TOP 25

[Mugsy]

If you go back and look at the D3 poll from week #7 you have:

1. Mount Union
2. Wisconsin Whitewater
3. Mary Hardin Baylor
4. Wheaton

That was right before Wheaton went on a 2 week holiday that it took the rest of the season and 3 rounds of the playoffs to recover from! 

All is right with the world now though. 

Incredible observation...

[K-Mack]

If you go back and look at the D3 poll from week #7 you have:

1. Mount Union
2. Wisconsin Whitewater
3. Mary Hardin Baylor
4. Wheaton

That was right before Wheaton went on a 2 week holiday that it took the rest of the season and 3 rounds of the playoffs to recover from! 

All is right with the world now though. 

Incredible observation...

I think it's pretty interesting.

I know my final top 25 didn't look anything like my Week 11 one either. The playoffs really do have a great effect on the final assessment of things, as they should.

[Ralph Turner]

There are some distinct groupings in the final Top 25.

#   School (1st votes)   Rec.   Pts   Prev.   
1   Mount Union (25) 15-0 625   1   Perfect #1
2   UW-Whitewater 13-2 600    4   Perfect #2
3   Mary Hardin-Baylor 12-2 563   5   (550 = perfect # "4")
4   Willamette 11-1      508    6   (500 = perfect # "6")
5   Wheaton (Ill.) 11-3 482    25   (475 = perfect # "7")
6   Cortland State 11-2 445    16   (450 = perfect # "8")
7   Hardin-Simmons 9-2 422     8   (425 = perfect # "9")
8   Franklin       11-2    418    18   
9   North Central (Ill.) 11-1 390    2    (375 = perfect # "11")
10   Wartburg      10-3  374           --   
11   Wash. & Jeff.   11-2 342      19   (325 = perfect #"13")
12   Millsaps           11-1 341     3   
13   Wesley            9-2  336    7   
14   UW-Stevens Point 9-2 278     9    (275 = perfect "#15"   
15   Occidental          9-1   274     13   
16   Monmouth         11-1 213     22   (225 = perfect "#17")
17   Hobart         9-2    211   23   
18   Wabash     10-2  192     15   (200 = perfect "#18)
19   Otterbein     9-2  182     10   
20  Trine   10-1  153     20     (150 = perfect "#20)
21  Case Western Reserve 10-1 133    11   (125 points is a perfect "#21")
22   Curry    10-2 126     --   
23   Ithaca  9-2  121     12   
24   Salisbury   9-2 114     17   

25   Muhlenberg   9-2  103     14   (100 pts = perfect "#22")

[Ralph Turner]

Here are the Top 25 teams broken out as ranking in their respective regions.  Pool B are italicized; Pool C bids are bolded; Salisbury did not make the playoff.)

#/Team..............................	Votes	North	West	South	East
1 Mount Union	625	1	*	*	*
2 UW-Whitewater	600	*	1	*	*
3 UMHB	563	*	*	1	*
4 Willamette	508	*	2	*	*
5 Wheaton IL.......................	482	2	*	*	*
6 Cortland St	445	*	*	*	1
7 Hardin-Simmons	422	*	*	2	*
8 Franklin	418	3	*	*	*
9 North Central IL	390	4	*	*	*
10 Wartburg.........................	390	*	3	*	*
11 Wash & Jeff	342	*	*	3	*
12  Millsaps	341	*	*	4	*
13  Wesley	336	*	*	5	*
14  UW-Stevens Point	278	*	4	*	*
15  Occidental.....................	274	*	5	*	*
16  Monmouth	213	*	6	*	*
17  Hobart	211	*	*	*	2
18  Wabash	192	5	*	*	*
19  Otterbein	182	6	*	*	*
20  Trine.............................	153	7	*	*	*
21  Case Western Reserve	133	8	*	*	*
22  Curry	126	*	*	*	3
23  Ithaca	121	*	*	*	4
24  Salisbury	114	*	*	6	*
25  Muhlenberg.....................	103	*	*	7	*

[MonroviaCat]

Not that it really matters but it is interesting to see MHB ranked ahead of Willamette seeing as Willamette and MHB both played Southern Oregon and Willamette won while MHB lost (though I do know they were suffering from injuries and a long trip for that game).  Then, they both played and lost to UW-WW but Willamette lost by 3 while MHB lost by 26.  I'm assuming this must be a strength of schedule or "reputation" issue....  Any thoughts out there?

