CIS Hoops.ca

Please see below for the final CISHOOPS.CA Top 10 Media poll for the 2007-08 season. Significant thanks goes out to Wayne Kondro who in addition to being a tireless promoter of this poll, has spent considerable time and effort compiling, administering and authoring the copy for the poll each week. Without his efforts, we would not have the means to produce another set of weekly opinions on how the top teams in CIS men's basketball stack up. Please join me in thanking Wayne for his efforts.

cishoops.ca Media Poll – March 4, 2008 Results of the March 4th cishoops.ca Media Poll conducted March 2-3. There are a maximum 252 points in the poll. Points are awarded in descending order - 12 for first, 11 for second, etc. - depending upon placement. (First place votes bracketed). For a list of voters, see www.cishoops.ca


Rank Team Points Last Week

1. Carleton (21) 252 1

2. U.B.C. 221 6

3. Acadia 205 4

4. Brandon 167 3

5. Alberta 126 NR

6. St. FX 121 8

7. Laval 114 10

8. Ottawa 93 7

9. Calgary 91 2

10. Western 83 NR

DROPPING OUT: Windsor; Toronto

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Cape Breton; 50; Windsor 38; Toronto 32; Brock 21; Saint Mary’s 16; and Concordia 4.

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Win or at the very least, don’t play.

It’s the lesson to be learned from this week’s cishoops.ca Media Poll as voters severely punished postseason losses as teams jockeyed for berths in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships to be held in Ottawa March 14-16.

The Carleton Ravens, who don’t seem to know how to do anything but win, remained atop the heap as they stretched their undefeated streak against Canadian competition to 30 games by pounding their archrival uOttawa Gee-Gees 75-56 in the Ontario University Athletics East division final.

The Ravens will face the OUA West champ University of Western Ontario Mustangs in Saturday’s Wilson Cup in a final tune-up before bidding for a sixth consecutive national title.

Leaping six spots into second place in the poll were the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who stunned heavily favoured host University of Calgary 77-69 in the Canada West final four and then nipped the University of Alberta Golden Bears 92-90 to take the postseason conference crown. With the wins, U.B.C. improved to (26-5).

Climbing into third spot was idle (24-5) Acadia. With Atlantic University Sport squads having taken a week off to prepare for this week’s postseason tournament, the Axemen were the beneficiaries of the attrition that laid waste to many of the nation’s top-rated squads last week.

Brandon fell to fourth place in the poll after losing to the Univrsity of Alberta Golden Bears 85-79 in the Canada West before rebounding to beat Calgary 97-83 for Canada West bronze. The Bobcats are now hoping their (28-8) record is enough to impress the CIS wildcard selection and seeding committee, which will meet Sunday to put the finishing touches on the national draw.

Alberta returned to the Top 10 and soared into fifth place after defeating Brandon to earn an automatic berth at nationals. The Golden Bears are now (24-11).

St. FX (24-9) moved up two spots to sixth after an idle week. Like Acadia, the X-Men will next suit-up in Saturday’s AUA semi-finals.

Laval advanced three spots to seventh after smacking McGill 89-54. The (20-9) Rouge et Or will host Concordia on Friday for the Quebec Student Sport Federation berth at nationals.

uOttawa dropped a spot to eighth after losing to Carleton. The (24-10) Gee-Gees will face host Brock on Saturday in the OUA repechage for the conference’s third automatic berth at nationals.

Calgary plummeted from second to ninth after suffering a serious case of stage fright at the Canada West final four. Once pegged as a stiff contender for national laurels, the Dinos fell to (24-8) and must hope the Ratings Percentage Index computer rankings (which place them second) somehow prove decisive in the minds of the wildcard committee, which has often mystified pundits in the past.

The upstart Western Mustangs made their first appearance in the poll, at tenth, after stunning regular champ Windsor 77-71 in the OUA West semis before whipping the Brock Badgers 79-62 in the final.



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