Blogs > Pemberton's Point

Inside look at high school and Oakland University sports from Oakland Press sports writer Dave Pemberton.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Summit League power rankings

1. Oakland (3-4) — The Grizzlies proved they can win without both Derick Nelson and Erik Kangas in their win over Delaware State and then Kangas returned with six 3-pointers in their win over Southeast Missouri State. Oakland will play its first home game Sunday against Toledo, but first must play the final two games of a nine straight on the road.
2. North Dakota State (2-2) — The Bison picked up a nice win at Northern Arizona before falling at Minnesota. NDSU kicks off league play by hosting Oral Roberts. The Bison’s big three (Ben Woodside, Brett Winkelman and Mike Nelson) are averaging 52.8 points per game.
3. IUPUI (4-2) — The Jaguars have won three straight (IU East, Eastern Illinois and Western Michigan) and host Indiana-South Bend Tuesday before kicking off league play. Senior Gary Patterson returned in IUPUI’s win over the Broncos and scored 16 points.
4. IPFW (3-3) — The Mastodons beat Eastern Illinois on a buzz-beater by David Carson, but then lost on a buzzer-beater to Ball State Monday. Carson leads IPFW in scoring at 14.7 points per game. IPFW plays at Southern Utah and at UMKC to open league play.
5. Oral Roberts (1-4) — The Golden Eagles still don’t have a win over a Division I opponent, have lost three straight on the road and have to go to the Dakotas to start league play. Senior guard Robert Jarvis picked up Summit League player of the week honors after averaging 25 points a game last week. Jarvis is averaging 20 points a game on the season.
6. UMKC (3-5) — The Roos went 2-3 during their trip to Florida, beating Bradley and Florida Gulf Coast and falling to Florida Atlantic, Richmond and Florida. Sophomore Reggie Hamilton is averaging 17.9 points and 4.5 assists per game.
7. Centenary (2-6) — The Gents lost by just six to LSU, 64-58, and followed that up with a win over Alcorn State and a six-point loss to Northwestern State in overtime Monday. Centenary kicks off conference play with a trip to the Dakotas.
8. South Dakota State (3-4) — The Jacks went 1-1 in the Cancun Challenge with a win over Central Arkansas and a two-point loss to Central Florida. Juniors Kai Williams and Garrett Callahan both averaged 18 points a game in Cancun.
9 Western Illinois (2-5) — A David DuBois layup lifted the Leathernecks over Texas-Pan American in the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas. WIU also lost in overtime to Coastal Carolina in Las Vegas. DuBois is averaging 16.9 points per game and is the only Leatherneck player averaging in double figures.
10. Southern Utah (1-4) — The Thunderbirds put a scare into Boise State, but weren’t able to capture their first win over a Division I opponent. SUU played much better against Boise State than it did in a 10-point loss to Division II Seattle Pacific.

Labels: , ,

7 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Maybe you should've waited until after the SUU game against OU to do the rankings;) Just kidding. Go Grizzlies! Tough loss but something to learn from.

December 2, 2008 at 8:03 PM 
Blogger Dave Pemberton said...

Yeah, my power rankings don't look too accurate when the last place team beats the first place team by 16. I didn't see that coming.

December 3, 2008 at 12:16 AM 
Blogger Unknown said...

I know their non-conference record doesn't look good right now (and it's going to get worse), but ORU is going to be right in the mix come January - they played their best game to date at Missouri on Sunday, and impact transfer Kevin Ford will be eligible next week when the Golden Eagles travel to No. 1 North Carolina. ORU will earn at least a split this weekend on their sojourn in the Dakotas, and don't be surprised if they sweep. If that happens, The Golden Eagles will enter the new year as the prohibitive favorite for the Summit League regular season title.

December 3, 2008 at 8:16 AM 
Blogger Dave Pemberton said...

Rhett,

I agree Oral Roberts is still one of the favorites in the Summit League, but my power rankings are based on what they have done this season and the Golden Eagles have struggled. The addition of Ford next week should help and I'm really interested to see what happens during Thursday's matchup at North Dakota State. Thanks for reading.

December 3, 2008 at 9:35 AM 
Blogger Unknown said...

Any thoughts or comments from Coach Kampe would be great, that is, if he'll even talk about last night's game. And in regards to ORU, why? Really? I don't care about the regular season. Tourney is all that matters. Let's talk mid-March. I can't wait to see what UNC will do to ORU! I'll be watching.

December 3, 2008 at 9:37 AM 
Blogger Dave Pemberton said...

Gary,

OU is still on the road, with a game at UMKC tomorrow night so they won't be home until Friday sometime and will likely take a day or two off after being on the road for so long. It will be interesting to see how they respond tomorrow night.

December 3, 2008 at 9:41 AM 
Blogger Unknown said...

Gary, you SHOULD care about the regular season, and here's why: #1 and #2 seeds from the regular season play on Saturday in the Summit League tourney, and get Sunday off before the semi's and finals on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Do you really want your team having to win three nights in a row from the #3 through #6 spots?

December 4, 2008 at 8:23 AM 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home