Polls

[agibson]

I've not even been reading the Mid-Major Top 25.  Too caught up in the soccer season, perhaps.

I notice that Cleveland State got a bunch of votes (effectively #29) in the AP Top 25 last week, with Butler getting a few, and both teams getting some in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll as well.

Even Akron got a vote in the AP poll.  (If Duquesne and we weren't enough, they get Detroit next, and Cleveland State soon.)

In last week's mid-major poll (no A10), CSU's 4th (with a first place vote), Butler 9th, Detroit 16th.  Green Bay got 4 votes, and Milwaukee and Valpo one a piece.  More than sixty teams got at least one vote.

Akron's 12th, with a first place vote.  Oaklands' 24th.

[agibson]

Not a poll, exactly.  But, I notice Cleveland State has the #1 RPI in the land today. 

That won't last, of course.  Not that they're only playing cupcakes, but, there's no reason they need to lose before the heart of Horizon League play.  Could be a recipe for a decent national ranking.  They often seem to have schedules such that, if they win their one really tough game, they can build an extremely impressive W-L record.

[agibson]

From November 21

                             Record  Points Previous
  1.   Gonzaga (26)   3-0   765   1    West Coast   
  2.   Creighton (2)   4-0   739   2   Missouri Valley   
  3.   Cleveland State (3)   3-0   684   4   Horizon League   
  4.   Harvard   3-0   617   8   Ivy League   
  5.   Belmont   2-2   609   3   Atlantic Sun   
  6.   Kent State   2-0   587   14    Mid-American   
  7.   Iona   2-1   582   6   Metro Atlantic   
  8.   Long Beach State   2-1   506   18   Big West   
  9.   Saint Mary's   2-0   504   11   West Coast   
10.   Wichita State   2-2   495   5   Missouri Valley   
11.   Weber State   3-0   376   19   Big Sky   
12.   UC Santa Barbara   3-0   369   23   Big West   
13.   Indiana State   3-0   313   20   Missouri Valley   
14.   Butler   1-2   299   9   Horizon League   
15.   George Mason   2-2   275   7   Colonial Athletic   
16.   BYU   2-1   264   15   West Coast   
17.   Drexel   1-2   216   10   Colonial Athletic   
18.   Akron   2-2   193   12    Mid-American   
19.   VCU   2-2   177   13   Colonial Athletic   
20.   Detroit   2-1   153   16   Horizon League   
21.   College of Charleston   3-0   144   NR   Southern   
22.   Middle Tennessee   4-1   140   NR   Sun Belt   
23.   Fairfield   2-2   124   17   Metro Atlantic   
24.   Valparaiso   5-1   111   NR   Horizon League   
25.   Oakland   1-2   81   24   Summit League   

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:  Missouri State 75, Texas San Antonio 74, Evansville 66, Murray State 60, Davidson 59, Old Dominion 59, Northern Iowa 56, North Dakota State 49, Coastal Carolina 35, Norfolk State 27, Bradley 20, Milwaukee 20, Miami 18, Siena 17, Denver 14, Cal State Fullerton 13, Portland 11, Florida Atlantic 10, San Francisco 8, Wagner 8, Princeton 7, Stony Brook 7, Bucknell 6, Presyterian 6, Campbell 5, Oral Roberts 5, Wright State 5, South Dakota State 4, Utah Valley 4, Hofstra 2, East Tennessee State 1, Elon 1.

