AP Poll 12/20

[sun]

Does the poll take into account injuries and how they might impact results, or just results?

The fact that the AP poll has been occasionally delayed so that games between #1 & #2 can be completed such as which occurred this year would seem to indicate that they're most concerned with results.

This NCAA article explains the differences between their new NET ranking system vs. the old RPI ranking system.
When news writers are polled for the AP poll they may employ their own personal system for ranking teams.

College basketball's NET rankings, explained

Here's everything you need to know about college basketball's NET ranking system.

www.ncaa.com

It's interesting to note that the NCAA NET rankings have UConn at #10 down from previously being #9.

DI Women's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Get NCAA women's college basketball rankings from the Associated Press, USA Today/WBCA and NCAA committee.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Vowelguy]

I think it's a bit much but not shocking. I'm a pretty big on looking at total SOS and I wonder about some of the teams that jumped you.

Fans of other programs aren't gonna buy the "neutral site" argument though.

Fans of this program won’t either.

 

[Vowelguy]

The fact that the AP poll has been occasionally delayed so that games between #1 & #2 can be completed such as which occurred this year would seem to indicate that they're most concerned with results.

).

Occasionally = twice in 40+ years (0.2). Both times when 1/2 game was being played on a Monday afternoon (ie an hour or two after the normal poll release time).

 

[pvdoggy]

Who would have ever imagined that Uconn is ranked below Tennessee before their upcoming game and will be the underdog? You could have made a lot of money taking that bet.

 

[Charliebball]

not so sure about these.......

Baylor @ #23
Maryland @ #26
Iowa @#27

 

[Rb335]

Meaningless, but interesting to see how a very close loss to a now top 3 team resulted in a 4 spot drop. Doesn't mean much, as I think our team could compete with any of the teams ranked 4-10.

 

[bbsamjj]

Baylor has close losses to MI and MD, but hasn't beaten anyone of note yet.

SC has passed every test thus far, but they're often winning ugly--not a knock against them necessarily, but it doesn't make them feel unbeatable. But if then beat Stanford tomorrow, that's wins over about half of the top 10 already.

 

[Linart]

1	South Carolina (29)	11-0	725	1
2	Stanford	8-2	678	3
3	Louisville	10-1	643	6
4	Arizona	10-0	642	4
5	NC State	11-2	616	2
6	Maryland	9-3	517	9
7	Tennessee	9-1	504	7
8	Indiana	9-2	500	10
9	Michigan	11-1	498	13
10	Baylor	9-2	487	5
11	UConn	6-3	457	7
12	Texas	8-1	435	11
T-13	Georgia	10-1	381	17
T-13	Iowa State	11-1	381	12
15	Iowa	6-2	273	14
16	Duke	9-1	270	15
17	Georgia Tech	9-2	225	18
18	South Florida	8-3	219	16
19	BYU	9-1	152	20
20	Notre Dame	10-2	137	21
21	LSU	9-1	130	22
22	Kentucky	7-3	127	19
23	Texas A&M	9-2	82	23
24	Ohio State	8-2	68	24
25	North Carolina	10-0	66	25

Others receiving votes: Colorado 52, Oklahoma 45, DePaul 43, Florida Gulf Coast 42, Nebraska 30

Tennessee ranked higher than us! Oh the horror!

 

[sun]

Occasionally = twice in 40+ years (0.2). Both times when 1/2 game was being played on a Monday afternoon (ie an hour or two after the normal poll release time).

Regarding the AP Football Poll, Wikipedia says that it's their standard operating procedure to not release the next poll at 2 PM on Sunday if any ranked teams have not played yet.

"The football poll is released Sundays at 2pm Eastern time during the football season, unless ranked teams have not finished their games."

 

[blkkirk]

I like 11 it is a power number.

 

[hoopsfan22]

We're lucky we're not a lot lower. I think #11 when you've got all of 6 fairly unimpressive wins is more than generous. I think we have the worst record of any ranked team and our record just looks out of place with all those other teams with 9-10-11 wins.

 

[jimazee]

I like 11 it is a power number.

A friend always regarded her 11 as two 1s.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I'm not sure I'd want to be the three seniors knowing that they are unfortunately a part of this team dropping out of the top 10. Somehow I think that's more pressure than maintaining streaks. But, there's still time to turn it all around. What they do with this white board motivation remains to be seen. It will show a lot if they are unable (or able) to respond.

 

[JoePgh]

If you want to quibble about a meaningless ranking, here is a quibble:

Yesterday, on the very same court where UConn and Louisville played, then #5 Baylor lost to then #13 Michigan by about the same number of points as UConn lost to Louisville. So if Baylor lost to a "worse" team than Louisville, how do they end up ranked higher than UConn in the new poll? Granted, not by much (#10 vs. #11).

But really, in December these rankings mean nothing. If the rankings are the same at the end of February, and especially if Paige is not back on the court and playing like her normal self by that point, then these rankings (or, more accurately, the thought process that went into them) could have an effect on NCAA seedings. But as long as UConn doesn't have to play South Carolina before the National Finals, that shouldn't be a concern. UConn with all of its players healthy (if it deserves to be a contender for an NC) should be able to walk through any opponent in the country except the Gamecocks, no matter where in the NCAA tournament it encounters them.

 

[TC22]

Does the poll take into account injuries and how they might impact results, or just results?

Honestly there are a lot of teams with injuries. I think the fact that you are still in the Top 11 with 3 losses says they are taking injuries somewhat under consideration. Like someone said above, there is no signature win, so there's really no compelling reason to NOT drop them. I think as more of your players get healthy there may be chances to move up, but only if other teams drop down because of losses. I know as a Gamecock fan I don't want to see UConn in my bracket as a lower seed and I think all the higher seeds will feel the same way. In the end, it won't matter that SC is #1 and UConn is #55. What will matter is where we end up at the end.

