Re: 2009-2010 USCHO Pre Season poll.
First off, thanks for posting your ballot as well. The sentence I've highlighted implies that there is a "tier" that includes 12 about equal teams. Not to put words in your mouth but the assertion is that the tier above them includes just one team because they were not in the group that was "interchangeable." Is my interpretation of your poll correct that you consider Manhattanville on a separate level and from the other contenders? If so, why?
That's a really good question.
Odds are, when all is said and done, that Manhattanville is right in the mix with the top 12 or so, but about two weeks ago when I first contemplated my ballot I sat here for a few days thinking "Who the heck is going to be #1?"
The usual suspects:
Plattsburgh, Oswego, Amherst, Neumann, Hobart, St. Norbert, Stout, Superior, Norwich, Middlebury...all have some questions marks, though all will no doubt be very good.
That said, who does that leave as returning mostly intact? The way I saw it: Gustavus Adolphus, Manhattanville and Adrian.
Of course none return 100% from a year ago, but they seemed to be the three with the least amount of uncertainty heading into this season.
Of those three, I judged that I'd put Manhattanville at the top of the group. As Josh pointed out, they did only lose four games a year ago and for all of Derek's prattling about "not finishing in the top half of their league"...the Valiants were all of one point behind Elmira for the ECACW top spot a year ago (tied with Hobart for 2nd).
So it's not so much that I have some feeling that Manhattanville is without a doubt the best team in the nation, it's more that in what is going to be an odd season, they are one of the few top flight programs that brings a lot of "knowns" to the table, so for now I gave them the nod. The fact last year's 20-4-5 mark was put up in the ECACW factored into it as well...
My poll fluctuates wildly week to week early in the season, however, as the reality of results starts to impede on the hunches and gut instincts that go into the preseason poll. Nonetheless, I end up looking back a few days after I submit every ballot and say "you idiot, what were you doing?". Example: I somehow left out Elmira in my most recent edition. Looking at it now, no real excuse for that.
