2019 Week 1 regional rankings: St. Olaf, Chicago top regions

The first regional rankings of the season have been published.

Central Region 1. St. Olaf 2. Saint Benedict 3. Augsburg 4. Washington-St. Louis 5. St. Thomas (Minn.) 6. Loras 7. Northwestern 8. Wartburg

Looks like SOS ruled the day across many regions. St. Olaf ahead of St. Thomas at all, let alone by four spots, is puzzling. Same for Loras over Wartburg and, to a lesser extent, Northwestern over St. Scholastica.

Midwest Region 1. Chicago 2. Wisconsin-Whitewater 3. Carthage 4. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 5. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 6. Wisconsin-La Crosse 7. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 8. Wisconsin-Platteville

I see the logic in this order until La Crosse. I’m not on board with UWL deserving a spot ahead of Oshkosh or even Stout, although the UWL and Stout comparison will shake itself out soon and UWL’s/UWO’s common opponents provides a mild case for UWL. My ranking prep post did not include Platteville, but I think the committee was correct in its assessment of UWP.

Top 4 in other regions Great Lakes: Calvin; Ohio Northern; Muskingum; Transylvania. Mid-Atlantic: Johns Hopkins; Susquehanna; Carnegie Mellon; Juniata. New England: Tufts; Babson; Wesleyan; Wellesley. New York: Clarkson; Stockton; Ithaca; NYU. South: Emory; Berry; Randolph-Macon; Washington & Lee. West: Colorado College; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; Trinity (Texas); Mary Hardin-Baylor.

-Ricky Nelson