Once again in NCAA D1, the B1G, the CAA, and SoCon kept things internal the Big East and MAAC both had bad weeks while the Ivy is looking stronger and stronger. Then the NEC went 2-0 to inch closer to .500 on the heels of Robert Morris’ pair of wins. The biggest tumble was the Big East, who dropped games to Loyola and Notre Dame.
|
Conference |
Record |
% |
+/- |
This week |
|
Big Ten |
38-14 |
0.731 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
|
ACC |
30-12 |
0.714 |
-0.011 |
1-1 |
|
Big East |
31-19 |
0.620 |
-0.026 |
0-2 |
|
Ivy League |
29-19 |
0.604 |
0.013 |
3-1 |
|
Patriot |
27-21 |
0.563 |
-0.003 |
1-1 |
|
America East |
28-25 |
0.528 |
0.009 |
1-0 |
|
NEC |
25-27 |
0.481 |
0.021 |
2-0 |
|
CAA |
22-29 |
0.431 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
|
MAAC |
18-35 |
0.340 |
-0.013 |
0-2 |
|
SoCon |
13-38 |
0.255 |
0.000 |
0-0 |
|
Independent |
5-28 |
0.152 |
0.022 |
1-1 |
The ACC took a slight step backwards with their loss to Cornell, and even though they split their games, their overall percentage took a slight hit. Back in week 7, I noted how the ACC needed to finished out no worse than 9-2 over the home stretch to top the Big Ten. So far, they are 3-1, with some trap games ahead. The Big East had to win all six of their remaining games to catch the ACC (while hoping they lost four of their own), but they went 0-3 in that stretch.
While the Ivy is closing in on the Big East, they have just two games left. Yale vs. Albany and Brown vs. Bryant. Both are tough games. If they lose both, they will not catch the Big East. If they lose one of those games, they need the Big East to lose out completely. If they win both, they’ll need the Big East to lose two more games to come out in third place. More than likely, the Big East will finish in the third with Denver and Villanova sitting on top while the Ivy will be in fourth with Yale and Cornell leading the way.
What is most unfortunate to me is that the NEC is sitting so low in the table. Robert Morris, St. Joseph’s, and Bryant are all in content for the league title, but there’s no way the #2 team sees the tournament. They do have a shot at finishing a cool .500, though. Bryant needs to beat Brown and Sacred Heart has to win their game against Cleveland State. Pull that off and they’ll be in good shape.
The two most disappointing finishes for me right now are the SoCon and CAA. The CAA had a great season last year with the success of Towson and Hofstra. UMass seems to be making a comeback, which bodes well for the conference in the future. Sadly, Towson has not been able to overcome their massive graduation losses, and Hofstra has had many struggles of their own and just cannot pile up the wins to float the conference. SoCon has seen a big dip from Richmond and Air Force, while Jacksonville’s emergence has caught attention, but not the big non-conference wins yet. Close losses count as much as blowouts in terms of win percentage. Both of these conferences seemed to be on the upswing, but it looks like we need to wait another year before we see the tide rise within.