[Ralph Turner]

Not that it really matters but it is interesting to see MHB ranked ahead of Willamette seeing as Willamette and MHB both played Southern Oregon and Willamette won while MHB lost (though I do know they were suffering from injuries and a long trip for that game).  Then, they both played and lost to UW-WW but Willamette lost by 3 while MHB lost by 26.  I'm assuming this must be a strength of schedule or "reputation" issue....  Any thoughts out there?

Float up!?!

Both teams moved up from 5th and 6th to 3rd and 4th.

However, the thing that surprised me was how much vote-margin UMHB opened over Willamette, from 495/481 to 563/508.

[HScoach]

One hit wonder vs. consistent top 5 program.

[Pat Coleman]

I doubt that was a determining factor, but there are definitely voters who tend to vote solely on how far a team advances in the playoffs. I try to remind them that the seeding of the D-III bracket doesn't make that a great factor in measuring strength of a team, but it's hard to avoid noting that Willamette didn't have the opportunity to beat the teams UMHB did in its extra two playoff games.

[K-Mack]

Not that it really matters but it is interesting to see MHB ranked ahead of Willamette seeing as Willamette and MHB both played Southern Oregon and Willamette won while MHB lost (though I do know they were suffering from injuries and a long trip for that game).  Then, they both played and lost to UW-WW but Willamette lost by 3 while MHB lost by 26.  I'm assuming this must be a strength of schedule or "reputation" issue....  Any thoughts out there?

As Pat likes to say, it's not who you lost to, it's who you beat.

In that respect, even if you take away the extra playoff games UMHB had and don't count wins against No. 11 W&J and No. 13 Wesley, they still beat No. 7 Hardin-Simmons twice.

Willamette beat No. 15 Occidental and certainly had the favorable results against common opponents, including No. 2 UW-Whitewater.

I think there are arguments for both, and probably not everyone thinks far enough outside the box to consider a team ousted in the second round alongside one ousted in the semis, even if against the same time. Or maybe they do and had other reasons for UMHB.

[Ralph Turner]

Here is how the week #11 "Top 25" teams performed in the playoffs.

