We took a long, hard look at the Men's DI rankings this week, trying to figure out if it's really just that simple - Dartmouth beat Penn State, so Dartmouth jumps up ahead of Penn State.

Is it that simple? Should we consider Dartmouth higher than Indiana? Higher than Kutztown? It's a weird situation, and really Dartmouth's low ranking was predicated on two things - an early-season loss to Boston College, and an early-season blowout to Lindenwood. Well, times change. Just as we've decided to push aside Army's three fall losses because the Black Knights appear to be better now, so, too, recent results have to count for something with Dartmouth. 

In a way, it's moot. The top six teams in the nation are well ahead of the rest. Lindenwood is all alone at #7, and then #8 through #20 could beat any other team on any given Saturday. Arkansas jumps up because we never gave them enough credit for beating Texas A&M, and their convincing win over Missouri bolsters the case for a higher ranking. There are a few nudges here and there. UC Davis certainly gets a bump.

Lower down, Missouri drops out after Mizzou lost to Arkansas, and that's in part because Harvard comes in after a) winning the Ivy League DIAA play-in, and b) because Dartmouth's win over Penn State carries with it some Ivy League coat tails. We would have liked to add in a few more teams, and we list them at the bottom. We just can't find room, but wanted to give a nod to WMU, Cornell (Ivy League coat tails again), Grand Canyon, Utah State, and James Madison. Those last two have a chance in the DIAA playoffs to show why they deserve to have a number next to their name.