AP Poll - 1/22

[uh-no]

W

We all dislike Duke but they are a legit top 10 talented team. They’ll probably beat cruddy Carolina 3 times unfortunately and that will propel them upwards.

duke was missing 2 starters vs pitt. They still shoudln't have lost to pitt at home, but i think it's why they may have gotten some sympathy from the voters. They're wildly inconsistent, still.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

duke was missing 2 starters vs pitt. They still shoudln't have lost to pitt at home, but i think it's why they may have gotten some sympathy from the voters. They're wildly inconsistent, still.

I haven’t watched Duke much but they seem to be not playing to the level of their talent which means their coaching isn’t good.

 

[tzznandrew]

Sorry but we’ll have to agree to disagree. Three out of four Duke losses are to bad teams (forgot Arkansas). If you think that’s the 12th best team in the country, go with it.

I asked you to name teams that should be ahead of them, and you came up with three, only one of which I think has a credible argument.

Where should they be ranked and which teams should be ahead of them? It's very easy to say "This isn't the 12th best team!" but then you look around at all the other teams and realize most of them suck. Meanwhile Duke is ranked right where their advanced metrics suggest they should be.

 

[PNolanFan]

I haven’t watched Duke much but they seem to be not playing to the level of their talent which means their coaching isn’t good.

I read a recap of the duke/pitt game and was shocked at how some things are phrased. The writer seemed to feel bad for Duke due to their "lack of dept" and they had to rely on guys who werent ready yet to play minutes. And yet you look at it and the bench is littered with former 4 and 5 star recruits. It is a failure to develop talent problem there. They could still win a national championship but it would be because of their overwhelming talent advantage not anything to do with the coaching

 

[MU in MKE]

UNC at 3 is so funny. I am in favor of it since we beat them but they are the worst top 5 team I have ever seen. That joke of a conference is propping them up

I'm no fan of UNC, but I think they have a good case for top 5. You might just be thinking of the UNC that played UConn, but that was their worse performance of the year. They've been solid, the analytics back it up, their resume losses are to UConn and Kentucky (which is surprising people with their turn around), and OT to Nova. I begrudgingly have to say that they're probably worthy.

 

[UConnRock]

I haven’t watched Duke much but they seem to be not playing to the level of their talent which means their coaching isn’t good.

Proctor looked like a superstar in the making last year. I know he had some injury issues, but him being 5th in scoring this year is a surprise. Filipowski and Roach are gone this year, but Proctor has dropped out of some 1st round mocks after being in the lottery range. McCain looks like he could be a one-and-done if he keep improving.

 

[tzznandrew]

I read a recap of the duke/pitt game and was shocked at how some things are phrased. The writer seemed to feel bad for Duke due to their "lack of dept" and they had to rely on guys who werent ready yet to play minutes. And yet you look at it and the bench is littered with former 4 and 5 star recruits. It is a failure to develop talent problem there. They could still win a national championship but it would be because of their overwhelming talent advantage not anything to do with the coaching

I saw that and laughed. They did have injuries and that should matter in the the discussion. But they have 7 RSCI Top 25 guys and another 2 Top 100.

 

[connVA]

I asked you to name teams that should be ahead of them, and you came up with three, only one of which I think has a credible argument.

Where should they be ranked and which teams should be ahead of them? It's very easy to say "This isn't the 12th best team!" but then you look around at all the other teams and realize most of them suck. Meanwhile Duke is ranked right where their advanced metrics suggest they should be.

And I disagree with the argument that Duke is better than those three teams. I’d take any of them in a matchup with Duke and their two sub-100 NET losses right now. Hell, I’d take pretty much anyone in the top half of the current BE standings (maybe with the exception of Xavier) over them. Clearly not a talent issue- it’s a coaching issue. The good news is there’s a little tournament in a few months to settle all this.

 

[bbsamjj]

Who...would you put ahead of UNC?

#4 Houston? Their best win is over Texas Tech. They have losses to Iowa State and TCU.
#5 TN? They lost to UNC.
#6 KY? They have THREE loses to unranked teams (UNC-W, Texas A&M, and now SC)
#7 KS? They have arguably the best trio of win in the country, and they were ranked #3 last week, but they also now have two losses to unranked teams (UCF, WVU)
#8 Auburn? Their best win is Ole Miss? With a loss to App St
#9 AZ? They have two losses to unranked teams in Stanford and Wash St
#10 IL? Their best win is FAU, and they recently lost to MD.

I'm not going to argue that UNC has the third most talented team in the country, or that the ACC is a great conference, but they have wins against TN, OK, Clemson (on the road), and their only losses are back in 2023--to UConn, Kentucky, and Villanova--all on neutral courts.

Unlike nearly every other team in the top 10, they haven't tripped themselves up. But still lots of games left to be played.

 

[HeGotGame]

Who...would you put ahead of UNC?

#4 Houston? Their best win is over Texas Tech. They have losses to Iowa State and TCU.
#5 TN? They lost to UNC.
#6 KY? They have THREE loses to unranked teams (UNC-W, Texas A&M, and now SC)
#7 KS? They have arguably the best trio of win in the country, and they were ranked #3 last week, but they also now have two losses to unranked teams (UCF, WVU)
#8 Auburn? Their best win is Ole Miss? With a loss to App St
#9 AZ? They have two losses to unranked teams in Stanford and Wash St
#10 IL? Their best win is FAU, and they recently lost to MD.

I'm not going to argue that UNC has the third most talented team in the country, or that the ACC is a great conference, but they have wins against TN, OK, Clemson (on the road), and their only losses are back in 2023--to UConn, Kentucky, and Villanova--all on neutral courts.

Unlike nearly every other team in the top 10, they haven't tripped themselves up. But still lots of games left to be played.

Your only losses being on the road to a team ranked 18th in the coaches and a team ranked 19th last week is not a knock.

Dayton is also a better win then Texas Tech, both by the polls and metrics. By the metrics Utah is as well. If you are giving UNC credit for winning at Clemson (36th in Kenpom), you need to give credit for Houston winning at Xavier (34th in Kenpom).

Houston is a better team, but one being 3 and one being 4 is completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

If UConn is a 1 seed I would much rather see UNC as the 2 over Houston.

 

[bbsamjj]

You're right on Houston--missed the wins over Dayton, and now with the road win over BYU certainly gives them a ton more claim to a higher ranking (no doubt why they are #1 in NET).

If you just go by NET, here is the current AP top 10's best win/worst loss:

UConn: #6 UNC/#60 Seton Hall
Purdue: #3 Arizona / #78 Northwestern
UNC: #4 TN / #37 Villanova
Houston: #5 BYU / #36 TCU
TN: #11 Illinois / #40 Miss St
KY: #6 UNC/ #115 UNCW
KS: #4 TN / #155 West Virginia
Aub: #39 Texas A&M / #73 App St
AZ: #9 Alabama / #109 Stanford
IL: #21 Mich St / #98 Maryland