Western is now 4-0 after wins this week at home vs UIC (84-57) and on the road at Eastern Illinois (83-63).
We are currently ranked #17 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll: http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php
Kenpom.com (Ken Pomeroy's Rankings) have us listed at #165 out of the 351 Div. I teams: http://kenpom.com
Sagarin has us ranked #150: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/sagarin/
Up this week are:
Wednesday, November 25 - home vs Trinity Christian College Trolls. Trinity Christian is a NAIA school that competes in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). Like us, they have a nickname that is unique to their school...Trolls. The Trolls are currently 6-4 on their season, and actually, do have a common opponent with us. They beat future Western opponent, Silver Lake College 74-68 on November 7th. Not really much to say...this is listed as an exhibition game for TCC...we'll get a lot of playing time for our bench and come away with a fairly easy home win.
Saturday, November 28th - at the Creighton Bluejays (Omaha, NE). Creighton is currently 2-1 on the season, with wins over Texas Southern (93-70), UT-San Antonio (103-78) and a loss at #14 Indiana (86-65). Creighton was one of the top MVC basketball teams for a long time before joining the "reconstructed" Big East in 2013. After the loss of 2014 Player of the Year, Doug McDermott (now with the Chicago Bulls), the Bluejays struggled in their new conference, finishing 14-19 overall, but only 4-14 in the Big East.
From the CBS Preseason Rankings Page:
127. Creighton: The Bluejays are going to have a fun player in Nevada transfer Cole Huff. It's hard to see this team getting above .500 by season's end, but that's in part because it's No. 7 in the Big East at best.
CU is rated #82 by Ken Pomeroy's Rankings: http://kenpom.com/
TCC should be easy, Creighton will be another huge test for the Leathernecks. I don't think Creighton is quite as good as Wisconsin, at least not this year, but with that opening win, we kinda put everyone "on notice" and we won't catch any of the "big boys" (Creighton and Iowa) asleep or looking past us.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