VOTING PANEL: Jesse Agel (Brown), Casey Alexander (Stetson), Murry Bartow (East Tennessee State), Randy Bennett (St. Mary's), Horace Broadnax (Savannah State), Milan Brown (Holy Cross), Will Brown (Albany), Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee), Billy Donlon (Wright State), Bruiser Flint (Drexel), James Fox (Davidson), Tyler Geving (Portland State), Mike Gillian (Longwood), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Willie Hayes (Alabama A&M), B.J. Hill (Northern Colorado), Dick Hunsaker (Utah Valley), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Danny Kaspar (Stephen F. Austin), Kerry Keating (Santa Clara), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Greg McDermott (Creighton), Tom Moore (Quinnipiac), Jeff Neubauer (Eastern Kentucky), Jimmy Patsos (Loyola MD), Buzz Peterson (UNC Wilmington), Barclay Radebaugh (Charleston Southern), John Shulman (Chattanooga), Brad Stevens (Butler), Jim Woolridge (UC Riverside), Ernie Zeigler (Central Michigan)

[agibson]

From November 28

1. Gonzaga (25) 4-0 762 1 West Coast   
  2. Creighton (3) 5-0 740 2 Missouri Valley   
  3. Harvard (3) 6-0 688 4 Ivy League   
  4. Iona 3-1 614 7 Metro Atlantic   
  5. Cleveland State 6-1 612 3 Horizon   
  6. Belmont 2-2 589 5 Atlantic Sun   
  7. Weber State 4-0 578 11 Big Sky   
  8. Kent State 2-1 509 6 Mid-American   
  9. Wichita State 3-2 505 10 Missouri Valley   
10. Long Beach State 3-2 492 8 Big West   
11. Saint Mary's 3-1 379 9 West Coast   
12. Indiana State 6-1 371 13 Missouri Valley   
13. UC Santa Barbara 4-1 308 12 Big West   
14. Butler 3-3 304 14 Horizon   
15. George Mason 4-2 287 15 Colonial Athletic   
16. BYU 4-2 266 16 West Coast   
17. Drexel 2-2 212 17 Colonial Athletic   
18. Akron 3-2 203 18 Mid-American   
19. Murray State 7-0 172 NR Ohio Valley   
20. VCU 3-3 157 19 Colonial Athletic   
21. Oakland 3-2 155 25 Summit   
22. Middle Tennessee 6-1 151 22 Sun Belt   
23. College of Charleston 5-1 142 21 Southern   
24. North Dakota State 6-0 93 NR Summit   
25. Missouri State 4-0 79 NR Missouri Valley   

 
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:  Davidson 78, Denver 78, Northern Iowa 51, Valparaiso 49, Fairfield 47, Milwaukee 46, Detroit 40, Coastal Carolina 36, Texas San Antonio 34, Bucknell 30, Old Dominion 29, Oral Roberts 25, Ohio 23, Norfolk State 16, Santa Clara 16, Cal State Fullerton 14, Evansville 14, Hofstra 12, Loyola MD 12, East Tennessee State 11, Robert Morris 8, Wagner 8, Eastern Illinois 7, Campbell 5, South Dakota State 4, Utah Valley 4, James Madison 3, Lamar 2, Northeastern 2, Albany 1, Vermont 1.

[vuweathernerd]

next poll should be up this afternoon or this evening. i'd like to think that we'll recrack the top 25 after our win on saturday.

[agibson]

Yeah - this was me posting the old one before it disappeared.  I had some commentary queued in my head, which never got written.

I don't really know what happened last week - did all of the several teams that skipped us have convincing victories?  Or did people just decide that it was time for all of the undefeateds to make the poll?

Or, were we paying the price for more-than-just-a-loss to Ohio State?

But, yes, without looking at the other results for teams at the bottom of the poll, I think there's a fair chance that we're back in and Butler slips a bit.

[agibson]

I notice, also, that while Ohio State made up a _little_ ground on Kentucky, a close win over UNC is apparently considered nearly as valuable as a thumping of Duke.  Ohio State stays at number 2.

[valpopal]

HL Twitter: "Latest Mid-Major Top 25 has Cleveland St. at 5, Valpo No. 22 and Butler 24. Milwaukee collecting votes."

[agibson]

HL Twitter: "Latest Mid-Major Top 25 has Cleveland St. at 5, Valpo No. 22 and Butler 24. Milwaukee collecting votes."

Butler all the way down to 24, and below us.  This I did not see coming.  Sometimes the polls are more intuitive than you expect!

