvin          24 (8,20,-,-,-,-,-,-)

26  Marietta       22 (15,17,24)
27  Staten Island 21 (13,22,23,25)
t28 St. Mary's     20 (16,19,23)
t28 St. Olaf         20 (6)
30  Whitworth     19 (20,20,22,23)
t31 Witt              16 (21,22,22,24,25)
t31 Plattsburgh    16 (14,22)
t31 Centre           16 (10)
34  Babson          11 (15)
35  PS-Behrend     6 (20)
t36 R. Stockton     3 (23)
t36 Wheaton         3 (23)
38  Dickinson        2 (24)
39  Scranton         1

OOPS!!  Don't know what I did, but somehow in modifying my ballot, I modified the poll itself.