The local college teams continued to struggle on the hardwood this week, with a couple of exceptions. But Seton Hall’s 0-2 week makes it unlikely any of the teams will get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The other Big East locals are headed in opposite directions with St. John’s sinking and Rutgers rising in this week’s rankings.
(previous ranking) (record, conference record)
1. Seton Hall (1) (12-8, 3-6 in Big East) — Seton Hall could not back up their win over Pittsburgh, which gets less impressive with each Panthers loss. They needed a win in South Florida, but lost a back-and-forth battle 76-74 in overtime. The Pirates then went down to Philadelphia and hung tough, but fell to Villanova, 81-71. The fact they are on top is more a knock on the rest of the area teams then it is a compliment to them.
Remember Dominique Jones of South Florida when the Big East Tournament rolls around. He is the best player you probably have never heard of in the conference. James scored 28 points in the win over Seton Hall and last night led the Bulls to a stunning win at Georgetown.
2. Iona (3) (17-6, 9-3 in MAAC) — The Gaels took care of business with a pair of 19-point home wins over Canisius and Marist this past week. They are now in the second place in the MAAC alone and have a chance to avenge a 73-60 loss to first place Siena on Friday night. The Saints are 12-0 in the conference.
3. Stony Brook (6) (16-7, 8-2 in America East Conference) — The Seawolves had a pair of double-digit wins over Boston University and Hartford that pushed them to the top of the America East Conference. This is a one-bid conference, though, so it will all come down to the conference tournament where Vermont will be Stony Brook‘s biggest obstacle if they want to get to the Big Dance for the first time in school history.
4. Rutgers (11) (11-11, 2-8 in Big East) — It won’t be enough to save head coach Fred Hill’s job, but the Scarlet Knights were able to pull off back-to-back Big East wins over Notre Dame and St. John’s. Rutgers is still 15th out of 16 in the Big East.
5. St. John’s (2) (12-9, 2-7 in Big East) — The Red Storm hit their low point of the season with a 84-72 loss at Rutgers Tuesday night. Any chance of them making the NCAA Tournament are gone, any chance of the NIT Tournament are slipping away and a return to the heralded CBI (lost to Richmond 75-69 in first round last year) looks likely. Post columnist Mike Vaccaro summed up the thoughts of most of the St. John’s faithful yesterday.
6. St. Peter’s (5) (13-9, 8-4 in MAAC) — The Peacocks were within two points of Siena in the final minutes last week, but fell 66-58 and missed out on a chance to be considered the top challenge to Siena in the MAAC. They did take out their frustration by bashing lowly Manhattan 72-44 on Sunday.
7. Fairfield (4) (14-6, 7-3 in MAAC) — The Stags took a hit with an 88-80 home loss to Rider on Saturday.
8. Princeton (12) (11-5, 2-0 in Ivy League) — The Tigers got off to a great start in Ivy League play with road wins at Brown and Yale. Princeton and conference favorite Cornell are the only unbeaten in the conference, which does not have a season-ending tournament. Harvard was considered to be the second favorite, but the Crimson got ripped by Cornell 86-50 on Saturday. If Princeton can win at Harvard tomorrow night they can establish themselves as a contender if Cornell stumbles.
9. St. Francis, N.Y. (7) (9-12, 6-4 in Northeast Conference) — The Terriers looked more like a middle-of-the-road NEC team with losses to Pennsylvania’s St. Francis (71-63) and conference-leading Robert Morris (74-56).
10. LIU (9) (8-13, 6-4 in Northeast Conference) — The Blackbirds played the same schedule as St. Francis this week playing Robert Morris and the other St. Francis (PA) on the road. Like St. Francis, they lost both games, although in a more respectable fashion. They lost a back-and-forth battle with Robert Morris before falling by eight and fell by one against the Red Flash in overtime.
11. Hofstra (13) (12-12, 5-7 in Colonial Athletic Association)— The Pride have reeled off three straight double-digit conference wins to get back to .500 overall and to the middle of the pack in the CAA. If they can continue that run against Northeastern, who is tied atop the conference, Hofstra can at least entertain hopes of making a run at the conference tournament.
12. Monmouth (10) (10-12, 6-4 in Northeast Conference) — The Hawks were routed by Central Connecticut 66-44, but started a streak of five games that they should win with a four-point victory at 0-22 Bryant. Next up is a home and home with 6-16 Fairleigh Dickinson.
13. Army (8) (12-9, 2-5 in Patriot League) — Nice non-conference wins (for them) over Princeton, Yale, Harvard and LIU are starting to lose their luster as the Black Knights continue to struggle in the Patriot League. The latest setback was a 55-48 defeat at Bucknell that moved them into a tie for last with Holy Cross and Colgate.
14. FDU (14) (6-16, 5-5 in Northeast Conference) — A win over winless Bryant won’t get the Hawks climbing in this poll, especially when they back it up with a 10-point loss against Central Connecticut. They do stay above this ugly bunch below them.
15. Manhattan (15) (7-15, 2-10 in MAAC) — A 72-44 loss at St. Peter’s is a low point in a dismal season for the Jaspers.
16. Fordham (16) (2-18, 0-8 in Atlantic 10) — The Rams are out of their league in Atlantic-10, proven by a 108-60 loss at Xavier on Sunday. Their best chance for another win this season and their first in the conference comes against St. Bonaventure at home on Feb. 24, but they will still be an underdog in that game.
17. Columbia (17) (7-11, 1-3 in Ivy League) —The Lions got their first Ivy win on Saturday, beating Dartmouth, 63-51. But the previous night was proof of how far they are from the Ivy frontrunners when they were blasted by Harvard, 74-45.
18. NJIT (18) (7-13, 2-2 in Great West) — It’s two blowout wins in a row for the Highlanders after they followed a 66-37 win over Chicago State with a 71-46 pounding of Utah Valley. The Great West does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but they do have one to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. So, there’s that.
19. Wagner (19) (4-19, 2-8 in Northeast Conference) — The Seahawks picked up their second conference win with a 74-73 win over Sacred Heart. It’s still been a long season in Staten Island.
20. Marist (20) (1-21, 1-11 in MAAC) — It will be a real showdown when Marist travels to Riverdale to take on Manhattan in battle of the MAAC’s bottom feeders.
