Quote from: NEPAFAN on January 07, 2026, 10:08:24 PMWe are so back baby! 

There is a line in Nick Nolte's speech at the end of Blue Chips where he talks about the alumni being happy... Made me think of this post!

When is the last time Royalville was this up?!

And overall athleticism and depth

Quote from: Pat Coleman on January 06, 2026, 02:22:09 PM

Quote from: Great Day to be a Royal on January 06, 2026, 02:13:16 PMIf you had to answer honestly, how many voters see many teams outside of their schools/ conference games?  It isn't a shot at all, just a general curiosity.  I am sure the answer is somewhere between, none, some, or all!

Media voters do quite, quite often, and you can see the discussion on X on a weekly basis. I suspect coaches less so aside from when they are scouting teams, especially in non-conference, but they generally know the strengths of who everyone is playing and so can interpret an out-of-region score far better than the average fan. SID voters I think similarly are not watching games but I try to select SIDs who have worked at more than one school and in more than one region so that they also have some general basis of comparison.

Thanks for the quick response and insight! Interesting to think about each type of voter having a different and unique way of casting their votes! Thanks again

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on January 06, 2026, 01:21:01 PM

Quote from: ronk on January 06, 2026, 01:19:07 AM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on January 05, 2026, 10:33:55 PM

Quote from: saratoga on January 05, 2026, 08:28:31 PMAnyone know why the Royals are playing at E-town prior to the Lady Royal game at 7:00?
Usually, if the Scranton women are on the road on Wednesday, then the men are home.
Saturday has always been the double-header day.

PS.
Still no love sent the Royals way in this week's Top 25.

Are the schools still on break?  They might do midweek double headers when there's no class to interfere with?
 

 Scranton is in intersession break so that might be a big factor in making it a doubleheader. They did play 1 midweek doubleheader with Wilkes last season but that involved considerably less travel time.
 If the Royals win the 2 road games(Etown & Susquehanna) this week, then they should get top 25 votes next week.

They might get some votes, but I still don't think I'd consider them.  Elizabethtown would be the best win on the schedule and it's not great.  Stevens is the only other one that would even catch my attention and they're not really in the top half of D3.

If they're 14-1 with a win over Catholic, that's when they start showing up on my radar.

If you had to answer honestly, how many voters see many teams outside of their schools/ conference games?  It isn't a shot at all, just a general curiosity.  I am sure the answer is somewhere between, none, some, or all!

No one had the Royals at 10-1 heading into the new year.

Top of the conference has looked solid, and they are in the top quarter of conference ratings. Looking forward to conference play kicking into full swing.

Royals' first test of the new year Wed evening.

Additionally, the Royals board game has been impressive

It will be interesting to see if the 9-1 Royals get a few votes in the top 25, especially after d3datacast has them in top 35.

The squad is looking impressive, as is much of the conference as a whole.

Not taking anything away from the Royals opponents this weekend, and who knows, come Monday I might be saying, "so much for that", but it would be nice to see the Royals play 19th ranked York, and see how they stack up entering the heart of conference play.

Regardless, hoping for 2 wins this weekend

Flo needs to do more of this. Market yourself and conferences/ schools. People are paying for it, and what a great way to showcase programs.

Quote from: ronk on December 16, 2025, 03:26:41 PMOn the recent D3 Datacast, the hosts evaluated the top 10 conferences. The Landmark came in at #10 this season, mostly because of Scranton's improvement to a top 40 level team. They have 5 teams in the top quartile with Susque in at #102. The same guys ranked the Landmark @ #25 last season.

Might be a multi-bid league after all. Long way to go. I would suspect the conference top beats each other up once things ramp up.

Scranton did not get any votes for top 25. Win the next 3 NC games, head into Jan at 10-1, and you might start getting a bit more attention. Their SOS is not helping them.

The Royals are definitely better than in years since last trip to NCAAs. They move the ball, look for better shots, play defense, and overall look far more athletic. They have depth on the bench that hasn't been there in the past, and, yeah, they rebound! Just a handful of games in, the conference does seem stronger. Massey has the Landmark at 16. I typically only look at individual schools on there. Is this a typical placement for the conference? 

Years back, the Landmark was a 3-bid conference one season. I wonder if we see that again in the coming years

Quote from: ronk on December 04, 2025, 10:09:50 AM

Quote from: NEPAFAN on December 04, 2025, 08:35:01 AMRoyals are 5-1 and actually have a positive rebound differential.

Nick Ruisi is averaging 5.5 rebounds and has scored 19 and 23 in his last two games.

Spatola leads the team in rebounding at 5.8

 Never understood why Nick didn't get more playing time last season or Spratt and Brown this season.

Good problem to have when you are winning. Guys needing more minutes off the bench. That was an impressive road win. Might have a team a year ahead of schedule in the Electric City!