That would assume the writer knows the ins and outs of every team. At some point you have to take history into account when making countdowns such as these. And with Kent's track record being the most steady in the conference it is the safest pick to place high on a list. Even if you go by RPI then Kent normally sits between 80-140. With their conference records Emu sits around .500 while Niu sits below .500 so as an outsider looking in why would you give them the benefit of the doubt? I'm not saying those teams won't be good this year but if you are making a list like this and want it to have a chance of being fairly accurate you make safe picks Kent is that pick.

While I agree a little with both of you, i don't think Kent's record at the beginning of the century should have much to do with this countdown.. If that was the case Buffalo would not be in the Top 100 which they deserve to be because of the history of the last 3-5 years. With that being said, Kent's history in that five year period is still impressive enough that I see why they are ranked where they are.

(07-09-2016 12:04 PM)BullBoy Wrote:  While I agree a little with both of you, i don't think Kent's record at the beginning of the century should have much to do with this countdown.. If that was the case Buffalo would not be in the Top 100 which they deserve to be because of the history of the last 3-5 years. With that being said, Kent's history in that five year period is still impressive enough that I see why they are ranked where they are.

If the prevailing sentiment is Kent - even as an unknown - will be in the top tier once again .... then winning the regular season MAC title in 2016-2017 should come with some kind of special reward.

This MAC race should be one for the books!!!

I don't think the conference will be as good as last season, that was pretty amazing year the MAC had last year being the 2nd best mid major in the nation. I do think the bottom half teams are better though, and the top half the same or a little worse. There sure won't be many nights off that is for sure.

(07-10-2016 04:02 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I don't think the conference will be as good as last season, that was pretty amazing year the MAC had last year being the 2nd best mid major in the nation. I do think the bottom half teams are better though, and the top half the same or a little worse. There sure won't be many nights off that is for sure.

I'm thinking along the lines of the 2015 season, when IIRC six teams were in play for the No. 1 seed over the final two-three weeks of the season, and the No. 1 seed changed after every game the last couple of weeks.

Crazy.

From where I last left off.


#121 Northwestern State
#122 LSU
#123 Arkansas-Little Rock
#124 Pepperdine
#125 Hofstra
#126 Kent State
#127 Temple
#128 Stephen F. Austin
#129 Wagner Men's
#130 Marshall Men's
#131 North Dakota Men's
#132 Penn State
#133 Green Bay

Quick question, I know it was mentioned (before the Kent State ranking) that the MAC would have four more teams. Was that set in stone (IE, Toledo was the No. 5 team in the MAC) or was that an assumption?

(07-13-2016 02:09 PM)Wadszip Wrote:  Quick question, I know it was mentioned (before the Kent State ranking) that the MAC would have four more teams. Was that set in stone (IE, Toledo was the No. 5 team in the MAC) or was that an assumption?

It's a known fact.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/13279

What will happen with UB w/out Bearden?

Big loss.

My guess is sometimes sites like this aren't really up to date on the latest news. I bet they write the preview with Lamonte still in it

(07-13-2016 09:19 AM)kreed5120 Wrote:  From where I last left off.


#121 Northwestern State
#122 LSU
#123 Arkansas-Little Rock
#124 Pepperdine
#125 Hofstra
#126 Kent State
#127 Temple
#128 Stephen F. Austin
#129 Wagner Men's
#130 Marshall Men's
#131 North Dakota Men's
#132 Penn State
#133 Green Bay

I notice a few teams specify "men's"? Does this mean their women's teams are likely to show up later and more highly ranked?

(07-13-2016 10:53 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(07-13-2016 09:19 AM)kreed5120 Wrote:  From where I last left off.


#121 Northwestern State
#122 LSU
#123 Arkansas-Little Rock
#124 Pepperdine
#125 Hofstra
#126 Kent State
#127 Temple
#128 Stephen F. Austin
#129 Wagner Men's
#130 Marshall Men's
#131 North Dakota Men's
#132 Penn State
#133 Green Bay

I notice a few teams specify "men's"? Does this mean their women's teams are likely to show up later and more highly ranked?

