Handicapping the latest baseball poll
While the Florida Gators are celebrating their second consecutive National Championship tonight, a number of teams are battling to stake their claim as the top Division III baseball team in the country. In the last ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) poll, Wooster College was ranked first, but just barely. With three first-place votes and 233 points, they barely edged out second place Chapman University (two first-place votes and 228 points).
SUNY-Cortland sits in third place with three first-place votes and 222 points, while Emory University is in fourth place with 211 points. My math skills are less than stellar, but by my calculation that is four teams separated by a mere 22 points. However, this poll was released March 26, so a lot has happened since then. Let’s break it all down:
Wooster - They certainly haven’t hurt their chances of losing the top seed. Wooster was 15-0 when the poll was released. Four consecutive wins later, their record stands at 19-0.
Chapman - Sporting a record of 19-3 when the poll was released, the Panthers have gone 3-1 since then. Their record of 22-4 should keep them among the top four teams, but the one loss might cost them a chance at the top spot.
Cortland - The biggest surprise on this list, the Red Dragons held a perfect 13-0 record at the time the last poll was released. They’ve come back down to Earth in the past few games, compiling a 3-2 record. At this rate, expect Cortland to slip a bit.
Emory - Just like Chapman, Emory had a 19-3 at the time of the last poll. And, just like Chapman, they’ve compiled a 3-1 record since that point. While they probably won’t jump into the top spot, they should surpass Cortland and possibly Chapman in the rankings.
Of course this could all change within the next week, as the next poll isn’t released until April 9. Stay tuned.
Comments (1)
1 Comment | Add yours
Leave a Reply
Comments that do not abide by our Comments Policy may be deleted.
Feed for Hat Trick
[...] a week of speculation, including a breakdown of the top four D-III baseball teams in the country, Hat Trick has spent a good portion of today analyzing the latest American Baseball [...]