Despite the fact that we attended the IUP game this past week AND they won, we strongly considered bumping them from the #1 spot.
It wasn't really anything IUP did wrong, but more how overwhelming Northern Iowa's wins have been. They play good teams and they win big, and did both of those this past weekend. We went back and forth on this and in the end decided UNI moves up one spot, but not two to #1.
What that result also did was bump Whitewater down from #11 to #25. And we actually had several major moves this week, so let's look at that:
Down
Whitewater lost to UNI 72-3, and since Whitewater beat Marquette (who also lost big to UNI) then they stay below Whitewater. If you lose by almost 70 it's really hard to stay in the Top 20.
Towson drops out because they lost big and in looking at their season so far there's not the body of work we need. But Towson plays UMBC this week and that will potentially get them back in (actually, it absolutely will get them back in).
Idaho State drops out because their win was a forfeit win (and therefore doesn't really move the needle) and other teams moved up With ISU being #39, it only takes two new teams to drop you out. And after all the talk about how competitive the NEWCRC is, big losses for Lowell and New Hampshire drop them out. These two teams tied at the beginning of the season, and then struggled. UNH has lost the last two games by a total of 128 points; Lowell by 115.
At the other end of the rankings, Marist drops three spots from #7 to #10 after a win, but a win that was a bit too close for comfort.
Marist Edges RPI in Surprisingly Close Liberty DII Game
Up
RPI's close loss to Marist draws them up and, by association, Cornell. (Cornell beat RPI earlier so they remain ranked ahead of the Engineers.) Illinois State's win over Chicago, and a close win, means more that ISU is stronger than we thought than Chicago is weaker than we thought. ISU usually finishes the fall with some momentum so, overall, it's not a shock win.
Maine (finally!) is in the Top 40. Yes they should have been in last week but here they are. UMBC just has a better body of work so far than does Towson, so that's a straight Maryland switcheroo. Georgia Tech returns to the Top 40.
