Great Lakes Region

[Ralph Turner]

Pre-season bias?

Mr Ypsi's Poster's Poll begins after the second Sunday in January.

The poll is open to any fan who will contribute every week.

If you haven't participated in the past, please consider joining this season.

[Pat Coleman]

What has Wooster done that Anderson hasn't?  Oh, I don't know.  How about playing 3 teams that are or were ranked in the top FIVE in the d3hoops.com top 25 poll.

Phew -- I was beginning to think I was crazy.

[Hugenerd]

What has Wooster done that Anderson hasn't?  Oh, I don't know.  How about playing 3 teams that are or were ranked in the top FIVE in the d3hoops.com top 25 poll.

Phew -- I was beginning to think I was crazy.

I guess it all depends on what types of lenses you have in your glasses.  I have my RPI glasses on right now and they tell me that Hope has the highest RPI value in the country, so they should be ranked #1.  #2 Whitewater, 3 WashU, 4 La Crosse, and 5 Alvernia.  Completely justified with irrefutable evidence and completely objectvely. 

[sac]

I did this last year, we'll see if I stick with it..........these are strictly in-region records.


1.  Hope 2-0
2.  Wilmington 9-1
3.  Case Western 6-2
3.  Heidelberg 6-2
5.  Wooster 8-3
6.  Bethany 5-2
6.  Wittenberg 5-2
6.  PSU-Behrend 5-2
----------------------------------------- .700
9.  John Carroll 6-3
9.  Frostburg State 4-2
11.  Thomas More 7-4
12.  Hiram 5-3
13.  Albion 3-2
------------------------------------------.600
14.  Carnegie-Mellon 4-3
15.  Trine 5-4
16.  Wash & Jeff 5-4


**  Wilmington has really been overlooked I think, 9-1 is the strongest record in this region easily.  They own a win over JCU and Case Western.  Their first loss ocured on the 30th to Thomas More by 2 points.


**  Last year 5 in-region losses was the cut-off for the GL 'Pool C' rep Carnegie-Mellon.  The most obvious team already up against it a little is JCU.  They already have 3 in-region losses and playing in the OAC puts them on the edge.  Not a lot of margin for error for a C bid, let alone getting back in the OAC race.

**  A couple other teams that have been playoff contending regulars recently find themselves in trouble,  Ohio Wesleyan is just 1-6 and Capital is 4-5.

**  Ohio Northern sits at 5-5 coming off a crucial loss to Calvin in Arizona.  ONU's in-region losses have been by 2, 6, 6, 2 and by 3 in OT.  They still have 2 games each with Wilmington and John Carroll remaining and travel to Wilmington this Wednesday.


One noteable game this weekend before the conference races ramp up next week

Jan 2
John Carroll at Bethany

[ScotsFan]

I missed that Thomas Moore upset of Wilmington.  The OAC contenders had a rough end to 2009 with JCU's loss as well.

Thomas Moore looks like a tough team to figure out.  They have some pretty good wins starting with their win over Wilmington.  They also beat Transy fairly convincingly as well as MUC.  Then comes the questionable losses.  Capital gave them a beat-down by 22 and just 2 days before they took down the best team in the GL Region, they lost to Baldwin Wallace?

This has the makings of being a very interesting race to come out on top of the GL Regional Rankings.  As sac mentioned, Wilmington appears to be the team to beat for now.  But, I have a feeling that once OAC play gets rolling, Wilmington will start to fall.  Hope has no losses at the time, but once again, their body of work is very lacking.  Wooster has already played 11 in-region games compared to just 2 for Hope.  It's funny, because just a short time ago, Wooster's regional record wasn't all that great.  But, now after their fortune of getting Transy in the finals of the Mose Hole, that 8-3 record isn't looking all that bad heading into NCAC play!

This region appears to be deeper and more wide open than I can remember.  I wouldn't be surprised to see several different teams atop the rankings once the NCAA starts to release their rankings before the end of the season.

[ScotsFan]

Capital seems to have flipped a switch to turn their season around.  After starting out 1-5, they've now won 5 straight after crushing Kenyon this afternoon.

They have a non-conference affair with Ohio Dominican on Tuesday, the Crusaders then have a critical stretch of OAC contests.  They host JCU next Sat. and then hit the road at Wilmington and at MUC.  They've already lost 3 conference games, so this is going to be critical for Cap to at least win 2 of 3 if they want to keep their suddenly re-kindled conference hopes alive!

[sac]

Last night's OAC scores

OAC
Mount Union    61   Baldwin-Wallace    82   Final      
Ohio Northern    62   Wilmington (Ohio)    73   Final      
Muskingum    69   Marietta    73   Final      
Otterbein    64   John Carroll    88



Big game this weekend, 1st place Wilmington at 2nd place Heidelberg........a win for Wilmington would put them 2 games up in the OAC race.

