1. Kent State (7-2-0) 14 points
2. Kentucky (6-1-0) 12 points
3. James Madison (5-1-1OTL) 11 points
4. Saginaw Valley (3-3-1OTL) 7 points
5. Grand Valley (3-0-0) 6 points
6. Michigan State (3-1-0) 6 points
7. Maryland (3-4-0) 6 points
8. Central Michigan (2-1-0) 4 points
9. DePaul (1-0-0) 2 points
10. Towson (1-5-0) 2 points
11. Ohio State (0-5-0) 0 points
12. Virginia Commonwealth (0-4-0) 0 points
13. Bowling Green (0-3-0) 0 points
14. Miami (0-2-0) 0 points
T15. Moody Bible (0-1-0) 0 points
T15. Western Kentucky (0-1-0) 0 points
The Basics:
- Through the 23rd of October last year, 11 teams had played official matches. Through the same time frame as this year, 16 teams had played matches.
- As of 10/23/2011 there were only 12 matches played. This year there has been 34 games.
- Points per game have been roughly the same as last year, they’ve actually been a little lower per game. In the same stretch of games (up to today’s date) in 2011 teams scored a combined 5.58 points per game, this year they are only scoring 5.35 points per game. So the league hasn’t changed much strategically early on this season as compared to last.
The Teams:
Kent State is #1 again, obviously. The Flashes have played two more games than anyone else, but they’ve had a good start to the season. Despite having just an average showing at the OSU Round Robin, they were able to take away 4 wins while giving up just 2 points (both to JMU in an overtime victory.) They’re on pace to break their own record for games played in a season, so if the Flashes continue with their current win percentage expect them to be on top of the NCDA’s standings come April.
Kentucky is #2, but they may be the most impressive team so far. They’ve taken down WKU, MSU, OSU, Kent State, Maryland, and Towson, and the Maryland and Towson games were with mostly rookie squads. Their sole loss was a controversial one to JMU, with that same squad, and they’ve only given up 6 points in 7 games.
James Madison comes in at #3, and the Dukes seem like they mean business. Having swept the Towson Throwdown, and then going 3-1-1 at Maryland, they could be on pace to take a big leap forward. However, of the two teams that they’ve faced this year that were at Nationals 2012, they lost to Kent State and beat a Kentucky team that was mostly first year players, so we’ll see how good they really are when they go to the Chicago Dodgeball Open and face some more top teams.
The #4 team, SVSU, has had a good start for the amount of players they lost. Going 3-3-1 with the teams they’ve faced is great for the young Cardinals team, and the fact that they even took the first point from rival GVSU is even better. Their next match is the Battle of the Valleys at home against Grand Valley, so we’ll see if they continue improving.
The Lakers are ranked #5 in the country, and are currently undefeated. They looked good in a showing at the BGSU Invite, beating SVSU, CMU, and BGSU, and that was while missing some of their varsity players. They won’t get enough games in to move into the top two or three of the standings this year, but look for them to be one of the favorites at Nationals 2013 if they keep up the good play.
#6 MSU was down several varsity players as well at the OSU Round Robin, and still had a great performance. The Spartans next host the MSU Invite, which they’ve won two straight years, where they’ll get three more games to move back up towards the top of the standings.
Maryland sneaks in at #7 despite a losing record, but they are tied for second in playing the most games of anyone in the NCDA. They had a successful home tournament, picking up two wins (over VCU and Towson). They have yet to beat a school that has gone to Nationals, but they’ve already won and played more games then they did last year, which is a good start to their season.
The Chippewas are #8 this year, and they’ve played more games now than they did all last year’s Fall semester. Despite being shorthanded at BGSU, CMU picked up two quality wins. Unfortunately, they were shellacked by Grand Valley, 7-1. Their next tournament is at the MSU Invite, where they’ll get more games under their belt against top level opponents.
DePaul and Grand Valley are the only teams that are still currently undefeated that have played so far. That puts the Blue Demons at #9 so far this year, as their 3-1 victory over Moody puts them in the top 10. With more games still on the schedule, DePaul should stay in the top 10, especially if they continue their winning ways.
Towson may be 1-5, but give them credit. They’re basically still a first year school, after not competing at Nationals, and they picked up their first win in school history this year (a win over VCU.) They’ve been competitive in their games, and that win puts them in the top 10.
#11 OSU, #12 VCU, #13 BGSU, #14 Miami, #15 WKU, and #15 Moody will all pick up wins this year. OSU played very well for having a lot of rookies at their own tournament, they just unfortunately had an incredibly tough schedule. VCU is a first year school and will be playing a few more games, including the BEAST II and the Richmond Dodgeball Cup. BGSU has the MSU Invite coming up along with a few other matches and so does Miami, and both will be at Nationals. WKU and Moody both had hard matches to start the season, but both will get chances for revenge coming up.
Great write-up Sam. I think we’re in for a very interesting season, and although it’s a little early for predictions, I foresee a second year of the Nationals host taking home the hardware come April.
Definitely a possibility! That would make UK the fourth different school to win the National Championship on their home court (after OSU in 2006, GVSU in 2009, and SVSU in 2012.)