Top 25 Rankings week of 2/1/2010

[rotogod00]

In AP, we're tied for 10th (Kansas St.)
In ESPN/USA, we're 8th

Georgia Tech is the only other ACC team in the top 25 of either poll

[Hancock 4 Duke]

Correction...Duke is 9th in ESPN/USA Today. Has Duke ever been tied in the polls? I personally have never seen this happen.

[duke4life32182]

Well we are there for the present time, but if we don't start playing better we won't be in the top 10. This is the time of the ACC schedule when Duke usually takes off. We have a pretty good test over the next several games starting with trying to give the Jackets a little pay back from the sting they gave us earlier. Go Duke!

[rotogod00]

Correction...Duke is 9th in ESPN/USA Today. Has Duke ever been tied in the polls? I personally have never seen this happen.

you're right, my bad. as for being tied, not sure, but seems awfully difficult to get the exact same # of points

[KyDevilinIL]

On one hand, No. 9 seems absurdly high based on what we saw Saturday.

On the other hand, when I look at the poll there aren't many teams I'd say should be No. 9 over Duke.

"Parity" is one word for the field this season in college hoops. "Blah" is another, depending on your perspective.

[rotogod00]

On one hand, No. 9 seems absurdly high based on what we saw Saturday.

On the other hand, when I look at the poll there aren't many teams I'd say should be No. 9 over Duke.

"Parity" is one word for the field this season in college hoops. "Blah" is another, depending on your perspective.

When I was looking at the teams behind us, thought the exact same thing. KS St., BYU, New Mexico, Ohio St., Tennessee, et al. A bunch of mediocrity imo

[Durhamrocks68]

I think Duke is still a Top 10 team, but it's close. My guess is that we can afford two more losses (in conference) and still remain in the hunt for a #2 seed. Three or more and that likely will be gone.

[duke4life32182]

Too much inconsistent basketball being played around the country. Any team going into the tournament can win on a given night. There will be no clear cut favorites unless some teams start playing better ball

[Wander]

I'm becoming increasingly afraid Kansas is gonna roll through this thing in March...

[moonpie23]

well, of all the teams that CAN "roll through it in march".....if duke isn't going to be that team, i am all for ku being that team....

i've been their fan since 40-12..

[Kfanarmy]

When I was looking at the teams behind us, thought the exact same thing. KS St., BYU, New Mexico, Ohio St., Tennessee, et al. A bunch of mediocrity imo

I'm not sure if its sad, or if you should be glad, that a top 10-20 team seems like mediocrity. That means, doesnt it, that more than 90% of the CBB world is playing sub-par as par is redefined? I guess some feel worse to be ranked down to number 10 while another school's fans are ecstatic to reach up to the top 25 and get all that recognition and advertising free of charge.

[miramar]

On one hand, No. 9 seems absurdly high based on what we saw Saturday.

On the other hand, when I look at the poll there aren't many teams I'd say should be No. 9 over Duke.


Surprisingly, 7 of the next 8 teams behind Duke also lost last week, so I guess the voters figured that at least we lost to a quality opponent. The exception was #15 Butler.

[dukeENG2003]

Realistically, look at what we've done. . .

We're winning our conference (the #3 conference in America by the RPI)
We are #6 in RPI, #2 in Pomeroy rankings, #3 in the Sagarin rankings.

We've only lost 4 games. We lost a rivalry game on the road in conference, and road games to the #7, #16, and #21 teams in the country by 12, 4, and 4 pts).

We're 6-3 versus the RPI Top 50, with 3 more games to play against top 50 opponents (not counting the ACC tourney). Assuming we lose one of the games to UNC and one of those remaining top 50 games (a reasonable assumption) that would make us 25-6 (before the ACC tourney, where you could expect at the very least 2-1, so 27-7 overallor 28-6, conference champs, and at least one more top 50 win). Take away the name, and ask yourself what seed the following team deserves:

-Conference champ regular season and tournament of the 3rd best conference in the nation.
-9-4 against RPI top 50
-28-6 overall

Is that really that bad of a tournament resume for a #2 seed? I realize that we need to accomplish the things I stated (win our conference regular season and tourney, but this seems entirely achievable).