[KnightSlappy]

Through Wednesday's games:

REG   #   WP      OWP     OOWP    RPI      NAT   Pool        REG     OVR   CONF     Team
GL   01   0.667   0.750   0.525   0.6728   010   A   C       2-1     7-5   MIAA     Hope
GL   02   0.909   0.558   0.546   0.6427   015   A   C      10-1    11-2   OAC      Wilmington
GL   03   0.667   0.583   0.580   0.6034   044   C   021     2-1     6-6   MIAA     Calvin
GL   04   0.778   0.548   0.505   0.5946   055   C   026     7-2     8-3   UAA      Case Western Reserve
GL   05   0.444   0.705   0.501   0.5890   064   C   035     4-5     4-5   UAA      Carnegie Mellon
GL   06   0.778   0.529   0.485   0.5804   074   C   043     7-2     7-3   AMCC     Penn State-Behrend
GL   07   0.583   0.615   0.499   0.5784   080   C   046     7-5     8-5   OAC      Baldwin-Wallace
GL   08   0.636   0.577   0.512   0.5756   082   C   048     7-4     8-4   OAC      John Carroll
GL   09   0.750   0.465   0.592   0.5679   094   C   057     6-2     8-4   OAC      Heidelberg


Wooster comes in at #10 and Albion at #11

[ScotsFan]

Through Wednesday's games:

REG   #   WP      OWP     OOWP    RPI      NAT   Pool        REG     OVR   CONF     Team
GL   01   0.667   0.750   0.525   0.6728   010   A   C       2-1     7-5   MIAA     Hope
GL   02   0.909   0.558   0.546   0.6427   015   A   C      10-1    11-2   OAC      Wilmington
GL   03   0.667   0.583   0.580   0.6034   044   C   021     2-1     6-6   MIAA     Calvin
GL   04   0.778   0.548   0.505   0.5946   055   C   026     7-2     8-3   UAA      Case Western Reserve
GL   05   0.444   0.705   0.501   0.5890   064   C   035     4-5     4-5   UAA      Carnegie Mellon
GL   06   0.778   0.529   0.485   0.5804   074   C   043     7-2     7-3   AMCC     Penn State-Behrend
GL   07   0.583   0.615   0.499   0.5784   080   C   046     7-5     8-5   OAC      Baldwin-Wallace
GL   08   0.636   0.577   0.512   0.5756   082   C   048     7-4     8-4   OAC      John Carroll
GL   09   0.750   0.465   0.592   0.5679   094   C   057     6-2     8-4   OAC      Heidelberg


Wooster comes in at #10 and Albion at #11

Are these numbers based on overall records or just regional records? 

I'm finding it difficult to see how Hope who is 7-5 overall is ranked ahead of Wilmington who is 11-1 overall and furthermore, how 6-6 Calvin jumps from not even in the top 10 to #3 with a win over a 7-5 team?  Call me crazy, but I'm not buying that Wooster is the 10th best team in the region either behind the likes of B-WC, Heidelberg, CMU (who the Scots beat head-to-head BTW), etc.

[KnightSlappy]

Through Wednesday's games:

REG   #   WP      OWP     OOWP    RPI      NAT   Pool        REG     OVR   CONF     Team
GL   01   0.667   0.750   0.525   0.6728   010   A   C       2-1     7-5   MIAA     Hope
GL   02   0.909   0.558   0.546   0.6427   015   A   C      10-1    11-2   OAC      Wilmington
GL   03   0.667   0.583   0.580   0.6034   044   C   021     2-1     6-6   MIAA     Calvin
GL   04   0.778   0.548   0.505   0.5946   055   C   026     7-2     8-3   UAA      Case Western Reserve
GL   05   0.444   0.705   0.501   0.5890   064   C   035     4-5     4-5   UAA      Carnegie Mellon
GL   06   0.778   0.529   0.485   0.5804   074   C   043     7-2     7-3   AMCC     Penn State-Behrend
GL   07   0.583   0.615   0.499   0.5784   080   C   046     7-5     8-5   OAC      Baldwin-Wallace
GL   08   0.636   0.577   0.512   0.5756   082   C   048     7-4     8-4   OAC      John Carroll
GL   09   0.750   0.465   0.592   0.5679   094   C   057     6-2     8-4   OAC      Heidelberg


Wooster comes in at #10 and Albion at #11

Are these numbers based on overall records or just regional records? 

