AP Poll Week #13

[RuffRuff]

Well Purdue is actually 12 behind Kansas, but Illinois has a couple losses to unranked teams as well.

The logic just doesn't make much sense to me.

Illinois dropping this one so it doesn’t matter - uconn may hold their perch. Wagler slipper falling off in this one 1-15 from the floor.

Purdue was top ten when they beat them. Not sure why we are squeezing out immaterial details. Illinois would have jumped them with a win here, but they didn’t win.

 

[upstater]

Illinois dropping this one so it doesn’t matter - uconn may hold their perch. Wagler slipper falling off in this one 1-15 from the floor.

Purdue was top ten when they beat them. Not sure why we are squeezing out immaterial details. Illinois would have jumped them with a win here, but they didn’t win.

WHEN they beat them. That's why.

A lot of teams were top 10.

BYU was top 10. Not any more.

 

[upstater]

If this is how it's going to go, then it's really pointless to have a strong OOC.

It can only hurt you.

You should play a couple P4 teams you can handle, then only schedule top minnows who are projected to be on top of their conference. Game it, game the whole thing.

Shamelessly.

 

[MJKI]

with Duke and Illinois losing, we go to 5 - AZ, MIch, Gonz, Duke, UConn

Gonzaga lost a Q4 game this week they won’t be top 10

 

[upstater]

with Duke and Illinois losing, we go to 5 - AZ, MIch, Gonz, Duke, UConn

???

Gonzaga just lost to a Portland team that is one of the worst losses in the last several years.

 

[UCann]

With Duke, IL and Gonzaga losing. And us having beat IL, I can’t fathom how it makes sense to drop us below any of them. That said - I guarantee, given the anti-UConn bias and voters just looking for a reason to drop us all season, we’ll be ranked closer to 10.

 

[husky8273]

???

Gonzaga just lost to a Portland team that is one of the worst losses in the last several years.

missed that

 

[Nameless]

Bracketology: Why Illinois is a No. 1 seed and UConn falls off the top line

Diving in on why the race for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament -- including No. 1 overall -- is so tight

www.cbssports.com

Thanks for sharing this, although I think their reasoning as to why Illinois should have jumped us (they obviously won't now with the loss) is incredibly flawed. They act like Auburn getting the #1 overall seed last year despite losing to Duke set some precedent and that precedent is why Illinois deserved a 1 over UConn. But it's an apples to oranges comparison.

For one, Auburn lost to Duke on the road by 6 points, in a game that was very close until the very end. They also owned a neutral court win over Houston, who as they noted in the article was an incredible 14-3 in Q1. Let's also not forget that Auburn was widely considered the most dominant team in the sport for probably 90% of the year, before faltering at the end of the season due to injuries in a historically strong league.

By comparison, we beat Illinois by 13 on a neutral court in a game where Reed and Mullins played a combined 15 minutes as they worked their way back from injury. Reed clearly wasn't even healthy enough to play that game and we still dominated them. We have wins over #'s 4, 11, 13 and 18 in the NET, their 3 best wins are #'s 8, 10 and 20; so we clearly have the better resume in terms of best wins. Their losses are to NET #'s 10, 12 and 24. Ours are to NET #2 and #22. So we've both lost to a team in the 20s of the NET, but we haven't lost to any team between #'s 10-20, whereas they have lost twice to teams in that range.

Saving the best for last, they made a big deal about WAB being a massive factor in the seeding process. Well, currently UConn is #4 in WAB with a score of 7.26 (#1 is Duke with a 7.83.) Illinois sits at 5th, with a score of 6.13. So, UConn is closer to the #1 overall team in WAB than they are to #5, who just happens to be Illinois. We are a full point better than them in WAB but they deserve the #1 over us? Lmao.

There's a reason why a week ago anyone who knew what they were talking about said there was a massive gap between the top 4 and the rest of college basketball and it would take "multiple losses" for that to change.

 

[GlastonTim]

With #3,4, 5, 6 all losing this week we drop to #7.

 

[RuffRuff]

With #3,4, 5, 6 all losing this week we drop to #7.

AZ
UM
Houston
Iowa St
UConn

Will be interesting to see how the voters treat Illinois and Duke losses since they were close and they both lost to higher rated teams. I get this feeling the StJ loss will affirm some of the doubts in UConn and they could drop a little lower than we think given the previous month.

 

[UConnRock]

I think Duke jumps UConn. Close road loss to a higher ranked team. Not seeing ISU making a big move. Beat a bad Baylor team by 3 at home.

Ariz
Mich
Hou
Duke
UConn
ISU - it is tough to rank them above other 2 loss teams w/ a loss to a sub-500 Cincy.

 

[Hi-Low]

AZ
UM
Houston
Iowa St
UConn

Will be interesting to see how the voters treat Illinois and Duke losses since they were close and they both lost to higher rated teams. I get this feeling the StJ loss will affirm some of the doubts in UConn and they could drop a little lower than we think given the previous month.

We definitely fall from 3....I think may fall to 6 with Houston / Iowa St / and also Duke squeaking by us.

 

[RuffRuff]

Thanks for sharing this, although I think their reasoning as to why Illinois should have jumped us (they obviously won't now with the loss) is incredibly flawed. They act like Auburn getting the #1 overall seed last year despite losing to Duke set some precedent and that precedent is why Illinois deserved a 1 over UConn. But it's an apples to oranges comparison.

For one, Auburn lost to Duke on the road by 6 points, in a game that was very close until the very end. They also owned a neutral court win over Houston, who as they noted in the article was an incredible 14-3 in Q1. Let's also not forget that Auburn was widely considered the most dominant team in the sport for probably 90% of the year, before faltering at the end of the season due to injuries in a historically strong league.