#   School (1st votes)	Reg season	Pts	Prev.	Week #11	Outcome in the playoffs
1   Mount Union (25)	10-0	625	1	Def Marietta 49-0	Def Randolph-Macon 56-0, #23 Hobart 42-7, #16 Cortland St 41-14, #25 Wheaton 45-24, #4 UWW 31-26
2   North Central (Ill.)	10-0	587	2	Def Elmhurst 35-28	Def  Thomas More 44-23, lost to #18 Franklin 28-38
3   Millsaps	10-0	553	4	Def Birmingham-Southern 31-14	Def. LaGrange 51-26, lost to #19 W&J 20-35
4   UW-Whitewater	9-1	545	5	Def UW-Platteville 52-13	Def #25 St. John's 37-7, won at #6 Willamette 30-27, def Wartburg 34-17, won at #5 UMHB 39-13, lost in Stagg to #1 MUC 31-26
5   UMHB	9-1	495	8	Def Sul Ross State 42-20	Def #8 Hardin-Simmons 38-35, #7 Wesley 46-14, #19 W&J 63-7, lost to #4 UWW 13-39
6   Willamette	10-0	481	10	Def Menlo 28-3	Def #13 Occidental 48-33, lost to #4 UWW 27-30
7   Wesley	8-1	472	9	Def Gallaudet 55-7	Won at #14 Muhlenberg  20-0, lost at #5 UMHB 14-46
8   Hardin-Simmons	9-1	441	11	Open Date	Lost at #5 UMHB 35-38
9   UW-Stevens Point	9-1	426	13	Def UW-La Crosse 21-7	Lost to Wartburg 21-26
10   Otterbein	9-1	372	14	Def John Carroll 20-17	Lost to #18 Franklin 62-45
11   CWRU	10-0	371	12	Def Washington U. 17-0	Lost to #15 Wabash 17-20
12   Ithaca	9-1	321	17	Def #16 Cortland State 35-13	Lost to Curry 21-26
13   Occidental	9-0	309	15	Def Whittier 48-14	Lost at #6 Willamette  33-48
14   Muhlenberg	9-1	295	6	Lost to Moravian 27-24	Lost to #7 Wesley 0-20
15   Wabash	9-1	279	3	Lost to DePauw 36-14	Won at #11 Case Western Reserve 20-17, lost to #25 Wheaton 28-59
16   Cortland State	9-1	260	7	Lost to No. 12 Ithaca 35-13	Def Plymouth State  31-14, Curry 42-0, lost at MUC 14-41
17   Salisbury	8-2	192	16	Def Frostburg State 55-14	Won at Moravian (ECAC) 21-17
18   Franklin	9-1	168	20	Def Hanover 34-0	Won at #10 Otterbein 62-45, at #2 N.Central 38-28, lost to #25 Wheaton 28-45
19   W&J	9-1	163	19	Def Waynesburg 42-9	Def  #21 CNU  35-29, won at #3 Millsaps 35-20, lost at #5 UMHB 7-63
20   Trine	10-0	153	21	Def Ky. Christian 34-12	Lost to #25 Wheaton (Ill.)  0-14
21   CNU	8-1	130	23	Def Ferrum 13-10	Lost at #19 W&J 29-35
22   Monmouth	10-0	106	22	Open Date	Def Aurora 42-13, lost to Wartburg 28-30
23   Hobart	8-1	100	24	Def Rochester 10-7	Def Lycoming  33-15, lost at #1 MUC 7-42
24   St. John's	8-2	59	--	Def Carleton 14-10	Lost at #4 UW-Whitewater  7-37
25   Wheaton (Ill.)	8-2	51	--	Def Carthage 51-24	Won at #21 Trine  14-0, at #15 Wabash 59-28, at #18 Franklin 45-28, lost at #1 MUC 24-45
RV"32" Wartburg	8-2	5	--	Open date	Won at #9 UW-SP 26-21, won at #22  Monmouth 30-28, lost at #4 UW-W 17-34

[muledaddy]

Numbers,

                8-6-5-4-6-9-14-25........quite a ride for my son's senior year....a bit of a roller coaster......

exciting, but leaving you wanting more.......2 years in the top 25 represents 1  great experience

for kids, coaches, fans, and, most of all, for parents...thanks D3...no coulda, woulda, or shoulda...it just was

[K-Mack]

thanks D3...no coulda, woulda, or shoulda...it just was

Hey, that's got potential!

[muledaddy]

K-man,

Thanks, I needed that.....maybe I can get to work and produce something worth reading.....after all....

we will have to wait and see.....

[@d3jason]

Sporting News 2009 Preseason Top 25. Let the bashing begin!!


1. Whitewater
2. Mount Union
3. St. John's
4. UMHB
5. Delaware Valley
6. Rowan
7. Hardin-Simmons
8. North Central
9. Wartburg
10. Wabash
11. Monmouth
12. Curry
13. W & J
14. Christopher Newport
15. Wesley
16. Bridgewater
17. Hobart
18. John's Hopkins
19. Wheaton
20. Case Western
21. Cortland
22. Redlands
23. UW-Lacrosse
24. Lycoming
25. Otterbein

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Sporting News 2009 Preseason Top 25. Let the bashing begin!!
1. Whitewater
2. Mount Union

I think they have #1 & #2 correct.  UWW has more returning than MUC.