MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[Matt Letourneau]

Probably the most glaring omission is Roy Williams, but he played on the #7 seed and he took a ton of shots.  Close call between him and Lesense.

Matt - I think your omission was just an oversight as Ray was named to the First Team.

My apologies.  Of course you are right. 

[Salem, VA]

I'm just saying.  That voter doesnt see any team other then CAC teams, correct?  I think he has an obligation to support the conf.  Its tough to get support if your own is not voting for you.

[Matt Letourneau]

Yikes---Catholic's RPI is #17, QoWI #22, and they only got a couple votes in the Top 25 poll.

Tough crowd! 

What's the ranked team Catholic has played, let alone beaten? The national voters surely care little about anything based solely off regional records like those two numbers you cite.

Frankly Pat the same thing could have been said for almost every Catholic team at this stage of the season.  In the past, those teams have gotten some votes.  Most years they were in the 25.  Maybe that was deserved, maybe not, but the non-conference schedule Catholic played this year if anything was tougher than in years past.  

I wasn't expecting them to crack the top 25, but I did think they'd crack double digits in votes.

There just aren't many ranked teams from this region (which is your point, I know), but at a certain point it becomes circular--you really have to play teams from your own region non-conference, but if none of them are ranked, what can you do?  The fact that nobody else is ranked (and yes, JHU was for a time) doesn't mean that team x shouldn't be.

I don't know who the CAC's voter is (though I have a suspicion).  But as far as I know, this is not a public process, so what one individual voter does shouldn't influence everybody else, right?

[Pat Coleman]

I'm just saying.  That voter doesnt see any team other then CAC teams, correct?  I think he has an obligation to support the conf.  Its tough to get support if your own is not voting for you.

I don't think so. We don't ask voters to be biased for their conference -- we ask them to observe the conference and vote accordingly.

Matt, yes, it is not a public process, but any team that gets votes gets into the breakdown for the next week that is sent to all voters via e-mail. (Three weeks' worth of schedule and results to sniff out trends, scores of games, overall record, record of each opponent, location of game.)

Frankly Pat the same thing could have been said for almost every Catholic team at this stage of the season.  In the past, those teams have gotten some votes.  Most years they were in the 25.  Maybe that was deserved, maybe not, but the non-conference schedule Catholic played this year if anything was tougher than in years past. 

The track record isn't the same anymore. Last NCAA Tournament win was 2004. It's harder to make the logical leap for Catholic right now.

[Salem, VA]

There needs to be a better voting system then just one...maybe get one from each team to decide on a vote.  Its ludacris to think this one person knows all. Matt is right there is nothing CAtholic can do about there schedule.  You play region games for the purpose of being ranked in the region.  Who is to say that Catholic is not a top 10 team they havent played any of the top 25 teams.  Its purely on judgement rather then actually seeing teams played.

[Pat Coleman]

Hi, no offense, but this system works just fine. It's actually modeled after other national polls. We've worked this way for years and just because the CAC doesn't have someone in the Top 25 does not mean it's broken.

[Salem, VA]

I'm talking about the mid-atlantic in general...NOT the CAC

[kitchenrat]

I don't really worry about the top 25 too much. The thing we need to be most concerned with is the pool C situation and for the last two years we've gotten two teams in, so I think we're doing ok. With both York and Hood losing in the CAC tourney in '06 and '07 they still got a spot in the tourney and I think that's what really matters. Just my 2% of a dollar.

[cuabigdog]

being in the top 25 is nice but in my opinion getting votes at all is also nice to which at least your being noticed... look at all the teams out there that have no votes at all...

[Matt Letourneau]

True, BigDog.

My comment that prompted this discussion was only "tough crowd!"

I do agree with Salem, though, that it is somewhat of an arbitrary judgement and deck ends up getting stacked against teams from certain regions, etc.   I don't think the process is broken or the way d3hoops.com does it is flawed, there's just a limit to how accurate something like this ever can be.  Overall, this poll's track record is pretty good.

Pat did hit on something though--track record.  Reputation plays a big part.  This year's Catholic team shouldn't be judged on how last year's did in the tournament--different personnel, etc--but of course that isn't reality.  But everybody has a chance to prove it on the court, at least--well not if you're in the poll and from Wisconsin!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First off... congrats to the all-CAC teams. Yes... Russo didn't make it and either did Jones. I think both deserved maybe a second team nod... and their numbers certainly would argue that - and when every team has to double-team or sufficate a player, reasoning is he is the player to respect. However, there are a number of good players in this league... and there simply isn't enough room for them all.

A couple of other notes... Ray Williams on the first team is high in my mind... and I know Gray was good, but I don't know if I would have had him on my second team. But... we don't vote... so I must say congrats.

Secondly, as someone who is "in" the CAC... but watches and follows a LOT of basketball around the region and the nation... I would also agree that the CAC teams getting a few votes is nice... but no team deserves the Top 25 at this time. Hood is certainly good, but not that good. Catholic is a very polished team, but I don't know about putting them in the Top 25 over some very good teams. I would put Johns Hopkins in the Top 25 before I would put any CAC team this year.

This region is not that strong. There are a lot of very good teams... but no stellar teams... and the bottom of the region is BAD!

[tigerphil]

Hi, I am an ODAC poster and I am very interested in any information anyone could give about the Hood College-Hampden Sydney match-up. 1) I am a HSC alumn, 2) I am going to the game (got tickets already), 3) this game looks to be a premiere match-up for Cinderellas as suggested by D3hoops poll on homepage, 4)Just want to know what to expect when at the game. I can offer a little info on HSC, having been to one game this year, but following the team regular through internet broadcasts if anyone would like.

[Matt Letourneau]

If I have a few minute tomorrw, I'll go over to the ODAC thread and post a little souting report on Hood...

[ronk]

    Good luck to the Cards;got them beating Messiah, Lincoln, Johns Hopkins, before losing to the defending champions in the Elite 8. Am biased, though, having coached Steven Howes in youth baseball many years ago.

[Matt Letourneau]

Small world!

That would be a very satisfying run!  Hope they play at home this weekend.  Sky is the limit with this group of seniors--rarely to get once last chance to shine on the big shine, this is their moment.