Posters' Poll

[Ralph Turner]

...From my ballot last week, #3, #4, #7, #10, #12, #14, #15, #16, #17, #23 and #24 have lost and we still have 3 more games to go!

Okay, one more game left on Sunday, CMU!

Oxy edged the Poets 65-61 and UPS beat Whitman...the Missionaries that is, and not to be confused with the Poet!

[Ralph Turner]

From my ballot last week, #3, #4, #7, #10, #12, #14, #15, #16, #17, #23 and #24 have lost...

Pat's crew of pollsters had #3, #4, #7, #11, #12, #13, #15, #16, #17 and #24 to lose.

Misery loves company!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It should be fun to see what happens, although I only had three teams in my top ten lose this week, so I'm looking ok.  I expected Hope to go down and you had to assume IWU and Augie were going to lose at least once more.

Off to work on the ballot, see you in a few hours, once I figure all this out.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

My poll is away.  Suprisingly the top 25 was pretty easy to pick.  I had one or two teams at the end fighting for spots, but I had a good sense of who I wanted up there.

My ORV, if you will:

26. Stevens Point
27. North Central
28. Rochester
29. Trinity (TX)
30. Carleton

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Where the heck is everybody?  You can't tell me you're all vegged out in front of olympic coverage?  They have to have power restored on the East Coast don't they?  I haven't seen this place this dead since August.

[Ralph Turner]

A Posters' Poll variant of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder...

We are trying to figure out what happened to our ballots after sustaining all of those losses.  Apparently your ballot was not as devastated.

Mine went in yesterday.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Glad to see you're still alive, Ralph.  I'm sure you've apologized to Howard Payne for ruining their chances of an at-large bid with your mentioning of them on the national boards.  It's a shame to have such a strong jinx associated with you.  I'd be afraid to leave the house.

Have you gotten calls from NYU and Willamette asking you to not vote for them this week?

[John Gleich]

I've been in Colorado all weekend... Couldn't you guys keep things sane while I was gone?!  I'm actually REALLY going to have to think about this top 25, instead of bumping teams around a little here, a little there...

[njlincolnlion]

Hoops Fan:

Where did you have Lincoln in the current poll?  Additionally, do you see a correction in the regional poll regarding Lincoln's position as it relates to NCAA selections and positions?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I finally finished with Lincoln at 13, although my 13-16 were pretty even.  I call it a crapshoot.

Lincoln is up to #18 in the real poll (just posted).  I think they are getting some good respect.  The only problem is without any wins in the near future, I don't see the voters allowing them to get higher than 15 at most.

They are the only pool B team even getting votes this week, so they have a high standing amongst voters.  It's nice to have that rep, because as we all know, rep goes a long way in keeping you ranked (Trinity, CT got six votes this week and Tufts got no love even though they beat Trinity in CT over the weekend).

In terms of regional ranking, it will be hard for them to move up without a loss.  The Stockton win was nice, but Ursinius killed Hopkins.  Widener has Messiah left on the schedule.  Anything can happen.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Keep those ballots coming - only 5 so far with juyst three hours left!

Most people DO seem to be having some trouble after all the losses - already 36 different teams have been mentioned, and some of the variation is strikingly higher than in past PPs.

[Ralph Turner]

Actually, I need Sul Ross State to complete the "Tri-fecta" on HPU in Alpine this evening. That would put HPU back into a tie with McMurry.

Conference play just got hectic.  As to the levels of competition across the country, I hate to play the "comparative scores" game, but IWU only defeated UT-Dallas in the opening weekend by 13.  UT-Dallas lost at Mississippi College by 10 and host the Chocs this Thursday.

UW-Platteville beat UMHB (15-8) by 3 but lost to Concordia-Austin (5-17) by 3.  

I think that we are beginning to see a "D3Hoops.com" effect.  As the fans of D3 become more familiar with the various schools around the country, the quality at the better/larger/more competitive programs become more similar in performance.

A "totally-neutral-floor-tourney" might provide some interesting outcomes!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

A "totally-neutral-floor-tourney" might provide some interesting outcomes!

You know full well that doesn't exist on any level of competition.  Just ask those #1 seeds who have to fly across the country to play an elite 8 match-up with #2 seed Duke or UNC in North Carolina.

[sac]

Fired my poll off to Cabs through Cyberspace..........assuming the NSA didn't grab it.


Tough week........lots of teams losing softened the blow for a lot of teams.  But I really took a hard look at a lot of teams I have some doubts about.

One of my teams won twice and dropped out  , one won 3 times and dropped a spot.  ........y'all think I'm crazy right.

Nope, I feel like the poll has consolidated itself and I feel pretty good about my top 12 or so.

Biggest mover for me was that other dutch school......they're playing some good ball right now.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Fired my poll off to Cabs through Cyberspace..........assuming the NSA didn't grab it.

We're safe so far - guess they couldn't crack our code!

Up to seven ballots now, but still 36 teams so things have settled a little.

The top four are remarkably consistent (though not always in the same order) - only one other team got one fourth place vote.  (So those of you who have voted already know the top four - unless, of course, it is YOU who is the outlier!)