I know we played bad against Georgetown, but maybe they deserve a little credit, and we're not as bad as some seem to think. . .

[Bluedog]

Assuming we lose one of the games to UNC and one of those remaining top 50 games (a reasonable assumption)

What?!? I'm not assuming that and would be very disappointed if that comes to be true. I'm expecting us to beat them home and away this season.

[dukeENG2003]

Well, trade it for MD on the road, or something like that. I'd love for us to go 10-0 for our last 10 games. 9-1 is more realistic. I picked the UNC game at their place over MD on the road or dropping an unexpected other conference game. Take your pick, I think the msot likely scenario is us going 8-2 OR BETTER for our last 10, and simply chose this for the sake of argument. ASSUMING we will sweep UNC is never a safe bet, no matter how down they are. I guess I should have said "assuming we lose 2 games, (take your pick)". . . We will no doubt be favored in both games, and should win both (but we will be favored in ALL of our remaining games, so that argument doesn't really hold water). I was just saying WORST case, we still end up with ~6 losses, which is a damn good year,

[-bdbd]

Realistically, look at what we've done. . .

We're winning our conference (the #3 conference in America by the RPI)
We are #6 in RPI, #2 in Pomeroy rankings, #3 in the Sagarin rankings.

We've only lost 4 games. We lost a rivalry game on the road in conference, and road games to the #7, #16, and #21 teams in the country by 12, 4, and 4 pts).

We're 6-3 versus the RPI Top 50, with 3 more games to play against top 50 opponents (not counting the ACC tourney). Assuming we lose one of the games to UNC and one of those remaining top 50 games (a reasonable assumption) that would make us 25-6 (before the ACC tourney, where you could expect at the very least 2-1, so 27-7 overallor 28-6, conference champs, and at least one more top 50 win). Take away the name, and ask yourself what seed the following team deserves:

-Conference champ regular season and tournament of the 3rd best conference in the nation.
-9-4 against RPI top 50
-28-6 overall

Is that really that bad of a tournament resume for a #2 seed? I realize that we need to accomplish the things I stated (win our conference regular season and tourney, but this seems entirely achievable).

I know we played bad against Georgetown, but maybe they deserve a little credit, and we're not as bad as some seem to think. . .

"Assume a split with NC at CH??! " Good grief. Way off base! We'll be strong favorites in both - they are just AWFUL and were just blown out at home vs UVA. UVA!!? (They have nothing on the perimeter and that is our strength. Look for Nolan to go off for 25+.) Frankly, I'm more concerned about MD and GT than that group of heels! MD is generally playing with confidence now. I see us losing maybe 2 more ACC (probably on the road) games. Even post-Georgetown the media seems to be leaning towards Duke as the ACC favorites.

Just need a little 'mo' heading into March...


:D

[grossbus]

" Look for Nolan to go off for 25+."

look for them to play their best game of the season against us (ref: NCS).

[arnie]

Well, trade it for MD on the road, or something like that. I'd love for us to go 10-0 for our last 10 games. 9-1 is more realistic. I picked the UNC game at their place over MD on the road or dropping an unexpected other conference game. Take your pick, I think the msot likely scenario is us going 8-2 OR BETTER for our last 10, and simply chose this for the sake of argument. ASSUMING we will sweep UNC is never a safe bet, no matter how down they are. I guess I should have said "assuming we lose 2 games, (take your pick)". . . We will no doubt be favored in both games, and should win both (but we will be favored in ALL of our remaining games, so that argument doesn't really hold water). I was just saying WORST case, we still end up with ~6 losses, which is a damn good year,

I really don't see us winning 8 or 9 of the last 10. If we can lose badly to State on the road, I bet we lose at least 3-4 more games in the conference. It's great to hope only 1-2 more losses, but the teams seem more closely balanced. Anyway, if we go 10-6 or 11-5 we still might win the regular season as I think lots of teams will be 7-9, 8-8 and 9-7.