I'm finding it difficult to see how Hope who is 7-5 overall is ranked ahead of Wilmington who is 11-1 overall and furthermore, how 6-6 Calvin jumps from not even in the top 10 to #3 with a win over a 7-5 team?  Call me crazy, but I'm not buying that Wooster is the 10th best team in the region either behind the likes of B-WC, Heidelberg, CMU (who the Scots beat head-to-head BTW), etc.

These numbers include regional games only and are used as a potential projection of NCAA comittee rankings. I don't know if you still want me to call you crazy, but based on only regional results so far, Wooster probably is the 10^th best team in the region. Wooster may very well be the best team in the region by season's end.

[ScotsFan]

I guess based on the fact that these rankings are based on in-region games only, it seems as though there should be a criterea for a minimum number of games played to qualify for a regional ranking.  It just doesn't seem fair to reward teams like Hope and Calvin who have fewer region games played combined than Wilmington has in regional wins.  With only 3 in-region opponents for both Hope and Calvin, they are benefiitting big time by the OWP and the OOWP.  These numbers will surely start to drop off significantly now that they are getting into the meat of the MIAA schedule. 

I guess that's why I'm wondering why go through all the trouble when these numbers aren't really all that telling at this point of the season?  At least for Hope and Calvin anyways...

[KnightSlappy]

I guess based on the fact that these rankings are based on in-region games only, it seems as though there should be a criterea for a minimum number of games played to qualify for a regional ranking.  It just doesn't seem fair to reward teams like Hope and Calvin who have fewer region games played combined than Wilmington has in regional wins.  With only 3 in-region opponents for both Hope and Calvin, they are benefiitting big time by the OWP and the OOWP.  These numbers will surely start to drop off significantly now that they are getting into the meat of the MIAA schedule. 

I guess that's why I'm wondering why go through all the trouble when these numbers aren't really all that telling at this point of the season?  At least for Hope and Calvin anyways...

I guess my question in response is why not? And what is it that numbers aren't telling?

[ScotsFan]

It's not what the numbers aren't telling us.  It's the fact that, IMO, Hope's and Calvin's body of work isn't big enough at this point to accurately gauge where they truly stand in the regional rankings.  When I see Hope with a 2-1 in-region record ranked ahead of Wilmington with a 10-1 in-region record and Calvin also with a 2-1 in-region record checking in at #3, something doesn't add up.  That's all.  Just my opinion here, nothing more...

[ziggy]

It's not what the numbers aren't telling us.  It's the fact that, IMO, Hope's and Calvin's body of work isn't big enough at this point to accurately gauge where they truly stand in the regional rankings.  When I see Hope with a 2-1 in-region record ranked ahead of Wilmington with a 10-1 in-region record and Calvin also with a 2-1 in-region record checking in at #3, something doesn't add up.  That's all.  Just my opinion here, nothing more...

Obviously each set of rankings is just a snapshot in time. I think the rankings are interesting, especially considering this is what the NCAA committee will be looking at, but I don't view them as anything more than "for entertainment purposes only" at this point. Trust me, Hope and Calvin fans aren't under any grand allusions seeing where they are ranked, it works both ways.

At least we have an actual tournament to figure all this stuff out anyway!

[sac]

Updated through Sunday's games

1. Wilmington  11-1
2. PSU-Behrend 8-2
-----------------------------------------.800
3. Wittenberg 7-2
4. Bethany 9-3
4. Wooster 9-3
4. Calvin 3-1
4. Hope 3-1
8. Thomas More 10-4
8. Albion 5-2
-----------------------------------------.700

10. John Carroll 8-4
10. Heidelberg 6-3
12. Case Western 7-4
12. Wabash 7-4
14. Baldwin-Wallace 8-5
15. Frostburg St. 6-4
----------------------------------------.600

*  With Hope and Calvin having now played almost a handful of in-region games you feel at least like things have normalized a little bit more.

*  Huge losses for the UAA Great Lakes members Case Western and Carnegie-Mellon, both were swept by Rochester and Emory and Carnegie dropped all four in-region games since the last update.  Now with 7 losses and 2 games with WashU Pool C seems out of reach for Carnegie.

*  The OAC race is Wilmington's to lose already with a 2 game lead, chasers JCU, Heidelberg and Ohio Northern all have razor thin margin's of error remaining in the 'C' chase.

*  The NCAC should see Wooster and Witt both add two to their in-region win totals,  both face  Allegheny this week.  Wabash should pick up two wins as well.   All other NCAC Pool C chasers have quickly disappeared.

*  The MIAA sees Albion face Kzoo at the top of the league, but both Albion and Calvin should come away with 2 wins this week.  Hope faces a desperate Olivet team on Wed. in a very important league contest for the Dutchmen.

*  In the Presidents, its a battle at the top with Bethany hosting Thomas More


Key games this week

Wednesday night
Heidelberg @ John Carroll
Thomas More @ Bethany