ND still #2?

[DobbsRover2]

This season is all about SOS? I thought it was about advancing in the NCAA tournament and winning the national championship. There will be some teams crying into the schedules when their SOS didn't advance them in the tournament.

No ETT, the season is simply about getting the best SOS, like Baylor did last year. That is why Baylor can feel proud that it came out on top in 2013. The BY learned that the key to a successful season was the top SOS many years ago from the fans on the Summitt, and fortunately we do not forget.

 

[ndmb]

Seriously? You believe that every team currently in the AP top 25, which until the new ones are released include teams like Georgia, Arkansas, and San Diego, have shown they belong more in the polls more than ND? An Indiana team that also has not played any Sagarin top-25 team is better than ND? All those ranked teams like Georgia whose only top 25 game was a home loss to UTenn deserves a T25 ranking more than ND??? There will be some changes in the new polls, but the new teams entering the poll won't have sterling T25 credentials either.

I know this is simmer-down period, so I'll just say your statement is interesting.

So, clearly, I was exaggerating. And, I'll admit, I forgot about the win over Penn St, which was a higher quality win than most ranked teams have. For insight into where I was coming from in the post, if you don't consider the win over Penn St, their next best win is MSU.

Out of last weeks polls, only 5 ranked teams (San Diego, Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and UGA) don't have a better (or equivalent) win than MSU.

 

[DobbsRover2]

So, clearly, I was exaggerating. And, I'll admit, I forgot about the win over Penn St, which was a higher quality win than most ranked teams have.

Ah, sorry about missing the clear exaggeration and that you didn't mean to overlook PSU. I'm not raving about ND's played-out slate, but they will finish with one of the best in the country, and even now an Irish fan is bound to pop up here and point out that Sagarin has ND SOS rated ahead of UConn's at this point. That seems bogus and I'm not a fan of Sag's SOS system, but a lot of BB fans consider Sag to be the source of all wisdom.

 

[ndmb]

Ah, sorry about missing the clear exaggeration and that you didn't mean to overlook PSU. I'm not raving about ND's played-out slate, but they will finish with one of the best in the country, and even now an Irish fan is bound to pop up here and point out that Sagarin has ND SOS rated ahead of UConn's at this point. That seems bogus and I'm not a fan of Sag's SOS system, but a lot of BB fans consider Sag to be the source of all wisdom.

Yeah, I don't have any problem with their SOS, being in the ACC this year alone means you're facing several top teams. I think that they're probably the second best team in the country too. But the current polling system (and, frankly, seeding for the NCAA tournament) rewards teams with weaker schedules. This is the same nonsense that gave San Diego and Arkansas their day in the polls. I'd much rather reward Duke with the higher ranking, who has played 4 games against the current top 25 and won 3, than ND who is 1 and 0.

I don't know how Saragrin calculates their SOS, but if it's linear, it's going to be inherently flawed. There are really so many teams that can compete at the top tier, after that, who cares if an opponent is ranked 150 or 250.