South Carolina Picked Up All of Texas's First Place Votes

[j66kicker]

And the 1st place Texas vote in the coaches poll goes to...

South Carolina.

Yeah.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings/_/week/10/seasontype/2

It would appear that coach values undefeated records. No argument here.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

It would appear that coach values undefeated records. No argument here.

A fan of the single bullet item justification?

 

[j66kicker]

A fan of the single bullet item justification?

Not necessarily, but there's a lot to be said for not losing.

 

[iri10]

Try reversing the image in your heads and it might become easier to accept:

Imagine the season started with Notre Dame as the number 1 team, and UConn as the number 2. Notre Dame immediately has a freakish loss at Stanford, giving UConn the number 1 rank. UConn struggles to close wins over Duke and Syracuse, while Notre Dame goes on to destroy every ranked team they play, including Duke.

As a UConn fan you would be pretty peeved if Notre Dame got leapfrogged over an undefeated UConn simply because their wins were more convincing, would you not? The way the polls have been run thus far are pretty typical; the higher you get in the rankings, the more reluctant the voters are to have you leapfrog over other teams that also win their games. And they really dislike leapfrogging over a number 1 ranked team.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Try reversing the image in your heads and it might become easier to accept:

Imagine the season started with Notre Dame as the number 1 team, and UConn as the number 2. Notre Dame immediately has a freakish loss at Stanford, giving UConn the number 1 rank. UConn struggles to close wins over Duke and Syracuse, while Notre Dame goes on to destroy every ranked team they play, including Duke.

As a UConn fan you would be pretty peeved if Notre Dame got leapfrogged over an undefeated UConn simply because their wins were more convincing, would you not? The way the polls have been run thus far are pretty typical; the higher you get in the rankings, the more reluctant the voters are to have you leapfrog over other teams that also win their games. And they really dislike leapfrogging over a number 1 ranked team.

I think the only reason UConn isn't #1 right now is because those that vote in the polls are just holding out until Feb 9. It's basically a cop out so they don't have to put any thought into it to avoid any controversy. Just keep #1 and #2 status quo until one of them loses. If UConn and South Carolina weren't going to play, you might see UConn #1, or at least garner more votes, because you would have to rank the teams the way they do in CFB using the eye test.

 

[j66kicker]

At the bottom of this debate on "Who's #1?" between Mechelle Voepel (So Car) and Graham Hayes (UCONN) you can vote. As of this post UCONN leads SC 62%-38%.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/debate/12160564/who-no-1-right-now-south-carolina-uconn

 

[RegisteredUconn]

At the bottom of this debate on "Who's #1?" between Mechelle Voepel (So Car) and Graham Hayes (UCONN) you can vote. As of this post UCONN leads SC 62%-38%.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/debate/12160564/who-no-1-right-now-south-carolina-uconn

Really like Mechelle. A lot. But WOW, talk about the single bullet item justification. Item #1: SC hasn't lost. End of justification.

 

[j66kicker]

Really like Mechelle. A lot. But WOW, talk about the single bullet item justification. Item #1: SC hasn't lost. End of justification.

USC had enough subjective rep to start the season at #2, and they haven't lost. So I think it's a valid position.

But - Mechelle herself says, "No one is questioning whether the Huskies are good enough to win No. 10. We already know they are. They're the favorites for that, regardless of ranking." So apparently her 'ranking' philosophy allows for a #2 who she feels would beat her #1. This again begs the question of whether she would vote this way if UCONN & USC weren't scheduled to play later in the season.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Yeah, but again, I'm not sure anyone is thinking that any of the poll voters are ever selecting on who they think will win the Tourney. As with the UConn men, a team can be floundering around now but still be in the back of everyone's mind as at least one of the favorites for April, just based on recent past history.

I guess it's possible that a once-defeated UConn was ranked behind undefeated USCar but ahead of then undefeated Texas last week because of that "upcoming game" factor, but I think it's more that Texas just started further down the food chain in the rankings at the beginning of the season and it seemed too much of a stretch to ever put them and their horrible SOS ahead of UConn.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

USC had enough subjective rep to start the season at #2, and they haven't lost. So I think it's a valid position.

But - Mechelle herself says, "No one is questioning whether the Huskies are good enough to win No. 10. We already know they are. They're the favorites for that, regardless of ranking." So apparently her 'ranking' philosophy allows for a #2 who she feels would beat her #1. This again begs the question of whether she would vote this way if UCONN & USC weren't scheduled to play later in the season.

If preseason rep is important enough to be considered a factor in a team's ranking then surely team performance thus far in the season should also be considered, no? Poof, there goes the "They should be #1 because they're undefeated" argument.

 

[j66kicker]

If preseason rep is important enough to be considered a factor in a team's ranking then surely team performance thus far in the season should also be considered, no? Poof, there goes the "They should be #1 because they're undefeated" argument.

Not trying to justify anything - that's just how it works. UCONN had enough preseason rep to start out the season at #1. If rankings are important and they wanted to stay there, then it's very simple and straightforward - don't lose.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Yeah, but again, I'm not sure anyone is thinking that any of the poll voters are ever selecting on who they think will win the Tourney. As with the UConn men, a team can be floundering around now but still be in the back of everyone's mind as at least one of the favorites for April, just based on recent past history.

I guess it's possible that a once-defeated UConn was ranked behind undefeated USCar but ahead of then undefeated Texas last week because of that "upcoming game" factor, but I think it's more that Texas just started further down the food chain in the rankings at the beginning of the season and it seemed too much of a stretch to ever put them and their horrible SOS ahead of UConn.

Back to a lack of criteria. No guidance for voters. Make up your own measurement and use it. 35 voters, 35 different standards.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Not trying to justify anything - that's just how it works. UCONN had enough preseason rep to start out the season at #1. If rankings are important and they wanted to stay there, then it's very simple and straightforward - don't lose.

Princeton hasn't lost.

 

[j66kicker]

Princeton hasn't lost.

They didn't have the preseason cred to start out in the top 25, but their performance has put them there now.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Are the polls supposed to capture who are the best teams or the teams with the best records? They aren't the same things.