Top 25 Discussion

[Whatagame]

IMO Linfield lost this weekend and they should move down from #1. Cortland won and should move up to #1.  Linfield's loss was to Puget Sound(11-15). Use facts not gut feel and opinion to support your views.

Puget has played a strange schedule I think, with 7 of their losses coming against NAIA teams.  While not ideal for Linfield, dropping a single game to Puget (on a late inning grand slam) from a 3 game series is not the end-of-the-world in the scheme of things for Linfield.  Puget did sweep PLU, and PLU isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination.  It's like CLU or Pomona-Pitzer dropping a game during a series to a Whittier or a Chapman, scrappy little squads, but also each well below .500 overall.

But, they lost a game, so I suppose Cortland St. should move ahead, let's see what transpires.

[Just_Some_Guy]

IMO Linfield lost this weekend and they should move down from #1. Cortland won and should move up to #1.  Linfield's loss was to Puget Sound(11-15). Use facts not gut feel and opinion to support your views.

Seems unnecessary. Don't have to agree with Spence. Don't even have to like the guy, but he clearly puts a fair amount of thought into his rankings. I primarily follow the west region so I appreciate it when guys like Spence, Big Poppa, Ricky and others provide their nation-wide insights. It gives me a frame of reference to dive a bit deeper where I'm unfamiliar.

Most of us don't get paid to spend any time here and our personal rankings don't matter in the scheme of things. Hell, the current top 25 doesn't even really matter in the scheme of things. There's no right or wrong way to go about providing our own personal opinions and insights. I'd venture Spence does it a bit more objectively than most. Providing rationale why for why you disagree based on W/L makes sense. Attacking his approach to sharing his top 25 doesn't.

But that's just my $0.02 and it's probably not worth that.

JSG

[Westside]

If we were to look 'just at facts', Linfield would still be ahead of Cortland State. Sure, Linfield lost a game last week, but they are still 20-4 compared to Cortland State being 17-4. If you ignore overall record, every team that went undefeated last week would jump Linfield...

[Spence]

Basically, I think Linfield was ahead of #2 by enough that they could lose to a middle of the road (far from the worst) NWC team and still be #1.

After the loss, Linfield is 18-3 against D-III and Cortland is 17-4. That doesn't say everything, but I don't think the different in schedules is enough that there's more than 1-loss difference.

Linfield beat Pac Lu, swept at Whitworth and has taken at least 2 of 3 from everyone in league play. Their next 10 or so games will truly tell the measure of them, but I think they've already played some pretty good opponents. I don't expect them to go undefeated in April and don't think it's a sign of weakness if they don't. 3 at Pac Lu, 3 at Pomona-Pitzer, 1 at LaVerne, and then home for 3 against George Fox. Doubt anyone outside New Jersey is playing that kind of schedule in a 3 week stretch in April. Even 8-2 would be really good.

Cortland had some ups and downs against a very strong southern schedule before running off a winning streak against weaker competition up north. That's basically what they do every year and it's pretty hard to argue with their results.

I think they're both really good teams.

[Spence]

IMO Linfield lost this weekend and they should move down from #1. Cortland won and should move up to #1.  Linfield's loss was to Puget Sound(11-15). Use facts not gut feel and opinion to support your views.

Seems unnecessary. Don't have to agree with Spence. Don't even have to like the guy, but he clearly puts a fair amount of thought into his rankings. I primarily follow the west region so I appreciate it when guys like Spence, Big Poppa, Ricky and others provide their nation-wide insights. It gives me a frame of reference to dive a bit deeper where I'm unfamiliar.

Most of us don't get paid to spend any time here and our personal rankings don't matter in the scheme of things. Hell, the current top 25 doesn't even really matter in the scheme of things. There's no right or wrong way to go about providing our own personal opinions and insights. I'd venture Spence does it a bit more objectively than most. Providing rationale why for why you disagree based on W/L makes sense. Attacking his approach to sharing his top 25 doesn't.

But that's just my $0.02 and it's probably not worth that.

