The conventional wisdom in D3 men’s basketball has long been that there are four “power conferences” that dominate the national landscape: the CCIW, NJAC, OAC, and WIAC. Recent successes by the NESCAC and UAA have expanded this group into a “Big Six.” But this week’s poll begs the question of whether this group is still the best of the best.
There’s no argument about the UAA and CCIW, each of which has three top 25 teams this week. The NESCAC, winners of two national titles in the past five seasons, have two teams in this week’s top 10. There are signs that the WIAC may be slipping a bit, but they still have two top 25 teams, as well as two of the last four trophies. But the time may have come to reevaluate the status of the Ohio and New Jersey conferences.
The OAC was well-regarded by the voters in the preseason poll, with two top 25 teams and two others receiving votes, but these four teams stumbled to a collective 9-8 start to the season, and three of them (preseason #20 Baldwin-Wallace, John Carroll, and Ohio Northern) fell out of the voting altogether. Only #18 Capital, which fell 8 places this week, and upstart Heidelberg (with a mere five votes) remain on the voters’ ballots this week.
That’s still better than the NJAC, which has no top 25 teams at all this week. The best-placed New Jersey team is Rowan, whose 36 votes are surpassed by twenty-nine teams from coast to coast.
Overall, there are ten conferences with at least two teams in the top 25 this week, including such upstarts as the SUNYAC (#11 Plattsburgh St. and #17 Brockport St.), the ASC (#9 Mary Hardin-Baylor and #23 Mississippi College), and the NWC (#12 Puget Sound and #25 Lewis & Clark), but not including either the Ohio or New Jersey Athletic Conferences.
It is also worth noting that the Old Dominion has two of the top 5 teams in this week’s poll. Now, this is not news for the traditionally top-heavy ODAC, which has had two top 5 teams in fifteen previous polls. But on all 15 of those occasions, the two teams have been bitter rivals Hampden-Sydney and Randolph Macon. This week, neither of these teams is ranked, and the two standard bearers are #3 Guilford and #5 Virginia Wesleyan.
So what’s the lesson? Perhaps what we’re seeing is a trend towards nationwide parity in Division 3. Maybe the days of the “power conference” are waning. One thing is certain, though: never trust the conventional wisdom!
Debutantes:
Women: #10 UW-Whitewater became a top 10 team for the first time ever this week.
Men: The Student Princes of Heidelberg received 5 votes this week, marking the first time the program has attracted voting support. Both #7 Brandeis and #9 Mary Hardin-Baylor joined the top 10 for the initial time in this poll. Congratulations to these outstanding programs!
Streakers:
Women: #6 Calvin is in the top 10 for the 10th straight week, while Luther and Fitchburg St. have now received votes in ten consecutive polls. Brandeis dropped two home games and fell from the top 25 for the first time in 50 weeks.
Men: When the Wooster Scots suit up this Saturday at Cedarville University, it will be the first time that any of them will do so not as a player on a top 10 team. Wooster fell to #14, their lowest ranking since week 3 of the 2003-04 season and the first time they’ve been out of the top ten in 54 weeks, a poll record. They will have the consolation of knowing that they’ve received votes in 125 straight polls, also a record. New #1 Amherst appears in the top 25 this week for the 80th straight time, extending their poll record. #3 Guilford is in the top 25 for the 10th consecutive week, while #5 Virginia Wesleyan is a top 10 team for the 20th straight week. Both Occidental (26 weeks) and Whitworth (20 weeks) had lengthy poll-appearance streaks snapped, while voting streaks were extended at #23 Mississippi College (40 weeks), WPI (40), #9 Mary Hardin-Baylor (10), and DePauw (10).
Milestones:
Women: #21 Bowdoin was among the vote-getters this week, marking their 100th appearance on the voting rolls. Marymount received votes for the 50th time in this poll. Other voting milestones were achieved by #19 George Fox (70 weeks), #6 Calvin (60), #22 Randolph-Macon (40), and Fitchburg St. (10). The top 25 appearance by #15 Puget Sound marks the 25th time the Loggers have been ranked.
Men: #20 UW-Whitewater received votes for the 100th time this week. #14 Wooster and #16 Hope appear in the voting rolls for the 125th and 75th times, respectively. #8 Wash U. is a vote-getter for the 80th time and a top 25 team for the 60th time, while #17 Brockport St. received votes for the 30th time. Fifth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan is a top 10 team for the 20th time, while their conference foe #3 Guilford is ranked for the 10th time. #25 Lewis & Clark held on to the tail end of the top 25, their 30th appearance in that august assemblage.
High-Water Marks:
Women: #5 Kean and top 10 debutante #10 each set a new high ranking this week, while #2 Howard Payne and #25 Carroll each matched their previous high rankings.
Men: New all-time high rankings were achieved this week by #3 Guilford, top 10 debutantes #7 Brandeis and #9 Mary Hardin-Baylor, #11 Plattsburgh St., and #21 Stevens.
Movers and Shakers:
Women: #17 Thomas More, entirely overlooked in the preseason poll, defeated two recent national champions (Wilmington and DePauw) in their first four games and leaped into the poll with 207 votes. The trio of Luther, Millikin, and Brandeis, ranked #12-14 in the preseason, opened the season with a composite record of 4-6 and all fell out of the top 25.
Men: Aurora, ranked #13 in the preseason, lost twice in five days and dropped out of the poll. Preseason #1 Wash U.’s early struggles were well-documented on this site, and were reflected in their drop of 266 poll points and 7 places in this week’s poll. The strongest gains were made by #12 Puget Sound (+134 points and +7 placements) and #7 Brandeis (+135/+5).