Our weekly Division I, II, III, NAIA and JUCO power rankings, which run every Wednesday.

By Patrick Hayes

It’s still a little bit early for any team to be running away with things in our power rankings, but a handful of teams look really strong early on and a couple of surprise teams have maintained their strong starts from last week. Let’s get right into it:

(Last week’s ranking in parenthesis)

Junior College

1. Mott Community College (1): Mott improved to 5-0 after dismantling Lansing Community College last week. The team faces another tough game tonight in Owens Community College. The Bears are looking for their 28th consecutive win.

2. Kalamazoo Valley Community College (2): KVCC picked up it second impressive win in the season, beating Owens 80-75 over the weekend. The team’s other great win was an early-season win over Oakland Community College. Kalamazoo Valley is now 8-0 on the season.

3. Glen Oaks Community College (3): Glen Oaks improved to 7-1 with three blowout wins in the last week. All seven of the team’s wins have been by double-figures. A game against Owens this weekend should be a good test for Glen Oaks.

4. Oakland Community College (5): OCC won its third consecutive game this week, recovering nicely from a 1-3 start to the season.

5. Grand Rapids Community College (NR): It’s honestly hard to pick a team here at No. 5. There are several teams with good records, but they’ve all played relatively soft schedules up to this point. Grand Rapids has won four straight and has played No. 1 Mott as tough as anyone this season, so that’s good enough for now until more teams get into the meat of their schedules.

Falling out from last week: Lansing Community College (4)

NAIA

1. Rochester College (1): As I mentioned over the weekend, it’s embarrassing that a NAIA team that has beaten one Division I opponent and nearly beaten another is not ranked in the NAIA poll. Rochester gets two more chances against D-I teams this week, playing against Oakland University and the University of Detroit.

2. Davenport (2): Davenport is now ranked No. 8 in the country after winning seven straight games, and doing so convincingly. Six of those seven wins have been by double figures.

3. Cornerstone (4): Since losing a close game to Davenport on Nov. 20, Cornerstone has won three of four and moved up to No. 12 in the national poll.

4. Madonna (3): I had Madonna on the rise last week, and they still might be — the team’s real test will come Dec. 8 and 12 with games against Cornerstone and Davenport — but a mild upset loss to Concordia this week knocks them down a spot.

5. Concordia (NR): Concordia picked up a great win over Madonna, but at just 3-6 on the season, it’s hard to put them higher on this list. A win tonight against another good team, Indiana Tech, could certainly boost the Cardinals’ ranking next week, though.

Falling out from last week: Spring Arbor (5)

Division III

1. Adrian College (2): Guard Eric Lewis just won the league’s player of the week award for the second time in three weeks and Adrian is now 7-0 on the season. Adrian entered the national rankings at No. 20 last week.

1. Calvin College (2): After a 6-0 start to the season, Calvin lost two straight last week, both by double figures.

3. Hope College (3): Hope split two games last week and is 3-3 on the season, but still ranked No. 19 in the country.

4. Albion College (4): Albion also split both of its games since last week’s rankings, so with none of the in-state Division III teams making moves beneath, Albion also maintains its spot.

5. Alma College (NR): This spot has been a bit of a revolving door at this point. Kalamazoo lost twice last week, so Alma will get its turn in the five spot here after an exciting win against Baldwin Wallace.

Falling out from last week: Kalamazoo College (5)

Division II

1. Hillsdale (1): Hillsdale is off to a 4-0 start, with tough games against Grand Valley and Michigan Tech looming in the next 10 days.

2. Grand Valley State (2): GVSU has won four straight games and is 5-1 on the season. The team has proven to be tough on the road, going 2-0 on a trip to Ohio to play Ashland and Lake Erie last week.

3. Wayne State (NR): Three state wins for the Warriors, plus a player of the week, put them firmly in our top five for the first time this season.

4. Michigan Tech (3): MTU is 3-2, but could be 4-1 if not for an overtime loss to Walsh last week. Ali Haidar continues to put up ridiculous numbers, with 20 points and 22 rebounds in that game.

5. Saginaw Valley State (4): With a new coach and dealing with a road-heavy schedule to start the season, SVSU at 3-2 is not too bad. The team has split four of those road games and continues to look like one of the league’s most improved teams.

Falling out from last week: Lake Superior State (5)

Division I

1. Michigan (1): Michigan continues to roll, improving to 8-0 with a blowout win over Western Michigan Tuesday. The Wolverines are simply one of the of best, most balanced and most fun to watch teams in the country.

2. Michigan State (2): At 6-2, things could certainly be worse for the Spartans considering their up and down tendencies. They lost a winnable game against Miami last week, but recovered to blow out Nicholls State, as they should have. The team plays four consecutive games against small schools before concluding the non-conference season against Texas.

3. Western Michigan (3): A loss to Michigan was to be expected, but other than that, things have been pretty good for the Broncos, one of this season’s surprises so far. The team has won six of seven games, including a nice win over Oakland last week.

4. Eastern Michigan (4): No one expected Eastern to be competitive in its game against Syracuse, but wow, did the team look bad in the 84-48 loss. Eastern shot just 30 percent and had 24 turnovers in the game. They have another tough game this weekend, facing Purdue.

5. Central Michigan (5): Central won’t be in this spot long and Detroit won’t be out of these rankings long. But the bottom line is, Detroit, which is 2-4 and has lost three straight, is underachieving right now and Central, how no one expected to be competitive is doing just that. Central doesn’t have the talent to contend with the top teams in the MAC once the season starts and Detroit should still be a league title contender in the Horizon League. But right now, CMU is  having more success than expected and Detroit is struggling.

Falling out from last week: Detroit (5)

Previously

• Week 1
• Week 2

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