Here’s our updated power rankings based on games played as of January 5, 2014. Conference play gets started this week.
Note: Division ranking in parenthesis. National rankings are courtesy of KenPom.com. Arrows denote movement in overall Power Rankings. since previous power rankings.
1. (1st North) Radford 10-5 #251 no change
Radford wrapped up the best overall nonconference body of work of all Big South teams with wins over Houghton and the Citadel, but a head-scratching 87-60 loss on the road to Hampton. Despite the loss, the Highlanders hold on to the #1 spot, frankly because there’s no other worthy candidates.
2. (1st South) Charleston Southern 5-7 #175 no change
The Buccaneers lost to Florida State 67-59 in their only game this week. CSU shot just 36% from the field. Leading scorer Saah Nimley was held to 8 points on 3/11 shooting. The Buccaneers have one final tuneup on Monday night against Colulmbia International before conference play begins.
3. (2nd N) VMI 7-6 #246 2
The Keydets and Highlanders are the only 2 Big South teams to enter conference play with a winning record, granted VMI had 4 wins against sub-DI competition. VMI is 7-0 at home on the season, and touts the league’s leading scorer in freshman Q.J. Peterson who is averaging 19.8 points per game entering conference play.
4. (2nd S) Winthrop 6-6 #224 1
The Eagles had their final nonconference game against Barber-Scotia (who?) postponed. Meaning Winthrop enters conference play losers of 4 straight and 5 out of 6 after starting the season 5-1. Perhaps we’ll find out who’s the team to beat in the South Division this week as the Eagles host Charleston Southern on Saturday.
5. (3rd S) UNC-Asheville 6-8 #214 1
The Bulldogs have turned things around after their 1-7 start to the season as UNCA had won 5 straight before Saturday’s 79-70 setback at home against Ohio. Asheville led much of the way against the Bobcats before fading down the stretch.
6. (4th S) Gardner-Webb 7-8 #259 2
In their only game of the week the Runnin’ Bulldogs lost to Delaware State 66-65 in overtime. Not a good way to wrap up nonconference play as this was Delaware State’s first Division I win of the season in 11 tries. Gardner-Webb had 2 shots in the closing seconds that missed after GWU blew a 15 point 2nd half lead. The Runnin’ Bulldogs were just 10/20 from the free throw line in regulation.
7. (5th S) Coastal Carolina 7-7 #252 no change
Coastal’s last 4 games have all come against South Carolina State and Central Connecticut State as the Chanticleers had home and homes with each squad. CCU was 2-2 in the 4 games with both losses coming against South Carolina State. The Chanticleers have had their ups and downs most of the nonconference slate like the majority of the Big South. We will learn a lot about Cliff Ellis’ squad Wednesday night when they travel to Charleston to take on the division favorite Buccaneers.
8. (3rd N) Liberty 6-9 #245 no change
The Flames fared well at home against Princeton without leading scorer Antwan Burrus. Now Liberty must prove that last year’s conference tournament run wasn’t a fluke. Coach Layer & company have a tough pair to open as they face Radford and VMI on the road. The Highlanders and Keydets are 13-0 at home combined this season.
9. (4th N) High Point 4-9 #282 1
High Point, Campbell, and Longwood are pretty much all even on paper right now. I gave the Panthers the edge over the other 2 at this point based on the better record against DI opponents, but HPU is struggling. They did finally stop their 7 game skid when they beat Lees McRae by 7 this weekend in a game that was tied with about 2 minutes to play.
10. (5th N) Campbell 6-9 #319 1
Perhaps Campbell should move to the SoCon as the Camels are 3-0 against Southern Conference opponents and 0-8 against all other Division I teams this season. Their 3 wins came against Appalachian State and twice against Georgia Southern.
11. (6th N) Longwood 5-10 #329 2
Longwood has been getting destroyed by some of the better teams they have played this season. This week they lost by 35 to Ohio and 74 to Louisiana Tech. That’s not a misprint, the Lancers lost 126-52 to the 12-3 Bulldogs who were 17 of 35 from 3 in the game.
12. (6th S) Presbyterian 4-11 #344 no change
The Blue Hose lost their 2 games this week to Samford and Marshall by an average of 20 points. It will be interesting to see how many wins Presby picks up in conference this season. At least they get Longwood at home.