 

[Alydar]

I think it's a bit much but not shocking. I'm a pretty big on looking at total SOS and I wonder about some of the teams that jumped you.

Fans of other programs aren't gonna buy the "neutral site" argument though.

The AP vote is done by people more interested in generating interest than in reflecting reality. Tenn and UConn were tied for 7th despite Tenn being undefeated and UConn losing 2, including 1 unranked team. So form that point Tenn lost by 11 at HOME to (3) Stanford while UConn lost by 5 to (6) Louisville at a neutral site. Tenn dropped 51 votes while UConn lost 101 votes. Was UConn's loss twice as bad as Tenn's? I don't think so but the voters did. Or is this just partly due to it being UConn?
Of course it's a straw poll. Massey, as most teams have 10 games in, is now reflective of this seasons games. UConn is 8th and Tenn is 10th. UConn's SOS is 2 while Tenn's is 4.

 

[Alydar]

For the record UConn isn't playing at a very high level but like most years there's only one D1 team doing so. Most years that team has been UConn. This year it's SCar. At least right now. Probably the best this that can happen for SCar's psychological well being is to lose to Stanford. If UConn fans know one thing it's the pressure of being an undefeated No 1. And it isn't even xmas yet.

 

[eebmg]

A friend always regarded her 11 as two 1s.

Unless we are talking NC's

 

[Stymie]

As far as I’m concerned, just more sizzle and no steak.
Get healthy, phase in the players that want to get with Geno’s program and sit the ones that don’t or can’t.
Loyalty to veteran players that can’t rise to the occasion should be off the table.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Period.
Gonna be a lot of politicking come March to keep UCONN out of their bracket.

 

[Penn]

Really surprised by the big drop especially when you play a very competitive game with the team ranked higher. Apparently beating UCONN means something as evidenced by Louisville’s rise to #3.

We all know that polls have very little value this early in the season. The important thing is to get into the NCAA tournament. The team has too much talent to be denied entry.

 

[HuskyNan]

Does the poll take into account injuries and how they might impact results, or just results?

It’s subjective , based on the voters’ criteria, whatever that may be

 

[sun]

The AP vote is done by people more interested in generating interest than in reflecting reality. Tenn and UConn were tied for 7th despite Tenn being undefeated and UConn losing 2, including 1 unranked team. So form that point Tenn lost by 11 at HOME to (3) Stanford while UConn lost by 5 to (6) Louisville at a neutral site. Tenn dropped 51 votes while UConn lost 101 votes. Was UConn's loss twice as bad as Tenn's? I don't think so but the voters did. Or is this just partly due to it being UConn?
Of course it's a straw poll. Massey, as most teams have 10 games in, is now reflective of this seasons games. UConn is 8th and Tenn is 10th. UConn's SOS is 2 while Tenn's is 4.

View attachment 71977 View attachment 71977

On the NET rankings, Tennessee was ranked 19th and didn't move at all this week and stayed at #19.
Whereas Massey ranks Tennessee at #10.

As far as the effect of our game with Louisville, they moved up one spot to #5 and we moved down one spot to #10.

DI Women's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Get NCAA women's college basketball rankings from the Associated Press, USA Today/WBCA and NCAA committee.

www.ncaa.com

 

[CajunHusky]

If you want to quibble about a meaningless ranking, here is a quibble:

Yesterday, on the very same court where UConn and Louisville played, then #5 Baylor lost to then #13 Michigan by about the same number of points as UConn lost to Louisville. So if Baylor lost to a "worse" team than Louisville, how do they end up ranked higher than UConn in the new poll? Granted, not by much (#10 vs. #11).

7 UConn lost to 6 Louisville by 5 points and drops 4 spots to 11 while Louisville moves to 3
7 Tenn lost to 3 Stanford (w/o Brink for much of the game) by 11 and stays at 7 and Stanford moves to 2.

It's all arbitrary; really unimportant at this time of year. I expect them to be ranked 4/5 by the end of February. I expected UConn to drop to 11/12 last week. I am more worried about the problems Omicron could cause going in to the tournaments. I hope it is not another lost year.

 

[Zinethar]

I've seen (on TV) most of the teams currently listed higher than UConn (OK I'm a Women's Basketball addict). UConn (except in the Georgia game) overall looks better than almost all of them. SC is the only team I've seem that looks like a great game with all UConn's players healthy. UConn should have beaten Louisville except going ice cold when it mattered. Not a good thing for sure. I won't get into all the rest but I sure have seen stinkers for them too. Glad the ranking doesn't matter except for bragging rights. I did note 2 facts that said a lot to me: Azzi, Nike,and Aubry are out and needed in Paige's absence - that is one from all recruiting classes except seniors.Someone said in another post the team has looked different since 2017 - hmmm 4 years ago. Coincidence? I don't think so, consistency missing.

 

[Carnac]

Maybe we should get rid of all the streaks and records and let the kids just play basketball. There is a lot of pressure placed upon these young ladies

It will not surprise me if UConn loses a conference game or two this year before we can get this thing turned around, probably on the road. Falling out of the top 10 is another indication that THIS team simply is not that good. We've fallen back to the pack. That gap that was once between us and the rest of WCBB is gone. We lost to an unranked Georgia Tech team. They handed our a** to us while they were beating us. If we catch one of our BE counterparts on the "right night", it could happen again. We couldn't get untracked, and our shots were not falling.

All of our BIG East conference mates still get up for us. Everyone of them wants to knock us off, and be the first to do so. For most of them, we're still the biggest game on their schedule. The Boneyard would explode if that happens.