November 29, 2023: Top 25 thoughts, Taking a look at Tuesday's impactful/notable results
Recapping Tuesday's top storylines from around the country and some quick thoughts on the latest D3hoops.com Top 25
Another night of the season is in the books, and we certainly had some interesting results, as plenty of teams, including three Top 25 teams were in action. Speaking of the Top 25, we have a new D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll out!
It came out on Monday night, but I figured I’d add some of my thoughts on the first ranking of the regular season, which was done after nearly three weeks of games had unfolded. This is pretty beneficial from a voter’s perspective as it gives you an opportunity to watch teams multiple times, especially at a point in the year where inconsistent performances tend to be commonplace as teams work to find their rhythm and deal with travel and non-conference schedules.
The biggest “surprise” for me in this poll was the fact that UMass-Dartmouth was ranked #24. It isn’t too shocking, though, considering the 5-0 record, and wins over Smith, Roger Williams, and Salve Regina. To be honest, I never considered voting for UMD, just considering I felt that the quality of the wins were a little bit lower in reality than maybe the perceived quality was. In other words, Smith was really good last year, and they’re a top NEWMAC contender again, but not at the same level in my opinion. Roger Williams is 2-2, with an 18-point loss to Tufts and a 17-point loss to UMD. The Babson win was solid, but considering Babson is no longer ranked and 3-3 overall, I’m unsure how much weight you can really put on that win. Salve Regina is 3-4 and certainly not at the forefront of the NEWMAC title conversation. More on UMD’s latest game last night in a bit.
The race for the #1 spot continues to be intriguing. NYU did claim the top spot this week after being #2 in the Preseason Poll, and I wonder how much Transylvania’s close call against Wisconsin Lutheran had to do with it. I honestly hope not much, because NYU had a similar close call against Whittier just last week, and as I’ve said a lot lately, WLC is going to be really good. You have to be careful not to overvalue a close win (or a close loss) this early in the year, in my opinion.
In all actuality, this was a very tight battle for the top spot in the poll, with 14 voters putting NYU at #1 and 10 putting Transylvania at #1. One voter had Christopher Newport at #1. NYU edged Transy by just 11 points, which is interesting, and means that at least one voter had NYU at #3 or lower. While I respectfully disagree with that, we saw a lot of great basketball over these three weeks and NYU, Transy, and CNU are certainly all up there in terms of the national title conversation. I’ll also add that, breaking it out, one possible way for Transy to have ended up with its 602 points is to have the 10 first-place votes (25 pts apiece), 7 second-place votes (24 pts apiece), and 8 third-place votes (23 pts apiece). Of course, there’s several different ways to get 602 if you move the numbers a bit, but that seems to be the most likely. Again, lots of parity this season so far and differing opinions starting from the top spot and moving down towards the #20-#25 teams.
I had three teams on my ballot that did not get in (Baldwin Wallace, UW-Stout, Illinois Wesleyan), but all three were up there in terms of the top “receiving votes” teams. 18 different teams ended up in the RV column, which is common at this point in the year, with everyone valuing teams differently and viewing results with varying perspectives. The three I didn't have in were Trine, Mass-Dartmouth and Mary Washington. Those #20-#25 spots were by far the toughest to decide on, and of those three, Trine was probably closest to getting into my ballot.
I can’t say I fully understand Whitman moving up six spots to #17. I’m guessing this is based mostly on the 4-0 record, considering they played two NAIA opponents who are winless, a D-III program transitioning to D-II in Sul Ross State, and a UC-Santa Cruz team that is working to rebuild after graduating a stellar senior class. As I said in my ballot breakdown, we’ll see Whitman against some higher-level D-III competition on Friday against Pacific in NWC action.
