Well, its almost time for the top 25 to come out. I figured I would make this thread sticky so we can debate the picks weekly. Any thoughts or top 25 picks from the fans?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2007 07:21AM by mwolin.

I must say I was a little disapointed with how the poll turned out, especially in the men. Emory did not deserve to be top 25 and somehow they got 15! Come on, UW-Whitewater is a much better team then Emory and will prove to be as the season progresses. Middlebury was wrongfully denied access to the elite 25 and in turn Keene St. got in! Don't get me wrong but Keene St. has no defense whatsoever and couldn't shut out a team of third grade girls. Finally, York of Penn. should have been higher than they were and Gustavus Adolphus, who is returning nearly everybody, deserved to crack the Top 10. I do agree with most of the teams who are in it, but I still am a bit disappointed. After the teams play their first two or three games it will be interesting to see how they stand and I think we will see a lot of movement early this year.

First of all, any team consistently placing well in the UAA is a quality side, which can't be said of all W'isconsin teams.

Second, Keene St. won't have to shut anyone out because theyre gonna outscore everyone they play with the returning players of Eric Scott (1st Team All Conference) Alex Horne (2nd Team AllConference) Mike Cooley (2nd Team All Conference) Ralph Rocco (2nd Team All Conference). These four accounted for 42 goals and 22 assists in 2005.

Lastly, Aldolphus is only returning one player of distinction from 2005 in Jeff Johnson (Honorable Mention All Conference). Graduating players include; Bobby Kroog (3rd Team All American, 1st Team All-Region, 1st Team All Conference) Jordan Iblings(3rd Team All Region) Jonathan Astry (1st Team All-Conference) Caleb Bousu (All Conference Honorable Mention)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2006 07:15AM by espruell.

twoop... of all the teams to call out in the top 25, emory isnt one to question. A year or two ago i remember Emory beating UW-Whitewater 6-1, and it could of been much worse. I dont think Emory deserves a high ranking in the top 25, but 15 is very much deserved

All I'm saying about Emory is that because they are in the UAA, they are given the benefit of the doubt. The UAA is the best conference, but they can barely hold their heads above water and they get in and a team like Whitewater dosen't get in because they are independent. I think you have to get full credit to Whitewater because they schedule tough opponents. Plus, they probabley will give University of Chicago a harder time then Emory will. Carnegie Mellon and UofC both went 5-2 last year in conference play and both beat Emory yet they take a back seat. I just want to know why that is and maybe then I'll agree that 15 was deserved.

I was wondering if someone, the site's creators, could provide some more feedback on who the SID's are that vote and what conferences they are affilated with. It may help explain some discrepencies that were previously discussed.

We can't disclose the actual names or institutions of the voters for our top 25 rankings because we want to avoid lobbying etc. The poll includes the two creators of this website as well as 23 sports information directors selectively chosen to represent every region equally. Before voting, we provided our panel with resources (write ups including players lost, '05 record, seniors lost, incoming freshman ...) on the best teams of '05.

The problem I have with the top 25 is not with the actual top 25, but with a particular team that received votes. Would someone explain to me how Wabash College recieved any votes. It is absolutely ridiculous. The team was 3-7 in conference play and something like 5-13 overall last year. I am not sure they have been over 500 for the past decade. As an alum of the NCAC I can assure you this team did not deserve any votes let alone 24.
This is a serious concern of mine and there are only two explanations in my mind:
1) We have a serious homer that voted for Wabash, which is handing over your integrity.
2) There is one or more people voting that shouldn't be. Enough said, in fact the persons(s) who did vote for Wabash probably isn't capable to choose what they eat on a daily basis.

I am pretty disappointed to see Gustavus that far down in the rankings. As always they get little credit where it is deserved. They did lose a handful of seniors, but have all other returners who are almost all juniors, along with an incoming freshman class rumored to be the best in school history. I guess we'll once again have to see them down if not out of the rankings the entire year until they make it back to the tourney and dominate once again.

