AP has us at #18

[amory]

1Florida (50) 32-21,610
2Wichita State (15) 34-01,571
3Virginia28-61,430
4Arizona30-41,422
5Louisville29-51,412
6Villanova28-41,231
7Michigan25-81,162
8Duke26-81,121
9Iowa State26-71,055
10Kansas24-91,045
11Michigan State26-8950
12Wisconsin26-7892
13San Diego State29-4890
14Syracuse27-5757
15Cincinnati27-6720
16Creighton26-7658
17New Mexico27-6623
18Connecticut26-8503
19North Carolina23-9424
20UCLA26-8413
21Oklahoma23-9265
22Ohio State25-9167
23Baylor24-11148
24Virginia Commonwealth26-8140
25Saint Louis26-6131

• Others receiving votes: Memphis 101, Gonzaga 83, Kentucky 77, Stephen F. Austin 46, Harvard 30, Saint Joseph's 14, Texas 13, Oregon 8, Providence 6, Massachusetts 3, Tennessee 2, Western Michigan 1, North Carolina Central 1

• Dropped from rankings: Memphis 19, Southern Methodist 25

 

[CTBasketball]

Louisville's new motto: "The only team ever to be ranked in the AP top 5 and get a 4 seed."

 

[HuskyHawk]

I like UMass, a six seed, having fewer votes than PC, a 10 seed, and much fewer than UConn, a 7 seed.

 

[kobe]

Louisville's new motto: "The only team ever to be ranked in the AP top 5 and get a 4 seed."

Actually the same thing happened to Louisville the last year we were all in C-USA. They finished #4 in the AP Poll and got a 4 seed. They ended up making the Final Four.

 

[CTBasketball]

Actually the same thing happened to Louisville the last year we were all in C-USA. They finished #4 in the AP Poll and got a 4 seed. They ended up making the Final Four.

Call me crazy, but I have Cincy beating MSU. Just thought I'd let you know. I believe in the AAC....kinda

 

[Leebo]

Seems a little high for a team from such a terrible conference.

 

[tcf15]

 

[kobe]

Call me crazy, but I have Cincy beating MSU. Just thought I'd let you know. I believe in the AAC....kinda

Cincinnati has been pretty good in the first matchup against a team they beat NC State, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Louisville, Memphis, and UConn the first time they played those teams and only lost to New Mexico and Xavier for a 6-2 record. UC is pretty easy to figure out after one game. That is the only thing that gives me confidence...

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

19North Carolina23-9424
20UCLA26-8413
21Oklahoma23-9265
22Ohio State25-9167
23Baylor24-11148
24Virginia Commonwealth26-8140
25Saint Louis26-6131


I like our draw better than all of these teams that are seeded higher than us.

 

[champs99and04]

Cincinnati has been pretty good in the first matchup against a team they beat NC State, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Louisville, Memphis, and UConn the first time they played those teams and only lost to New Mexico and Xavier for a 6-2 record. UC is pretty easy to figure out after one game. That is the only thing that gives me confidence...

If I were you, I'd be terrified of Izzo. Isn't he like undefeated on one day turnarounds in the tournament?

 

[Jerry1714]

Shows you the AP poll means nothing and worrying about it all season is meaningless.

 

[jibsey]

The list is fine but I would switch us with Cincy and yeah if they beat MSU I will become aroused.

 

[Husky25]

In the interest of beating into compost the horse that is already dead, I just did a real quick and dirty analysis that compares the AP Top 25 (+1st 3 others receiving votes and 1 - 7 seeds). It's apropos of nothing, I just thought it was interesting.

Theoretically 1-4 in the rankings should be 1 seeds, 5-8; 2 seeds, 9-12; 3 seeds and so on. Of the 31 teams that I reviewed, The Selection Committee got exactly 21 seed wrong. It gets even more egregious when you consider they nailed the 4 top seeds, which really isn't rocket science in any given year.

The AAC was the most wronged conference (obviously). Louisville and UConn were underseeded by 2 seeds, and Memphis and Cinci by 1 seed apiece for a total of (-6). The A-10 was the most "helped" Conference. VCU, St. Louis and UMass were overseeded by 1, 2, and 3 spots respectively. No other conference was helped or hurt by more than 3 net spots, and New Mexico State was the only non-AAC team who was hurt by more than 1 spot.

Again, apropos of nothing, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Call me crazy, but I have Cincy beating MSU. Just thought I'd let you know. I believe in the AAC....kinda

Michigan St. played well in a very physical B1G Conference even with all of the injuries they have. They also have more scoring options that Cincy and have a coach who has been and won the dance before. Thus, I believe State will be Cincy; but Harvard, which is a good team and a ‘hot’ team to pick for an upset, won’t be able to deal with Cincy’s defence.

 

[Husky25]

Shows you the AP poll means nothing and worrying about it all season is meaningless.

