The Week 5 Top 25 recorded a composite record of 36-15 this week, with eleven ranked teams suffering losses. With so much carnage, a complete reevaluation of each voter’s ballot was called for. One result was the beginning of a separation between a leading group of nine teams and the rest of the pack. The top 9 teams received 4,654 votes out of a possible 4,725 (98.5%), and the gap between #9 (Mississippi College) and #10 (UW-Oshkosh) grew to 92 points, or nearly four positions on the average voter’s ballot. Last week’s #2, Ohio Northern, suffered its second double-digit homecourt loss of the season, a defeat which had ramifications throughout the top third of the poll. ONU’s seven first-place votes were in play, and six of them ended up in the hands of #1 UW-Stevens Point, allowing the Pointers to break free of a three-team logjam and establish themselves as the clear #1 team. ONU has already recorded wins over two other top 10 teams (#5 Wooster and #8 Wittenberg), giving the voters a dilemma over how to handle ONU’s loss. Some voters clearly thought it was important to keep ONU slotted ahead of Wooster, resulting in a 28-point drop in the Scots’ support (despite blasting their only opponent of the week,) while others evidently reconsidered the relative ranking of these two Ohio schools, as the gap between them, which had been 64 points, was reduced to a single point. The primary beneficiary of this conundrum seems to have been #3 St. Thomas, which gained 39 points and two poll positions despite struggling to a 2-point win and a double overtime win this week. #6 Whitworth also moved up strongly (+38), with the result being that the teams ranked #3 through #6 are essentially tied, with just ten points separating the #3 Tommies and the #6 Pirates.

Looking down the list, perhaps the most notable development is that the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) now has four teams ranked and two others receiving votes. The CCIW and its northern neighbor, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), are the only D3 conferences to achieve the distinction of having 4 teams ranked in the same week, and the CCIW is the smaller of the two conferences (8 teams vs. the WIAC’s 9). Alongside the CCIW, the eight-team University Athletic Association (UAA) had six teams receiving votes this week. The UAA and CCIW join the ten-team New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), which had six teams in the voting in week 9 of the 1999-2000 season, and the WIAC, which has had 6 teams in the voting seven times (including the first two polls this season) and seven teams receive votes on four separate occasions, as the only conferences with six teams in the voting in a given week.

Debutantes:
Fresh off its upset victory over then-#9 William Paterson, Manhattanville received votes for the first time this week. Congratulations to the Valiants!

Streakers:
> #5 Wooster is a top ten team for the 45th consecutive week, extending their record streak.
> #2 Amherst is a top 25 team for the 70th straight week, also a record.
> #9 Mississippi College and #23 Worcester Polytech each received votes for the 30th consecutive week; #4 Ohio Northern is a vote-getter for the 20th straight time.
> Lawrence dropped out of the top 25 for the first time since last season’s preseason poll, snapping a ranking string at 20 straight weeks.

Milestones:
> #7 Virginia Wesleyan is a top 10 team for the tenth time, and a top 25 team for the 25th time.
> #2 Amherst is ranked for the 75th week.
> #16 Washington U. is in the top 25 for the 50th time, and received votes for the 70th time.
> #6 Whitworth appears on the voting list for the 50th time. For #19 Johns Hopkins, this is the 30th appearance, and #12 Bates has now drawn voting support ten times.

High-Water Marks:
#3 St. Thomas, #12 Bates, and #20 UW-La Crosse each set new marks for highest-ever ranking this week. #6 Whitworth equalled its highest point, first achieved last week.

Movers and Shakers:
> The biggest gainers of the week were #14 Elmhurst, gaining 178 points and vaulting into the top 25; #10 UW-Oshkosh, leaping eight spots and 173 points; and #16 Washington U., up 142 points and 8 placements.
> Averett dropped three straight games and plummeted out of the poll from the #11 spot, shedding 328 points in the process.