With the way d3 teams can attract talent these days, it's pretty common to watch 100 or 150 teams and say, "that team's good enough to win the title."  There's a huge gap between that and actually getting there, though - that comes down to practice, coaching, chemistry, and a host of other things.  The ability of a program to maximize those "other things" is the whole game these days.

When I started following d3hoops, it was much more about getting the best players in the building.  Now, everybody has good players (or at least a sizeable percentage of teams do).  It's a whole different ballgame.

North Park might be the best CCIW right now.  They're very capable of being a Top 25 team.  If Elmhurst plays consistently the way they did against IWU, I think they have the talent to be there, too.  It's a really good league.  Wheaton could make the Sweet Sixteen under the right conditions.  I think the ceiling for any team in the league is entirely up to them at this point.

I was trying to make the case both ways.  I tend to favor not being down, because every team is really good - but that's certainly not the only way to look at it, especially if you prioritize national titles.  That's looking less likely now than it did a month ago.

My impressions watching system teams over the years is that you really need 18 players you feel comfortable with.  The last eight get fewer minutes, but they're vital minutes you can't really give to the first ten guys and succeed.

It really depends on what's meant by "down."  I was surprised to see Wheaton as the lowest team in the d3databast conference analysis yesterday, because that's a very strong team.  No way the conference can be truly "down" if that's the weakest team.  At the same time, what appears to be the best teams on paper, IWU and Carthage, can't seem to win games you'd expect them to win - and it's going to be tough to get a lot of at-large consideration.

There are a lot of games to play, though.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 25, 2025, 04:37:54 PMGood grief, a 1999 college grad sending a kid off to college next year.

Tempus fugit.

I have a class of 2003 classmate who's been a grandfather for a couple years now.  Strange.

I've been surprised as how many minutes the freshmen are getting at RMC.  Merkel usually doesn't let them see the floor until they know the defense as well as the veterans.  I've felt Lam's minutes reflect really well on him.  I'd expect them to increase as the season goes along.

Trinity's defense was pretty par for what they've been doing this year, it was only the offense that struggled a bit - which is likely where Trinity will struggle, when they do.  USJ is a good team, though, all of their losses have been to good teams.  They'll give everyone trouble.

Vanderwal talked about the difficulties of transition at the GLI.  He noted, with some respect, at how well Brooks had taught his system.  It's near impossible to change instincts and when his guys are used to doing things without thinking and he wants them to do different things, it leads to mistakes.

They'll figure it out, but it'll definitely be an up and down process.  When they're working, it's a very good team.

Quote from: WUPHF on December 04, 2025, 06:45:08 PM

Quote from: ziggy on December 04, 2025, 02:21:19 PMEdit: also wanted to add that Calvin is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and as part of that celebration they are hosting something like 30 alumni gatherings around the country. I had the opportunity to attend one of these this fall and I was a little surprised how little if felt like a veiled fundraising barnstorming tour. It felt very much like a face value engagement to connect with alumni and talk about Calvin's past, present and future without a sales pitch for financial support. More to the point, while there was a nominal fee as part of the registration for the event it couldn't possibly have covered the cost of the venue and food.

This is how most colleges and universities are doing fundraising in 2025 in my limited experience.

Yeah, this is college fundraising 101 these days.  The registration fee is to weed out people who are unlikely to give (and also have a better sense of numbers for the event, to not be entirely cynical).  There's also some thought that getting alums who live near each other, but might not otherwise know each other, will foster some nostalgia that also enhances likelihood to give.

The job of college President these days is almost 100% fundraising - they hire specialists to do the academic and organizational stuff - not a world that seems super exciting to me!  One of the many things that has softened the blow of my alma mater closing.

Quote from: dpruessner on December 04, 2025, 10:02:45 AMEastern University is looking to fill a game on Dec 14,15 or 16, 2025 We recently lost a game and are looking to fill that spot.  Game will have a guarantee involved with it because it is  such short notice.  Please contact Dan Pruessner at 850-510-7947 or Daniel.pruessner@eastern.edu

Gallaudet and Rosemont are both under their 25 game limit and not too far away.

Quote from: NEPAFAN on December 03, 2025, 10:21:20 PMwhen's the lady royals next test?

NYU in March, probably.  Maybe JHU in the semis.

This was a really interesting game to watch and an important one.  I watched most of Elmhurst vs DePauw and that was very clearly two talented teams neither of whom are super disciplined and a bit sloppy.  I wanted to see how Elmhurst would respond against a team in whitewater, who while I don't think they're top tier, are going to make teams pay for mistakes.  Definitely a learning experience for the Bluejays, but the kid of thing a good coach can use to lock in for conference play.  They can definitely be a dark horse in the CCIW if they limit those mistakes and make better choices with the ball.

One of the trends I've noticed early this year is an almost complete preference for an open three over a post shot.  Even teams with top notch post players will prefer a kick out to an open shooter over sending that big guy into the defense for a hard two.  Many teams are treating a single post defender the way we've traditionally seen post players handle double teams.  Not sure if it will continue, but it looks like teams are taking a 35% chance of three over a 60-70% chance of a two.

Quote from: stlawus on November 24, 2025, 10:17:52 PMIs the top 25 about who are the best teams at the end of the season or who are the best teams right now?  Otherwise what is even the point of doing a poll if results aren't going to matter.

I think voters have different perspectives on that question, honestly.  Pat doesn't dictate what the Top 25 should signify.  I do think it's got to be more than results, though, because the computers are far better at calculating that sort of thing than any group of humans could.

I do think results matter, but I still try to evaluate programs based on more than one game.  I watched the entire Tufts-Babson game.  It was Tufts first real action of the season and they were awful in the first half.  The came back in the second and made it close.  Yes, they lost it, but if they played 10 times, I'd pick Tufts to win more than 5 of them.

I approach my ballot much more focused on the future.  If two teams played tomorrow on a neutral court, who do I think would win?  The results inform that decision, but they don't dictate it.