I agree, the WIS rankings have always been fairly screwy.  Except for that one day last non-conference season when Wooster was ranked #1.  Spot-on that day.

Last Night
#15 North Carolina Wesleyan 56   #4 US Merchant Marines 58
Quite the good game as Merchant Marines were able to recover from a 5 point deficit at the half to take the lead about four minutes into the second.  The home team was able to keep the lead most of the rest of the way but were never able to pull away from NCWes.  The Cadets made a couple key free throws on their second to last possession and then survived an attempted half-court game winner for the big home victory.  The Marines and lynchmob were "rewarded" after the win with a two spot fall in the rankings down to #4 while NCWes and nastynick slipped down from #1 to #15.

Also considered: New #1 Susquehanna scored an impressive road win over Whittier 70-51, #6 Wooster pulled away from Millsaps for the 65-50 victory, #2 Texas Lutheran cruised past UMass Dartmouth 89-63, #5 Trinity handled La Grange 74-43, and #7 Ozarks needed an extra five minutes to finally down Howard Payne 88-81 (you're welcome westcoast).

Sim blowout watch: Wisconsin Eau Claire couldn't keep it close but they still covered against Louisiana 55-95.

GotN
#23 Austin (2-0)(ricosuave21) at #18 Webster (2-0)(mschulte24)
Two games between ranked teams tonight and this is the one with two undefeated teams.  These teams have had fairly easy starts to the season so this will be a significant step up for both.  ricosuave won the only previous meeting between these two and the odds-makers have it as an even pick.  It's Kangaroos vs. Gorloks in an intriguing early season battle.

Also considered: #15 North Carolina Wesleyan at #14 John Carroll, #4 Merchant Marines at Millsaps, #10 Rivier at Grove City, Howard Payne at #20 Greensboro, #21 Piedmont at Daniel Webster, and Allegheny at #25 Transylvania

Sim blowout watch: Two winless sims are getting 69 points tonight: Plattsburgh State at home against #2 Texas Lutheran and Wisconsin Lutheran hosting #16 Stillman.

Only three games in and the season forum here is already up to six pages, nice job everyone.

Last Night
Austin 58   #12 Webster 70
This one was very close for the first fifteen minutes but the home team went on a big run to end the first half with an 11 point lead and then never looked back.  I think it's safe to say that it was too much Gorlok, happens all the time.  Webster and mschulte move up a few spots in the rankings with the win whil Austin and ricosuave tumble out of the rankings after their first loss.

Also considered: #11 John Carroll held on for a 68-60 home win over North Carolina Wesleyan, #19 Millsaps turned in a huge defensive effort to blow out #18 Merchant Marines 87-46, #8 Rivier got past Grove City 62-56, Howard Payne handled Greensboro 89-76, #10 Piedmont cruised over Daniel Webster 92-73, and #24 Allegheny got a big road win over Transylvania 66-55.

Sim blowout watch: Another two successful covers: Plattsburgh State against #6 Texas Lutheran 62-98 and Wisconsin Lutheran fell to #23 Stillman 55-88.

GotN
#8 Rivier (3-0)(jack_duck) at #17 Ohio Wesleyan (3-0)(otownaron)
Four more games between ranked teams tonight, I'm going with this meeting of undefeated teams.  It's GNE visiting the N.Coast in the first meeting between these two coaches.  Vegas has the visitors as a slim 1 point favorite.

Also considered: #6 Texas Lutheran at #25 Willamette, #14 Hardin-Simmons at #19 Millsaps, and #21 Ursinus at #18 US Merchant Marines

Sim blowout watch: No huge spreads for the ranked teams today so I'm going with a couple 30's games.  Manhattanville is getting 38 points as they host #22 W. New England and Washington (MD) is a 39 point home dog against #24 Allegheny.

at the risk of invoking the dreaded forumjinx, not to mention spraining my shoulder whilst patting meself on the back,...

i noticed lowly Babson College grabbed a couple of top25 votes last night and is up to 14th on the arv list.

congratulations Beavers!

Babson was ranked #11 in season 0001, but lost in the first round of the NT and seem to have been cursed ever since.

The historical highlights since then for the green and white:
We were ranked #20 in season 0032 (again losing in round 1)
and ranked #22 in season 0037,  when the beavers won our one and only NT game in the 71 year history of RuppWorld.

Babson has won only 5 NT games combined across all ten worlds and 700+ seasons, and we have never made it out of the second round in any world, ever.

I'll be working on bringing Scranton back to respectibility, but it's going to be a looooong road.  I forsee a losing season with this squad.  

Marietta got off the deck from an ugly loss in Game 1 to win 3 in a row, all ugly as well. Playing two undefeated teams could head the Pioneers off at the pass (Head them off at the pass? I *hate* that cliche!).

Perhaps a better sign for the future is that freshmen are the team's top 4 scorers, including 2 non-starters.

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.  Almost took down Susquehanna.

