Good news, everyone! Toledo’s not on the list this week!
Sure, we used the Rockets playing a sizable number of Horizon League teams as a running bit for the last couple of weeks. But now that the non-conference schedule is taking a pause for a bit and conference play is about to fire up, it’s time to get focused on the teams that are actually in this league.
With that said, here’s the Horizon League men’s basketball Power Rankings after Week 4:
| Rank | Team | Last Week |
| 1. | Northern Kentucky | 2 |
| 2. | Robert Morris | 4 |
| 3. | Youngstown State | 3 |
| 4. | Oakland | 6 |
| 5. | Green Bay | 7 |
| 6. | Wright State | 5 |
| 7. | Purdue Fort Wayne | 8 |
| 8. | Milwaukee | 6 |
| 9. | IU Indy | 10 |
| 10. | Cleveland State | 11 |
| 11. | Detroit Mercy | 12 |
If you’re a team that’s on a heater going into the conference schedule, you’re going to take notice. And that’s where Northern Kentucky finds itself this week. First, the Norse held off in-state rival Eastern Kentucky, then proceeded to beat Wofford, a team that kept Milwaukee at arm’s length earlier in the season. A tough battle against Boston University on Saturday led to another win, NKU’s fifth straight. With a league opener against Cleveland State coming up, the Norse has a chance to keep their winning ways going.
Losing a close game at Monmouth could have been a harbinger of grimmer things for some teams. But this is Robert Morris we’re talking about. And the Colonials turned around the proceeded to beat a UIC team that cruised past Detroit Mercy at the start of the season, then bested a feisty Southern Utah squad. RMU wrapped up its home MTE, the Urban-Bennett Invitational, by handling Stetson. The Colonials kick off the conference schedule with the trip to Wisconsin, with contests against Green Bay and Milwaukee on the docket.
Youngstown State, after falling the UNC Greensboro, bounced back to split the Jacksonville Classic with a win over Georgia Southern. Then the Penguins came home and ran Chicago State out of the gym, making it seem as if the Greensboro loss was an aberration. Coach Ethan Faulkner, with everyone healthy now, appears to have a 10-man rotation set, and it’s good timing, too, with YSU’s first conference foe being an IU Indy team that also goes deep in the rotation.
You wouldn’t think travelling to Montana for an MTE would be considered the easy part of any team’s non-conference schedule, and yet, that’s exactly Oakland’s situation this season. Perhaps there really is a method to Greg Kampe’s madness in loading the slate with power-conference foes, as the Golden Grizzlies looked battle-tested enough to take down Lamar and triumph in the Battle of the Grizzlies, beating host Montana to take the Blaine Taylor Classic crown. Moreover, Brody Robinson is emerging as one of the premier point guards in the league, putting on a performance this week that rivals legendary points in the past, like, for example, Jalen Moore.
Last season, Green Bay won four games. Period. That was it. This season, though, the Phoenix didn’t make fans wait anywhere near that long to snag their fourth win, accomplishing this before conference play begins. Even without Marcus Hall, Green Bay followed up its win over UMass with another impressive win over Iona to take fourth place in the Paradise Jam. A victory over Haskell Indian Nations on Saturday puts the Phoenix in a position they haven’t been in for a while, which is that they’re a team on a winning streak going into their first HL game.
For the first half against former HL rival Butler, Wright State looked every bit like a team primed for an upset. However, the Bulldogs were having none of that, a dominated the second half to squash the Raiders’ hopes. But it wasn’t all bad news for Wright State. The Raiders made the trip down to Florida to face Stetson and made quick work of the host Hatters. Michael Cooper continues to impress, although foul trouble muted his performance against Butler, and Michael Imariagbe remains the dominant force on the glass for the Raiders, grabbing 13 boards against much larger Bulldog squad.
If this was any other week, a sweep of the week would have put Purdue Fort Wayne higher in the Power Rankings. However, that shouldn’t discourage Mastodon fans from what the team was able to do, taking care of business at home against Chicago State, then turning around and rolling Holy Cross (The NAIA school; not the NCAA one). The true test will come against Oakland in the O’rena, where Purdue Fort Wayne has fared rather well in years past.
As expected, Milwaukee ran away from non-D1 Dominican earlier in the week. However, the trip to Akron, one of the favorites to take the MAC, didn’t come out as well, with the Panthers dropping a decision to the Zips by 24 points. Milwaukee’s fortunes have tended to rise and fall with Amar Aguillard’s productivity, with Akron successful in holding him at bay on offense. The Panthers get a shot at a conference win on Saturday, when it plays host to a tough Robert Morris squad.
IU Indy had an opportunity to warm up one last time before the conference slate begins with a home tilt against Morehead State. Unlike the last three games, in which the Jaguars gave up triple digits in each loss, IU Indy were able to keep the Eagles from reaching the century mark, although Morehead State did give it its best shot. The Jaguars have a chance to notch their first conference win of the season next, as they travel to Calihan Hall to face Detroit Mercy.
Cleveland State spent the week still without Tre Beard and Josiah Harris, and while the game against non-D1 Waynesburg was an easy win, traveling to Columbia to play Missouri was another matter altogether. The Vikings, facing former CSU coach (and current coach Rob Summers’ ex-boss) Dennis Gates, saw the Tigers rattle off 23 straight points to start the game before they could get a bucket to fall. That Cleveland State didn’t lose by more than 27 on Friday is something of a minor miracle. The Vikings do expect to get Harris back in the lineup, and not a moment too soon, with red-hot Northern Kentucky upcoming.
Nothing has been easy for Detroit Mercy during the non-conference schedule, and the last tune-up before the Titans’ league opener, a road contest at Niagara, wasn’t any easier. The Purple Eagles fought Detroit Mercy every step of the way, but in the end, the Titans came out on top. Mark Montgomery seems to still be looking for the right lineup that will meet the challenge of what’s to come against Horizon League foes, and the first test will come up against an IU Indy team that’s going to hit the Titans with a lot of guys.
