March 6, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Analysis, Rankings with 15 comments
This is the last week of what you might call “preseason” rankings. Yes, teams have played some tournaments, and the results count for bid allocation through USA Ultimate. But this marks the first week for major crossover events between the coasts in Division I at the Stanford Invite. No more hype, no more complaining about being underrated. The country’s best face off in a College Championships preview this weekend — we couldn’t be more excited.
Here are this week’s rankings.
D-I OPEN
With 15 out of the 16 teams competing at the Stanford Invite currently ranked in the top 25 (including 8 of the top 10), it should be an action-packed weekend that will likely shake up the rankings significantly. The only unranked team — Whitman — earned a bid by winning the Stanford Open in February.
– UNC-Wilmington moves up three slots to #11 after their win at the Easterns Qualifier. That victory came at the expense of Ohio, who falls to #14. Ohio’s top seven can compete with any team in the top 10, but their depth continues to hurt them late in weekends. As for the Seamen, they have a big test this weekend as they come in seeded fourth in their pool at the Stanford Invite.
– Michigan, who started the season in the top 25, fell out of the rankings after a batch of losses at the Queen City Tune Up. But they showed that they aren’t going anywhere, taking third at the Easterns Qualifier. They lost twice — once to Brown (who they later beat) and once (15-13) to UNC-W. They rejoin the rankings at #25.
– There was no other movement in the top 25 this week. Teams are gearing up for big competition at the Stanford Invite, Tally Classic, Chicago Invite, and Centex in the next two weeks.
D-I WOMEN’S
Just as on the men’s side, the Stanford Invite is packed with talent. 11 of the 12 teams attending are in the top 25. As the first big crossover event for the East and West coasts, we will get a much better sense of how teams stack up across the country.
– Minnesota comes flying into the top 25 at #9 with an impressive showing at Midwest Throwdown. There, they notched their first win against Iowa — the only team they’ve lost to — this season. They also got wins over Wisconsin (last week #14, now #20) and Iowa State (last week #6, now #10).
– Reading the results from Midwest Throwdown is difficult because of the terrible weather, particularly on Saturday. There were a lot of surprise upsets, but we have tended towards taking them with a grain of salt due to the conditions.
D-III OPEN
Tons of movement this week in DIII as a lot of teams were in action.
– Claremont falls to #3 after a fairly unimpressive 14th place finish and 4-3 weekend at Vegas. Though their key loss was to a strong San Diego State team, they seemed to falter in loser’s bracket play.
– Kenyon played the toughest slate of any DIII team this weekend and really held their own, pushing them up a spot to #5. Despite a 3-4 weekend, SERF played close in losses against Quarterfinals finishers Connecticut and SUNY-Buffalo.
– Bentley got a 4-0 round robin and universe win against Middlebury at UNH Spring Open, which will make for a lot of fun come Regionals.
– Pacific Lutheran went 6-1 in Vegas with their only loss coming to a dominant Canadian U23 team. However, they did not have any spectacular wins.
– Fredonia and Amherst both went 6-1 this weekend at Uprising, with their only losses coming to surprise team, SUNY Geneseo (who enter the rankings at #16). These results should be taken with a grain of salt as the conditions were horrible and many teams chose not to play on Sunday.
– Truman State played well at Midwest Throwdown, going 6-1, beating North Park and only losing to eventual champion Notre Dame. They enter the rankings at #18.
– Brandeis went 0-4 with a point diff of only minus-8 against top competition in New England. Nothing to be ashamed of.
D-III WOMEN’S
– With a Trouble in Vegas victory, Pacific Lutheran continues their impressive season. They have just one loss, to Whitman, and some quality wins over Ottawa, Arizona, and Oregon State. They move up two spots to #2 in the rankings.
– Truman State crushed Grinnell (last week #5, now #10) at Midwest Throwdown to vault themselves into the top 10 at #7.
