Power Poll #21. UCLA 830 points (9 first place votes) [ranked 2 last Poll]
2. Virginia 793 (13) [3]
3. NYU 709 (2) [1]
4. Miami (Ohio) 672 (6) [9]
5. Northwood 631(2) [6]
6. George Washington 599 (3) [4]
7. Georgetown 542 [5]
8. Columbia 522 [10]
9. Iowa 479 [13]
10. Washington - St Louis 477 (1) [18]
11. Furman 451 [7]
12. Harvard 397 [8]
13. Duke 382 [14]
14. UC Irvine 363 [23]
15. Cornell 288 [12]
16. Pittsburgh 278 [16]
17. Richmond 267 [24]
18. Berkeley 261 [11]
19. Michigan 258 [21]
20. Stanford 237 [15]
21. Rhodes 235 [19]
22. Yale 229 [17]
23. Bellarmine 199 [22]
24. EKU 185 [20]
25. Northwestern 175 [unranked]
Falling out of the Top 25: Texas
Also receiving votes: Maryland 156, Texas 123, Georgia 120, Loyola – Chicago 93, Vanderbilt 78, Tennessee 61, Boston 59, Notre Dame 50, Ohio State 44, Penn 44, Washington & Lee 43, Bowling Green 38, USC 29, Arizona State 28, Lake Forest 26, Patrick Henry 25, Tufts 22, Chicago 20, University of Washington 16, Brown 14, Minnesota – Morris 11, MTSU 11, Princeton 11, Drake 9, Wake Forest 9, Central 9, Air Force 8, Illinois 7, New Hampshire 7, Claremont McKenna 6, Penn State 6, North Carolina 5, Loras 5, Alabama – Birmingham 4, Hamline 3, Illinois – Chicago 3, Cincinnati 2, South Carolina 2, Saint Louis 1.
Story LinesI Thought Voting Was Down in a Midterm Election…This was the largest voter turnout in (recent) Power Poll history, with 43 ballots in my inbox (I don’t cast a vote). There was some attempted election fraud but—fear not—we got to the bottom of it. One person cast four ballots; only the most recent was counted. Another person was cleverer, submitting ballots under three names within a span of five minutes; the only difference among the ballots was a change to the 25th-ranked team. Again, only the most recent ballot was counted. Thanks to everyone who voted! And to those who voted more than once…many thanks?
The Two Early Favorites. UCLA and Virginia have separated themselves from the pack and made this a two horse race—they were the only schools to be ranked in the Top 25 by every pollster. Which school is better?
- Rankings. UCLA garnered more points but Virginia took more first place votes.
- Records. Virginia placed 2nd and 3rd at Elon, 1st and 5th at Richmond, 3rd at Pittsburgh, and 1st at Bellarmine’s Derby. UCLA placed 1st in Arizona, 3rd at the Derby, 1st in Pittsburgh, and 2nd in Irvine.
- Head-to-Head. Virginia finished ahead of UCLA at the Derby but, that same weekend, UCLA finished ahead of Virginia at the Steel City.
- Stacking. Virginia fans will point out the Cavaliers are still split-stacked. Bruin backers will point out that UCLA’s B team won Steel City and its B and C teams were 2nd at the Beach Party.
The best place to settle this question, of course, is in the courtroom. But, alas, the Bruins aren’t headed to GAMTI this weekend. The 972-965 showdown will have to wait until January at NYU’s Downtown.
Creeping Up. Three Top 10 schools moved up a little this week, all on the strength of strong recent performances. Miami went from 6th to 4th after winning the Beach Party bracket. Columbia took second at the Bellarmine Bloodbath—this performance must have been particularly satisfying after someone had the bright idea of questioning Columbia’s talent and depth. And Iowa entered the Top 10 after winning its own invitational. Congrats to the Hawkeyes.
Jumping Up. The biggest leaps belong to WashU, who rose from 18th to 10th, and to Richmond, who rose from 24th to 16th. Both will be at GAMTI this weekend, looking to jump even higher.
Finally. Northwood finally gets voted into the Top Five. Congratulations to the Timberwolves...also known as the Defending National Champions.
Who is Maryland? Maryland may be the most enigmatic team in college mock trial. Their five national championships are easily the most ever. They won the championship two years ago but failed to qualify for Des Moines last season. This past weekend, they defeated NYU, but then didn’t place in the top five. Right now, they are the highest ranked team not in the Top 25. Is this a championship contender? A former great? A team on the rise? Maybe we will find out this weekend, when the Terrapins go to GAMTI.
The G Doesn’t Stand for Good—It Stands for Great. The Great American Mock Trial Invitational. GAMTI. If you’re sensing a theme in this week’s Story Lines, it is this: GAMTI answers all questions. Has the Poll overhyped the premiere Fall tournament? We don’t think so. Forget the beautiful courthouse, the promise of three judges per trial, and allure of competing in the nation’s capital. Consider the field. GAMTI will host 24 teams from 23 schools (Virginia enters two). Admittedly, the field lacks UCLA and Harvard. But of the Power Poll Top 25, an incredible 19 will be in attendance. Even more impressive, of the Top 10, an absurd 9 will be at GAMTI. And you can be certain these aren’t B teams.
Stay Tuned. The next Power Poll will be December 10, after the close of the 2009 season. Polls are due midnight on Wednesday, December 9. Until then, if someone who hates you invites you to their boat during a lunar eclipse, you might want to think twice.
