It’s mid-January: would you rather be in the Frozen North, or in the Sunny South? While most people in the barest possession of their faculties might give one answer, the poll voters have quite a different response.
Above all, the place to be this week was Rochester. The men’s and women’s teams each rang up 2-0 weeks, each knocking off a team ranked in the top 3, and each moved up strongly in this week’s poll. The distaff Yellow Jackets dispatched #3 NYU and exhibited the largest gain in this week’s women’s poll, moving up nine spots to #12. Not to be outdone, their male counterparts were the victors in the second-ever matchup of the two top-ranked teams in the D3hoops.com poll, knocking off #2 Brandeis. While their ceiling was limited by the fact that they were already ranked #1, the Yellow Jackets have now joined that most exclusive club in poll history, becoming just the 8th team to be voted #1 unanimously during the regular season. In this they join the Washington U. women’s and men’s teams, unanimous #1 teams 17 and 5 times respectively, as well as the men’s teams at UW-Stevens Point (8 times), Hampden-Sydney (6), Carthage (3), and Illinois Wesleyan (2) and the Bowdoin women (5).
As sunny as Rochester was, conditions in Massachusetts (outside of Brandeis, at least) were also quite pleasant. The Bay State is home to two of the hottest teams in D3 basketball. The men’s team at UMass-Dartmouth share with Rochester the distinction of being the only unbeaten teams left among the men’s teams in D3. The Corsairs, absent from the national stage since their 2001 Sweet 16 run was ended by a 49-point drubbing by Carthage at Ohio Northern, are back with a vengeance, cracking the top 10 for the first time in poll history this week. Over in Amherst, home of the 2007 men’s national champs and one of the most successful programs of the decade, the women’s team is threatening to steal the spotlight, having started 16-0 under new coach G.P. Gromacki. The Lord Jeffs ended Tufts’ unbeaten season on the Jumbos’ home court this week, and moved up strongly to a best-ever ranking of #16 this week.
Things were not so nice in the South, however. The Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders carried their #4 men’s ranking, an all-time high, into Abilene, TX, and three days later crawled back to Belton with two losses and an eleven spot drop in the poll. Over in the southeast, the Guilford men, a team which carried extremely high expectations into the season, dropped their fourth game (at new #24 Roanoke) and disappeared from the top 25, while the women of Randolph-Macon saw their perfect season come to an end at the hands of Virginia Wesleyan, causing the Jackets to cascade eight spots to #20 in this week’s poll, one spot lower than their male classmates.
Yes, the South may have warm weather in January, but for hot hoops, look to the North.
Debutantes:
Women: None this week.
Men: The eighth-ranked Corsairs of UMass-Dartmouth, one of just two undefeated men’s teams, broke into the Top 10 for the first time ever this week. Congratulations!
Streakers:
Women: Four teams extended ranking streaks to 10 polls this week: #7 Kean, #9 Simpson, #14 George Fox, and #20 Randolph-Macon. This also marks the 10th consecutive week in which Simpson has been in the voting, while #23 Puget Sound’s voting streak has now reached 30 weeks.
Men: Both #2 Brandeis and #21 Stevens have been ranked in ten straight polls. #13 Elmhurst ran its vote-getting streak to 20 weeks, while Stevens and #17 Plattsburg St. have received votes in 10 straight polls.
Milestones:
Women: Tenth-ranked UW-Stevens Point is in the voting rolls for the 100th week, while #4 Mary Washington is on the list for the 50th time. Both St. Thomas and Hardin-Simmons achieved voting milestones in their 2007-08 voting debuts: for the Tommies, it is their 50th appearance, while the Cowgirls are vote-getters for the 125th time. #1 Hope is also in the voting for the 125th time. Other voting milestones were achieved by Wilmington (110 weeks), #6 McMurry (60), and #7 Kean (30.) UW-Eau Claire re-enters the Top 25 this week, marking their 80th time as a ranked team. #11 Messiah is ranked for the 110th time, while William Smith is in the Top 25 for the tenth time.
Men: Tenth-ranked Williams is counted among the top 10 for the 40th time. Both #11 Puget Sound and #20 UW-Oshkosh are ranked for the 60th time, while #21 Stevens is now a ten-time Top 25 team. Vote-getting milestones were reached this week by Trinity (CT) (70 weeks), #13 Elmhurst (60), Whitworth (60), Ursinus (20), and #17 Plattsburgh St. (10).
High-Water Marks:
Women: This poll marks the new all-time high ranking for #5 Thomas More, #6 McMurry, #16 Amherst, and #17 Medaille. #2 Howard Payne matched their highest-ever ranking.
Men: Top 10 debutant UMass-Dartmouth is, at #8, at its highest-ever ranking, as are the SCAC leaders #14 Centre and #18 Millsaps. #2 Brandeis matched their high-water mark for the 5th straight week.
Movers and Shakers:
Women: As discussed above, the biggest gains were recorded by #12 Rochester (up 162 points and 9 places) and #16 Amherst (+154/+6). Five teams lost at least 128 points, led by #20 Randolph-Macon (-167 points and down 8 places.)
Men: #15 Mary Hardin-Baylor’s 0-2 week cost them 302 points and 11 slots in the poll. Preseason #4 Guilford lost 160 points and fell out of the Top 25 for the first time in 17 weeks. UMass-Dartmouth extended its winning streak to 15 games, and showed the best gain of the week (+136 points and six placements), leading a pack of 6 teams that each gained at least 100 points.