Third Regional Rankings Announced On Wednesday 2-20-19

The latest round of regional rankings came out earlier this afternoon and here's how things stack up in the all-important West Region at the moment with current records:


1.  UST                                                                          24-1   18-0
2.  Wartburg                                                                  22-3   15-1
3.  George Fox                                                              22-3   15-1
4.  Loras                                                                        21-4   14-2
5.  Augsburg                                                                 21-4   16-2
6.  Claremont-Mudd-Scripps                                        23-2   15-1
7.  Puget Sound                                                             19-5   12-4
8.  Whitman                                                                  19-6   13-3


No changes at all in the top five spots from last week's release.....At times I wondered why Loras was ranked one spot ahead of Augsburg but the Duhawks do have that one big win over UW-Whitewater which is ranked in the Central Region, something that the Auggies don't have at the moment.  Regardless, I have to think that both teams are pretty much sure deals for the NCAA Tournament regardless of what transpires the rest of this week and weekend. 

The real shakeup came in the bottom half of the rankings.  UW-Superior was as high as sixth last week and fell completely out of the rankings this week because.....they won?  I really don't understand it nor do I understand how (a) Puget Sound out of the NWC magically comes out of nowhere to get into the rankins or (b) how Claremont-Mudd-Scripps gets shoved from the seventh spot last week to the number six spot this week.  First off, Puget Sound just got beat AT HOME by Whitworth this last weekend and is carrying a 12-4 conference record compared to UW-Superior's 15-1 conference record.  Granted, we know how tough the NWC is and I'm not disputing that for a second.  But still, how do you completely remove UW-Superior from the West Region rankings altogether when their last loss was on the road to conference opponent Bethany Lutheran back in early January?  I don't have that big of a problem with the Athenas moving up one notch as they've pretty much run roughshod through the SCIAC and haven't lost since early December when they were upset at home by Chapman.  I'm guessing Whitman Head Coach Michelle Ferenz is probably none too pleased to see the Loggers leapfrog her team as the Blues do indeed have a better conference record even though Puget Sound beat Whitman at home in Tacoma this last Friday night.  And if anyone should have a gripe about all this, it's Bethel.  They're 20-6 overall; better than both Puget Sound and Whitman although the Royals do have that one bad loss on the road to CSB a few weeks ago.

Fire away with thoughts....