Rank Team
- Milwaukee
- Youngstown State
- Oakland
- Wright State
- Northern Kentucky
- IU Indy
- Detroit Mercy
- Purdue Fort Wayne
- Cleveland State
- Robert Morris
- Green Bay
While Milwaukee only played one conference game so far, it’s been clear for a good stretch of the non-conference slate that the Panthers are capable of playing with (if not beating) some serious competition. Even as Cleveland State’s offense awakened, Milwaukee made sure to keep the Vikings at bay during the league opener and came through with the win. The rivalry game on the road against Green Bay is next, and the Panthers want to keep the win part going.
It’s early, but Youngstown State’s sweep of the first conference games in rather convincing fashion against Robert Morris and Oakland puts The Penguins in the second spot this week. Ethan Faulkner strategic change to bring Gabe Dynes off the bench has paid off, with him grabbing eight boards and two blocks against the Colonials, then nine rebounds and three blocks against the Golden Grizzlies. The trio of EJ Farmer, Nico Galette and Juwan Maxey have been a big key to this week’s wins as well.
Oakland’s first two league games have been night and day. The win over Wright State, in which the Grizz held Brandon Noel to six points, was a virtual masterclass in what Oakland is capable of. Against YSU, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, with the Golden Grizzlies unable to produce offensively and certainly unable to keep Farmer from going off or Dynes off the boards. While they’re off the schedule next week, things won’t get any easier after the break, with a trip to LCA for a match-up with Michigan State.
A missed opportunity as time expired in the O’rena is what keeps Wright State in this position this week. Had the shot fallen, we’d be having a conversation for the top spot. The Raiders, though, bounced back and held off a scrappy Detroit Mercy team to take the split in Michigan. Noel, who was stuffed in a locker against Oakland, let loose against the Titans with another 20+ point effort. But Wright State has always been better with a good second option and against UDM, it was Jack Doumbia, who finished with 21 points and 13 boards.
If not for a goaltend by IU Indy’s Julian Steinfeld off a Trey Robinson miss as time expired, Northern Kentucky would have been in a very different spot in the Power Rankings. As it stands, the Norse are currently in this spot…for now. NKU has really needed a spark with the non-conference slate not going as well as Darrin Horn has wanted so far. If thinks take a turn, the Norse will plummet in the rankings.
This week proved that IUPUI is long gone, and IU Indy is here to stay. The aforementioned goaltend aside, the Jags pushed Northern Kentucky to the absolute limit, and their preview win over Green Bay, even as Anthony Roy went off for 34 points, was further evidence that Paul Corsaro is in the midst of a true rebirth at the Jungle. Jarvis Walker and Paul Zilinskas are the highlighted stars for this IU Indy squad, but players such as Sean Craig, Desean Goode and Keenan Garner provide just as big a spark.
From all indications, this will not be a Detroit Mercy team that will finish in last place, which many predictions, including our own, came up with in the preseason. Orlando Lovejoy is clearly the leader of this team, and Legend Geeter, the hero of the Purdue Fort Wayne win, and Emmanuel Kuac are providing a critical veteran presence for the Titans. But UDM’s freshmen are coming on a lot faster than many expected, and the Titans look to be progressing far faster than anyone expected.
It’s not clear whether we cursed Purdue Fort Wayne for picking the Mastodons so highly in the preseason polls or not. But the last-second loss to Detroit Mercy certainly had to sting. And while PFW vanquished Robert Morris, the Mastodons ran into a couple of issues; one being foul trouble for Rasheed Bello and Eric Mulder, and the other being that they one shot four three-pointers. Fortunately, it’s likely Purdue Fort Wayne won’t be down this far in the Power Rankings for too long, especially when they have players like Bello and Jalen Jackson capable of leading this team.
Cleveland State should probably be higher. After all, the bench against Milwaukee got Thanos-snapped out of existence and the Vikings had serious foul troubles yet stayed within striking distance against the Panthers until they inevitably ran out of gas. Also, blowing out Green Bay, even without Anthony Roy, was pretty impressive, especially considering CSU actually made 10 three-pointers, which hasn’t happened at all this season. But the Vikings suffer this week by the more impressive wins by the other 1-1 teams in the conference. A game against a non-D1 team isn’t going to help their positioning much.
From a performance standpoint, Robert Morris is, in fact, playing better that it did last year. So why are they so low in the Power Rankings? Well, the Youngstown State loss wasn’t great, and the Colonials let opportunities to best Purdue Fort Wayne slip away. We haven’t complete lost our faith in Mo Bobby, but right now, it’s kind of hibernating.
Green Bay has a problem. Well, the Phoenix have a litany of problems, and it’s not as if Doug Gottlieb sitting Anthony Roy for missing shootarounds before the Cleveland State game was the start of it. Green Bay’s problem overall has been defense, allowing IU Indy and the Vikings to score 84 and 83 points, respectively. The question of who the second scoring option for the Phoenix has also been apparent, with teams clocking Marcus Hall and Preston Ruedinger and Foster Wonders still struggling. With Milwaukee coming up ready to put a hurting on Green Bay, the worst may not be over yet.