[agibson]

December 5

1.   Creighton (28)   7-0   772   2   Missouri Valley   
  2.   Harvard (1)   8-0   730   3   Ivy League   
  3.   Iona   6-1   684   4   Metro Atlantic   
  4.   Gonzaga (1)   5-1   676   1   West Coast   
  5.   Cleveland State   8-1   618   5   Horizon   
  6.   Belmont   5-2   599   6   Atlantic Sun   
  7.   Wichita State   5-2   560   9   Missouri Valley   
  8.   Kent State   5-1   504   8    Mid-American   
  9.   Saint Mary's   5-1   493   11   West Coast   
10.   Murray State (1)   9-0   482   19   Ohio Valley   
11.   Weber State   5-1   395   7   Big Sky   
12.   George Mason   6-2   363   15   Colonial Athletic   
13.   Long Beach State   4-3   344   10   Big West   
14.   UCSB   4-2   341   13   Big West   
15.   BYU   6-2   317   16   West Coast   
16.   Indiana State   6-2   296   12   Missouri Valley   
17.   Middle Tennessee   8-1   280   22   Sun Belt   
18.   Oakland   6-2   250   21   Summit   
19.   College of Charleston   7-1   233   23   Southern   
20.   VCU   5-3   193   20   Colonial Athletic   
21.   Northern Iowa   7-1   174   NR   Missouri Valley   
22.   Valparaiso   6-2   121   NR   Horizon   
23.   Davidson   6-1   93   NR   Southern   
24.   Butler   4-4   87   14   Horizon   
25.   Ohio   5-1   77   NR    Mid-American   

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:  Denver 74, Robert Morris 51, Missouri State 27, North Dakota State 26, Akron 21, Campbell 21, Wisconsin Milwaukee 20, Norfolk State 18, Coastal Carolina 17, Loyola 17, Lamar 16, Old Dominion 16, Santa Clara 16, Drexel 15, Fairfield 7, Cal State Bakersfield 5, Oral Roberts 4, South Alabama 4, American 3, Portland State 3, South Dakota State 3, UTSA 2, Toledo 2, Eastern Illinois 1, Elon 1, Norfolk State 1, Utah Valley 1, Yale 1.

[sectionee]

Milwaukee will be in there soon enough, they aren't getting enough respect in my opinion.

[valporun]

While the Depaul win was needed for Milwaukee, I think one more win this week will get them closer to 25 ranking.

[valpotx]

I look forward to us beating a currently higher ranked Oakland team in a few weeks :-).

[agibson]

From December 12:

1.    Creighton (21)    7-1    740    1    Missouri Valley    
  2.    Murray State (5)    10-0    697    10    Ohio Valley    
  3.    Harvard (1)    9-1    693    2    Ivy League    
  4.    Cleveland State (1)    10-1    625    5    Horizon    
  5.    Iona    7-2    593    3    Metro Atlantic    
  6.    Belmont    6-2    581    6    Atlantic Sun    
  7.    Wichita State    7-2    572    7    Missouri Valley    
  8.    Kent State (1)    7-1    568    8    Mid-American    
  9.    Gonzaga (1)    5-2    528    4    West Coast    
10.    Saint Mary's    5-1    492    9    West Coast    
11.    Northern Iowa (1)    9-1    454    21    Missouri Valley    
12.    BYU    8-2    442    15    West Coast    
13.    Weber State    6-2    329    11    Big Sky    
14.    UC Santa Barbara    4-2    313    14    Big West    
15.    George Mason    7-3    294    12    Colonial Athletic    
16.    Indiana State    7-2    261    16    Missouri Valley    
17.    College of Charleston    7-1    254    19    Southern    
18.    Ohio    7-1    230    25    Mid-American    
19.    Middle Tennessee    9-2    232    17    Sun Belt    
20.    VCU    6-3    226    20    Colonial Athletic    
21.    Oakland    6-4    174    18    Summit    
22.    Long Beach State    4-5    161    13    Big West    
23.    Denver    6-2    106    NR    Sun Belt    
24.    Loyola (MD)    8-1    79    NR    Metro Atlantic    
25.    Campbell    8-1    64    NR    Big South    