[91_92_01_10_15]

Realistically, look at what we've done. . .

We're winning our conference (the #3 conference in America by the RPI)
We are #6 in RPI, #2 in Pomeroy rankings, #3 in the Sagarin rankings.

We've only lost 4 games. We lost a rivalry game on the road in conference, and road games to the #7, #16, and #21 teams in the country by 12, 4, and 4 pts).

We're 6-3 versus the RPI Top 50, with 3 more games to play against top 50 opponents (not counting the ACC tourney). Assuming we lose one of the games to UNC and one of those remaining top 50 games (a reasonable assumption) that would make us 25-6 (before the ACC tourney, where you could expect at the very least 2-1, so 27-7 overallor 28-6, conference champs, and at least one more top 50 win). Take away the name, and ask yourself what seed the following team deserves:

-Conference champ regular season and tournament of the 3rd best conference in the nation.
-9-4 against RPI top 50
-28-6 overall

Is that really that bad of a tournament resume for a #2 seed? I realize that we need to accomplish the things I stated (win our conference regular season and tourney, but this seems entirely achievable).

I know we played bad against Georgetown, but maybe they deserve a little credit, and we're not as bad as some seem to think. . .

Careful...
This post is just a bit too reasonable, and it lacks any histrionic element whatsoever.
I'm not sure you fit around these parts these days, pardner.
;)

[DeBlueDevil]

IMO with this team I believe we just can't look ahead. As said in an earlier post this country is up and down and all mixed up as to whom is winning any given night. I heard someone refer to Kansas going deep which is very possible but I just wanted to make a side note that they have had they're close calls as well (ex. ksu) but they just have had more success then some others at pulling out those wins. Not taking anything away from them but it is what it is. And also, Syracuse and Villanova have a very tough Big East schedule ahead of them as well. So although it is fun to keep trying to predict and figure out how we'll do this year, we may just want to just focus on the next game ahead.

Also, as for the tournament seed...I'm all for a #2 seed but for the most part honestly (and this is just my opinion) after the first round, not that they're is ever an "easy" tournament win but I believe with how even everyone is this year you will see tough games than past years from the second round on. Could be a crazy year in March Madness because there is NO (including all the teams) clear cut team to go to the final four.

[Highlander]

I really don't see us winning 8 or 9 of the last 10. If we can lose badly to State on the road, I bet we lose at least 3-4 more games in the conference. It's great to hope only 1-2 more losses, but the teams seem more closely balanced. Anyway, if we go 10-6 or 11-5 we still might win the regular season as I think lots of teams will be 7-9, 8-8 and 9-7.

GTech on Thursday will be a physical battle, but I like our chances at home. However, that quick turnaround to BC on Saturday on the road scares me, especially if we lose to GT at home.

Bottom line, there are no "gimmie" games left on the schedule.

[uncwdevil]

Scott Van Pelt on ESPN Radio just discussed how he felt our ranking this week was undeserved and how Duke has been regularly overranked and overseeded the last several years.

[rotogod00]

Not sure if this is the perfect spot for this, but since I'm the author of this thread, what the hell.....

Lunardi over at ESPN just updated his bracket predictions, and he has dropped us to a 3 seed in the Midwest (playing College of Charleston). And guess who's the 2 in our region.....Georgetown. A little revenge on a neutral court perhaps?!

[GLTBD]

I really don't see us winning 8 or 9 of the last 10. If we can lose badly to State on the road, I bet we lose at least 3-4 more games in the conference. It's great to hope only 1-2 more losses, but the teams seem more closely balanced. Anyway, if we go 10-6 or 11-5 we still might win the regular season as I think lots of teams will be 7-9, 8-8 and 9-7.

I can't handle any more loses than the ones we have now. :)

[91_92_01_10_15]

Not sure if this is the perfect spot for this, but since I'm the author of this thread, what the hell.....

Lunardi over at ESPN just updated his bracket predictions, and he has dropped us to a 3 seed in the Midwest (playing College of Charleston). And guess who's the 2 in our region.....Georgetown. A little revenge on a neutral court perhaps?!

