Tigers Nab 21st Spot in the Nation
STERLING, Va. – A panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country send in votes to D3Hoops.com each week to rank the Top 25 basketball programs in the nation.
Occidental (11-1) broke into the 25th spot in week five after beginning the season 9-1 with their only loss to NAIA Azusa Pacific University. This week they climbed the to the 21st spot as of Jan. 6, 2008.
On Dec. 19, 2007 Head Coach Brian Newhall and the Tigers defeated then # 14 Plattsburgh State 69-64 at the Surf City Classic at Concordia in Irvine, Calif. Plattsburgh (8-2) has since dropped to # 25.
Occidental currently has a nine game winning streak, including a pair of victories at the Occidental Holiday Classic and an exciting 88-67 win over Illinois Wesleyan in which senior Connor Whitman poured in a career high 37 points.
Joining Oxy in the Top 25 is Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Cal Lutheran (10-1) who jumped into the # 24 spot after defeating then # 3 UW – Stevens Point 72-70 in overtime on Jan. 1.
A full listing of this week’s rankings can be seen below or by clicking here.
-- The D3hoops.com Top 25 for Division III men's basketball, though games of Jan. 6, 2008:
# Team W-L Pts. Last
1 Rochester (18) 9-0 605 1
2 Brandeis (6) 9-1 601 2
3 Amherst 8-2 536 4
4 Williams (1) 12-0 487 5
5 Augustana 9-2 483 6
6 Mary Hardin-Baylor 9-1 451 7
7 Washington U. 8-2 447 8
8 Hope 8-2 403 9
9 Puget Sound 9-1 379 10
10 Elmhurst 10-1 356 14
11 Guilford 6-2 353 12
12 UW-Oshkosh 10-2 340 18
13 Wheaton (Ill.) 10-1 337 15
14 UW-Stevens Point 9-3 332 3
15 UW-Whitewater 10-2 265 17
16 Capital 9-2 228 20
17 Virginia Wesleyan 7-2 211 21
18 Stevens 9-1 195 13
19 Mass-Dartmouth 10-0 175 23
20 Wooster 10-2 157 22
21 Occidental 11-1 128 25
22 Lewis and Clark 7-3 124 16
23 St. Thomas 8-2 107 24
24 Cal Lutheran 10-1 77 —
25 Plattsburgh State 8-2 68 19
