Week of 2/22/10 polls

#5 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today

Looks like it may take another loss from above, though, to get a #1 seed in the Tourney as there's a bit of a gap (132 pts in the AP) between them and #4 Syracuse.

We are up to 2nd in the RPI, though, passing Kentucky and trailing only Kansas

and btw, no other ACC team cracks the top 25 of either poll

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Originally Posted by rotogod00

and btw, no other ACC team cracks the top 25 of either poll

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Has this happened before? In the last 20+ years?

Maryland's a darn good team. They should be in the top 25 next week.

First time since 1977. The ACC is terrible this year despite what some people on this board say.

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Originally Posted by J_C_Steel

Maryland's a darn good team. They should be in the top 25 next week.

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and they're 28th in both polls. vtech is actually 27th in both

I disagree. I think the country in general isn't as strong as it has been in recent years. The only conference I think is totally head over heels better than the ACC is the Big East. But they've been the power for the past fews years. The Pac 10 is terrible and I'm not at all hugely impressed with the Big 12 and Big Ten. Just my opinion.

How about the fact that the Mountain West has more ranked teams than the ACC and Pac 10 combined?! :eek: Same with the Atlantic 10.

It really helps the stronger teams in a conference if there are some patsies at the bottom to fatten your record with. The ACC doesn't really have any. NCSU, the worst ACC team is still dangerous and ranked in the top 80 (Sagarin and Pomeroy). If the bottom of the ACC just sucked more the conference would have more top 25 teams.

The non-human polls Sagarin (3,24,25,28,29,32) and Pomeroy (1,12,16,18,21,25) have numerous highly rated ACC representatives.

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Originally Posted by Vincetaylor

First time since 1977. The ACC is terrible this year despite what some people on this board say.

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Can we blame John Swofford for this? At least ACC football is awesome... oh wait.

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Originally Posted by camion

It really helps the stronger teams in a conference if there are some patsies at the bottom to fatten your record with. The ACC doesn't really have any.

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Aren't you forgetting about UNC? :D

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Originally Posted by DoubleDuke Dad

Aren't you forgetting about UNC? :D

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Thanks for reminding me. One big reason the ACC is viewed as sucky this year is UNC. If they were having a top ten year the conference would have two teams ranked in the single digits and a strong middle and bottom. It's all UNC's fault!!!... But I'm willing to live with that.


One more thing, the ACC is pretty good this year despite what some people on this board say.

Here are the polls:
http://nmsn.foxsports.com/cbk/polls

I know, we should not look to far ahead but Syracuse plays Nova at home on Saturday. Purdue plays Michigan State at home on Sunday and Kentucky plays Tenn at Tenn on Saturday. We take care of business against Tulsa and UVA on Sunday, we might be able to move to #3 or #4 next Monday.

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Originally Posted by rotogod00

Looks like it may take another loss from above, though, to get a #1 seed in the Tourney as there's a bit of a gap (132 pts in the AP) between them and #4 Syracuse.

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The committee doesn't look at the polls when determining seeds, so being top four in the polls and getting a #1 seed are not related. They may end up being the same, but it would be a coincidence.

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Originally Posted by Kedsy

The committee doesn't look at the polls when determining seeds, so being top four in the polls and getting a #1 seed are not related. They may end up being the same, but it would be a coincidence.

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Well, it would be sort of a coincidence. The two are highly correlated (i.e., the best teams generally are also ranked the highest). But yeah, the exact order of the rankings are irrelevant. Being the #5-7 ranked team at season's end won't prevent us from being a #1 seed. Our resume will decide it.

But yeah, the weekly hemming and hawing about the polls is unnecessary. If we earn a #1 seed by season's end, we'll probably be ranked in the top-5 anyway.

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Originally Posted by Vincetaylor

First time since 1977. The ACC is terrible this year despite what some people on this board say.

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The ACC is certainly pretty thin at the top, but Maryland is not bad at all, and the league is positively teeming with NCAA 5-6-7 seeds. It won't be a three or four-bid year as some recent years have been.

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Originally Posted by Vincetaylor

First time since 1977. The ACC is terrible this year despite what some people on this board say.

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FWIW, the ACC is the #1 conference according to Pomeroy, the #2 (B12) according to Sagarin, #3 (B12, BE) in RPI, and is tied for 1st (B12, BE) with 7 teams currently in Joe Lunardi's Bracket(ology).

My own view is that this is the weakest the ACC has been in quite a while, but that is is hardly fair to call the ACC "terrible". A down year for the ACC is an above average year for most other conferences.

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Originally Posted by Chitowndevil

FWIW, the ACC is the #1 conference according to Pomeroy, the #2 (B12) according to Sagarin, #3 (B12, BE) in RPI, and is tied for 1st (B12, BE) with 7 teams currently in Joe Lunardi's Bracket(ology).

My own view is that this is the weakest the ACC has been in quite a while, but that is is hardly fair to call the ACC "terrible". A down year for the ACC is an above average year for most other conferences.

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It always comes back to how you define "strongest/weakest" conference.

In terms of top-tier teams, we're down moreso than in most recent years. Frequently, we have 2 top-10/15 teams and another top-25 team or two. So in that sense, we're not that strong, with only one team in the top-20 and nobody else really standing out as a sure-fire top-25 team.

In terms of depth of quality teams and/or percentage of teams that are quality, we're on a par with anybody. We have 7 teams that are in contention to make the tournament, and the other five teams are all in the top-third of D-1 teams. That can't be said for any of the other conferences.

We have two away games after Tulsa and one is against a good Maryland team. If we pass that hurdle, we still have to earn our way through the ACC tournament. It is a tall order to go through the next two weeks + and come out without another loss.

Realistically, the only team that we are likely to pass if we don't lose, is Purdue. If we do come out with a #1 seed, we still know this team is somewhat flawed, as are of course all the teams.

I am impressed and pleased by the year Duke is having and look forward to seeing what the guys can do.

More important than the human poll, Duke is now the #1 rated team in Ken Pomeroy's rankings. This is a very big deal because this season, for the first time (I think), the selection committee will bring Ken's rankings with them into the room.

So, the two sources (aside from actual game results) that the NCAA will us to seed the tournament will be the RPI and the KenPom ratings. Duke is #1 in the Pomeroy and #2 in the RPI. That would suggest that we have an excellent chance to get a #1 seed.

--Jason "worth noting, us and Kansas are a lot ahead of the other teams in the Pom rankings" Evans

Something that could be fun to track...

The Pomeroy ratings this morning-

1. Duke .9818
2. Kansas .9817
3. W Va .9643
4. Syrac .9638
5. Purdue .9620

I list these because it will be interesting to see how a couple games tonight affect things.

Kansas is playing Oklahoma, who is not highly regarded by KenPom being ranked #98. Kansas is at home and a prohibitive favorite in the game. How big a win will they need to get points and move ahead of Duke again?

WVa obviously just lost to UConn (the #43 team at .8912). How much will they lose from that loss?

With not a lot of other games on the national slate tonight, it will be interesting to see how these limited results affect things.

--Jason "tune in tomorrow for an update" Evans