January 4, 2023: Taking a look at the Week 5 D3hoops.com Top 25
NYU stays #1, three previously unranked teams break into the poll
Here’s a look at how the new D3hoops.com Top 25 poll turned out as it was released last night, along with a few of my thoughts on the latest rankings. Hope you’re having a great day!
Biggest risers: Loras (unranked to #19), Hardin-Simmons (#22 to #16), Rochester (#17 to #12)
Biggest falls: Amherst (#6 to #15), Mary Hardin-Baylor (#16 to #24), Babson (#9 to #14), Springfield (#13 to #18)
NYU stays #1 with 20 first-place votes, which was expected, and as I said yesterday, warranted for the Violets. I feel that Trinity (TX) currently has a better resume, with its wins over Hardin-Simmons, UMHB, Puget Sound, and Colorado College, but NYU has met every challenge it has faced. The NYU vs. Chicago matchup on Jan. 13 will tell us a lot about where both teams are.
And that is a key matchup because Chicago is now #10, having moved up four spots. I had the Maroons at #12, and feel pretty good about what they’ve done so far, though it will be interesting to see how they navigate a stronger UAA schedule after facing just two Top 100 Massey teams through the first two months of the regular season.
Three unranked teams broke into the Top 25 in Loras, Trinity, and Bowdoin. All three were in my Top 30, and I am thinking Trinity (if the Bantams have the week I expect they will have) will be in my Top 25 next week. Bowdoin is also up there, but was just outside of my ballot this week. I had Loras at #18, and overall, it is good to see the parity across the division. There’s so many good teams out there, #1 is not even an easy selection at this point, much less those final five spots at the bottom of a voter’s ballot. All three are playing very good basketball right now.
The NESCAC leads the way with four teams in this week’s Top 25, and the UAA has three. The NEWMAC has three, with Smith coming in at #8, and the ASC, MIAA, and WIAC each have two.
There were certainly some surprises for me, but I thought that the poll was very much on point. The voters continue to do a great job analyzing and comparing results, especially when you are trying to combine the eye test, with the numbers, and on top of that, have very few common opponents amongst nationally-ranked teams. I still think Gustavus Adolphus deserves to be in (or at least be higher than fourth in the receiving votes category, but there’s just so much parity right now. I’m interested to see how conference play across the country affects the poll, especially for teams playing in tougher leagues.
UC Santa Cruz drops out and as far as I know, yesterday’s loss to ETBU was not factored in (though the game did finish prior to the deadline). The Banana Slugs did not look very good down here in Texas, but here’s the thing: this is a talented group, and as I wrote yesterday, an experienced group that I still think has a great shot to make a run in the NCAA Tournament if they manage to get in. They likely will not make the Top 25 again unless several teams take significant losses, at least until they face Mary Washington and CNU on Feb. 4 & 5. That said, it does not mean voters will not keeping voting for UCSC, but it’s going to take a lot for them to get back into the Top 20, as they were in the Week 4 poll.
Sometimes if you just glance at the points each team is receiving in the poll, you find some interesting notables…such as…DeSales came in at #11, Chicago at #10. The difference in points separating them? Actually, it was a single point. 385 points for Chicago, 384 for DeSales…Four points separates Ohio Northern and Puget Sound, who came in at #20 and #21, respectively…Bowdoin barely got into the poll at #25 after a strong showing at NYU, and had 63 points. Ithaca, who dropped out of the Top 25 after being #24 in Week 4, came in with 61.
Those are just a few thoughts I had as I took a look at the new poll last night. A lot of movement was expected, considering we hadn’t officially voted since Dec. 19, but as I said above, there wasn’t anything that really shocked me, as far as where teams were ranked, and who broke into the Top 25. It should be a great week ahead! Here’s a couple games I’m watching tonight, before signing off for the day.
#25 Bowdoin vs. #18 Springfield (Playing as I write this at 11:15 AM CST) (Link to watch: https://web.playsight.com/facility/springfield-college/home)
UW-Stevens Point @ #17 UW-Whitewater (Watch)
UW-La Crosse @ UW-Platteville, 8 pm EST (Watch)
#9 UW-Eau Claire @ UW-Oshkosh, 8 pm EST (Watch)
#19 Loras @ Luther, 6:30 EST (Watch)