I just copy and paste them from the website. Below is what it looks like when you copy and paste. For whatever reason it pulls each team twice. From there I delete the extra rows and delete "Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview". Evidently I only deleted "Basketball 2016-2017 Preview" on a few.

#122 LSU Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#122 LSU Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#123 Arkansas-Little Rock Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#123 Arkansas-Little Rock Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#124 Pepperdine Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#124 Pepperdine Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#125 Hofstra Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#125 Hofstra Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#126 Kent State Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview
#126 Kent State Men's Basketball 2016-2017 Preview

(07-13-2016 04:00 PM)BullBoy Wrote:  My guess is sometimes sites like this aren't really up to date on the latest news. I bet they write the preview with Lamonte still in it

Should be interesting.

What I would find interesting is if UB is still in the top 144 w/out Bearden OR do they go from top 120 to now dropped out of the top 144 completely...

My guess they drop out of the rankings completely rather than re-shuffle a bunch of teams to move UB from the prospective slot to say 143... (or whatever...).

(07-14-2016 09:08 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(07-13-2016 04:00 PM)BullBoy Wrote:  My guess is sometimes sites like this aren't really up to date on the latest news. I bet they write the preview with Lamonte still in it

Should be interesting.

What I would find interesting is if UB is still in the top 144 w/out Bearden OR do they go from top 120 to now dropped out of the top 144 completely...

My guess they drop out of the rankings completely rather than re-shuffle a bunch of teams to move UB from the prospective slot to say 143... (or whatever...).

This was a Top 100 team before Bearden left. Still might be. Definitely still on the list.

(07-14-2016 09:19 AM)cleveland Wrote:  

(07-14-2016 09:08 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(07-13-2016 04:00 PM)BullBoy Wrote:  My guess is sometimes sites like this aren't really up to date on the latest news. I bet they write the preview with Lamonte still in it

Should be interesting.

What I would find interesting is if UB is still in the top 144 w/out Bearden OR do they go from top 120 to now dropped out of the top 144 completely...

My guess they drop out of the rankings completely rather than re-shuffle a bunch of teams to move UB from the prospective slot to say 143... (or whatever...).

This was a Top 100 team before Bearden left. Still might be. Definitely still on the list.

While losing Bearden obviously hurts Buffalo, I think these rankings will reflect their pre-Bearden loss ranking. They probably won't go back and change anything.

Nearing the top 100 and the MAC still has 3 teams remaining (assumed to be UB, UA, and OU).

#112 Richmond
#113 Florida Gulf Coast
#114 Sam Houston State
#115 Tulsa
#116 UNC Asheville
#117 Stanford
#118 Boise State
#119 Lehigh
#120 Stony Brook

Through #107 still three MAC teams left.

(07-27-2016 11:48 AM)Terrell Owens Wrote:  Through #107 still three MAC teams left.

No matter the final numbers ... essentially three Top 100 MAC teams. Very good.

Now let's see if one or two rise inside the Top 65?!?!?!?

#105 William & Mary
#106 UC Santa Barbara
#107 Louisiana
#108 Arkansas
#109 Fresno State
#110 Georgia Tech
#111 Southern Illinois

Below I've noted which conferences have known multiple teams left.
3 - MAC
3 - CAA
4 - MWC
12 - ACC
3 - MVC
6 - A10
5 - AAC
10 - PAC-12
9 - SEC
10 - B1G
3 - C-USA
TBD - Big 12 (They haven't had a team ranked yet so it's undetermined how many teams made the top 144)

Looks like they are pretty high on the Colonial too. Last year the two best mid major conferences in the nation were 1) Colonial and 2) MAC. Those conferences have 6 of the top 104 this year according to this site.