Today we celebrate the 199th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, widely considered to be one of the greatest men in history—and not just because he was tall and from Illinois! I thought I’d use his inspiration* to guide me in understanding what’s important in the D3hoops world this week.

On Dec. 26, 1839, in a speech before the Illinois House of Representatives, Rep. Lincoln said “[t]he probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.” These words could have been the motto for the Howard Payne women’s team as they faced the roughest stretch of their schedule, home-and-home dates with both #9 McMurry and perennial power Hardin-Simmons over a 10-day stretch. The Yellow Jackets came through the struggle with their just cause, an undefeated season, intact, winning all four contests, three of them by double-digits. They continue to slowly eat away at the poll lead that Hope has now held for seven weeks.

Barely one year before Pres. Lincoln’s tragic assassination, he wrote to Albert G. Hodges “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.” A similar statement may have been made by Rochester’s Michael Chmielowiec, whose would-be game winner rimmed out on Sunday, allowing homestanding Washington U. to escape with a 54-53 victory, reversing the result of last week’s overtime classic. These UAA rivals, both of which have sat atop the poll this season, now sit back-to-back at #6 and #7 in the poll, with an 11-point advantage for the Yellow Jackets.

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.” Although President Lincoln said this to Congress in 1862, it might as easily have been said by Mass.-Dartmouth men’s head coach Brian Baptiste to his team after their 21-game winning streak was snapped in overtime at Keene St.. As a result of this loss, the voters, “dedicated to the proposition that all men[‘s teams] are created equal,” dropped the Corsairs to #5 in a virtual tie with #6 Rochester at 483 points.

The men’s team at UW-Stevens Point won twice last week to stay in the hunt for the WIAC regular-season title. Brandeis extended its winning streak to four games, while (as noted elsewhere) Washington U. avenged last week’s defeats at the hands of Carnegie Mellon and Rochester. All three teams worked hard to achieve these victories, and were rewarded by the voters by being slotted in this week’s Top 10. Furthermore, all three teams snuck past #11 Capital in the rankings, despite the Crusaders’ 2-0 week. It seems that the voters were most impressed with the labors of the Pointers, Judges, and Bears, and they followed the sage guidance of President Lincoln, who told Congress in 1861 that “Labor is the superior of [C]apital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”

*as channeled by Roger Norton, at the Abraham Lincoln Research Site.

Debutantes:
Women: none this week.
Men: none this week.

Streakers:
Women: Eighth-ranked DePauw has appeared on the list of vote-getters for 125 consecutive polls, while at the other end of the spectrum, #20 Amherst and Salem St. have made ten straight appearances each. #9 McMurry has been a member of the Top 10 for ten consecutive weeks.
Men: Top-ranked Amherst is ranked for the 90th consecutive week, extending their poll record in this category. #13 Mary Hardin-Baylor has received votes in 20 straight polls, while #24 UW-Oshkosh is a vote-getter for the 10th consecutive time.

Milestones:
Women: Washington U. returns to the Top 25 this week at #23, marking their 120th week as a ranked team. #8 DePauw is a Top 10 team for the 40th time. Twelfth-ranked George Fox has now received votes in 80 polls, and #22 Marymount is a vote-getter for the 60th time.
Men: UW-Oshkosh, the #24 team this week, is a vote-getter for the 100th time this week. Chicago received votes for the 50th time, and vote-getting milestones were also achieved by #2 UW-Whitewater (110 weeks), #7 Washington U. (90), and Cal. Lutheran (10). #22 Lawrence is ranked for the 50th time, twenty weeks fewer than #7 Washington U. , but ten more than #16 UW-Platteville.

High-Water Marks:
Women: William Smith reached a new all-time high at #14 this week. Best-ever rankings were matched by #2 Howard Payne, #5 Thomas More, and #10 Illinois Wesleyan.
Men: New high-water marks were set this week by #2 UW-Whitewater, #3 Centre, and #19 Ursinus.

Movers and Shakers:
Women: Rochester dropped both of its games on its annual Chicago/St. Louis trip, and fell six slots to #13, losing 139 points in the process. Southern Maine lost at home for the first time since 2003, a loss which cost them 138 poll points and a four-position drop to #15. #12 George Fox parlayed victories over teams with records of 5-16 and 9-12 into a 118 point gain, the largest of the week in either poll.
Men: Puget Sound shed 178 points and 8 poll positions (to #21) after losing one game and winning another in overtime. Fifth-ranked Mass.-Dartmouth became the last men’s team to taste defeat, falling three places and giving back 114 points (but retaining one first-place vote.) There was very little upward movement, with the biggest gain being recorded by #7 Washington U., which gained 57 points and two spots after avenging last week’s defeats by Carnegie Mellon and #6 Rochester.