...thanks Keith Dambrot for your non-vote.
I was just about ready to post the same thing.
Let's say we have Team "A". They make the Sweet 16 and it took overtime to keep them from making the Great 8. All of the starters are returning. Wouldn't one expect Team "A" to not only be ranked in the preseason, but ranked in the top ten. Instead they are not only unranked, but didn't even receive a vote!
Team "A" will just have to prove themselves and earn it. It's the MAC way. It always has been (in football and basketball) and always will be. At least we have the consolation our teams often FINISH ranked in the polls, despite having to begin at the end of the pack.
I don't see how this relates to conference realignment at all.
The top 14 teams in that poll are pretty much basketball "blue bloods". 11 teams have won multiple championships in the last 50 years; Connecticut is on probation, and the other 10 are in this top 14. The four that have not won multiple titles are Ohio State, Syracuse, Michigan, and Arizona.
News flash........if a team makes the Sweet 16, that in no way means they are the 16th best (or better) team in the country.
(10-17-2012 12:32 PM)niubrad00 Wrote: [ -> ]News flash........if a team makes the Sweet 16, that in no way means they are the 16th best (or better) team in the country.
They'd be close.
but they arent the top 40?
(10-17-2012 12:36 PM)Time4Church8 Wrote: [ -> ]but they arent the top 40?
This isn't pop music. The rankings only go to 25.
(10-17-2012 12:32 PM)niubrad00 Wrote: [ -> ]News flash........if a team makes the Sweet 16, that in no way means they are the 16th best (or better) team in the country.
Jim Delany, is that you?
46 teams are getting votes, i would assume Ohio to be one of those. but they arent
Ohio finished last season with an RPI of 42.
(10-17-2012 12:41 PM)Time4Church8 Wrote: [ -> ]46 teams are getting votes, i would assume Ohio to be one of those. but they arent
That doesn't make it a 40-team (or 46-team) ranking, though. It just means none of the voters thought they were in the top 25. They could be a unanimous #26.
(10-17-2012 12:32 PM)niubrad00 Wrote: [ -> ]News flash........if a team makes the Sweet 16, that in no way means they are the 16th best (or better) team in the country.
I don't disagree with that, but a team that finished 29-8, including a 10-2 record down the stretch. A team with wins over Michigan and South Florida before falling in OT to North Carolina to conclude the season. A team that actually finished ranked number 25 in the coaches poll at the end of last season. A team that lost no starters and has nearly every component of their team back except for their head coach. And that team couldn't even muster 1 vote in the same coaches poll?
Even Marshall recieved a vote! Jim Christian must be a pretty bad coach, because he's the only factor that has changed since last season.
It seems like more and more posters are denigrating league brethren with greater frequency. Do we miss the old Conference USA pot shots that much?
That same team also hasn't played to its potential during the regular season. I think if they won the MAC last year that it would've translated to a ranked team this year. I'm not trying to put Ohio down but you have to look at it from their perspectives. I do agree though that Dambrot should've tossed a vote Ohio's way. I'm sure Shaka Smart voted for his team and conference.
(10-17-2012 01:09 PM)Bobcat110 Wrote: [ -> ]![[Image: ccbffd46185611e2a9ed22000a1fb773_7.jpg]](http://distilleryimage8.instagram.com/ccbffd46185611e2a9ed22000a1fb773_7.jpg)
The chart in the image supports an argument that returning most of your players from a Sweet 16 team
doesn't translate into a high ranking. Wisconsin returns 70% of points and 75% of minutes but is ranked 21. Cincinnati returns 65% of points and 70% of minutes but, like Ohio, isn't ranked.
Anyway, the great thing about basketball is that what you do on the court matters. Finish #1 or #2 in the MAC regular season and then go on an 8-game winning streak and you're the national champion. Or, you could always go winless in the season and then try to hit a 12 game winning streak. Either way, it get's settled on the court, not in the polls.
(10-17-2012 12:30 PM)DrTorch Wrote: [ -> ]I don't see how this relates to conference realignment at all.
Nice.