Conference Preseason Polls

[Greek Tragedy]

MASCAC

https://www.mascac.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/releases/MBB_Preseason

1. Worcester State (5) 35 points
2. Bridgewater State (2) 29 points
3. Westfield State 29 points
4. Salem State 21 points
5. Fitchburg State 14 points
6. Framingham State 12 points
7. MCLA 7 points

[89Pirate]

NWC

https://nwcsports.com/news/2023/10/26/whitworth-leads-2023-womens-basketball-coaches-poll.aspx

1 Whitworth (6)  62 pts
2 Whitman (1)  53 pts
3 Puget Sound (2)  50 pts
4 George Fox  38 pts
5 Pacific Lutheran 37 pts
6 Pacific  30 pts
7 Lewis & Clark 28 pts
8 Linfield 18 pts
9 Willamette 8 pts  (ouch)


Go Bucs !

[Greek Tragedy]

AEC
AMCC
ARC
ASC
C2C
CC
CCC
CCIW
CCS
CUNYAC
E8
GNAC
HCAC
LAND
LEC
LL
MACC
MACF
MASCAC
MIAA
MIAC
MWC
NAC
NACC
NCAC
NESCAC
NEWMAC
NJAC
NWC
OAC
ODAC
PAC
SAA
SCAC
SCIAC
SKY
SLIAC
SUNYAC
UAA
UEC - Volt
UEC - Skye
UMAC
USAC
WIAC

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

NACC
https://naccsports.org/news/2023/10/30/wisconsin-lutheran-edges-st-norbert-atop-2023-2024-nacc-mens-basketball-preseason-poll.aspx


Wisconsin Lutheran (12)   323
St. Norbert (13)               320
Benedictine                      262
Concordia Chicago (1)      226
Aurora                            194
Marian                            188
Rockford                         182
Illinois Tech                     173
Lakeland                         140
Concordia Wisconsin        131
MSOE                             118
Edgewood                        73
Dominican                        36

[CNU85]

https://www.c2csports.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/releases/20231031_mbbPreseasonPoll

2023-24 C2C Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Rank   Team                   Points (1st)
1   Christopher Newport   25 (5)
2   Mary Washington   21 (1)
3   Salisbury                   16
4   UC Santa Cruz           14
5   Warren Wilson            9
6   Pratt                            5

[Greek Tragedy]

https://www.c2csports.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/releases/20231031_mbbPreseasonPoll

2023-24 C2C Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Rank   Team                   Points (1st)
1   Christopher Newport   25 (5)
2   Mary Washington   21 (1)
3   Salisbury                   16
4   UC Santa Cruz           14
5   Warren Wilson            9
6   Pratt                            5

Why do they even bother having a poll? This conference frustrates me so much. I "get" having this conference so you can be a part of it and have an AQ, blah, blah, blah...it's just a big loophole. Last year, Warren Wilson didn't even play any conference games. Pratt played one.

[stlawus]

I agree that it's a gimmick. Someone from D3 hoops last year said a lack of conference games is actually more of a disadvantage...in what world?  It allows you to craft a schedule almost completely to your liking since you can tailor it for an NCAA bid by avoiding in conference SOS drags.

[Gregory Sager]

I agree that it's a gimmick. Someone from D3 hoops last year said a lack of conference games is actually more of a disadvantage...in what world?  It allows you to craft a schedule almost completely to your liking since you can tailor it for an NCAA bid by avoiding in conference SOS drags.

Not really. It's a disadvantage, in large part because of timing. As a de facto independent, a C2C team is forced to play other D3 teams on those other D3 teams' terms with regard to schedule availability. Conference games eat up January and February in their entirety. If you're lucky, a nearby conference will have an odd number of teams and thus be forced to play an odd-team-out schedule in which game days will leave one conference member with an open date for which that C2C team could then schedule them (if the conference-based team is willing to do so, that is). If the C2C team is not that lucky, they're either going to have to travel very far indeed to find such an odd-team-out conference-bound D3 opponent, or else they're going to have to pick up a non-D3 opponent. And if a C2C team's neighboring D3 leagues are large, then that means that their conference schedules require pre-Christmas games as well, which cramps a C2C team's scheduling opportunities even more.

And, yeah, let's talk about "crafting a schedule almost completely to your liking" for an island-within-islands school such as UC-Santa Cruz!

Here's how C2C regular-season schedules broke down by month in 2022-23:

team	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
Christopher Newport	7	8	6	4
Mary Washington	6	7	7	5
Salisbury	7	6	8	4
UC-Santa Cruz	7	6	5	6
Warren Wilson	8	4	5	8
Pratt	9	4	7	5
average	7.33	5.83	6.33	5.33

This is not optimal scheduling. This is necessity scheduling. Many conference-bound teams play 13 or 14 games in January and February, nicely evening out their schedules before and after what is typically a break around Christmastime. C2C teams are only able to get in about 11 or 12 games in January and February, and just getting in that many requires the comparatively localized triumvirate of Christopher Newport, Mary Washington, and Salisbury to play home-and-homes against each other in those two months. The bigger problem is that you see all sorts of non-D3 games in those January and February schedules by necessity, just to pad out the already-thin slates for those two months. Salisbury played Washington Adventist and Apprentice School (USCAA opponents) last January, and Pratt played Adventist School in February. Warren Wilson played no fewer than 12 non-D3 opponents last season, and the Banana Slugs played six.