I, for one, would love to see our guys get another shot on a neutral court.

[jv001]

Careful...
This post is just a bit too reasonable, and it lacks any histrionic element whatsoever.
I'm not sure you fit around these parts these days, pardner.
;)

Don't fit? I feel the poster's prediction may be viewed through Royal Blue glasses, but I wouldn't say he/she does not fit around these parts these days. Everyone has their opinions. That's what this site is for. I hope the poster is correct and we right the ship, but some things have got to improve if we're going to win the regular season championship. Go Duke!

[rotogod00]

GTech on Thursday will be a physical battle, but I like our chances at home. However, that quick turnaround to BC on Saturday on the road scares me, especially if we lose to GT at home.

Bottom line, there are no "gimmie" games left on the schedule.

yeah, when do you ever see 1 day off between conference games

[91_92_01_10_15]

Don't fit? I feel the poster's prediction may be viewed through Royal Blue glasses, but I wouldn't say he/she does not fit around these parts these days. Everyone has their opinions. That's what this site is for. I hope the poster is correct and we right the ship, but some things have got to improve if we're going to win the regular season championship. Go Duke!

Yep. I expected such a response. That's what I get for using sarcasm and winks. Let me speak without sarcasm. I found dukeENG2003's post to be among the most reasonable I have read during the last few days. Congratulations, dukeENG2003, on what is, IMO, a very well-thought-out post. I very much appreciated your perspective, which I found completely lacking in the myopia that seems to run rampant on this board after a loss.

[bird]

I'm becoming increasingly afraid Kansas is gonna roll through this thing in March...

While this thought is becoming conventional wisdom, I do agree. I can't get Aldrich's pin-point passing off the defensive rebound out of my mind. And the computers absolutely love Kansas.

[KyDevilinIL]

yeah, when do you ever see 1 day off between conference games

Seriously? Check out the Big East and Big 12 schedules.

[Greg_Newton]

One interesting thing about this season... to me, there are only 9 non-Duke teams that have potential to be legitimately scary - Kansas, UK, Nova, Cuse, Gtown, WVU, MSU, Purdue, and Texas. These are the teams that have the potential to expose Duke on a physical level like Nova and Gtown did, IMO.

Add in that Duke has a very legitimate shot at a 2-seed (ranked 8-10 now, with zero elite teams left on our schedule or in the way of an ACC championship). If that were to happen, it's entirely possible that we actually could advance to the Elite 8 without developing into what we consider to be an "Elite 8 Team"... right now, the 3's look like Texas (who, with Pittman ineffective, is no different than the team we beat last year), KSU (who has been shaky outside of the Texas upset), BYU, and whichever of the above teams looks the weakest from here out.

I just hadn't really thought about how we might have a decent chance to get to the Elite 8 even we don't improve much from here out. We have this idea of a "Sweet 16 opponent" from previous years that might not be accurate this year...

[rotogod00]

Seriously? Check out the Big East and Big 12 schedules.

okay, let me rephrase. when do you ever see 1 day off between ACC conference games? duke hasn't had that since '07-'08

[dukeENG2003]

I really don't see us winning 8 or 9 of the last 10. If we can lose badly to State on the road, I bet we lose at least 3-4 more games in the conference. It's great to hope only 1-2 more losses, but the teams seem more closely balanced. Anyway, if we go 10-6 or 11-5 we still might win the regular season as I think lots of teams will be 7-9, 8-8 and 9-7.

What 4 games do you see us losing? The schedule is, my predictions are on the right

