Whitworth has been battling its way through the Northwest Conference after an opening-game home loss to St. Thomas. Photo by Jeff Halstead, d3photography.com

Another week in Division III basketball filled with upsets, questions and not many answers. I think I am starting to really feel comfortable with the top 15 teams in the country, maybe even 20, but after that it is a free-for-all. I decided to take a closer look at some teams closer to home this week and thanks to a trip to Oswego, N.Y. I was able to evaluate in person some teams I was considering. That along with some interesting results this past week allowed me to move some teams around – or not. I am really looking forward to next week (or the following, to be honest) when regional rankings come out and I can see real SOS numbers besides the flawed Massey numbers, though the efforts by some on the post-up boards has been invaluable.

1 – Rochester – Up 1 spot
The Yellowjackets might have had a scare against Brandeis, but they came away with a solid victory behind probably the best player in the country. They have another tough test this weekend on the road, but Rochester has certainly earned my No. 1 vote.

2 – Whitworth – Up 1 spot
I debated whether I would move Whitworth up or not. They continue to win with their only loss being the first game of the season against St. Thomas (albeit at home), but their conference doesn’t seem to be giving them too much of a challenge so I continue to struggle with whether this ranking is too high.

3 – St. Thomas – Down 2 spots
The narrow lost to Concordia-Moorhead certainly doesn’t look good, but considering how the Tommies responded against St. Mary’s (Minn.) and Hamline, I decided to stay with the mindset that St. Thomas is one of the best teams in the country. They did beat Whitworth this season which could be a good enough reason to keep them ahead of Whitworth, however that game was the first of the season and Whitworth’s loss to St. Thomas is better than St. Thomas’ loss to Concordia-Moorhead.

4 – WPI – unchanged

5 – UW-Stevens Point – UP 1 spot

6 – Middlebury – Down 1 spot
The loss to Williams may not have been a surprise, but the Panthers were in position to win that game. Considering how many teams in the top ten lost this week, Middlebury ended up not moving that much though I debated strongly about moving them behind Catholic. However, it came down to the fact that Middlebury now only has one loss and it was against one of the top teams in the NESCAC.

7 – Catholic – Up 2 spots
The Cardinals continue to play good basketball (including pasting my alma mater this past week). I think Catholic has taken advantage of the new Landmark schedule which has allowed them to avoid late season slides they had become known for. The core group is playing terrific basketball, but they have to stay focused on each team in the conference.

8 – Williams – unchanged
Yes, the Ephs did lose to Amherst, but they beat Middlebury. If they had beaten both, I probably would have swapped spots with Middlebury. I can’t knock the Ephs for the loss to Amherst in a major rivalry game, even if the score was not close. That being said, I can’t overly reward them for beating Middlebury since they lost to Amherst. I could go on circles on this for hours and never get the right answer – so my decision was to leave them where they were and not punish or reward them.

9 – Hampden-Sydney – Up 3 spots
I continue to say the Tigers are an underrated team in a very tough ODAC. With wins over Randolph-Macon, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph, and Guilford in their last four, Hampden-Sydney has moved into first place in the ODAC and stated clearly they are the team to beat. They also may have one of the other top players in the nation clearly driving this team.

10 – Ramapo – unchanged

11 – Christopher Newport – unchanged

12 –Wooster – Up 1 spot

13 – Amherst – Up 2 spots
The Lord Jeffs got a big win over Williams in non-conference action and then followed that up with a shellacking of Trinity (Conn.). I would have moved the Lord Jeffs up higher, but there weren’t a lot of teams I would have below them. Yes, you could argue they should move ahead of Williams, but with two-losses to the Ephs one I am comfortable with this position with a rematch looming in a couple of weeks on the road.

14 – Illinois Wesleyan – Up 4 spots
The Titans are certainly the class of the CCIW with a three game lead and six games to play. The win over North Central and then not overlooking Elmhurst clearly shows IWU is taking care of business. I am willing to move them higher, but with Augustana and Wheaton on the horizon, I didn’t want to get too hyped on this squad.

