ATLANTIC REGION polls, rankings and blah, blah, blah

[IUPalum]

Torn on UPJ at 7.

They've played a tough schedule. They've also lost most of their tough games.

Still a lot of games to go. It always plays itself out. A lot of teams in question for spots 7/8.

[Inkblot]

Torn on UPJ at 7.

They've played a tough schedule. They've also lost most of their tough games.

I have UPJ, WCU, and ESU very tightly clustered right now in the 7–9 spots.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Updated Men's Atlantic Region records:


0-1 loss

IUP (19-0)


2-3 losses

West Liberty (16-3)
Mercyhurst (14-3)

4-5 losses

Virginia Union (16-4)
Fairmont State (15-4)
East Stroudsburg (15-4)
West Virginia State (15-4)
Claflin (14-4)
Pitt-Johnstown (14-5)
Charleston (14-5)
Winston-Salem State (14-5)
Lock Haven (13-5)

6-7 losses

West Chester (13-6)
Virginia State (13-7)
Shippensburg (12-7)
Seton Hill (12-7)
Slippery Rock (12-7)
Glenville State (12-7)
Notre Dame (11-7)

[IUPalum]

After the top 2/3 spots, the regional slots are going to be a mess.

[Ship69]

After the top 2/3 spots, the regional slots are going to be a mess.

There are a lot of games to be played yet. Several of those teams will play themselves out of contention in the next couple of weeks.

[Scrub]

There are a lot of games to be played yet. Several of those teams will play themselves out of contention in the next couple of weeks.

Agreed. West Liberty, for one, has a key two-game stretch coming up with WVSU & Charleston. They could conceivably lose both of those and swiftly go from a 3-loss team to a 5-loss team. That would drastically change the landscape. I hope that doesn't happen, and they certainly looked a lot more like themselves on Wednesday, but outside of IUP, there just isn't a "safe bet" in the region right now.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Agreed. West Liberty, for one, has a key two-game stretch coming up with WVSU & Charleston. They could conceivably lose both of those and swiftly go from a 3-loss team to a 5-loss team. That would drastically change the landscape. I hope that doesn't happen, and they certainly looked a lot more like themselves on Wednesday, but outside of IUP, there just isn't a "safe bet" in the region right now.

Agreed ... it's early but not that 'early'.

The CIAA is really the wild card (as usual). As of now, they probably have two teams, outright, in the field for NCAAs.

The terrifying thing for the bubble teams is if Virginia Union and Claflin both stay strong enough to stay in on their own -- and then, say, Fayetteville State wins the always-chaotic CIAA Tournament.

If they get three teams in that's big trouble for many PSAC and MEC fringe teams.

As for IUP, the Hawks have a tough path ahead (starting tomorrow). That includes road trips to Mercyhurst, Seton Hill and California. UPJ also visits the KCAC. Luckily for Joe he has a cushion right now. But, that can go away quickly.

[Ship69]

Agreed. West Liberty, for one, has a key two-game stretch coming up with WVSU & Charleston. They could conceivably lose both of those and swiftly go from a 3-loss team to a 5-loss team. That would drastically change the landscape. I hope that doesn't happen, and they certainly looked a lot more like themselves on Wednesday, but outside of IUP, there just isn't a "safe bet" in the region right now.

Ship would love to be in West Liberty's spot right now. Playing a strong early season schedule has helped the Raiders in the past, but that hasn't been the case this year as a close loss to Virginia Union in the opener, a chaotic one-point overtime loss to Fairmont State, and a weird one-point loss to Millersville have put Ship on an extreme bubble. As competitive as the PSAC East has turned out to be, I can't see Ship completing the regular season without 2-3 more losses, so our shot at postseason other than the PSAC tournament looks dim.

[Inkblot]

The terrifying thing for the bubble teams is if Virginia Union and Claflin both stay strong enough to stay in on their own -- and then, say, Fayetteville State wins the always-chaotic CIAA Tournament.

Virginia Union is miles ahead of the rest of the CIAA, even Claflin. If the season ended today and VUU got the auto bid, they'd probably be the #3 seed and no one else from the CIAA would be in.

[Scrub]

Ship would love to be in West Liberty's spot right now. Playing a strong early season schedule has helped the Raiders in the past, but that hasn't been the case this year as a close loss to Virginia Union in the opener, a chaotic one-point overtime loss to Fairmont State, and a weird one-point loss to Millersville have put Ship on an extreme bubble. As competitive as the PSAC East has turned out to be, I can't see Ship completing the regular season without 2-3 more losses, so our shot at postseason other than the PSAC tournament looks dim.

It's always a high-risk-high-reward proposition to play that tough early schedule. You can bank some great PI points if you win them, but we also know that the conference season is a grind, so you hate to head into conference games with familiar & prepared foes with too many losses on the record.

[Ship69]

It's always a high-risk-high-reward proposition to play that tough early schedule. You can bank some great PI points if you win them, but we also know that the conference season is a grind, so you hate to head into conference games with familiar & prepared foes with too many losses on the record.

And sometimes there are ones you don't see coming. They dropped an early one to Seton Hill, which has turned out to be a pretty tough squad this year.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

And sometimes there are ones you don't see coming. They dropped an early one to Seton Hill, which has turned out to be a pretty tough squad this year.

SH is tough. They may beat Mercyhurst tomorrow. I wish a couple of these games were in the 730pm slot.

[IUP24]

SH is tough. They may beat Mercyhurst tomorrow. I wish a couple of these games were in the 730pm slot.

Can you explain why IUP is not allowed to play games on Saturdays nights anymore? That has to be mandated be the conference.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Can you explain why IUP is not allowed to play games on Saturdays nights anymore? That has to be mandated be the conference.

They are allowed. They've chosen not to play at night.

[GSCfan1275]

What’s happening in Institute, WV, WV State is in a free fall since losing to Glenville on 1/18. They have now lost 4 in a row.