2/04 GT 7:00 PM W (I see us coming out PISSED off, Mason's dunk at the end of the Georgetown game kinda pissed)
2/06 @ BC 2:00 PM W Tough road game, quick turn around, but lets remember, BC is 12-10, 3-5 in conference. .
2/10 @ UNC 9:00 PM Toss up; I know some disagree, but UNC will come out on fire, and possibly after 3 straight losses (they play @ VT and @ MD before us)
2/13 MD 1:00 PM W Tough team, but we're at home
2/17 @ MIA 7:00 PM W Miami is a disaster of a team this year, sure they are 16-5, but they have played NOBODY
2/21 VT 7:45 PM W Another tough game, but we are undefeated at Cameron, lets remember that fact
2/25 TLSA 7:00 PM Tulsa is having a down year by their standard, and the only thing that makes us more unbeatable at home is non-conference opponents
2/28 @ UVA 7:45 PM W I'm not buying UVA, and we match up WELL against them. Nobody else in the conference can put a defender the quality of Kyle Singler on Landesberg
3/03 @ MD 9:00 PM L Vasquez's senior night at MD will be TOUGH
3/06 UNC W (by 20) No way we lose on Scheyer, Thomas, and Zoub's senior night at Cameron to such an inferior UNC team

There are some to debate, but I think these are all reasonable predictions.

[arnie]

What 4 games do you see us losing? The schedule is, my predictions are on the right

2/04 GT 7:00 PM W (I see us coming out PISSED off, Mason's dunk at the end of the Georgetown game kinda pissed)
2/06 @ BC 2:00 PM W Tough road game, quick turn around, but lets remember, BC is 12-10, 3-5 in conference. .
2/10 @ UNC 9:00 PM Toss up; I know some disagree, but UNC will come out on fire, and possibly after 3 straight losses (they play @ VT and @ MD before us)
2/13 MD 1:00 PM W Tough team, but we're at home
2/17 @ MIA 7:00 PM W Miami is a disaster of a team this year, sure they are 16-5, but they have played NOBODY
2/21 VT 7:45 PM W Another tough game, but we are undefeated at Cameron, lets remember that fact
2/25 TLSA 7:00 PM Tulsa is having a down year by their standard, and the only thing that makes us more unbeatable at home is non-conference opponents
2/28 @ UVA 7:45 PM W I'm not buying UVA, and we match up WELL against them. Nobody else in the conference can put a defender the quality of Kyle Singler on Landesberg
3/03 @ MD 9:00 PM L Vasquez's senior night at MD will be TOUGH
3/06 UNC W (by 20) No way we lose on Scheyer, Thomas, and Zoub's senior night at Cameron to such an inferior UNC team

There are some to debate, but I think these are all reasonable predictions.

Taking off any dark blue glasses and looking at this - I see a split with the Heels and Maryland, one loss either at BC or UVA. That's 3 and maybe we don't win all the remaining "easy" ones. Hope you're a better prognosticator than me.

[jv001]

Yep. I expected such a response. That's what I get for using sarcasm and winks. Let me speak without sarcasm. I found dukeENG2003's post to be among the most reasonable I have read during the last few days. Congratulations, dukeENG2003, on what is, IMO, a very well-thought-out post. I very much appreciated your perspective, which I found completely lacking in the myopia that seems to run rampant on this board after a loss.

Sorry it seems that I misread your post/response to dukeENG2003's post. Yes he/she does have a reasonable post. Go Duke!

[sagegrouse]

I think Duke is still a Top 10 team, but it's close. My guess is that we can afford two more losses (in conference) and still remain in the hunt for a #2 seed. Three or more and that likely will be gone.

If Duke wins the regular season and then wins the tournament, we will be a #1 or #2 seed. If Duke loses the tournament, we will probably be no better than a #3, no matter what happens between now and then.

Our incredible string of #1 seeds in eight of none years from 1998-2006 was helped mightily by the fact that we won the ACC-T all but two of those years.

sagegrouse

[jv001]

Scott Van Pelt on ESPN Radio just discussed how he felt our ranking this week was undeserved and how Duke has been regularly overranked and overseeded the last several years.

I would love for Duke to prove Scott wrong. Another sore loser. This time it's a Maryland twerp and not stuart scott a unc hole. Go Duke!

[johnb]

I think we're looking pretty good. Georgetown had the game of their year and hit a huge number of very tough shots--and we missed quite a few fairly open ones. I think we'll be favored in all of our remaining games and could easily lose only a couple more.