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:  Valparaiso 62, Wisconsin Milwaukee 45, Davidson 44, Coastal Carolina 31, Missouri State 25, Robert Morris 24, Lamar 24, Norfolk State 15, Youngstown State 14, South Dakota State 12, Wagner 11, Butler 10, Fairfield 10, Ball State 9, North Dakota State 9, Lehigh 8, Buffalo 5, Drake 5, Elon 3, Oral Roberts 3, Georgia State 2, Akron 1, Columbia 1, Mercer 1, Santa Clara 1, Utah Valley 1, Yale 1.

[agibson]

So, Cleveland State's doing OK at #4.  But, the Horizon League is otherwise absent from the top 25.  IPFW was enough to boot us out.  But, we're knocking on the door.

Valpo #26, Milwaukee #27, Youngstown State #34, Butler #37.

Youngstown State ranked ahead of Butler.  Go figure.

[valpopal]

Horizon League Power Rankings: Valpo slips to third place this week.

"Valpo, at 1.04 ppp, maintains the only Pomeroy top-100 offense in the League, while CSU, at 0.92 ppp, has the best defensive efficiency (34th nationally)."

http://horizonleaguehoops.com/2011/12/13/power-rankings-week-5-espresso-edition/

[valpotx]

We are just barely behind the Summit now in conference RPI based on www.realtimerpi.com.  Big difference in SOS as HL is 7th, Summit 24th.  Playing and beating some cupcakes seems to be keeping them ahead for now.

[valporun]

We are just barely behind the Summit now in conference RPI based on www.realtimerpi.com.  Big difference in SOS as HL is 7th, Summit 24th.  Playing and beating some cupcakes seems to be keeping them ahead for now.

I'm sure Butler and Detroit losing some higher level games hasn't helped enough to get us going, but just wait until the Summit starts beating themselves up.

[valpotx]

HL has now overtaken Summit and is widening the lead with today's games.  We went 6-2 on Thursday against some decent overall competition, while Summit went 3-2 against so-so teams.

[agibson]

I'm quite delinquent this season, but here's from January 7.

1.    Murray State (28)    16-0    771    1    Ohio Valley    
  2.    Creighton    13-2    723    3    Missouri Valley    
  3.    Gonzaga (3)    13-2    722    4    West Coast    
  4.    Harvard    13-2    657    2    Ivy Leagye    
  5.    Saint Mary's    14-2    638    6    West Coast    
  6.    Iona    13-3    602    7    Metro Atlantic    
  7.    Middle Tennessee    15-2    565    10    Sun Belt    
  8.    Cleveland State    14-3    549    8    Horizon    
  9.    Wichita State    12-3    530    9    Missouri Valley    
10.    BYU    14-4    458    15    West Coast    
11.    George Mason    12-4    433    13    Colonial Athletic    
12.    Ohio    12-3    419    5    Mid-American    
13.    Kent State    10-4    360    11    Mid-American    
14.    Davidson    10-4    325    19    Southern    
15.    Weber State    12-3    323    18    Big Sky    
16.    Long Beach State    10-6    279    23    Big West    
17.    Denver    13-3    273    20    Sun Belt    
18.    College of Charleston    11-4    261    16    Southern    
19.    Belmont    11-6    168    17    Atlantic Sun    
20.    Oral Roberts    14-4    163    NR    Summit    
21.    VCU    11-5    138    14    Colonial Athletic    
22.    Wagner    12-3    132    25    Northeast    
23.    Indiana State    10-5    97    12    Missouri Valley    
24.    Missouri State    10-6    88    22    Missouri Valley    
25.    Northern Iowa    12-4    71    NR    Missouri Valley    

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:  South Dakota State 70, Georgia State 66, Lamar 37, Illinois State 29, Loyola 25, Norfolk State 22, Akron 11, North Dakota State 11, Texas Arlington 11, Robert Morris 10, UC Santa Barbara 10, Old Dominion 9, Milwaukee 6, Buffalo 5, Butler 5, Valparaiso 2, Drexel 1.

