In the abbreviated week since the Week 5 poll was taken, the teams that made up the women’s Top 25 compiled an overall record of 28-2, and the only two losses were both in Top 25 matchups—with, in each case, the higher ranked team winning. As a result, the Week 6 poll looks amazingly like its predecessor. Nineteenth-ranked Baldwin-Wallace and #20 Lake Forest swapped positions, but otherwise the top 22 teams in last week’s poll remained the same in this week’s edition.
The men compiled a relatively pedestrian 30-8 record, but five of those 8 losses were confined to just two teams, last week’s #3 UW-Stevens Point (which went 0-2 and fell to #14) and then-#11 Brockport St. , losers of three games. Brockport, however, was the only Week 5 ranked team to fall out of the Week 6 poll; this is partly because the heirs apparent had generally bad weeks too—the top 5 teams in the ‘others receiving votes’ category had a composite 5-4 record this week.
This week could well see more of the same. Among the 51 games on the schedules of the Top 25 women’s teams this week, just one matches ranked teams: #15 Southern Maine at #25 Eastern Connecticut this Saturday. Then men’s schedules, on the other hand, are chock full of great matchups, including key games in the CCIW (#10 Elmhurst at #5 Augustana Sat.) and ODAC (#17 Virginia Wesleyan at #11 Guilford Sun.), as well as the Little Three matchup of #4 Williams and #3 Amherst (Saturday at Amherst) and the annual JP Morgan Chase Tournament, featuring #1 Rochester as well as unbeaten and unranked Geneseo St. and a dangerous Brockport St. team looking to rebound from their miserable beginning of 2008.
Debutantes:
Women: None this week.
Men: It’s a happy new year for #24 California Lutheran, which parlayed a Jan. 1 victory over then-#3 UW-Stevens Point into a first-ever berth in the D3Hoops.com Top 25. Congratulations to the Kingsmen!
Streakers:
Women: Twelfth-ranked DePauw has now received votes in the last 120 consecutive polls. Carroll is off to a good start in matching that string, having received votes in 10 straight polls.
Men: #20 Wooster, the holder of most of the men’s poll records, extended one of them this week, receiving votes for the 130th consecutive time. If Wooster were to drop from the voting rolls (something that’s not happened since the poll’s inception in 1999), it would take #3 Amherst (next best at 86 weeks) about 3 years to equal this streak. It would take #14 UW-Whitewater about about 8 years to do it, but they’re off to a good start by receiving votes for the 10th straight week. Mississippi College dropped from the voting rolls for the first time in 45 weeks.
Milestones:
Women: Sixth-ranked Messiah is a Top 10 team for the 50th time in this poll. Lake Forest dropped a notch to #20, but still achieved a Top 25 ranking for the 20th time, while #13 Kean is ranked for the 10th time. #12 DePauw was left out of the Week 10 poll in the 1999-2000 season, but has received votes in every other women’s poll ever compiled, making this week their 130th appearance among the votegetters. Other votes-received milestones achieved this week include #24 Capital (90 weeks), Wheaton (IL) (90), #18 George Fox (75), Puget Sound (50), Washington & Jefferson (40), and William Paterson (25).
Men: Top-ranked Rochester achieved three milestones with this poll: their 90th week in the voting, 60th appearance in the Top 25, and 40th berth among the Top 10. #9 Puget Sound is a Top 10 team for the 30th time. #3 Amherst is ranked for the 90th time in 130 polls. #13 Wheaton (IL) and #15 UW-Whitewater each made their 60th appearance in the Top 25 this week, while #17 Virginia Wesleyan is ranked for the 40th time and received votes for the 60th time. #20 Wooster has received votes in all 130 polls, and is joined in the achievement of votegetting milestones by #5 Augustana (80 weeks), #8 Hope (80), UW-Platteville (60), and Roanoke (30).
High-Water Marks:
Women: With the women’s poll virtually static, no new highs were set, but several were equaled, including #2 UW-Whitewater, #7 Thomas More, #8 McMurry, #10 Illinois Wesleyan, and #17 Tufts.
Men: Top 25 debutante #24 Cal Lu is at an all-time high ranking, while #2 Brandeis equaled their best-ever mark.
Movers and Shakers:
Women: There was very little shaking and almost no moving among the women this week. The biggest move was made by Puget Sound, which shed 78 points and dropped from #23 out of the rankings. The largest upward movements were virtual baby steps, gains of 27 and 26 points by #17 Tufts and #18 George Fox respectively, neither of which was enough to change their ranking. #24 Capital moved into the Top 25, despite actually losing six points from their Week 5 total.
Men: Former #11 Brockport St. had a dismal 0-3 week which cost them 327 points and their berth in the Top 25. Then-#3 UW-Stevens Point dropped two straight, shedding 244 points and eleven slots in the poll. The Pointers were knocked off at home by #12 UW-Oshkosh, which gained 153 points and six places in this week’s poll.