Posters' Poll

[pjunito]

I think regardless of the conference; the roster and the way the team is playing should carry more weight. If Williams and Amherst played in the NECC (not a strong conference), their rosters and how they are playing right now should make them a top 10 team. It is difficult to judge how good a team is without watching them play at least 5 games. Therefore, I think at the D3 level, we tend to look more at traditional powerhouse conferences and give them more credit. I don't buy into that. I believe a team (regardless of the conference) could make the sweet 16 if they have talented enough players who play well together.

Let's take Albertus Magnus (they play in the GNAC) for example, which is a bad conference. Here is how the GNAC faired in the NCAAs the last 4 season.

2010 - Albertus lost in second round
2011 - Johnson and Wales lost in second round
2012 - Albertus lost in second round
2013 - Albertus lost in first round

This is a one team goes to tournament league and they are have 3 wins in the last 4 years in the NCAA tournament, (just one win away from the holy grail aka the sweet sixteen). The conference is bad! But, the top team those four years were much better than what was perceived.

[madzillagd]

Well it's safe to say the NCAA committee didn't agree with the Albertus over Am/Wi thinking.   Pretty surprised to see them below Springfield though. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Let's take Albertus Magnus (they play in the GNAC) for example, which is a bad conference. Here is how the GNAC faired in the NCAAs the last 4 season.

2010 - Albertus lost in second round zero votes
2011 - Johnson and Wales lost in second round zero votes
2012 - Albertus lost in second round 16th
2013 - Albertus lost in first round 4votes last reg. season poll

This is a one team goes to tournament league and they are have 3 wins in the last 4 years in the NCAA tournament, (just one win away from the holy grail aka the sweet sixteen). The conference is bad! But, the top team those four years were much better than what was perceived.

Shouldn't they advance past the 1st weekend then?

[smedindy]

Nice guess.

Went to the UC Davis vs UC Irvine game this past weekend.  UC Irvine starts a 7'6 center and his backup is 7'2.  They've got a 3rd 7'0 guy on the roster but he's redshirting this year I believe.  The 7'6 guy was fantastic at dunking without leaving the ground, the problem was the 5 steps he took without dribbling each time to accomplish it.   

The 7'6 player is a freshman named Mamadou Ndiaye, and he's shooting 75.7% from the field.
The 7'2 player is also a freshman from Greece named Ioannis Dimakopoulos.

So they have some all name players there.

[sac]

Nice guess.

Went to the UC Davis vs UC Irvine game this past weekend.  UC Irvine starts a 7'6 center and his backup is 7'2.  They've got a 3rd 7'0 guy on the roster but he's redshirting this year I believe.  The 7'6 guy was fantastic at dunking without leaving the ground, the problem was the 5 steps he took without dribbling each time to accomplish it.   

The 7'6 player is a freshman named Mamadou Ndiaye, and he's shooting 75.7% from the field.
The 7'2 player is also a freshman from Greece named Ioannis Dimakopoulos.

So they have some all name players there.

Plus they're the Anteaters

[7express]

1.  UWSP          200  (unan1mous)
2.  Cabrini         186 (2,2,2,2,2,2,3,7)
3.  IWU             178 (2,2,3,3,3,4,5,8)
4.  UWW            172 (3,4,4,4,4,5,5,7)
5.  WashU          162 (3,3,3,4,5,9,9,10)
6.  Wooster        156 (5,6,6,6,6,7,8,8)
7.  Amherst        152 (5,5,5,6,7,7,8,13)
8.  St. Norbert    139 (6,6,7,9,9,10,11,11)
t9. Wesley          121 (6,8,9,10,10,12,14,16)
t9. Williams         121 (7,8,9,9,9,12,13,20)
11. Brockport      114 (4,10,10,11,11,12,18,18)
12. St. Thomas    105 (4,10,11,11,12,14,17,24)
13. M. Washington 94 (8,10,11,12,13,17,20,23)
14. Purchase         82 (7,13,14,14,15,16,21,-)
15. TX-Dallas*        63 (8,13,15,15,18,20,20,-)
16. WPI                57 (13,13,16,17,17,23,-,-)
17. Randy Mac      55 (12,14,14,16,22,23,-,-)
18. Wittenberg      52 (15,16,17,19,20,21,22,-)
19. A. Magnus       49 (14,15,18,19,20,21,-,-)
20. Ohio Wes         41 (15,16,17,22,22,23,-,-)
21. Bowdoin           40 (16,18,18,19,20,25,-,-)
22. Wheaton          34 (12,14,21,24,25,-,-,-)
23. Marietta           31 (11,15,22,25,-,-,-,-)
24. Whitworth        30 (17,19,19,19,-,-,-,-)
25. Dubuque          28 (12,19,21,24,-,-,-,-)

