January 10, 2023: Let's take a look at the new Top 25 poll (Week 6)
Alright…going to see if I can keep the length on this relatively short, but we do have an new Top 25 to look at. The poll was released last night, but this is the first time I’m sitting down and really giving it a good look. So here are my thoughts (basically in real-time), as break down the brand new rankings from D3hoops.com. If you want to check out how I voted and my weekly ballot breakdown, the link to the article is below:
Here we go!
NYU stays No. 1. Not a great surprise there, though Transylvania also picks up one first-place vote, and Trinity (TX), who was my first-place vote, steals one from NYU. The Violets had 19 of the 25 possible first-place nominations, and for good reason, at 11-0 this season.
The order of the top eight actually did not change, with CNU, Hope, Scranton, Baldwin Wallace, and Smith following behind NYU, Trinity and Transy. That seems about right, though after the scare against Mount Union, I had anticipated seeing BW drop at least one spot.
UW-Eau Claire did lose at #9 meaning DeSales broke into the Top 10 for the first time, going from 11th to 9th. Rochester also moves up two spots and makes its Top 10 debut as well, at #10. Actually, everyone from #11 to #14 moved up two spots with UWEC’s loss to Whitewater and Chicago’s upset road loss at WashU.
Whitewater ends up making one of the biggest leaps of any team this week, going from #17 to #13 after taking down the favored Blugolds on the road. That was a very impressive win, and right now, Whitewater has one of the best resumes in terms of quality wins, if not the best, of any team in the nation. Now, UWEC and Chicago, both ahead of them for several weeks now, are behind, at #14 and #15.
Right behind Hardin-Simmons at #16 (and frankly, that ranking feels a little high) is Trinity (CT), who went from #22 to #17. A five-spot jump, and well-earned by the Bantams, who took down Bowdoin in a very traditional NESCAC contest. The final score? 49-43.
While I’m looking at the NESCAC, somehow Amherst stayed in at #21. That’s a six-spot drop, but I anticipated the Mammoths being unranked. After taking three losses in five games, and nearly a fourth to Williams (the final ended up being a two-point margin), Amherst has not looked very sharp since early December. Middlebury is a good team, and has played several opponents tough this season, but is by no means the NESCAC’s best right now.
And Bowdoin remained in the poll, at #25. I was not quite sure how voters would view the loss to Trinity, but this is twice now that Bowdoin has fared well against high-level competition with NYU being the first test. Don’t forget they played Smith very close as well. I wasn’t voting for Bowdoin, but they were in my Top 30.
Getting back to the 20-25 range of the poll, Mary Hardin-Baylor jumps four spots up to #20, which is a nice step in the right direction for Mark Morefield’s squad. They seemed more connected this week than in previous games. The Crusaders get Hardin-Simmons in a key ASC showdown on Thursday night. Looking forward to covering that one in person.
Only two teams dropped out, in Tufts and Springfield, and we sort of saw the coming. Neither looked all that good, though I would’ve taken Tufts above Springfield. Most voters would have too, as the Jumbos finished with the most votes of any unranked team. Breaking into the Top 25 are two familiar programs in Calvin and Ithaca. There are so many teams right now in contention for Top 25 spots, and these two are deserving. Calvin will get another shot against Hope and Trine later in MIAA play, and is very much in the Pool C conversation at this point.
Now I was voting for some teams that got very little love from the rest of the voting panel. My ballot looks quite a bit different than how this Top 25 turned out, and that’s okay. Everyone is analyzing and seeing things differently. But just because it’s interesting, here are the teams I voted for that did not end up being ranked
Gustavus Adolphus: I had them 24th in my ballot, and the Gusties received the most votes of any team I voted for that did not end up ranked (18).
UW-Oshkosh: The Titans have snuck up on me, but their resume is turning out to be really impressive. They’ve lost a few games perhaps that should have won, but that’s a young team. And in big games, they’ve risen to the challenge. I had them #19 and accounted for 7 of the 10 points they received (if my math is correct). Time will tell, but UWO is an underrated team in D3 WBB right now.
Millikin: Another team I had in my ballot, at #23, in which I accounted for half their points. They received three points based on where I had them and ended up with six total. Millikin is another underrated team who I believe will end up winning the CCIW this year.
UW-La Crosse: UWL has won five straight and is 13-2 overall. They’ve won in different situations and have a really strong defensive ability that should serve them well in WIAC play. I had them at #25 and was one of two voters to have them there, as UWL picked up just two points total.
Interesting stuff. For more analysis and a new way to view the numbers in D3 women’s hoops, be sure to go check out Scott Peterson’s website. He is emerging as a great voice for D3 women’s hoops, and has created his own model to gauge and rank teams in this division through a number of different ways, such as how they perform in “big games”, “Pool C gravity”, regional rankings projections and data, and much more. Honestly, a good portion of the numbers that I’m including in my ballot breakdowns and daily posts came from his analytical data and the metrics he is tracking.
https://d3data.weebly.com/
That’s all I have for today. Looking forward to seeing how Smith does at Hamilton tonight, and will mention my thoughts on that, along with other things, in a post sometime tomorrow. Until then, God Bless and have a great day!