[agibson]

January 16.

Cleveland State drops a bit, to 10th.  Milwaukee re-enters the poll at 23.  Valpo climbs a bit, and is now the highest ranked Horizon League team in the "receiving votes" category.

  1.    Murray State (31)    18-0    775    1    Ohio Valley    
  2.    Creighton    16-2    735    2    Missouri Valley    
  3.    Saint Mary's    17-2    681    5    West Coast    
  4.    Harvard    15-2    670    4    Ivy League    
  5.    Middle Tennessee    17-2    639    7    Sun Belt    
  6.    Gonzaga    14-3    630    3    West Coast    
  7.    Wichita State    15-3    591    9    Missouri Valley    
  8.    Iona    14-4    533    6    Metro Atlantic    
  9.    BYU    15-4    524    10    West Coast    
10.    Cleveland State    15-4    497    8    Horizon    
11.    Long Beach State    12-6    396    16    Big West    
12.    Davidson    12-4    393    14    Southern    
13.    Kent State    12-4    391    13    Mid-American    
14.    George Mason    13-5    363    11    Colonial Athletic    
15.    Weber State    14-3    336    15    Big Sky    
16.    Oral Roberts    16-4    289    20    Summit    
17.    Ohio    13-4    287    12    Mid-American    
18.    Belmont    12-6    229    19    Atlantic Sun    
19.    VCU    13-5    226    21    Colonial Athletic    
20.    Wagner    14-3    161    22    Northeast    
21.    Denver    14-4    157    17    Sun Belt    
22.    College of Charleston    12-5    134    18    Southern    
23.    Milwaukee    13-6    59    NR    Horizon    
24.    Georgia State    13-4    57    NR    Colonial Athletic    
25.    UT-Arlington    11-5    49    NR    Southland    

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:  South Dakota State 46, Akron 45, Norfolk State 31, Drexel 26, Valparaiso 26, Robert Morris 24, Indiana State 22, Northern Iowa 20, North Dakota State 11, UNC Asheville 10, Long Island University 7, Missouri State 7, Coastal Carolina 5, Yale 4, Illinois State 2, Lamar 2, Lehigh 2, Bucknell1, Buffalo 1, Loyola 1.

[vuweathernerd]

i really hope the loyola that is receiving votes isn't ours. luckily, there's no shortage of loyolas around the country, so i think we're safe.

[StlVUFan]

i really hope the loyola that is receiving votes isn't ours. luckily, there's no shortage of loyolas around the country, so i think we're safe.

I think it's safe to say it's not, via CollegeRPI.com:

Loyola (Maryland) Greyhounds (12-5, 5-2)
RPI: 0.5526 - 86
SOS: 0.4798 - 211

[valporun]

i really hope the loyola that is receiving votes isn't ours. luckily, there's no shortage of loyolas around the country, so i think we're safe.

I think it's safe to say it's not, via CollegeRPI.com:

Loyola (Maryland) Greyhounds (12-5, 5-2)
RPI: 0.5526 - 86
SOS: 0.4798 - 211

It would be nice if the poll noted that it is Loyola (MD).

[Valpo2010]

i really hope the loyola that is receiving votes isn't ours. luckily, there's no shortage of loyolas around the country, so i think we're safe.

I think it's safe to say it's not, via CollegeRPI.com:

Loyola (Maryland) Greyhounds (12-5, 5-2)
RPI: 0.5526 - 86
SOS: 0.4798 - 211

It would be nice if the poll noted that it is Loyola (MD).

Lets keep in mind that this is the same poll that once included "Milwaukee", "UW - Milwaukee", and "Wisconsin Milwaukee" all as recieving votes in one poll.