Case athletics photo

The last NESCAC team to leave the Top 25 was Amherst. Back in 2002, it was Williams, as the Ephs fell out of the No. 25 spot in a poll released Feb. 25, 2002.

In that poll, Carthage, Washington University and UW-Oshkosh received the No. 1 votes. Elizabethtown was ranked No. 4 and on its way to the Final Four, while Otterbein was No. 6 and on its way to a national title a few weeks later.

This week's ranking ends a streak of 191 consecutive polls in which at least one NESCAC team was in the D3hoops.com men's basketball Top 25.

Capital didn't know it, but its 2001-02 season was already over. The Crusaders were 23-5, having lost three times to Otterbein, but would never play again. Despite being snubbed by the selection committee, Capital would nonetheless rise six spots in the final poll and finish No. 8 in the country, the highest ranking for any team left out of the NCAA Tournament in the 16 seasons of the D3hoops.com Top 25.

This week's poll features the first-ever appearance in the Top 25 for Case Western Reserve, which slides in at the No. 25 spot, while Johns Hopkins returns to the poll for the first time since Feb. 11, 2007.