CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#9): Carleton, Windsor open at No. 1 in basketball

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning national champion Carleton University Ravens and University of Windsor Lancers top the first CIS men’s and women’s basketball rankings of the 2012-13 season, respectively.

The first CIS swimming rankings were also announced on Tuesday with Montreal (women) and Toronto (men) taking the early lead.

In other CIS sports, only men’s hockey has a new national leader this week as the Saskatchewan Huskies replace UNB at No. 1. In other disciplines, Ottawa (women’s soccer), York (men’s soccer), Calgary (women’s hockey), Trinity Western (women’s volleyball), Alberta (men’s volleyball) and Guelph (women’s & men’s cross country) all hold on to the pole position.

In men’s basketball, Carleton opens at No. 1 for the seventh straight campaign and for the 10th time in the last 11 years. The Ravens claimed their record-tying eighth W.P. McGee Trophy (all in the last 10 years) last march in Halifax thanks to an 86-67 gold-medal win over Alberta. They will have a chance to become the most decorated team in CIS men’s basketball history in front of their home fans this winter when they host the Final 8 in the nation’s capital (March 8-10).

The top-ranked Ravens, who received 43 of 44 first-place votes in the initial coaches’ poll, are off to a great start once again this fall with eight victories in nine pre-season contests, including a 2-1 record versus NCAA opponents and a 6-0 mark against CIS rivals. The defending champs travel south this week for two more exhibition games against U.S. schools, Villanova (Thursday) and La Salle (Friday), before opening the regular season at Windsor and Western on Nov. 9-10.

Rounding out the first Top 10 of the season are the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds, who earned the remaining first-place nod, as well as No. 3 Acadia, No. 4 Fraser Valley, No. 5 Saskatchewan, No. 6 Lakehead, No. 7 McGill, No. 8 Cape Breton, No. 9 Windsor and No. 10 Alberta.

In women’s hoops, Windsor opens at No. 1 for the second time in three years, seven months after claiming a second straight Bronze Baby Trophy thanks to a 69-53 defeat of UBC in the national final.

Like the Carleton men, the Lancers have been impressive in pre-season action with six victories in seven contests, all against CIS opponents. After winning their first five games this fall, the reigning champs split a two-game set against the Regina Cougars in Saskatchewan’s capital last weekend, taking the opener 69-57 and dropping a 74-63 decision in the rematch. Windsor hits the road to face Oakland University of the NCAA on Saturday in its final exhibition test before opening conference play at home against Carleton and Ottawa on Nov. 9-10.

The Lancers received 41 first-place votes in the first coaches’ poll of the campaign, with the other two nods going to the second-ranked Cougars, who will host this year’s CIS championship from March 15 to 17.

Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 3 Fraser Valley, No. 4 Carleton, No. 5 Saint Mary’s, No. 6 Saskatchewan, No. 7 Victoria, No. 8 Acadia, No. 9 Wilfrid Laurier and No. 10 UBC.

League play kicks off later this week in CIS men’s and women’s basketball with 32 games in Canada West and four matches in the AUS. Conference action gets under way a week later in the RSEQ and OUA.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Windsor (0-0) / 514 points (41) / (-)
2. Regina (0-0) / 446 (2) / (-)
3. Fraser Valley (0-0) / 429 / (-)
4. Carleton (0-0) / 393 / (-)
5. Saint Mary’s (0-0) / 300 / (-)
6. Saskatchewan (0-0) / 230 / (-)
7. Victoria (0-0) / 195 / (-)
8. Acadia (0-0) / 191 / (-)
9. Wilfrid Laurier (0-0) / 188 / (-)
10. UBC (0-0) / 79 / (-)

Also receiving votes: Ottawa (78), Alberta (74), Calgary (63), Laval (48).

MEN’S BASKETBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Carleton (0-0) / 526 points (43) / (-)
2. UBC (0-0) / 457 (1) / (-)
3. Acadia (0-0) / 338 / (-)
4. Fraser Valley (0-0) / 320 / (-)
5. Saskatchewan (0-0) / 314 / (-)
6. Lakehead (0-0) / 313 / (-)
7. McGill (0-0) / 309 / (-)
8. Cape Breton (0-0) / 150 / (-)
9. Windsor (0-0) / 131 / (-)
10. Alberta (0-0) / 87 / (-)

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Guelph 100.0 points / (1)
2. McMaster 85 / (2)
3. Victoria 78.9 / (3)
4. Western 62.2 / (5)
5. McGill 61.1 / (4)
6. Calgary 38.9 / (7)
7. Toronto 33.9 / (6)
8. Windsor 29.4 / (NR)
9. StFX 25.0 / (9)
10. Queen’s 11.7 / (8)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Guelph 99.4 points / (1)
2. Victoria 83.5 / (2)
3. Windsor 77.6 / (3)
4. Queen’s 57.6 / (5)
5. Regina 54.7 / (7)
6. Laval 51.8 / (4)
7. McMaster 45.3 / (6)
8. StFX 24.1 / (8)
9. Calgary 22.4 / (9)
10. Lakehead 11.2 / (NR)

WOMEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous rankings)

1. Calgary (7-0-1) / (1)
2. McGill (4-0-0) / (2)
3. Montreal (4-0-0) / (3)
4. Alberta (7-1-0) / (4)
5. StFX (5-0-0) / (5)
6. Queen’s (7-0-1) / (6)
7. Wilfrid Laurier (6-1-1) / (7)
8. Guelph (5-2-1) / (8)
9. Toronto (6-1-1) / (NR)
10. Western (5-1-1) / (10)

Also receiving votes: Regina, Lethbridge, St. Thomas.

MEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Saskatchewan (7-1-0) / 159 points (15) / (2)
2. Alberta (5-3-0) / 129 / (4)
3. Moncton (4-1-1) / 124 / (6)
4. UNB (4-2-0) / 121 / (1)
5. UQTR (5-2-0) / 102 / (3)
6. Acadia (4-2-0) / 90 / (7)
7. StFX (4-2-0) / 64 / (5)
8. Lakehead (5-2-1) / 50 / (8)
9. Toronto (5-0-1) / 48 (2) / (NR)
10. Calgary (5-3-0) / 30 / (9)

Also receiving votes: Ottawa (7), Manitoba (4), Windsor (4), Waterloo (2), Western (1).

WOMEN’S SOCCER (final rankings of 2012)
(regular season / playoff record) / votes / (previous rankings)

1. Ottawa (14-0-2 / 1-0) / 50 points / (1)
2. Trinity Western (11-1-0 / 1-0) / 43 / (3)
3. Montreal (11-2-1) / 37 / (2)
4. Victoria (9-2-1 / 1-0) / 34 / (5)
5. Cape Breton (10-0-3) / 33 / (4)
6. Wilfrid Laurier (11-2-3 / 1-0) / 28 / (6)
7. Queen’s (11-2-3 / 1-0) / 17 / (7)
8. UBC (8-2-2 / 1-0) / 16 / (8)
9. Sherbrooke (10-3-1) / 10 / (9)
10. McGill (9-3-2) / 3 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Dalhousie (2), McMaster (1), Regina (1).

MEN’S SOCCER (final rankings of 2012)
(regular season / playoff record) / votes / (previous rankings)

1. York (14-0-2 / 1-0) / 40 points / (1)
2. UBC (11-0-3) / 36 / (2)
3. McMaster (12-1-3 / 1-0) / 32 / (4)
4. Alberta (9-2-4) / 27 / (5)
5. Queen’s (11-1-2 / 1-0) / 23 / (6)
6. Trinity Western (9-1-4) / 17 / (7)
7. Saint Mary’s (8-2-3) / 15 / (3)
8. Montreal (10-2-0) / 13 / (9)
9. Laval (7-1-4) / 7 / (8)
T10. Carleton (10-2-2 / 1-0) / 5 / (10)
T10. UNB (9-3-1) / 5 / (NR)

WOMEN’S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Montreal 507 points / (-)
2. McGill 354 / (-)
3. Calgary 344 / (-)
4. Toronto 343 / (-)
5. McMaster 156 / (-)
6. UQTR 145 / (-)
7. Guelph 136 / (-)
8. Laval 135 / (-)
9. Alberta 132 / (-)
10. Ottawa 123 / (-)

MEN’S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Toronto 585 points / (-)
2. Calgary 470 / (-)
3. Laval 453 / (-)
4. Montreal 290 / (-)
5. McGill 247 / (-)
6. Regina 182 / (-)
7. Ottawa 169 / (-)
8. Alberta 150 / (-)
9. McMaster 137 / (-)
10. Dalhousie 78 / (-)

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes / (previous rankings)

1. Trinity Western (1-1) / 58.5 points / (1)
2. UBC (1-1) / 57.5 / (2)
3. Alberta (2-0) / 52 / (3)
4. Laval (4-0) / 46 / (4)
5. Manitoba (1-0) / 45 / (5)
6. Ottawa (4-0) / 41 / (6)
7. Montreal (3-1) / 33 / (NR)
8. Dalhousie (2-2) / 32 / (7)
9. York (4-0) / 24 / (NR)
10. Calgary (1-1) / 22 / (10)

Next highest: Sherbrooke (16.5), Toronto (16), UBCO (11), Brandon (11), Winnipeg (5).

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Alberta (2-0) / 269 points (26) / (1)
2. Trinity Western (1-1) / 227 (2) / (2)
3. McMaster (3-0) / 201 / (3)
4. Manitoba (1-0) / 194 / (5)
5. Laval (3-0) / 189 / (4)
6. Brandon (2-0) / 137 / (6)
7. UBC (1-1) / 113 / (9)
8. Saskatchewan (0-2) / 74 / (7)
9. Calgary (1-1) / 39 / (8)
10. Thompson Rivers (2-0) / 35 / (NR)

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