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Big South

171 – High Point
182 – Liberty
214 – Longwood
216 – Coastal Carolina
242 – Campbell
276 – Presbyterian
294 – Winthrop
305 – Gardner-Webb
310 – UNC Asheville
312 – Radford
321 – Charleston Southern

The story is probably more at the bottom instead of the top with the Big South. Yes, perennial doormats Presbyterian, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, and Charleston Southern are all plumbing the depths of the bottom of the RPI. But with them are two of the usual conference standards in recent years. Radford has finished in the RPI Top 100 the past two seasons but had to wait until game seven for a win this year. Winthrop’s current lowly standing might be a reflection of playing just five matches against DI opponents, but they also have only beaten Alabama A&M and South Carolina State. Campbell is perhaps this year’s comeback club after a coaching change and a win over Richmond and draw with Old Dominion. Coastal Carolina began the season hot with three wins in four but are now winless in five, while fellow contenders Longwood have largely performed to expectations in non-conference play thus far. Preseason conference favorite Liberty has done fairly well in beating C-USA sides Old Dominion and Charlotte, though perhaps a loss to Appalachian State was disappointing. High Point are perhaps a bit surprising at the top of the RPI in the league at the moment. The losses aren’t bad, and the draw against Jacksonville might look pretty good come season’s end. As always, this league is highly unpredictable in season, and though you’d still favor Liberty to win the title, there are probably a handful of teams that could topple them still.

Horizon

120 – Wisconsin-Milwaukee
203 – Cleveland State
215 – Wisconsin-Green Bay
238 – Valparaiso
268 – Oakland
270 – Wright State
285 – Detroit
289 – Illinois-Chicago
292 – Youngstown State

Yeah, the bottom half of this league looks pretty bad. I don’t think anyone was expecting Illinois-Chicago or Youngstown State (despite shock draw with Purdue) to pull up any trees, but who would’ve thunk Detroit, Wright State, and Oakland, all clubs who’ve contended for trophies in recent seasons, would be waterlogged beneath the RPI Top 250? The result has been a massive upheaval in the hierarchy of the league…at least to this point. The big gainers are Wisconsin-Green Bay under new head coach Kacey Burke, with the notoriously goal shy club suddenly firing at full throttle en route to six wins in ten matches and a fantastic draw with DePaul. Cleveland State also has a new coach, Sonia Curvelo, and started out slowly with three straight losses but have since gone 5-1-1 and maybe a real surprise in the league. Wisconsin-Milwaukee are just 3-6-0 and have their best win against Marquette in a down season but are benefitting from a murderous schedule with all six losses to RPI Top 100 teams right now. The Panthers should still be big favorites in the league, but the real interest might be the pecking order behind them.

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