By comparison, we beat Illinois by 13 on a neutral court in a game where Reed and Mullins played a combined 15 minutes as they worked their way back from injury. Reed clearly wasn't even healthy enough to play that game and we still dominated them. We have wins over #'s 4, 11, 13 and 18 in the NET, their 3 best wins are #'s 8, 10 and 20; so we clearly have the better resume in terms of best wins. Their losses are to NET #'s 10, 12 and 24. Ours are to NET #2 and #22. So we've both lost to a team in the 20s of the NET, but we haven't lost to any team between #'s 10-20, whereas they have lost twice to teams in that range.

Saving the best for last, they made a big deal about WAB being a massive factor in the seeding process. Well, currently UConn is #4 in WAB with a score of 7.26 (#1 is Duke with a 7.83.) Illinois sits at 5th, with a score of 6.13. So, UConn is closer to the #1 overall team in WAB than they are to #5, who just happens to be Illinois. We are a full point better than them in WAB but they deserve the #1 over us? Lmao.

There's a reason why a week ago anyone who knew what they were talking about said there was a massive gap between the top 4 and the rest of college basketball and it would take "multiple losses" for that to change.

That 4th one right now is very much touch and go between Uconn, ISU, Houston, Illinois. I'd say Houston after the BYU win is in the drivers seat. We need to win out to have a chance there.

 

[BFieldHusky]

That 4th one right now is very much touch and go between Uconn, ISU, Houston, Illinois. I'd say Houston after the BYU win is in the drivers seat. We need to win out to have a chance there.

Curious why you think Houston is in the driver's seat? Our resumes are very similar, with UConn having the better win between the two.

 

[Nameless]

That 4th one right now is very much touch and go between Uconn, ISU, Houston, Illinois. I'd say Houston after the BYU win is in the drivers seat. We need to win out to have a chance there.

Actually no, it isn't even remotely close

The Bracket Project's Bracket Matrix - 2025

 

[BFieldHusky]

Comparing the two:

NET: Houston (6) UConn (7)
KenPom: Houston (5) UConn (8)
WAB: UConn (4) Houston (6)

Q1/Q2: UConn 13-2; Houston 12-2
Q3/Q4: UConn 9-0; Houston 9-0

Best Win: UConn (defeating Illinois on a neutral floor); Houston (defeating BYU on the road) Big difference there.

 

[RuffRuff]

Actually no, it isn't even remotely close

The Bracket Project's Bracket Matrix - 2025

That's not updated.

Curious why you think Houston is in the driver's seat? Our resumes are very similar, with UConn having the better win between the two.

Houston is on an ascent and always was going to get better given their young talent. They also have a very favorable schedule against quality opponents remaining. @KU, @ISU, home AZ left will determine their seeding.

 

[BFieldHusky]

They have opportunities for some really good wins, yes.

We need to hope that between Arizona, Houston, and Iowa St, there is some cannibalism in the Big 12.

 

[Son of Robert]

I think people will factor in that St John's is for real, that Pitino has his team playing up to their potential come February. Let's not forget that St. John's was ranked 6th or something to start the season, and now they are playing like it.

 

[bendm]

We need to hope that between Arizona, Houston, and Iowa St, there is some cannibalism in the Big 12.

Zona is locked into the west #1 which we don’t care about so I think we just need to tip our cap and hope they beat Houston and ISU. Those are the two we’re fighting for a 1 seed with, plus Duke.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think people will factor in that St John's is for real, that Pitino has his team playing up to their potential come February. Let's not forget that St. John's was ranked 6th or something to start the season, and now they are playing like it.

The issue is that they really don’t have much to prove that against other than us.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Zona is locked into the west #1 which we don’t care about so I think we just need to tip our cap and hope they beat Houston and ISU. Those are the two we’re fighting for a 1 seed with, plus Duke.

Agreed. I also think we should root for Michigan to beat Duke in a couple of weeks.

 

[Nameless]

That's not updated.

Houston is on an ascent and always was going to get better given their young talent. They also have a very favorable schedule against quality opponents remaining. @KU, @ISU, home AZ left will determine their seeding.

I know it isn't updated, but you're telling me Houston is going to go from the 2nd to last 2 seed to the final #1 because they beat a team we also beat? That ISU will jump us because we lost to SJU on the road while they beat OK State at home?

I should have made this more clear in my initial response to the article, but WAB is indeed one of the main metrics used for seeding. We have a sizeable lead over the #5 team. Again, there is a reason many people in the know said it will take multiple losses for us to fall off the 1 line. Wait until it updates. We will still be the final #1 in the vast majority of brackets

 

[bendm]

Is Duke going to rise to 3 after an L? I think theyll be the highest ranked 2 L team followed by us then ISU and Houston.

 

[RuffRuff]

I know it isn't updated, but you're telling me Houston is going to go from the 2nd to last 2 seed to the final #1 because they beat a team we also beat? That ISU will jump us because we lost to SJU on the road while they beat OK State at home?

I should have made this more clear in my initial response to the article, but WAB is indeed one of the main metrics used for seeding. We have a sizeable lead over the #5 team. Again, there is a reason many people in the know said it will take multiple losses for us to fall off the 1 line. Wait until it updates. We will still be the final #1 in the vast majority of brackets

My hunch is Houston grabs a bunch. They also beat an 8 seed UCF by 22 earlier in the week. Their NET and KP are higher. We’ve wiped out a couple of bad teams.