I bet Wabash's SID is a voter! Any school with any degree of integrity would not give votes to a school with that record especially before they even win a game this year. The only explanation is Wabash's SID or alumnus is a voter. Either way, it does question the credibility of the poll. Maybe some disclosure is neccessary to enure that the rankings are meaningful. If the rankings are deemed useless (like the NSCAA rankings), then this attempt at having a legitimate poll dies before it even gets started. I personally don't want that to happen.

AMEN to joshjohnson for the Wabash call-out. They were 5-13 last year including a stellar home record of 0-10-0. I call 'shananigans.' We may have another NSCAA poll on our hands. Let's clean it up.

I usually don't bother with these Polls because they are generally useless and are only thrown out there to heat up the discussion boards ( which can be fun ). Let's be honest the SID's doing these have seen only a handful teams play in the past couple years at best other than their own and are are simply filling in a ballot by the "I heard that name before" mentality. Not to knock the SID's but I know I've watched quite a few teams ( ranked and unranked ), and mostly within One (1) Region over the years and I doubt if I could vote on and compilie a list intelligently. Now, I know I could probably pick at least ten (10) by reputation and doing a lttile internet research of Rosters, etc. but how many SID's do you actually think are going to take the time to do any research at all ? It's basically "I've heard of this team or that team I think they're supposed to be good so I'll vote for them". Plus, there is definitely some Old Boy Network bias going around out there - just look at the discussion boards. Teams have lost quite a few starters and still end up high in these polls. While other teams that don't lose anybody at all or maybe (1) player andplayed in the NCAA's or had a very good record the previous year and just missed out get totally overlooked. No TV, very little radio / internet broadcast at the DIII level so very little exposure.... Heck, DI can't get it right and look at the Media time they get.
So, take these for what they are and enjoy the games for the sport - it's much more enjoyable.

Top 25 is not even close how could you leave out Wesleyan the NESCAC Champ that is a joke. Bowdoin over Amherst and Midd no way they lost thier last match 4-1 at home and did not even make the NESCAC Final Four. All pre-season polls should reflect on how teams finished and who is returning but they never do.Not enough Nescac teams - Amherst Midd and Wesleyan should all be in if you want a true top 25. Amherst, Midd and Williams out of conference winning % over the years is amazing.

Check out d3soccer.net's message board. The founder spoke with a voter in the top 25 poll and posted the conversation. Some intersting stuff.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2006 02:02PM by therealfootball.

Espruell...
before you start making claims about certain teams (Gustavus Adolphus) you should take a closer look at the rosters. The gusties are returning quite a few important players from last year, many of whom got over looked due to the quality of other players around (ie: Kroog). perhaps you've heard the idiom, reloading rather than rebuilding?

Way too early to tell. This list will probably change significantly within the next few weeks.

I think national preseason polls for d3 soccer are pretty useless. To me, they become important around mid-season.

Should be a fun year!

I think that the polls are helpful in determining what will happen in the future and gaging how good certain teams are. I think that the polls even the preseason top 25 are important and D3Kicks is doing a great job with. I do agree that later on will be more important and probably better but the preseason top 25 shouldn't be cast aside.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2006 09:33AM by twoop.

I htink that Maniac56 is right in that the voters don't know the grand scope of teams out there. Take a team like wheaton-IL. Always a great team, but they have lost their once staggering control over the CCIW. North Park University, a team that probably very few of you have heard of, has beaten Wheaton in 3 straight matches, including the last 2 Conference championship games. They return the CCIW player of the year in their goalie, and 2 other first team all-conference players, as well as a second teamer. My problem here is not with Wheaton receiving a high bid, which I think that they deserve, but with North Park not receiving any votes, while Wheaton received 244. The issue is clearly that teams with 'big names' will receive the votes.

Always tough to tell with D3 teams due to unstable rosters for a good majority of teams due to various reasons (transfer to a bigger school, not returning due to financial reasons, academically ineligible........). Coming from New England and playing in Division 3 for four years, I always thought the NESCAC teams had an advantage due to not having to worry as much about the three preceding reasons.