Well we did say that the playoffs would probably bring drastic changes.
And that's what has happened.
We do think that UNC-Wilmington could have held onto #1, and they might well still be the top team in the country. But the most impressive playoff showing, in our opinion, is Vermont. The Catamounts have, over the last month, played a) a game to decide the top seed in their conference; b) their conference championship game; c) a Round of 16 playoff game; d) a quarterfinal playoff game.
The most points they allowed was 16. The fewest points they scored was 42. Every single game was an emphatic victory ... against very good teams. The closest game was 43-16 over Cornell, and the Big Red are really, really good.
We figured, hey, maybe UVM won't win it all, but with those performances, when will they get to be #1? How about now.
IUP of course drops down because they lost in the Round of 16. Grand Valley State, who lost a close game to IUP very early in the season, moves past them with two very strong results in the two playoff rounds. Colorado Mesa moves up four spots.
But our biggest mover actually lost two games. Coastal Carolina lost to Memphis and Salisbury (their consolation match vs Salisbury was one of the few consolation games that was actually played. Actually it's the only one we could find). But the scores were 39-38 and 38-36. So, yes, we feel they should be higher ... especially when Memphis remains ranked highly.
Next up? December 12 GVSU vs Chicago and UNCW vs Vermont. And on December 14, winners and losers play.
One those teams will be #1 at the end of it.
