Jan. 22 Power Rankings
22 January, 2007All that talk about a renewed balance in the Patriot League? Well, the games have been close but the same few teams keep winning them. Half of the conference is now 1-4 in Patriot League play, and there’s two games of separation already between fourth and fifth place. Considering the new Patriot League Tournament rules that place games at the higher seed in call instances, that gulf between fourth and fifth is especially important. By this time next week, half of the league schedule will have been played, and we’ll have a sense of which of the bottom teams, if any, can climb back into contention.
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| 1. | Holy Cross (14-6, 5-0 Patriot) | 1 | It was vintage Holy Cross on Saturday, overcoming a hostile crowd and momentum the other way to pull out an overtime victory on the road. The only cloud to that silver lining was Crusader play late in regulation, where Torey Thomas missed the front end of a one-and-one and made two stupid fouls, and Pat Doherty forced a very contested shot that airballed out of bounds with 3 seconds left, giving American a chance to win at the buzzer. In most circumstances, such play late will cost you the game. |
| 2. | Bucknell (10-8, 4-1 Patriot) | 2 | It was business as usual for the Bison this week, toughing out a road win at Lafayette and crushing Colgate at home. This week, Bucknell hosts Lehigh and Army, two teams aching to prove they belong in the upper echelon of the league. Winning both of those will go a long way in declaring that the Patriot League is still a two-contender league. |
| 3. | Lehigh (9-12, 4-1 Patriot) | 3 | Are the Mountain Hawks for real? This could be a season-making stretch, as Lehigh’s next three games are on the road at Bucknell, Holy Cross and American. The key will be Marquis Hall, who has played out of his head lately: 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in his last four. |
| 4. | Army (13-7, 3-2 Patriot) | 5 | Army continues to establish Christl Arena as an intimidating home court (8-1 at home this year), but this week they must do it on the road to keep pace with the top of the league. Army is still a growing program, but a win or two this week will significantly increase expectations for the Black Knights. |
| 5. | American (9-10, 1-4 Patriot) | 5 | There’s a prevailing feeling that the past week was an opportunity lost for the Eagles. The Army game was one that the Eagles usually win, and losing to Holy Cross after forcing overtime ruined a chance for American to begin ascending in the standings. A big part of the problem is frontcourt play: Brayden Billbe is averaging 3.5 points per game in the last four games, and Travis Lay, Paulius Joneliunas and the rest of the backup forwards have been wildly inconsistent. |
| 6. | Navy (11-9, 1-4 Patriot) | 6 | Navy coach Billy Lange told Basketball U. last week that his team needs to continue gaining experience to begin pulling out close games. Lange must hope his team gained some experience at Army Sunday, because they missed a big chance to steal a road league win. This week the Mids are at American and at home against Colgate. |
| 7. | Lafayette (7-13, 1-4 Patriot) | 7 | The Leopards continue to play very well, but just well enough to lose. Lafayette led Bucknell for a long time before faltering late, and at Lehigh, the Leopards dug themselves a huge first-half hole before they almost dug out of it with a scintillating second-half performance. If Lafayette could paste together two good halves, they have the ability (and importantly, the coaching) to beat any team in the league in a given game. |
| 8. | Colgate (6-12, 1-4 Patriot) | 8 | Dark days for the Raiders, who are, in retrospect, an overtime game away from starting the league schedule 0-5. Kyle Chones, after scoring 16 in that overtime game, has averaged 3.5 points per game in the four games since. |