The flip side of the problem is that the C2C teams have to overstuff November and December compared to everybody else; not only does that pose its own set of scheduling problems (the season starts well into November, you have to work your schedule around Christmas in December, and then there's the issue of semester finals at your school), it means that a disproportionate amount of your schedule comes at a time when your team is still consolidating, jelling, and developing. Obviously, this was not an impediment to CNU or MWU last season, but it didn't help matters, either.

[stlawus]

Lots of teams play midweek games during conference play.  Most of the C2C schools are in regions where there isn't a huge travel requirement to get games in January and February.  I do not agree that it's a disadvantage.  Santa Cruz is in no man's land, they are going to be screwed regardless of conference affiliation.

[Gregory Sager]

Who said anything about midweek games? I'm talking about the overall mechanics of the schedule. I didn't even bring up midweek travel.

The evidence is right there in black and white on D3hoops.com in the schedules section. Even the four C2C schools that have comparatively easy access to D3 opponents are playing fewer games in January and February than are most other teams, and a couple of those four had to add in games against Apprentice School just to pad out those Jan/Feb slates. And I didn't even get into whether or not those four particular C2C schools wanted to play the D3 opponents that they took on in January and February, as opposed to settling for the potluck of some conference's odd-team-out scheduling.

The idea that C2C coaches can just la-di-da themselves towards whatever their hearts desire in terms of scheduling is a myth. On the contrary, they're dealing with a lot of constraints.

[Greek Tragedy]

https://northcoast.org/news/2023/10/26/wabash-preseason-favorite-in-2023-24-ncac-mens-basketball-poll.aspx

NCAC
1. Wabash
2. Wooster
3. Denison
4. DePauw
5. Ohio Wesleyan
6. Wittenberg
7. Oberlin
8. Hiram
9. Kenyon

[CNU85]

Who said anything about midweek games? I'm talking about the overall mechanics of the schedule. I didn't even bring up midweek travel.

The evidence is right there in black and white on D3hoops.com in the schedules section. Even the four C2C schools that have comparatively easy access to D3 opponents are playing fewer games in January and February than are most other teams, and a couple of those four had to add in games against Apprentice School just to pad out those Jan/Feb slates. And I didn't even get into whether or not those four particular C2C schools wanted to play the D3 opponents that they took on in January and February, as opposed to settling for the potluck of some conference's odd-team-out scheduling.

The idea that C2C coaches can just la-di-da themselves towards whatever their hearts desire in terms of scheduling is a myth. On the contrary, they're dealing with a lot of constraints.

Scheduling is a HUGE nightmare for CNU. You hit many of the issues. Once conference play starts, other teams in the middle of conference play do not necessarily want to play non conference games. You can find an odd ball once in a while. Also, you tend to travel more. I think the first year of the C2C the women's team at CNU had 4 home games after Jan 1. I will look that up. Correction - The women played a home game Jan 29th and a home game Feb 19th in the first full season of the C2C. That's hardly an advantage. That same season the men had 2 home games in January and 2 in February. I don't think that's a formula to "craft a schedule almost completely to your liking"

Also - in order to try to get 25 games in, CNU relies on home tournaments during holidays. That costs money keeping more of the campus open and also paying guarantees to have teams come to the games.

It is far from ideal. The coaches hate it. They would much rather have a normal conference schedule. To even think that they can schedule whatever and whenever they want is so far from reality it is absurd.

[Greek Tragedy]

https://wiacsports.com/news/2023/11/2/uw-whitewater-predicted-to-win-mens-basketball-title.aspx

1. Whitewater
2. Oshkosh
3. La Crosse
4. Platteville
5. River Falls
6. Eau Claire
7. Stevens Point
8. Stout

[Greek Tragedy]

https://www.amccsports.org/sports/mbkb/2023-24/files/2023-24_MBB_Pre-Season_Poll.pdf


AMCC

1. Penn State Altoona (2)
2. La Roche (1)
3. Penn State Behrend (T5)
4. Hilbert (3)
5. Pitt-Bradford (T5)
6. Wells (N/A)
7. Pitt-Greensburg (4)
8. Alfred State (7)
9. Mount Aloysius (8)
10. Carlow (N/A)

[Greek Tragedy]

SAA

https://saa-sports.com/news/2023/11/3/berry-picked-to-repeat-in-saa-mens-basketball-poll.aspx

1. Berry
2. Sewanee
3. Rhodes
4. Birm Southern
5. Oglethorpe
6. Hendrix
7. Centre
8. Millsaps