I was planning to write tonight about my thought process for voting for No. 1 and go through the pluses and minuses for each of the seven-odd candidates. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you’re from Newburgh, N.Y., Mount St. Mary made that a moot point.
David Collinge will be posting his Top 25 milestones review later tomorrow but I can’t help but think that Scranton has extended a streak it certainly doesn’t want — most one-and-out appearances as No. 1. Scranton was in the top spot going into the 2005 NCAA Tournament, again in the preseason this year, and this week. They are likely destined to miss being No. 1 for a second consecutive poll again.
I told listeners to Hoopsville on Sunday night that I was leaving my No. 1 spot open next week for the possibility that Howard Payne goes up to Abilene and sweeps Hardin-Simmons and McMurry. If they do that, I’d be willing to give them my No. 1 spot, even if Messiah doesn’t lose. To a lesser extent, I might be willing to hand it over to Chicago if it beats NYU and Brandeis at home, though they have to face the same two on the road the next week.
Yes, I voted for Messiah over Scranton. I talked to another voter who has seen them play and thinks Messiah is better, plus I look at the fact that Messiah handled DeSales on the road, while Scranton struggled with DeSales at home.
At the time I voted, I chalked that up in part to the fact that DeSales always seems to give a little extra when playing Scranton.
After Monday night’s game, though, perhaps I should’ve taken it as a sign.
Pat: Thanks for considering our HPU team. Given our competition so far and our relative lack of national success, I think #6 this week is fair; however, if we can sweep this week I think we would absolutely be deserving next week!! We will definitely need to rebound from our last two less than stellar performances. I think maybe the 17 straight wins may be weighing on their minds a little bit. Having seen HPU,HSU and McMurry several times this year, I am confident our team is certainly capable of a sweep(even on the road), but we will need to play at as high a level as we were earlier. After what HSU did last year in going to the Final Four, I believe these three Texas teams are legit this year too.
What kind of consideration will Mount Saint Mary’s receive after beating the No. 1 team by 20 points? I would think that they should get some recognition.
Definitely will get some. The win will be diminished in a ranker’s eyes, somewhat, by the fact that Scranton’s starting center is injured, but that will certainly get them farther than losses to King’s and Manhattanville did.
Yes that is true, Scranton’s starting center was injured, but every team has to play through different circumstances through out the year. Mount Saint Mary had to play without the services of 2006 league MVP Lasheena Brown for the Marymount tip-off tournament, she did not make the trip. Where they did lose to King’s by ten in the championship game. The Manhattanville loss is hard to defend, other than to say the Blue Knights’ came out stone cold and went down 24-10 to start the game. They did battle back and looked to take control in the second half, but they did let the game slip away at the end.
I agree with ‘ichouse’ 100%. If your team is to garner a #1 National Ranking, you should be able to live up to that ranking. For that Mount, it’s probably the hugest win in their program history, and they should be proud. They executed a plan and it showed. In regards to their three losse; the NYU/MSMC Rivalry has always been fun to watch, and while NYU typically comes up on the winning end, MSMC always puts on a tight/tough contest. The Manhattanville loss for the Mount, yeah… you can’t defend that. And again, in the Marymount Tip-Off Tourney, Lasheena Brown was not there to lead her team as she has so many times before. This is a program that has been well-coached for so many years and has tried countless times to prove their abilities to a national audience. I think credit is due to the players, the coaches, the fans, the school. As THE #1 team in the COUNTRY, Strong should have come better prepared (or at least with another game plan) knowing his starting center would be out. And a 20 point victory?? You cannot discredit that!