Pool C -- 2015

[MonroviaCat]

Rankings are up!  http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/d3/regional-rankings

[ExTartanPlayer]

Rankings are up!  http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/d3/regional-rankings

+K

[ExTartanPlayer]

#hottakes

East:

- Wesley stays #1 the week after a loss...and will be a Pool C team if Salisbury wins this week
- Alfred has drifted up to #5 and would be the second Pool C team
- Seems like Salisbury got the shaft here, no?  A win over #1, a one-point loss to #2, and they're ranked 6th?  Yes, they have a bad loss on the record, but literally everyone else ranked ahead of them has a loss to someone else down the totem pole, too.  Feels like a team that's beaten #1 and lost to #2 by a point should be ranked higher than 6.

North

- Illinois Wesleyan going from 5th to unranked is a little surprising, considering that they have a h2h win over #4 and their losses are against #2 and #10
- Speaking of #10, North Central appears!
- John Carroll at #6 would be the first Pool C up from the North...will they stay there if they get blitzed by Mount this week?

South

- Guilford and Moravian stay ranked ahead of the entire SAA
- I think the committee got that right by ranking TLU at 9 and keeping ETBU jammed there for now
- if UMHB beats ETBU, presumably whoever is ranked higher between HSU and UMHB takes the Pool B bid, then whoever's left is the first Pool C candidate, followed by Guilford

West

- Linfield passes UWO but stays behind UST
- Pool C order as currently constructed: UWW, St. John's, Whitworth, UWP, Wartburg

[MonroviaCat]

#hottakes

West

- Linfield passes UWO but stays behind UST
- Pool C order as currently constructed: UWW, St. John's, Whitworth, UWP, Wartburg

anybody want to speculate on what went into this decision?

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Can someone explain Olivet? How can they be behind John Carroll and even worse DePauw? All are 8-1... Olivet with the superior SoS and their loss is to #5 while JCU's is #7 and DePauw's is unranked... so why is JCU #6 DePauw #8 and Olivet #9?

Also the Finlandia games for Oshkosh and Whitewater seem to still not be counting.

[Bombers798891]

#hottakes

East:

- Alfred has drifted up to #5 and would be the second Pool C team
- Seems like Salisbury got the shaft here, no?  A win over #1, a one-point loss to #2, and they're ranked 6th?  Yes, they have a bad loss on the record, but literally everyone else ranked ahead of them has a loss to someone else down the totem pole, too.  Feels like a team that's beaten #1 and lost to #2 by a point should be ranked higher than 6.

I'd flip AU and Salisbury.

[wally_wabash]

- Blown away here that Wesley stays #1 despite the common opponent with Albright.  That shouldn't have happened, IMO.  Maybe North Central influenced this, but I really disagree with that ranking. 

- ONU has slithered in here right behind JCU.  Are we still going to press this with what happens to JCU if/when they lose on Saturday?  I think the way the pieces moved this week pretty much telegraphs how this is going to go for the Streaks. 

- The South is interesting.  Hardin-Simmons only swaps places with Hopkins while ETBU only peeks in at #10.  Two things about this.  First, I would be shocked if the playing conditions here weren't discussed and if the conclusion was to somewhat neutralize that result.  Second, this should squash ETBU for Pool B talk.  I can't see a spot here where ETBU jumps over Hardin-Simmons from that position.  Just too far away. 

- Also in the South, Guilford switched with Moravian which means, probably, Guilford is going to sniff the board.  And when they do, probably, their non-league schedule will keep them out. 

- Linfield slid ahead of UWO as I thought they would.  I am still surprised here that, given North Central's appearance, Platteville remains behind Whitworth. 

[wally_wabash]

#hottakes

West

- Linfield passes UWO but stays behind UST
- Pool C order as currently constructed: UWW, St. John's, Whitworth, UWP, Wartburg

anybody want to speculate on what went into this decision?

Committee chair: So guys, we pretty much goofed on the Linfield/Oshkosh thing last week, right? 
Committee, in unison: Yup. 

[MonroviaCat]

- Linfield slid ahead of UWO as I thought they would.  I am still surprised here that, given North Central's appearance, Platteville remains behind Whitworth.

I (as a CAT fan) think Linfield should have been ahead of Oshkosh last week so this made sense...the thing that still isn't jiving is why (based on criteria) St. Thomas is still ahead of Linfield. 

[wally_wabash]

- Linfield slid ahead of UWO as I thought they would.  I am still surprised here that, given North Central's appearance, Platteville remains behind Whitworth.

I (as a CAT fan) think Linfield should have been ahead of Oshkosh last week so this made sense...the thing that still isn't jiving is why (based on criteria) St. Thomas is still ahead of Linfield.

Possible (not that we'll ever know) that further discussion and application of the prior year's championship comes in to play Saturday night and Linfield winds up at the top of this region and with home field advantage possibly through the semis.  I think Linfield might also be battling some confirmation bias here w/ respect to the MIAC vs. the NWC, but that's pure speculation on my part. 

[D3MAFAN]

How I look at things, looking at all the criteria, Mount Union, St. Thomas, Linfield, and Johns Hopkins are the #1 Seeds.

[D3MAFAN]

Can someone explain Olivet? How can they be behind John Carroll and even worse DePauw? All are 8-1... Olivet with the superior SoS and their loss is to #5 while JCU's is #7 and DePauw's is unranked... so why is JCU #6 DePauw #8 and Olivet #9?

Also the Finlandia games for Oshkosh and Whitewater seem to still not be counting.

It's the Eye Test, the Eye Test, forget the metrics.

[MonroviaCat]

- Linfield slid ahead of UWO as I thought they would.  I am still surprised here that, given North Central's appearance, Platteville remains behind Whitworth.

I (as a CAT fan) think Linfield should have been ahead of Oshkosh last week so this made sense...the thing that still isn't jiving is why (based on criteria) St. Thomas is still ahead of Linfield.

Possible (not that we'll ever know) that further discussion and application of the prior year's championship comes in to play Saturday night and Linfield winds up at the top of this region and with home field advantage possibly through the semis.  I think Linfield might also be battling some confirmation bias here w/ respect to the MIAC vs. the NWC, but that's pure speculation on my part.

seems like the only real explanation....

[bluestreak66]

Now it does seem pretty clear JCU needs to win Saturday The only thing that might change that is an ONU loss to Otterbein, but that is almost certainly not going to happen. I wonder what the chances of Mount's bus breaking down on the way to the game are............

[art76]

How I look at things, looking at all the criteria, Mount Union, St. Thomas, Linfield, and Johns Hopkins are the #1 Seeds.

SOS Rankings for the 11 undefeated teams in NCAA play

39 Johns Hopkins  .557
67 Oshkosh  .529
107 Washington and Lee  .507
108 Linfield  .506
133 Wheaton  .497
139 Thomas More .494
154 St. Thomas  .486
163 St. Norbert  .481
168 Wabash  .474
190 Mount Union  .458
227 Western New England  .386