Regional Rankings: Week 1 is here

The first set of regional rankings are here. If you ask me, there are some big surprises in the Central Region. Not so much in the Midwest.

In the Central, I didn’t have Nebraska Wesleyan so high nor St. Olaf so low. I know NWU and Simpson have big OWP/OOWP edges over St. Olaf, but SOC has one in-region loss. NWU has played just 12 in-region games, and Simpson has 10 in-region losses. So the NCAA says it is better to shoot for the moon and miss in the Simpson/NE Wesleyan vs. St. Olaf debate. I agree, but 10 losses versus one loss is hard to ignore. What’s the threshold for missing the moon? Ten seems like a lot of misses, and Simpson has lost to a few mediocre in-region teams.

I admit to not knowing the most about the New England Region, but how is Plymouth State not in the rankings? PSU has two in-region losses, defeated the No. 4 team in the regional rankings – Springfield – at Springfield, and leads the Little East Conference (LEC rival UMass Boston is second in the regional rankings). Unless PSU is a very close No. 9 in New England this week, those rankings are odd. Even so, I think PSU should be ranked. It almost looks like an oversight. In any event, PSU plays New England No. 7 Middlebury and No. 2 UMass Boston this week. I thought it would be for NE ranking position, but it appears as though PSU isn’t even in the Pool C conversation. Odd, indeed.

Central RegionTeam, in-region, overall 1. Washington 20-0 22-3 2. Nebraska Wesleyan 10-2 10-2 3. St. Thomas 19-5 20-6 4. Saint Mary’s 18-5 18-6 5. Saint Benedict 20-5 20-5 6. Simpson 15-10 16-10 7. St. Olaf 21-1 22-2 8. Concordia (MN) 10-5 12-6

Midwest RegionTeam, in-region, overall 1. UW Oshkosh 25-0 27-0 2. UW-Whitewater 16-5 21-5 3. Carthage 17-3 21-3 4. UW-Platteville 13-4 17-7 5. North Central (IL) 21-2 26-3 6. UW-Eau Claire 17-5 18-5 7. U of Chicago 18-10 21-10 8. Illinois Wesleyan 14-10 16-12

Number 1s from the other regions (my predictions from last week): Great Lakes 1. Ohio Northern (same) Mid-Atlantic 1. Juniata (same) New England 1. Tufts (Plymouth State) New York 1. NYU (same) South 1. Emory (Same) West 1. Colorado (same)

See entire rankings from the link above. Any comments on the NCAA’s first crack at it?

-Ricky Nelson