2015 D3 Season: NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

[PaulNewman]

There were a couple of extensive reviews of Brandeis vs Tufts in this thread and the NESCAC thread.  #3 and certainly #1 is too high for Brandeis at this point.  Kenyon, F&M, Amherst and Whitworth should all be ahead of the Judges who have won about 6 in a row 1-0, including against weaker sides, in tight games that could have gone the other way, and a couple in double OT. 

[blooter442]

I'd almost consider 1 loss Brandeis over Kenyon and F&M with their early loss coming on the road in Texas @ Trinity.   In terms of the Brandeis - Tufts game, who was the better side or team more likely to make a deeper run in the tournament?

Even as a Brandeis supporter, I'd say absolutely Tufts is the better squad and will likely go further in the postseason. On the day, the teams were about even: Tufts created more without ever truly threatening, but Brandeis was able to finish and held down the fort defensively. They also edged the midfield battle IMHO, making the Tufts midfield - with the exception of Kayne, who was excellent - look very average, as Pinheiro and Halliday were well below their usual high standards.

I'd say this week Brandeis could move up to No. 6 or No. 5, but no higher. Maybe part of that is I've seen their scoring "woes" firsthand; then again, we all know our own team's flaws better than others.

[PaulNewman]

Agree with blooter.  Brandeis is strong enough (and confident enough) to beat anyone as the Judges just demonstrated.  But they wouldn't necessarily be favored against top 10 teams and it wouldn't be a surprise for them to lose to good but not great teams like Wheaton, Babson, etc.  The difference with Tufts is that they don't have a Majumder (think I finally spelled that right haha) or even a Connor Brown, although maybe one of the injured players like a Jastremski can give them a boost on offense.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

My Top 10 Poll:

1. Kenyon
2. F&M
3. Amherst
4. Tufts
5. Brandeis
6. CNU
7. Whitworth
8. Calvin
9. Montclair St.
10. Loras

[PaulNewman]

My Top 10 Poll:

1. Kenyon
2. F&M
3. Amherst
4. Tufts
5. Brandeis
6. CNU
7. Whitworth
8. Calvin
9. Montclair St.
10. Loras

This is just about right.  I think many of us are at a loss as to where to put Whitworth, and it seems the default choice is to put them a few spots lower than maybe where they should be.  Other than a couple of us who have a taken an interest in the Pirates, partly because of the mystery about them, they really don't seem to have an advocate on the site.

[D3 Scout]

UW-Whitewater ends their 8 games in 14 days with trips to Loras and North Park. Getting a result at either of those two places would probably been seen as success for the Warhawks as they have been pushed to the wire verse lesser opponents in two of their last three games.

Some may ask why a coach might schedule this hellish stretch of games and my thought is that he did not have a choice. UWW does not have a conference and therefore no conference schedule they must play. All of their opponents are already tied up come October with these conference games and would rather focus on those instead of playing a team like Whitewater.

This is a problem that UWW is going to face for the years to come especially now that UW Superior joined the UMAC and UW Oshkosh will no longer have a program.

All in all, if UW Whitewater can go 1-1 in these next two games that should set them up nice for the rest of the season.

[Golden_Fan]

National Poll is up:

http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4482

[lastguyoffthebench]

Eastern beats Nationally Ranked Salisbury and moves down 3 spots, while the Gulls move up 2 spots!

[PaulNewman]

Eastern beats Nationally Ranked Salisbury and moves down 3 spots, while the Gulls move up 2 spots!

Yes, the stickiness of Salisbury in BOTH polls is interesting.  Also odd that Wash U is not even in the RV category in the D3 soccer poll.

[Mr.Right]

Where is Rowan?? They should be ranked at the very least.

[blooter442]

Eastern beats Nationally Ranked Salisbury and moves down 3 spots, while the Gulls move up 2 spots!

Lol wut? That sounds like anti-logic to me. You would think that beating a fellow top-25 team - even if you won't surpass them in the poll - that you'd at the very least move up while they move down?

[lastguyoffthebench]

Welp, Rowan RV.... so the south looks like this at the moment.

1. CNU
2. MSU
3. Salisbury
4. Rutgers-Camden
5. Rowan

At this point, I think the winner of the Rutgers-Camden Rowan game Wednesday should leap Salisbury regardless of how they perform this week...

[Mr.Right]

I like the D3 poll this week very much. Seems very accurate. I still am befuddled on WHY Calvin is ranked so high. THEY HAVE PLAYED NO ONE. They should be RV at the most IMO

[lastguyoffthebench]

In the same breath, Kenyon hasn't really played anyone either; Overachieving CMU and Centre.

at Waynesburg (0-8)
Otterbein (4-3-1)
Heidelberg (2-4-3)
Carnegie Mellon (6-1-1)
Marietta (4-5)
at Centre (4-4-1)
at Muskingum (3-5)
Wittenberg (3-6-2)

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Not sure how teams that won or tied dropped or didn't receive votes this week but they did last week? Perfect example mentioned is Eastern. Makes no sense.

Also surprised to see Tufts fall from 1 to 12 in the NSCAA Poll? 12 spots for a loss to a top 5ish team? Harsh!!!