November 20 Power Rankings
20 November, 2006If I told you that your mid-major conference of choice would be 2 games over .500 a week into the season, and that number included the defending conference champion’s 0-3 record, how ecstatic would you be? Fans across the Patriot League have to be thrilled with the league’s 15-13 performance so far. The Patriot is 3-0 against the Ivy League, with five more matchups between the leagues this coming week. Patriot squads will also make three trips to power conference schools, and overall will have just 5 home games and 10 road games this week.
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| 1. | Holy Cross (3-0) | 2 | The Crusaders have yet to leave Worcester this year, but their Saturday victory over Siena is a huge win. Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas are giving teams fits on offense. Tim Clifford has struggled from the field so far, but if he comes around as expected, Holy Cross will have to be considered the most well-rounded team in the Patriot League. Games against Harvard and William & Mary this week set the stage for Holy Cross’s big road trip that includes games at Syracuse, Duke, Providence and Dayton. |
| 2. | Army (3-1) | 4 | It may not be against great competition, but Army has three Division 1 wins before Thanksgiving. Jarell Brown and Matt Bell are shooting the lights out, but those two scored plenty last year and the team still lost all the time. The difference this year is great frontcourt play by Corban Bates and freshman Chris Walker, which is making it hard for teams to run over the Black Knights down low. Army gets a chance to further the Patriot League’s Ivy dominance with games against Cornell and Brown this week. |
| 3. | American (2-1) | 1 | The Eagles took care of business against Morgan State, and gave Richmond a scare on the road before falling. That American stayed in the Richmond game without Andre Ingram providing much offense is a good sign; increasing the bench minutes for sophomore sharpshooter Garrison Carr has paid off thus far. However, the Eagles need Ingram to be their top scorer just about every night in order to succeed. On tap this week for American, a home game with Loyola and then another trip to an Atlantic 10 team, this time Xavier. |
| 4. | Bucknell (0-3) | 3 | The Bison came very close to beating another power conference team early this week, dropping an overtime game to Wake Forest. Their performance at St. Joe’s, though, seemed a notch below what we’ve come to expect from Bucknell. The Bison battle an undermanned Penn State side this week, before traveling to Yale for the first must-win of the season. |
| 5. | Lehigh (2-3) | 7 | After a rough start to the season in Oregon, Lehigh enjoyed some home cooking this week. Five games into his career, Marquis Hall looks settled down and in control, and Jose Olivero and Kyle Neptune are scoring as expected. Jason Mgebroff had a great start to the season but seems to be slowing down; if his run wasn’t a mirage then Lehigh should have no trouble returning to the top half of the league. |
| 6. | Navy (3-1) | 6 | The Midshipmen beat up on a Brown squad that turned around and defeated Providence days later, and also knocked off Stony Brook. Navy gets their first true home game Tuesday night against UMES (the Brown game was in Upper Marlboro, MD). Kaleo Kina and Greg Sprink have scored as expected, but freshman forwards T.J. Topercer and Trey Stanton have given the Middies a dimension on offense that they haven’t had in a while. |
| 7. | Colgate (1-1) | 8 | After losing to Stony Brook at home, Colgate went small for a matchup with Dartmouth and it worked wonders. With the Chones brothers starting alongside three guards and a balanced effort from the deep bench, Colgate played strong defense and shut down the Big Green. Colgate fans hope this is a winning formula after last year’s disappointment. The Raiders begin a five-game homestand Wednesday against Canisius. |
| 8. | Lafayette (1-3) | 5 | For 33 minutes, it looked like Lafayette could hang with Indiana. Then they dropped that game by 25, followed up with a big loss to Notre Dame, and used a late rally against St. Joseph’s to make the final score look closer than the game really was. These were some very tough opponents, but the Leopards could have put up a better showing. Tuesday’s game at UMBC should offer Lafayette a respite. |