26. Va Wes             20 (16,19,23)
t27 St. Olaf             18 (17,22,24,24,25)
t27 Staten Island     18 (18,20,22)
t29 Messiah             13 (15,24)
t29 Plattsburgh        13 (13)
t31 Centre               11 (21,23,24,25)
t31 St. Mary's          11 (18,23)
t33 Augie                  5 (21)
t33 Scranton             5 (21)
t35 Geneseo              4 (23,25)
t35 R. Stockton          4 (22)
37. Mt. Union             3 (24,25)
38. C-M-S                  1

Only 1 outlier this week: I have Whitworth 27th, Dubuque NR & Texas-Dallas 32nd.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ok, I may not be able to vote this week.  After last night's results, I don't think I'm going to be able to find 25 teams I'm willing to put on a ballot.

[smedindy]

Ok, I may not be able to vote this week.  After last night's results, I don't think I'm going to be able to find 25 teams I'm willing to put on a ballot.

Don't wimp out. There are ALWAYS 25 teams you can rank 1-25, unless D-3 shrinks to 24. Besides, the back half of conference season is always full of peril.

[pjunito]

Let's take Albertus Magnus (they play in the GNAC) for example, which is a bad conference. Here is how the GNAC faired in the NCAAs the last 4 season.

2010 - Albertus lost in second round zero votes
2011 - Johnson and Wales lost in second round zero votes
2012 - Albertus lost in second round 16th
2013 - Albertus lost in first round 4votes last reg. season poll

This is a one team goes to tournament league and they are have 3 wins in the last 4 years in the NCAA tournament, (just one win away from the holy grail aka the sweet sixteen). The conference is bad! But, the top team those four years were much better than what was perceived.

Shouldn't they advance past the 1st weekend then?

No Greek, the preception was that they would lose in the first round. And 3 out of 4 years they didn't.

[7express]

9 teams from 15-25 in my poll last week lost at least 1 game this week.  I'm thinking of throwing all 9 to the curb this week.

[Mr. Ypsi]

9 teams from 15-25 in my poll last week lost at least 1 game this week.  I'm thinking of throwing all 9 to the curb this week.

I share your pain - most of the teams I had poised to enter the top 25 lost.

Just remember that there is ALWAYS a Top 25 - whether #26 is the shortest giant who didn't quite make it, or #25 is the tallest midget who is nonetheless the 25th 'best'!

I have a feeling I will be including some 'tall midgets' this week!

[7express]

9 teams from 15-25 in my poll last week lost at least 1 game this week.  I'm thinking of throwing all 9 to the curb this week.

I share your pain - most of the teams I had poised to enter the top 25 lost.

Just remember that there is ALWAYS a Top 25 - whether #26 is the shortest giant who didn't quite make it, or #25 is the tallest midget who is nonetheless the 25th 'best'!

I have a feeling I will be including some 'tall midgets' this week!

Even if all 450 schools are 6-15 or worse, you have to make a top 25.  It doesn't stop just because a bunch of teams are average

[pjunito]

I don't know... I kind of thing not having a lot of separation between teams 12-30 can make for some fun and interesting games in the NCAA tournament.

[7express]

How many wore weeks are we doing this??

This week, next week, and the following week during conference tournament week, and than a final poll at the conclusion of the tournament??  Am in the process of doing mine, will have it in shortly.

[Mr. Ypsi]

How many wore weeks are we doing this??

This week, next week, and the following week during conference tournament week, and than a final poll at the conclusion of the tournament??  Am in the process of doing mine, will have it in shortly.

That is the schedule, yes.