Rank | Team | Last Week | Change |
1. | Milwaukee | 1 | – |
2. | Youngstown State | 2 | – |
3. | Wright State | 4 | +1 |
4. | Purdue Fort Wayne | 8 | +4 |
5. | Northern Kentucky | 5 | – |
6. | Oakland | 3 | -3 |
7. | Cleveland State | 9 | +2 |
8. | IU Indy | 6 | -2 |
9. | Detroit Mercy | 7 | -2 |
10. | Eastern Michigan | – | – |
11. | Robert Morris | 10 | -1 |
12. | Green Bay | 11 | -1 |
Milwaukee went to Green Bay with no intention of losing this rivalry game. And it showed, with the Panthers hitting on all cylinders to cruise to an easy win. Then, Milwaukee got a chance to play at Fiserv Forum against Akron. And boy, did they, dropping 100 on the Zips. On top of that, Jamichael Stillwell should be a virtual no-brainer for Horizon League Player of the Week, notching double-doubles in both contests, including a school-record 19 rebounds against the Phoenix and nearly tying that with 18 boards in the win over Akron.
It appears that Youngstown State has gotten its lineup squared away, and the Penguins have kept winning, most recently against Toledo. Ethan Faulkner’s plan to bring Gabe Dynes continues to pay dividends, with the big man swatting away nine shots the Rockets made. EJ Farmer also continues to assume the leadership mantle, dropping 20 against Toledo. And don’t forget Nico Galette, who stepped up with seven assists against Toledo, on top of his 17 points and 11 boards.
Wright State has been playing great basketball in recent weeks, a close loss to Oakland notwithstanding. The Raiders’ latest victory was over a Marshall squad that has been a real thorn in their sides over the years. Brandon Noel continues his march to snagging the Horizon League Player of the Year award, and Jack Doumbia is proving to be an outstanding complement to Noel in the frontcourt.
The guidestone for Horizon League teams seems to be Eastern Michigan (which you’ll read about more later). Yes, the Eagles are in the MAC, but that hasn’t stopped them from playing six HL school. And it’s courtesy of Purdue Fort Wayne’s trouncing ofEMU on Sunday. The convincing win, coupled with another league win (albeit another squeaker) against IU Indy vaulted the Mastodons back to in the upper half of the Power Rankings.
A win against Norfolk State, one of the stalwarts of the MEAC, was exactly what Northern Kentucky needed to nudge up this week. Josh Dilling is proving to be kind of the three-point, sharpshooting D2 transfer that we witnessed last year with Oakland’s Jack Gohlke. The Norse, as a whole, seems to be turning around what had been a slow start to the season, and have positioned themselves to once again make a run in league play.
Oakland dropped one spot this week, but it’s not really the Grizz’s fault. They enjoyed the week off in the run-up to a week where they face Michigan State at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, then a road conference game against CSU before spiriting away to Hawaii and the Diamond Head Classic.
I lied.While Cleveland State’s last game against non-D1 Brescia was an absolute Viking massacre, there was a method to the madness: Work out the three-point shooting and get the bench more playing time. Under the radar, CSU has, all of a sudden, done a 180 from beyond the arc, something that began two games prior in a loss at Milwaukee. Also, KJ Debrick has returned to the lineup, giving the Vikings additional help in the frontcourt.
The drop of IU Indy isn’t necessarily the end result of the Jaguars losing to Purdue Fort Wayne at the last second. The loss against Lindenwood, however, weighs pretty heavily in IU Indy’s spot this week. To make matters worse, it appeared that the Jags had run out of gas in the game, so it’s probably good that they have a week off. The bad news is that the next game is another road trip against Florida International, a tough match-up indeed.
Detroit Mercy has gotten nothing but bad news this past week. The news that Mak Manciel was out for the season wasn’t exactly a surprise, and Jared Lary being done as well wasn’t entirely unexpected. But the indefinite absence of Emmanuel Kuac is a real blow for the Titans. To make matters worse. UDM had to play at Davidson, and the Wildcats, hungry for another A10 title, mauled the Titans. They return to league play against Northern Kentucky, and that will be a true test of Coach Monty’s “next man up” mantra.
What is Eastern Michigan doing here? The Eagles are in the MAC! Well, it’s kind of hard to tell that they’re in the MAC when they’ve played five Horizon League teams. At 2-3, EMU should probably be higher in the Power Rankings. But since the Eagles will disappear from this list after this week, this is a good enough spot for them.
Like Oakland, Robert Morris suffers from the fact that there were no games for the Colonials this week. However, this upcoming week is critical for Mo Bobby to get back on track, with Towson and former NEC rival St. Francis on the docket.
To say this has been a bad week for Green Bay is an understatement. Even with the return of Anthony Roy, the Phoenix were decimated on the glass against Milwaukee. Even worse, Green Bay had built up a nine-point lead on the road against UC-Santa Barbara, only to watch it evaporate, have Roy go out of the game with an ankle injury, and lose by 19 to the Gauchos. A non-D1 matchup against Michigan Tech could help the Phoenix make adjustments, and they’ll need them, as Drake, who’s been on a tear to start the season, looms.