MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[billy_pilgrim]

Coaches' Poll

1. Witt (eight) 98
2. Wooster (two) 82
3. Wabash 73
4. Denison 66
5. OWU 61
6. Earlham 59
7. Allegheny 38
8. Kenyon 31
9. Hiram 20
10. Oberlin 13

[Mr. Ypsi]

I find Witt over Woo mildly surprising, but the gap in votes (16) is mystifying - the coaches have voted Woo equally close to 4th as to 1st!

Rather a different perception than the voters in the d3hoops poll!

[Titan Q]

There are a few situations where the D3hoops.com voters are/will be at odds with preseason league polls in addition to the Wooster/Wittenberg situation...

* In the MIAA, D3hoops.com has Albion #8, Calvin #24, and Hope receiving votes.  The official league poll is not out yet, but it will have Hope #1 and most likely Calvin #2.

* In the CCIW, D3hoops.com has Elmhurst #15 and Augustana receiving votes.  The CCIW Coaches Poll has Augustana #2 and Elmhurst #3 (but just about tied really).

* In the MIAC, D3hoops.com has Gustavus Adolphus #19 and St. Thomas receiving just one vote.  I believe St. Thomas will be picked to win the league.


We will see what shakes up in these leagues.

[ScotsFan]

I would guess that Russ and Borchers weighed heavily in the coaches' voting.  I am a bit surprised at the gap though.  It'll be interesting how the media will interpret things.

[billy_pilgrim]

and now the all-knowing media poll.....

1. Wittenberg (17) 231
2. Wooster (6) 218
3. Wabash 173
4. Denison 159
5. Ohio Wesleyan (1) 153
6. Earlham 134
7. Allegheny 98
8. Kenyon 75
9. Hiram 44
10. Oberlin 35

[billy_pilgrim]

and now my Earlham post of the day:

6th in both polls.......let us remember that later in the season when posters proclaim "the media and people in various circles had high expectations for the Quakers"

[David Collinge]

The coaches' poll looks like it is 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for second, etc., with all 10 coaches voting (that is, coaches vote for their own teams).  Based on that, Wooster's total is quite interesting.  Two coaches ranked Wooster first, accounting for 20 points.  The other 8 coaches account for 62 points, which is just slightly less than 8 per coach.  Eight is the value for a third-place vote.  This means that Wooster picked up at least one vote to finish out of the top three, and probably more than one such vote.  For example, suppose that three coaches placed Wooster second behind Witt.  That's 47 votes (including the two firsts).  The other five coaches combined for 35 points, which could mean five 4th place votes.

I'm not surprised that Witt was selected to finish first, but I am very surprised that Wooster picked up significant votes for third and below.

It looks like the media was pretty close to a Witt/Woo 1-2 finish.  If Witt had had 17 firsts and 7 seconds, their total would be 233, vs. the 231 they received.  If Woo had received 6 firsts and 18 seconds, they'd have 222 vs. the 218 they got.

I wonder if the coaches, or some of them, know something the media doesn't?  Or maybe they have some beef against Steve Moore?

[Clark W. Griswold]

Is Jewett returning to Earlham?  If so, I'm surprised not to see them a little higher in the polls. 

[billy_pilgrim]

According to media day statements, Jewett is back...Crumby is not.

[Gregory Sager]

There are a few situations where the D3hoops.com voters are/will be at odds with preseason league polls in addition to the Wooster/Wittenberg situation...

* In the MIAA, D3hoops.com has Albion #8, Calvin #24, and Hope receiving votes.  The official league poll is not out yet, but it will have Hope #1 and most likely Calvin #2.

The MIAA poll came out today, and it's Albion #2 and Calvin #3. Hope got all of the first-place votes except one, which means that Hope mentor Glenn Van Wieren voted for Albion to win the league.

I do agree with Q, though, that the MIAC poll will most likely show St. Thomas as the top team and Gustavus Adolphus as the runner-up. I posted that suspicion on the Daily Dose a few days ago.

[seinfeld]

I think the NCAC didn't add up the points right in the coaches' poll. If you add up all the points, they are nine points short. If we make the assumption that they missed a second-place vote for Wooster, the final total make a lot more sense.

[ScotsFan]

What I would like to know is what that media member is on to give one of the 1st place votes to OWU? 8)  Maybe they are thinking that Travis Schwab is on the 10 year plan?

Seinfeld, that would make sense.  I think it would be safe to assume that those missing 9 points would account for a 2nd place vote for Wooster making a total of 90 points to Witt's 98.

Of course, it could be Wabash's as well bringing them into a tie with Wooster???

I think I'll stick with Seinfeld's scenario, but then again, I'm a Wooster homer... 

[smedindy]

Looks like we got ourselves a typo. I would think that Wooster got nothing lower than a second place vote.

[billy_pilgrim]

So, can we get a recount from the NCAC??

Or are we going to need Supreme Court intervention? I'm pretty sure (Sc)Alito would support this action....let's get him confirmed quickly.

[David Collinge]

It's not inconceivable that Wooster got lower than a second place vote; in fact, it's certain, given that Witt got 8 firsts and 2 seconds, and OWU got a first. 

Let's not forget that Wooster lost three pretty important players in Schlingmann, Mealer, and Bradley.  I hate to continue to be the wet blanket here, but I think Wooster has a lot to prove.  Not that I would have voted them lower than second, mind you...  

Let's take a moment to recognize that Wittenberg starts the season as the clear favorites in the NCAC race.  And how about the respect for the up-and-coming Denison program?

Am I imagining it, or did some media joker vote for Hiram or Kenyon or somebody like that?  I think I recall a lot of discussion on here about one particularly odd-looking vote in the media polls, both men's and women's.