The final AP Poll certainly is worthless. When is it due? If the deadline is after the selection show, you would think that writers would do exactly what I just did (vote for the first 7 seeds in some order reflective of their seeds) to improve the credibility of the rankings.

 

[James]

Cincy will trounce Harvard and make all these espn analyst look dumb . Harvard feasts on defensive lapses, cincy has none . Also superior athletes.

 

[CTBasketball]

Michigan St. played well in a very physical B1G Conference even with all of the injuries they have. They also have more scoring options that Cincy and have a coach who has been and won the dance before. Thus, I believe State will be Cincy; but Harvard, which is a good team and a ‘hot’ team to pick for an upset, won’t be able to deal with Cincy’s defence.

MSU doesn't have that many scoring options. Harris is their only real threat. Appling can get hot at times and so can Payne. But Dawson, from what I've seen, is limited offensively. If you can limit their 3 pt looks and make them feed it to Dawson/Payne then they are very beatable. Their defense is scary though.

Remember, its the same team UConn beat a year ago minus a huge body down low. However, everyone on the team has gotten better. I think if you harass the ball and make Appling create they will have problems.

 

[Jerry1714]

Cincy will trounce Harvard and make all these espn analyst look ed . Harvard feasts on defensive lapses, cincy has none . Also superior athletes.

I agree they will beat Harvard, hard to imagine them blowing them out given Cincy's lack of scoring.

Michigan State will beat Cincy by double digits though

 

[Husky25]

"But Bilas balances this out well with an upset pick in the form of Saint Joseph's taking down Connecticut in the round of 64. The Huskies are ripe for an upset as a disappointment all season long, and Langston Galloway also just so happens to be one of the best scorers the bracket has to offer."

Out of all the analysts on ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo, I've always though Bilas was a cut above the rest. Very analytical and reasoned in his analysis. I just cannot agree with this regarding UConn this year.

How exactly is UConn a disappointment other than losing to Houston? They started the season Ranked #18, and ended the season ranked #18. Seems like they performed exactly too expectations, no?

 

[uchusky32]

"But Bilas balances this out well with an upset pick in the form of Saint Joseph's taking down Connecticut in the round of 64. The Huskies are ripe for an upset as a disappointment all season long, and Langston Galloway also just so happens to be one of the best scorers the bracket has to offer."

Out of all the analysts on ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo, I've always though Bilas was a cut above the rest. Very analytical and reasoned in his analysis. I just cannot agree with this regarding UConn this year.

How exactly is UConn a disappointment other than losing to Houston? They started the season Ranked #18, and ended the season ranked #18. Seems like they performed exactly too expectations, no?

Jay is one of the better ESPN analyst. He usually sticks up for us. More than likely he probably is looking at DD, Boat and Omar not playing up to their preseason potential.

 

[patrick]

"But Bilas balances this out well with an upset pick in the form of Saint Joseph's taking down Connecticut in the round of 64. The Huskies are ripe for an upset as a disappointment all season long, and Langston Galloway also just so happens to be one of the best scorers the bracket has to offer."

Out of all the analysts on ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo, I've always though Bilas was a cut above the rest. Very analytical and reasoned in his analysis. I just cannot agree with this regarding UConn this year.

How exactly is UConn a disappointment other than losing to Houston? They started the season Ranked #18, and ended the season ranked #18. Seems like they performed exactly too expectations, no?

We will just have to prove him wrong!

 

[Husky25]

Jay is one of the better ESPN analyst. He usually sticks up for us. More than likely he probably is looking at DD, Boat and Omar not playing up to their preseason potential.

Napier, Brimah, and Kromah all improved to a higher degree than Boatright, Calhoun, and DD (Shouldn't really be in this group, IMO) regressed.

 

[Inyatkin]

"But Bilas balances this out well with an upset pick in the form of Saint Joseph's taking down Connecticut in the round of 64. The Huskies are ripe for an upset as a disappointment all season long, and Langston Galloway also just so happens to be one of the best scorers the bracket has to offer."

Out of all the analysts on ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo, I've always though Bilas was a cut above the rest. Very analytical and reasoned in his analysis. I just cannot agree with this regarding UConn this year.

How exactly is UConn a disappointment other than losing to Houston? They started the season Ranked #18, and ended the season ranked #18. Seems like they performed exactly too expectations, no?

I'm pretty sure that bit about a disappointment all season is a paraphrase, and not Bilas' actual words. He is picking against us, though.
This is as under-the-radar a tournament team as we've ever had, it feels like. Even that 11-seed that made the Sweet 16 in 91 seems like it had more buzz about it.

 

[patrick]

Hang on maybe Bilas knows that Teddy V is reffing the game!

 

[Husky25]

Hang on maybe Bilas knows that Teddy V is reffing the game!

Aren't the crews typically conference neutral? I hope so. That means no Stuart and no Valentine, though Jim Burr is a possibility. I think he stayed with the Big East.