November 18 Power Rankings
18 November, 2007by Jake Wilson
The week got off to a great start for the Patriot League, with wins in six of the first seven games, but a 4-7 mark on the back end of the week resulted in a much more modest 10-8 combined mark. Two weekends into the season, we’re starting to see some stratification in the league, with the traditional powers at the top, the potential challenger not far behind, and other five teams in roughly the order expected.
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| 1. | Holy Cross (3-0) | . | The Crusaders have been getting to the line a ton and playing their trademark shutdown defense, holding opponents to 0.83 points per possession through three games. The road win at Hampton was better than many people realize, as the Pirates lost at both Maryland and Kent State by just six points. |
| 2. | Bucknell (2-1) | – | The Albany and Towson wins are going to look pretty good come March, and the Bison gave a ranked Villanova team all it could handle before eventually succumbing on Sunday night. The high turnover rate is a cause for concern, but Bucknell is getting excellent production out of an inexperienced group. |
| 3. | Colgate (4-0) | – | Emmett Davis’s crew is draining threes at a 42.2-percent clip and doing what it’s supposed to against a weak schedule: winning games. Kyle Roemer has been absolutely huge for the Red Raiders, and is showing no ill effects from last year’s injury, averaging 20.0 points per game through four games. |
| 4. | Lehigh (2-1) | – | Two wins this week came by small margins over very modest opposition, but Brett Reed has to be happy with a 2-1 record at this point in his first season. Marquis Hall is doing it all, ranking first on the team in scoring (18.0 points per game), first in assists (3.7 per game), and second in rebounds (4.0 per game). |
| 5. | American (2-2) | – | So far the Eagles have been pretty consistent, squeaking by weak Saint Francis and Stony Brook teams and barely losing to decent Loyola College and Fairfield squads. If that trend continues in league play, American figures to be slightly better than Lafayette and Navy, but not quite on par with Colgate and Lehigh. |
| 6. | Army (1-2) | – | It was a rollercoaster week for the Black Knights, who scored an impressively easy road win at NEC favorite Sacred Heart on Monday. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any carryover effect, as Army unraveled down the stretch and lost by double digits at home against a bad Long Island team this past weekend. |
| 7. | Lafayette (1-2) | – | The Leopards have played three down-to-the-wire games against very beatable opponents, and yet Fran O’Hanlon’s veteran team has come away with the victory just once. Rebounding has been a major issue for Lafayette, who has rebounded at 26.7 percent offensively while allowing 40.0 percent to opponents. |
| 8. | Navy (1-3) | – | It’s been downhill for the Middies ever since the strong performance in the opener, with a losing streak that has reached three games — none of which were particularly close. As opposed to last year when the offense was clicking early on, Navy is scoring just 0.95 points per possession through four games. |
