The Schuylkill 16 2010-11: Week 3

With St. Joe's at Drexel tonight and the Holy War coming up Friday, there is plenty of smack talk to go around in this week's poll. So let's get right to it.

1. Villanova, 25 points (18 first-place votes)
- "Villanova is still waiting to run their first half-court set of the season." (Andrew Melloh)
- "Trap game coming for Villanova. Trap. Trap trap trap. I'm not biased, I swear." (Brian O'Neill)

The latter author is a Saint Joseph's alumnus.

2. Temple: 57 points (1 first-place vote)
- "Temple's falling faster than Michael Vick's MVP stock." (Zach Klitzman)

The author is a Denver Broncos fan, which would disqualify this comment were the Broncos not 3-8 and in last place in the AFC West by two games.

- "My goal was to keep Villanova at #2 because I can't stand that I can't log onto Soft Pretzel Logic without a pop-up ad of Jay Wright asking me to buy Villanova tickets. However, Temple made that impossible." (Todd Falkenberg)

The author should know that the ads keep me employed, so I deal with them just fine.

3. Penn State, 91 points
- "I was at the Villanova/Tennessee game. It was ugly, but it really wasn't THAT BAD. Besides, Temple picked up two losses already to unranked teams, so what are you going to do? Make the Penn State Flying Talor Battles No. 1? There's no need." (Brian Ewart)

4. La Salle, 108 points (1 first-place vote)
"Ruben Guillandeaux must have known what a loss to a basement S-16 team would have done to their poll standings. It took him 59.5 minutes to it figure out, but better late than never." (Nick Catrambone)

5. Drexel, 115 points

t-6. Saint Joseph's, 161 points (1 first-place vote)
- "St. Joe's gets my #1 for two reasons: 1. There is nothing better for the Schuylkill 16 than winning the Philly Hoops Classic (or there shouldn't be); 2.  I hope my #1 vote gives them a boost of confidence heading into the Villanova game on Friday." (Brian O'Neill)
- "How much longer is the THID U alumni going to put up with Coach Phil and his losing ways. Yeah, yeah, they beat Rutgers, did I miss the Scarlet Knights in the Top 25 rankings?? Their girls team aren't even good anymore! I can hear the soft chant starting ... Phil must go, Phil must go ... pass me a donut! " (Ralph Manoppello)

The latter author is a Villanova alumnus.

t-6. Rider, 161 points
- "Rider looked good before a terrible one-man Hofstra team took them to the woodshed. Big drop for them this week from me." (Dan Crain)

8. Princeton, 163 points
- "Who needs the Big Ten/ACC Challenge? The best showdown around is the Ivy League-Patriot League series, with the Ivy leading 6-1. Too bad the competition is basketball and not SAT-taking." (Jeff Shafer)

9. Rutgers, 187 points
- "Somehow Rutgers has lost to two mid-level S-16 teams, yet beat Miami. Then again, November wasn't a great month for the Hurricanes against mediocre Big East competition." (Zach Klitzman)

10. Delaware, 215 points
- "Backhanded props to Delaware. Maybe if they used Elena Delle-Donna on the mens team, they'd win a few more games." (Ralph Manoppello)

11. Lehigh, 227 points

12. Penn, 231 points
- "I thought the dudes at Penn were smart enough not to schedule Pitt and Nova within two weeks. So much for Ivy League education." (Ralph Manoppello)

13. Bucknell, 243 points

14. Monmouth, 287 points
- "I'm trying to look for something positive to say here.  I thought being 46th in the nation in rebounds was actually pretty amazing.  But when you're you're 336th in shooting percentage, you kind of have an unfair advantage with all those opportunities." (Nick Catrambone)

15. Lafayette, 291 points
- "This game against Susquehana University on Wednesday could be a good one." (Nick Catrambone)

16. Delaware State, 294 points
- "Too bad beating Philadelphia Biblical and Washington Adventist still makes Delaware State last in the Schuylkill 16." (Stephen Goldsmith)
- "In a race for last, Delaware State gets the nod with a win over division III Philadelphia Biblical." (Geoff Lane)

Write-ins

8. Drexel's women's basketball team
- "After unofficially winning the Big 5, I'm writing in Drexel women's basketball over the bottom half of the S-16." (Marshall Fleming)

12. Delaware's women's basketball team

- "I should also include Delaware women's basketball as better than the bottom half of the field... but when Elena Delle Donne sat out most of the game against La Salle, they barely held on to win. So I'm putting Drexel women's basketball in the 8-spot, and Delle Donne by herself as the 12-spot." (Marshall Fleming)

This week's Rant of the Week comes from Ralph Manoppello:

Oh my gosh, it is Holy Week, that time of year where the Catholics lay down their crosses and prepare the Hawklets for the slaughter. Even today, Coach Phil is having his team meetings at IHOP, deciding where to hold the post-game dinner after Jay and the boys yet again send the Hawk home .... Dead. THID U doesn't have the speed game to keep up with Nova Nation.

Even though the Pavilion cannot replace the Palestra, SJU should enjoy the first five minutes of the game, cause that is as close as they will be on the scoreboard. Nova Nation rolls the Big 5 in December. The Hawk is Dead for yet another season!