For the first time in nearly four years, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team is not number one.
In this week’s national U Sports rankings—released every week during the season—the Ravens dropped to second in the nation behind the University of Victoria Vikes, ending a stretch of 34 consecutive rankings at No. 1.
This week is also only the third time since February 2016 the Ravens have dropped out of first.
The last time the Ravens were not ranked first was Feb. 5, 2019. It’s been three years and 11 months since then.
The Ravens have won 16 of the last 19 national championships, most recently in 2022. They are currently 11-2 and tied for second in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) east division, having lost two games in the first half of the season for the first time this century.
After reigning U Sports Player of the Year Lloyd Pandi and national championship MVP Alain Louis left the team in the offseason, the Ravens have struggled to put up consistent results with an inexperienced roster. Head coach Taffe Charles said in December he expects the team to lose three or four more games this season.
Most recently, Carleton beat the 1-12 Ontario Tech Ridgebacks by only one point on Friday, then defeated the 3-9 Guelph Gryphons by five points on Saturday.
After Saturday’s game, Charles said watching the team make mistakes was “very frustrating.”
“Development and winning are two different things, right? We’re trying to develop people and we’re trying to win at the same time,” Charles said. “We have that intersection … and it’s just a hard process.”
He also expressed optimism about future seasons.
“Hopefully next year our young guys will still be here, we’ll have a full year of recruiting and we’ll be better,” he said.
The Vikes, now first in the nation for the first time since March 8, 2006, are 12-2 this season. They lost to the Ravens 88-80 in a pre-season game in October, and 94-77 in the national quarterfinals last April.
Led by head coach Craig Beaucamp, Victoria is first in the country with 95.9 points per game and 48 total rebounds per game. The Vikes won their last national championship in 1997.
U Sports top 10 rankings are determined using the Elo rating system.
Featured image by Jayden R. Dill.
