Seth Davis and Jon Ronstein AP ballots
- Thread starter ukhoops1
- Start date
By looking at those rankings. I got to thinking. I really don’t know who I would like to win six game straight under tourney pressure. Can’t be over three or four teams that really have a shot this year. Our post play improves we could be one of them.
Agree. Some years you say 20 teams could win it but it’s a handful of teams this year. You can eliminate the PAC 12 and Big 12 (now that Azubiuke is out).
Duke should drop more than one spot after getting beat by an unranked Syracuse at home! Bias as usual
Every champion but one has been in the top 20 of both kenpom off and def efficiencies to finish the season. While there's still basketball to be played, here's the teams that fit that:
Virginia, Duke, Michigan St, North Carolina, Iowa St
And these teams are within 7 spots of joining that list:
Kentucky, Nebraska, Michigan, Nevada, Tennessee
We are literally only one spot on offense from being top 20 in both while also being one of the youngest teams in the land. But you're probably finding your champ in that list of ten teams. There's also an outside shot of teams like Kansas, Virginia Tech or Wisconsin improving hard at the end of the year.
They may win it all, but they have a lot of holes. I could see them winning it all, or losing in the 3rd round.
Naturally, any team who wins 6 tournament games vs. tough competition will rate highly in efficiency by the time the tournament ends. Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Prior to the start of the tournament, most eventual champions are top 25 in both efficiency measures. Notable recent exceptions are 2015 Duke, who was 57th on defense entering the tournament, and 2014 UCONN, who was 80th on offense.
Rob Dauster NBC Sports
1. Duke (15-2, Last Week: 1)
2. Tennessee (16-1, 2)
3. Gonzaga (18-2, 5)
4. Virginia (16-1, 4)
5. Michigan State 16-2, 6)
6. Michigan (17-1, 2)
7. Kentucky (14-3, 10)
8. Virginia Tech (15-2, 9)
9. Kansas (15-3, 7)
10. Texas Tech (15-3, 8)
11. Nevada (18-1, 11)
12. Marquette (16-3, 12)
13. North Carolina (14-4, 13)
14. Maryland (16-3, 20)
15. Ole Miss (14-3, 15)
16. N.C. State (15-3, 16)
17. Auburn (13-4, 17)
18. Mississippi State (14-3, 18)
19. Buffalo (17-1, 19)
20. Villanova (14-4, 21)
21. Houston (18-1, 22)
22. LSU (14-3, NR)
23. Louisville (13-5, 25)
24. Iowa State (14-4, NR)
25. Purdue (12-6, NR)
New Additions: 22. LSU, 24. Iowa State, 25. Purdue
Dropped Out: 14. Florida State, 23. Oklahoma, 24. Indiana
No way Duke deserves to be #1 after their loss to Syracuse
Wait, Am I reading that right that Seth Davis left us out of his Top 25??? Like I need some of what he is smoking apparently lol
I don’t think they’ll win it but you can be sure they’ll be given the easiest road.
I've no problem whatsoever with Duke being ranked #1. Yes, they lost but without Reddish and Jones. And they followed it up with a win over what would have been the unanimous #1 Virginia. Regardless, I think they're the best team.
But If I was ranking them, I'd put Duke at #2 behind Tennessee, just 'cause that's the way it traditionally works when teams lose and win. But if Duke is #1, no problem with me.
But If I was ranking them, I'd put Duke at #2 behind Tennessee, just 'cause that's the way it traditionally works when teams lose and win. But if Duke is #1, no problem with me.
Gotta be honest, I didn’t realize Louisville was considered good enough to be a ranked team.
They have looked so bad in the games I’ve watched.
They have looked so bad in the games I’ve watched.
Dropping Michigan 5 spots after a road loss at Wisconsin is harsh. They're still one of the best 3 teams in the country.
However, it gives me a little comfort knowing that UK isn't the only team that drops like a stone after every loss.
As far as Duke, can't complain about them staying up in the top 5, yeah, they lost to Syracuse, but they didn't have time to adjust be to The Jones' injury since it happened in that game. They followed it up by beating UVA without Tre, so I don't think we can argue with their ranking .
However, it gives me a little comfort knowing that UK isn't the only team that drops like a stone after every loss.
As far as Duke, can't complain about them staying up in the top 5, yeah, they lost to Syracuse, but they didn't have time to adjust be to The Jones' injury since it happened in that game. They followed it up by beating UVA without Tre, so I don't think we can argue with their ranking .
They've really turned it on lately. Fine by me, they're making our numbers look better each week.
This one is hilarious. Michigan State #1, Kentucky #14 and UNC #13.......https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article224854645.html
Wow, Davis has unc at 24th. They're top 10 in both kenpom and sagarin. I wonder where he went to school?
Win both games this week and in convincing fashion and we could be top 5 next week. This team is making strides. Had 2 fluke losses by a combined 3 points or we’d be 16-1. Watching games this past weekend just goes to show how tough road games are if you don’t come to play for 40 minutes
You are correct, if they jump us over Nevada.
Its justified too as the next two at home should be wins as well and UK could be top 5 before Feb!
Shades of ‘10, ‘12 and ‘15...
I thought exact same thing after initial read. My thought was, "Oh, UK fans will hate him even more!" Then I re-read and saw where he had us tied and listed in another color.
Then I thought, "Oh, UK fans will think he's the best sports guy out there ; -) "
Do UK fans hate Davis and Bilas, or like them? Seems our affinity for sports talkers is based on what they say about us at the time ; -)
It's not about best team. Its performance. Remember, the same team that lost to Cuse with Jones part of the game is the same team that beat Virginia.
A loss at home to Cuse trumps a win at home versus UVA considering Duke was at home with a lot to play for. Played for Jones.
They probably could have used Reddish vs Cuse too. But yea it’s a bad loss. No problem with Duke being ranked anywhere 2-6.
Yeah, that's why I said I'd vote for Tennessee.I just don't have a problem if someone else votes for Duke.
I hate to say it, but duke with a healthy Tre jones has looked like by far the best team to me. Michigan was a distant second.
People were fawning over Michigan after they busted UNC but we’ve all since found out UNC just isn’t that good.
Zion and Barrett are just unguardable at this level. Barrett looks like Kobe 2.0(honestly he’s better than Kobe was at the same stage though there no guarantee he’ll be even as good as Kobe was in the nba, a lot goes into that). God forbid Reddish gets it going. If that happens they won’t need Jones.
That said the jones injury is still huge. Even if he comes back in time for the tournament he’s gonna have to knock the rust off. And they’re losing a good chunk of practice time with their full lineup together that other contenders are getting. That disruption in continuity is a killer.
Also so it’s pretty clear we’re going to be around 7th or 8th. Be interesting to see how these guys handle success. They didn’t even look like a top 25 team a few weeks ago. Now they have a legit chance to run off 3 ranked wins in a row. If they sweep this week they’ll be back in the conversation for a 1 seed.
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