#HLMBB Power Rankings – Week 16

Rank	Team	Last Week	Change
1.	Robert Morris	1	–
2.	Cleveland State	3	+1
3.	Milwaukee	4	+1
4.	Youngstown State	2	-2
5.	Purdue Fort Wayne	5	–
6.	Oakland	6	–
7.	Northern Kentucky	7	–
8.	Wright State	11	+3
9.	IU Indy	10	+1
10.	Detroit Mercy	8	-2
11.	Green Bay	10	-1

This was the week that Robert Morris made a statement and, in turn, the inside line on the Horizon League regular season title and with it, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Green Bay gave the Colonials some fits, to be sure, but in true RMU fashion this season, the Colonials held the Phoenix at arm’s length to take the win. Oddly enough, the next game against Milwaukee was far simpler, as Robert Morris ran away in the second half to take the win.

Cleveland State just saw its regular season title hopes evaporate, unless Robert Morris somehow loses to IU Indy. Not against Detroit Mercy, mind you (although the Titans did make it interesting), but against an Oakland team that’s had its ups and downs this year. The Vikings will still have a first-round bye, but must now finish out the week against Wright State and Purdue Fort Wayne to ensure a home game. Otherwise, there’s going to be a lot of question marks going into the tournament.

Milwaukee, like Cleveland State, still had a shot at the regular season crown. But unlike the Vikings, the Panthers could be in danger of being out of the first-round bye conversation completely if they can’t close the deal this week against Oakland and Detroit Mercy, because if Oakland sweeps the week and Milwaukee gets swept, the Grizz will get punted to sixth place. So it’ll be more important than ever to take care of business to close out the season. There was a little bit of good news for the Panthers this week, as they pulled a road win and knocked off the next team in the Power Rankings…

Youngstown State. The Penguins aren’t in any danger of losing their first-round bye, as they have only one game left in the season against Northern Kentucky. Still, the loss to Milwaukee, coupled with having to rally to turn away Green Bay, wasn’t exactly all that great for morale. If it makes YSU fans feel any better, these two games probably would have gone a bit differently had EJ Farmer not been out with an illness. Still the Penguins have some wiggle room to move in the standings, especially if they come out victorious in Round 2 of the Faulkner Bowl against the Norse.

Regular season title is, like most of the other teams above them, gone for Purdue Fort Wayne. The Mastodons will still need to make every game count, and they accomplished that in their only game this week against Oakland. Next week’s contests are even more critical, with a season closer against Cleveland State is essential for seeding purposes, even if their prospects for a crown have faded away.

Oakland may not be regular season champs this time around, but they’ve proven they can play the role of spoiler, as evidenced this week by an upset of Cleveland State. A Purdue Fort Wayne victory over Northern Kentucky will secure the Golden Grizzlies’ as the 6 seed, but there’s still an outside shot that they can jump to 5 under the right conditions. One of those conditions would be an Oakland win over Milwaukee as part of a final week sweep. That, plus a Panther loss to Detroit Mercy, could give the Grizz a bye. So, if Oakland wins on Thursday, Grizz fans will have to grit their teeth and root for the Titans on Saturday.

Even in what, by all accounts, has been a down year for Northern Kentucky, weeks like this have provided some shades of brilliance. The Norse kicked the week off by heading up I-75 and taking down Wright State, surging past the Raiders who appeared to be pulling away from the game. On Sunday, NKU got into a three-point shooting contest with a team you generally shouldn’t challenge in that way, IU Indy, and out-shot the Jaguars just enough that take the victory. Passing Oakland for sixth place isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but the Norse will need some help to get that done.

After serving a one-week sentence at the bottom of the Power Rankings, Wright State is no longer pulling up the rear this week. The problem for the Raiders, though, is their current ranking is more for their overall body of work, rather than their performance. As for that, well, it was another situation of Wright State holding a significant lead on an opponent, only to falter and drop the game. This has happened the the Raiders multiple times, but when it takes place against a rival opponent in Northern Kentucky, it stings that much more.

With a first-round home game out the window, at least IU Indy can take comfort in getting another road win, something that has been extremely hard to come by in years past. By beating Detroit Mercy, the Jaguars are nearly all but assured the ninth seed in the conference tournament. They had a chance to get even closer to Wright State in the standings, but couldn’t withstand the barrage of Northern Kentucky three-pointers, resulting in the Norse beating IU Indy in its own game. The Jags still have a chance to play spoiler against Robert Morris, and they’ll close out the regular season with what may be their likeliest first-round tourney foes Wright State.

Mark Montgomery and Detroit Mercy really feel good about the progress that they’ve made throughout the course of the season. But knowing Coach Monty and his Titan crew, it would also be understandable that they may instead feel that they could have done better to this point, with the games against IU Indy and Cleveland State at home as evidence of that. Against the Vikings, Detroit Mercy were relentless in staying with the top team in the Horizon League standings. In the end, though, it was the more experienced CSU that came out on top. There’s still a chance the Titans can reach the 10-win plateau next week, but considering they travel to Wisconsin to close out the regular season, it will be tough.

Well, being not in last place in the Power Rankings was fun for Green Bay while it lasted. Phoenix fans are probably as frustrated about the timetable to Anthony Roy’s return as Roy likely is. As I’ve stated multiple times, there have been plenty of games this season where Roy’s presence could have turned the tide for Green Bay. And the losses against Robert Morris and Youngstown State would certainly qualify. Should we finally see Roy, that would be a real boost in the final games against Detroit Mercy and Oakland, although the Phoenix, on paper, may still have the edge over the Titans even without Roy.