JSG

Thanks. I appreciate this and it's all exactly right. I used to get upset about teams being IMO improperly rated but fortunately this isn't D-I football -- it all comes out in the end, even moreso now with larger regionals. If you've got a weakness, you can pretty much count on it being found in the regional. It wasn't always like that.

But I do still try to do my best. If nothing else, it helps me keep an eye on what is happening nationwide thanks to d3baseball.com. Anyone that was around back in the listserv days knows how much easier keeping up with the nation is thanks to the work of those associated with the site. I really think they get better every year. And now I live in a state that has no D-III sports of any kind, so I'm more dependent on it than ever.

I was a little upset when I read Crash's post, but then I saw this and that upset was totally replaced.

[CrashDavisD3]

Nothing to be upset about. Everyone has an opinion. No one is right or wrong and these are just polls for discussions. I can tell you coaches and players never care what we say or do on these boards. I am sure there are good reasons people have their views.

[Boysofsummer21]

I am really liking me so Rampo and Johns Hopkins is it to early to get on that wagon?

[Spence]

Nothing to be upset about. Everyone has an opinion. No one is right or wrong and these are just polls for discussions. I can tell you coaches and players never care what we say or do on these boards. I am sure there are good reasons people have their views.

Fair enough.

[Mike Falk]

The American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball poll for games through March 31 is out

http://www.muhlenberg.edu/sports/abcapoll.html

[BigPoppa]

Nothing to be upset about. Everyone has an opinion. No one is right or wrong and these are just polls for discussions. I can tell you coaches and players never care what we say or do on these boards. I am sure there are good reasons people have their views.

I beg to differ... at times, I have been contacted by coaches (and quality coaches at that) who ask my thoughts and opinions on what this board says and does. Believe it or not, much of the nation pays close attention to what we do and say. We may THINK we don't have any impact, but my experiences would say differently.

(especially near tourney time... people want outside opinions on where others feel they stand)

[CrashDavisD3]

Nothing to be upset about. Everyone has an opinion. No one is right or wrong and these are just polls for discussions. I can tell you coaches and players never care what we say or do on these boards. I am sure there are good reasons people have their views.

I beg to differ... at times, I have been contacted by coaches (and quality coaches at that) who ask my thoughts and opinions on what this board says and does. Believe it or not, much of the nation pays close attention to what we do and say. We may THINK we don't have any impact, but my experiences would say differently.

(especially near tourney time... people want outside opinions on where others feel they stand)

I guess I am wrong again. Not the first and it wont be the last. It's great to get feedback from people who have access to more information.

The D3 Top 25 is starting to shape up now with most teams with a good chunk of games under their belt. It is good to see teams now rise when then win and teams drop when they lose. It's great to see teams are being evaluated for their results on the field now and not what they may do or what they did in prior years.

[OshDude]

I am really liking me so Rampo and Johns Hopkins is it to early to get on that wagon?

Nope. Glad to have you on the bandwagon. It's been lonely.

[CrashDavisD3]

I am really liking me so Rampo and Johns Hopkins is it to early to get on that wagon?

Nope. Glad to have you on the bandwagon. It's been lonely.

A good case can be made for Rampo as #1....
http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/isr/d3_isr.html

[OshDude]

I am really liking me so Rampo and Johns Hopkins is it to early to get on that wagon?

Nope. Glad to have you on the bandwagon. It's been lonely.

A good case can be made for Rampo as #1....
http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/isr/d3_isr.html

The Roadrunners did get one first-place vote this week.

[Whatagame]

Interesting to compare the D3.com Top 25 versus the ABCA versus Boyd's ISR's for this week.  Things are starting to fall into place, although the ABCA and Boyd's are valuing the resumes of Cal Lutheran, George Fox and Pomona-Pitzer higher than D3 poll.

The strength of schedule numbers between Boyd's and D3.com are still very different from each other, even with a large majority of teams in the nation having played at least 12 - 15 games.  Who's got it correct?

Personally, I like the Boyd's World SOS, it seems to reward a more even mixture of teams across the country who have made the decision to play tough schedules.