Biggest risers (compared to preseason) —> Chicago (22 → 12), Hardin-Simmons (16 → 9), Millikin (24 → 16), Emory (NR, 71 pts → 19)
Biggest falls (compared to preseason) —> Ohio Northern (10 → NR, 12 pts), Babson (13 → NR, 8 pts), DeSales (14 → 21)
Taking a look at some of Tuesday’s more notable performances and results…
UW-Stout, who remains unranked but was #21 on my ballot, crossed the century mark for the second time this season against Martin Luther, winning 106-46. Big storyline out of that one was Sydney Brennan with 24 points in 21 minutes. Remarkable. Shot 8-of-12 from the field with every attempt being a 3-pointer…Brennan seems like she might fit well in “The System” offense (AKA the Grinnell System) with how well she’s been shooting it from beyond the arc! The Eau Claire, Wis. native is averaging 19.7 PPG right now, and this was only her third game of the season.
S/O to Centre, who is off to a 6-0 start this season and beat Spalding on the road, 86-53, last night. Centre’s online schedules go back to the 2010-11 season and I find no other instance of a 6-0 start to a season, so congratulations to the Colonels on that accomplishment. Say what you want about the SOS, but Centre is doing things it has rarely done within the last decade. They took down Hanover on the road nine days ago, and entering that matchup, Hanover had won eight of the last nine meetings, and last lost at home to Centre during the 2013-14 season. That program is moving in the right direction, it seems.
Ithaca moved to 4-1 with a solid 69-55 win over St. John Fisher on the road, which is a positive result for the Bombers. It was tied at the half, 31-31, but a 22-10 run in the third quarter put Ithaca in control. Ithaca overcame a -9 rebounding margin to win, but to the Bombers’ credit, they made finding any kind of offensive rhythm really tough for SJF. The Cardinals shot just 2-of-18 from 3-point range.
Do we call it an upset? I don’t think so, but it was still a big win on the road for Brockport last night, who took down Rochester, 61-57. Brockport trailed by 10 after the opening quarter, and entering the fourth down 47-43. But an 18-10 run over the final 10 minutes gave Brockport the victory, as the Golden Eagles move to 4-1. Definitely a nice bounce-back from Brockport, who lost, 67-53, to Rochester Tech a week ago. Stephanie Jean-Baptiste had 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals in the victory, leading Brockport on both ends of the floor.
Conference play tipped off in the Midwest Conference last night, and Cornell and Illinois College went to overtime in what was a thrilling finish to regulation and into the extra period. Cornell entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 46-30 lead. Again, Illinois College had scored just 30 points in the first 30 minutes. And then in the final 10 minutes, the Lady Blues put 26 points on the board and better yet, held Cornell to just 10. It pushed the game into overtime, knotted at 56 apiece. Cornell did hang on for the win, making key free throws down the stretch in OT, but it is those kinds of rallies that just showcase the intensity of conference play. Kudos to Illinois College for the comeback there, sending it into OT.
Also in MWC notes, Knox, who went 15-1 in league play a year ago, opened with a loss to Grinnell, and it wasn’t close. Grinnell hadn’t beaten Knox since Nov. 30, 2021, but that changed when Grinnell opened the game on a 20-7 run. They held the lead all the way through and rolled to a 71-55 win. Knox is under the leadership of head coach Seth McDowell, who is in his first year at the helm of the program. He was hired back on Oct. 2, not long before the season tipped off, so it is understandable if there are a few bumps in the road early in the year. Still, Knox definitely has some talent and should contend for the MWC title. Don’t want to lose too many more games in league play, though.
And to cap it off, Mass-Dartmouth lost to a good Bridgewater State team on UMD’s home court, 78-71. UMD really struggled coming out of halftime, as BSU surged, outscoring the Corsairs 32-13 in the third quarter. That put BSU in control, as the Bears improved to 2-3. Don’t let the sub-.500 record fool you. BSU has already played Babson, Bowdoin, and RIC. The Bears have certainly faced tough competition early, and that seemed to serve them well in the second half of last night’s big road win.
Looking ahead to tonight… (All tip-off times are eastern time)
#7 Wartburg at #15 Loras, 6:30 p.m.
Wittenberg at #2 Transylvania, 7:00 p.m.
#4 Rhode Island College at #11 Trinity (CT), 7:00 p.m.
Catholic at #18 Elizabethtown, 7:00 p.m.
Bridgewater at Washington & Lee, 7:00 p.m.
Find the complete schedule for today’s games on D3hoops.com!
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