[M B Walker]

What 4 games do you see us losing? The schedule is, my predictions are on the right

2/04 GT 7:00 PM W (I see us coming out PISSED off, Mason's dunk at the end of the Georgetown game kinda pissed)
2/06 @ BC 2:00 PM W Tough road game, quick turn around, but lets remember, BC is 12-10, 3-5 in conference. .
2/10 @ UNC 9:00 PM Toss up; I know some disagree, but UNC will come out on fire, and possibly after 3 straight losses (they play @ VT and @ MD before us)
2/13 MD 1:00 PM W Tough team, but we're at home
2/17 @ MIA 7:00 PM W Miami is a disaster of a team this year, sure they are 16-5, but they have played NOBODY
2/21 VT 7:45 PM W Another tough game, but we are undefeated at Cameron, lets remember that fact
2/25 TLSA 7:00 PM Tulsa is having a down year by their standard, and the only thing that makes us more unbeatable at home is non-conference opponents
2/28 @ UVA 7:45 PM W I'm not buying UVA, and we match up WELL against them. Nobody else in the conference can put a defender the quality of Kyle Singler on Landesberg
3/03 @ MD 9:00 PM L Vasquez's senior night at MD will be TOUGH
3/06 UNC W (by 20) No way we lose on Scheyer, Thomas, and Zoub's senior night at Cameron to such an inferior UNC team

There are some to debate, but I think these are all reasonable predictions.

Yes, they're all reasonable predictions. It would have also been reasonable to assume that Duke would have beaten NC State this year. After all, they're tied for last place in the conference and we're in first.

Losing to UNC and MD at their places is entirely possible in any year, as is losing to BC on the road with one day off, or losing to -- you get the idea, I hope -- my point is that what's reasonable doesn't always happen.

[sagegrouse]

I think Duke is still a Top 10 team, but it's close. My guess is that we can afford two more losses (in conference) and still remain in the hunt for a #2 seed. Three or more and that likely will be gone.

If Duke wins the regular season and then wins the tournament, we will be a #1 or #2 seed. If Duke loses the tournament, we will probably be no better than a #3, no matter what happens between now and then.

Our incredible string of #1 seeds in eight of nine years from 1998-2006 was helped mightily by the fact that we won the ACC-T all but two of those years.

sagegrouse

[airowe]

What 4 games do you see us losing? The schedule is, my predictions are on the right

2/04 GT 7:00 PM W (I see us coming out PISSED off, Mason's dunk at the end of the Georgetown game kinda pissed)
2/06 @ BC 2:00 PM W Tough road game, quick turn around, but lets remember, BC is 12-10, 3-5 in conference. .
2/10 @ UNC 9:00 PM Toss up; I know some disagree, but UNC will come out on fire, and possibly after 3 straight losses (they play @ VT and @ MD before us)
2/13 MD 1:00 PM W Tough team, but we're at home
2/17 @ MIA 7:00 PM W Miami is a disaster of a team this year, sure they are 16-5, but they have played NOBODY
2/21 VT 7:45 PM W Another tough game, but we are undefeated at Cameron, lets remember that fact
2/25 TLSA 7:00 PM Tulsa is having a down year by their standard, and the only thing that makes us more unbeatable at home is non-conference opponents
2/28 @ UVA 7:45 PM W I'm not buying UVA, and we match up WELL against them. Nobody else in the conference can put a defender the quality of Kyle Singler on Landesberg
3/03 @ MD 9:00 PM L Vasquez's senior night at MD will be TOUGH
3/06 UNC W (by 20) No way we lose on Scheyer, Thomas, and Zoub's senior night at Cameron to such an inferior UNC team

There are some to debate, but I think these are all reasonable predictions.

It's crazy, I think this is exactly what's going to happen. Exactly. In fact, I think we'll get blown out by Maryland and then get our revenge on them in the ACCT Finals.

Of course, I didn't think we were going to lose to NC St. either, so I could see BC knocking us off or even keeping it close. We're not good in those quick turnaround games...

[DevilHorns]

I can't believe we're in the top 10. I wouldn't put us there, but then again, I don't have a vote (OK if I had a vote I would put us there...):D