15 – St. Mary’s – Up 1 spot

16 – Calvin – Up 1 spot

17 – North Central (Ill.) – Down 10 spots
I wasn’t going to knock the Cardinals too much for two tough losses on the road this past week (Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton), but when you learn their top three players – maybe their only three weapons on offense – are injured or nursing some kind of ailment, you have to consider more than just the box score. Furthermore, Illinois Wesleyan is clearly the top team in the CCIW, so keeping the Cardinals ahead of them doesn’t make any sense.

18 – Rhode Island – Up 6 spots
This is a big move for a team that only beat Western and Eastern Connecticut teams this week, but there were a number of losses in this area of my ballot in the week, so the move was more “filling a spot” than it was by merit. The Anchormen host Amherst on Tuesday night in one of the biggest games in the Northeast this week, so we will see if they deserve to keep moving up.

19 – Wheaton (Ill.) – unranked
A win over North Central got me to move them back into my Top 25 – adding a third CCIW team to the ballot. I can’t easily move them ahead of North Central considering they have split the season, but the Thunder appear to be recovering from injuries and illnesses that ailed them a few weeks ago.

20 – Wesley – Up 3 spots

21 – DeSales – unranked
The Bulldogs may be the one team flying the lowest on the radar right now. DeSales has one loss after starting 1 and 2 and have a signature win over beat Catholic. They have a two-game lead in a slightly weak MAC Freedom, but are getting the job done. This might be a reach of a vote, but I am not the only voter considering the Bulldogs on my ballot.

22 – Transylvania – unranked
I have had the Pioneers on my short list for a long time, but nothing has enticed me to put them back into my Top 25. However, they have now won 11 of their last 12 games including to HCAC front-runner Rose-Hulman along with Wooster, Franklin & Marshall, and Thomas More. This week a rematch with Rose-Hulman at home will let me know if I am getting too excited or Transylvania has figured out what was wrong at the beginning of the season.

23 – Rose-Hulman – Up 2 spots

24 – Cortland State – unranked
The Red Dragons are a pretty good team. I saw them in action against Oswego State this past weekend in what was a very good game. Cortland St. seems to have a lot of individuals who can take over but also come together nicely as a team. They also don’t panic when on the wrong end of runs or losing the lead. The Red Dragons may surprise come March – as long as they don’t trip up in a tough SUNYAC this season.

25 – Alvernia – unranked
I have been staring at the Crusaders for a long time and decided it was time to put them on my ballot. They lead the MAC Commonwealth who many thought would have Lycoming or Albright battling it out for first place. But Alvernia has a one-game lead against their city-rival Albright (three over Lycoming) and have a chance to sweep the season series with Albright on Wednesday night.

Dropped out this week:
Stevens – 14th last week
The loss to Ithaca was one thing, but losing to Hartwick earlier in the week just didn’t look good to me. To make it worse, Ithaca crushed Stevens in a game the Ducks had to win. I will keep Stevens on my radar, but this week showed that maybe they are not near the top of the East Region like I had previously thought.

Albertus Magnus – 19th last week
It may have been the Falcons’ first loss in Division III this season, but it also showed that maybe Albertus Magnus is not as good as many thought. I hadn’t been moving them up very much despite blowout wins because those wins were coming in a pretty weak conference. The Falcons have no signature wins and are now just a game ahead of an Anna Maria team they decimated in the conference title game last season. I doubt the Falcons will return to my ballot unless they make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Brandeis – 20th last week
I expected the loss to Rochester and it was close, but to have lost two games this weekend – the other being to Emory – didn’t give me a good enough reasons to keep them in the last five spots on my ballot. The Judges get a chance to make a statement this coming weekend when they play Emory and Rochester again, this time at home.

Guilford – 21st last week
Whether it is injuries or battling in a very difficult ODAC this season, Guilford is in a tailspin right now. They have lost three in a row including to Washington & Lee and are now three games back of the lead in the conference. They have a chance to right the ship with Roanoke and Shenandoah this week before two tough games next week.

Virginia Wesleyan – 22nd last week
The Marlins just can’t get the job done when they need to. After losing four in a row earlier in the season I took a long look at Virginia Wesleyan and didn’t like what I saw. I thought last week they had finally turned things around before then losing to Washington and Lee on the road. They have a really interesting couple of weeks ahead, but I am not going to jump back on the Marlins bandwagon for a little while.