This is the time of year when the D3 hoops world slows down and takes a breather. Remembering that our athletes are students first, most teams take a break to allow the players to concentrate on exams and get home for the holidays. Of the fifty teams in last week’s Top 25 polls, twenty-two took the week off from basketball, and the other twenty-eight played just 38 games between them, ringing up a record of 33-6 (one game pitted ranked foes, as the then-#9 ranked Augustana men handed #13 UW-Oshkosh their first defeat of the season.) With few games and almost no losses, the Week 4 polls look like carbon copies of their Week 3 versions. Each poll has just one new team, both sneaking in at the #25 position. Nineteen of last week’s twenty Top 10 teams are still in the Top 10, with women’s #10 Simpson moving up to replace Southern Maine.
Rather than dwell on the week that wasn’t, perhaps I should look ahead to the week ahead. Actually, next week is a two-week “week,” as there will not be a new poll released next Tuesday, due to the holidays and relative dearth of games this week. Things pick up, however, as the New Year approaches and teams in the north and east make snowbird trips between the semesters. Some of these warm-weather venues will feature top-flight D3 competition, starting this Wednesday in Orlando, where men’s #8 Hope will square off with #21 Elmhurst. On Friday, fans who are otherwise stick with nothing to do in Cancun can take in the matchup of women’s #6 DePauw and #7 Messiah. This Saturday, the tropical resort of Rock Island, Ill. will be treated to the clash of men’s #3 UW-Stevens Point against the homestanding #5 Augustana Vikings. Then on New Year’s Eve eve (i.e., Dec. 30), those lucky enough to be in the vicinity of Huntington Beach will have the opportunity to watch women’s #1 Mary Washington take on #5 UW-Whitewater.
No matter what your travel plans may be, here’s a wish from me that your holidays are safe, healthy, and happy, and filled with D3 hoops!
Debutantes:
Considering the almost complete lack of movement in this week’s polls, it should hardly be surprising that there are no debubantes in any category this week.
Streakers:
Women: Thirteenth-ranked Southern Maine has now received voting support in 100 consecutive polls. Other active voting streaks include Brandeis (60 polls), #4 NYU, and Wilmington (each at 20 weeks.)
Men: This week’s poll is the 20th since the beginning of last season. Six programs entered the voting in that poll and have stayed ever since, including #1 Rochester, #3 UW-Stevens Point (which has been a Top 25 team for all 20 of these polls), #11 Washington U., #18 Wheaton (IL), Rhode Island College (which was a voting debutante in that 2005 poll), and Aurora. Centre has now received votes in 10 straight polls.
Milestones:
Women: Defending champion DePauw is ranked #6 this week, marking the 100th time the Tigers have been ranked. Eighth-ranked McMurry is celebrating its 40th week as a Top 25 team, while top-ranked Mary Washington is a member of the Top 10 for the 20th time. #10 Simpson has now received votes in 75 polls. Other votes-received milestones were reached by #25 Baldwin-Wallace (110 polls), #22 UW-Eau Claire (90), #9 Thomas More (20), and #19 Tufts (10).
Men: #23 Wooster, which has been flirting with the bottom of the poll for three weeks, nevertheless has extended their poll record of Top 25 appearances to 120 polls (out of 128 all-time.) Twelfth-ranked Capital has now been ranked thirty times, while #8 Hope is a Top 10 team for the 30th time. Nineteenth-ranked Lewis & Clark has now been mentioned in the voting 50 times, while William Paterson has received votes in 60 polls. Other vote-getting plateaus were reached this week by UMass-Dartmouth (30 weeks), Rhode Island College (20), and Centre (10).
High-Water Marks:
Women: The five programs that reached or tied new highs last week did so again this week: #5 UW-Whitewater, #8 McMurry, #9 Thomas More, #17 Oglethorpe, and #19 Tufts. This quintet is joined this week by #20 Medaille, which matched its highest-ever ranking.
Men: #2 Brandeis and #16 Stevens each matched their highest-ever ranking, set or tied a week ago.
Movers and Shakers:
Women: With just three losses among last week’s Top 25, movement in the women’s poll was practically glacial this week. The biggest moves were suffered by #13 Southern Maine and #7 Messiah, which lost road games and fell 134 and 118 points, respectively. The largest gains, such as they were, were earned by #19 Tufts and #17 Oglethorpe, moving up 59 and 50 points respectively.
Men: If the women’s poll was glacial, the men’s poll was practically static. There were just three defeats sustained: one to a D2 squad, one in a matchup of Top 25 teams, and one by a mere two points. The largest moves were made by the loser in the first of these games (#9 Mary Hardin-Baylor, which lost 65 points) and the winner in the second (#5 Augustana, which gained 57 points), teams that switched positions from last week’s poll.