Would anyone be interested if I posted a Stat of the Day (SotD)? I don't know how easy it will be to find an interesting or cool stat, but if anyone is interested I would do some research and try to find one every day. If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me.

that would be very cool Carson. 'Good idea. Go for it

Posted by carson333 on 1/23/2014 9:57:00 AM (view original):
Would anyone be interested if I posted a Stat of the Day (SotD)? I don't know how easy it will be to find an interesting or cool stat, but if anyone is interested I would do some research and try to find one every day. If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me.

Add whatever you want -- that's part of what makes this forum thread and this world so awesome year after year!

SotD..  i love it "johnny"!   cant wait.

Stat of the Day would be pretty cool, make it happen carson, especially if you quote some statistics about how awesome I am.  That would probably take a lot of in-depth research though so good luck with that.

Last Night
#6 Rivier 56   Ohio Wesleyan 53
OWes was able to hold the lead for most of the first half and went into the break with a 5 point lead.  The second half turned into a back-and-forth battle though with both teams in front for small stretches.  Visiting Rivier sank a 3ptr with forty-eight seconds left to break a tie and that would be the last basket of the game.  The home team turned the ball over, intentionally fouled, and then had another chance to tie after a missed one and one.  The OWes faithful went home disappointed when an attempted tying 3ptr rattled out with just one second left and they didn't have time for another shot.  Rivier and jack_duck moved up a couple spots in the rankings after the big road win while OWes and otownaron fell into the others receiving votes section after their first loss.

Also considered: #5 Texas Lutheran used a big second half to defeat Willamette 67-58, #10 Hardin-Simmons got a big road win at Millsaps 81-67, and #16 Ursinus got past Merchant Marines 68-53.

Sim blowout watch: Both sims almost became official blowout victims but were able to hold on for dear life to the cover.  Manhattanville fell to #23 W. New England 60-95 and Washington was downed by #25 Allegheny 41-71.

GotN
#9 John Carroll (4-0)(whit6r) at #7 Wooster (4-0)(pseudochamp)
Well it's not quite as impressive as last season's #2 at #5 meeting but these two teams' annual matchup is another undefeated top ten affair.  John Carroll has looked good in four solid tests so far while the defending champs have ended up winning their four fairly comfortably.  "Defending champs", I still feel a little shocked when I type that.  Anyway, whit6r holds a slim 7-6 lead in the all-time series and his team is favored by 1 point on the road in this one.

Also considered: #3 Johnson and Wales at #16 Ursinus, #5 Texas Lutheran at Millsaps, #12 Lynchburg at Medgar Evers, and #20 Penn St. Altoona at North Carolina Wesleyan

Sim blowout watch: Ripon is getting a solid 57 points as they host #4 Ozarks.

SotD: Instead of choosing just one stat I decided to go with an entire team for today, Wisconsin, Whitewater. They are 5-0 with the #3 rated SOS. With only a 31 rating on defense, they are giving up an amazing 40% shooting percentage. They are also winning on average by more than 11 points. My questions are, why is this team not ranked, and why are they doing so well?

wrong question, carson.
the real question is... how is that the #3 sos?
not that overall rating is the "be all and end all", but none of their opponents has team rating over 500.
i just cant see any scenario where that is even close to a top 100 SOS.    i dont feel like digging into the math of it,  and i assume there is no glitch,   so it must be some odd combination of who has played who and its just too early yet for things to have sorted themselves out.

We have a new top ranked team as Johnson and Wales moves up to #1 after an impressive win, also halfway through the non-conference slate and we have forty teams still undefeated.

Last Night
#16 John Carroll 68   #3 Wooster 79
John Carroll was able to lead this one for most of the first half until the home team made a couple shots in a row to end the half with a slim 4 point lead.  The teams continued fighting it out after the break and the game was tied again at 54 with eight minutes left.  From that point on, Wooster was able to keep making shots and play just enough defense to pull away for the big home victory.  With the rivalry win Wooster and pseudochamp move up into the top three while John Carrol and whit6r fall a few spots to #16.

Also considered: #1 Johnson and Wales cruised past Ursinus 106-83, #6 Texas Lutheran got past Millsaps 75-65, #7 Lynchburg handled Medgar Evers 85-67, and #15 Penn St. Altoona held on for the 59-53 win over North Carolina Wesleyan.

Sim blowout watch: Ripon had no trouble covering against #8 Ozarks 64-83.

GotN
#21 East Connecticut St. (4-1)(dickg) at #5 Trinity (5-0)(bobmeyer)
Three games between ranked teams tonight including this one with the Little East conference invading University territory.  ECS opened the season with a loss to ranked Rivier but have rebounded with four straight wins while Trinty is unblemished so far.  This is the first meeting between these two and the home team is favored by 3 points.

Also considered: #22 Emory at #14 Wittenberg, #24 Southwestern at #20 Greensboro, #18 Howard Payne at Oglethorpe, and Colorado at #25 Transylvania

Sim blowout watch: Elmira is getting 59 points as they visit #17 Stillman and Rutgers Newark is a 40 point home dog against #11 Vassar.