UConn #2 in AP Poll

[schmendrick]

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

 

[Goodgood]

Huh?

 

[TDiNozzo]

Only #2 in Coaches poll.... it's always been there except week 9 when it was #1

 

[Vowelguy]

UConn is #3 in the AP poll, as it should be. The coaches poll, as usual, is a joke.

If we had beaten ND but were still ranked behind them, I can only imagine the conspiracy theories that would be consuming this board.

 

[doggydaddy]

UConn is #3 in the AP poll, as it should be. The coaches poll, as usual, is a joke.

If we had beaten ND but were still ranked behind them, I can only imagine the conspiracy theories that would be consuming this board.

There are many good reasons to rank UConn ahead of ND.

 

[UConnCat]

Muffet wants to know who those coaches are who voted ND below UConn, dagnabbit. Those coaches better watch out.

"I told our players not to comment," McGraw said. "We don't talk about the polls at all. I told them after the UConn game, the polls don't matter, no matter what they say. Nothing matters until the end. But, I did tweet about it. I tweeted that, 'History is written by the victors, unless you're on the women's basketball coaches poll.' But that was a while ago. I'm over it now, but I'll be anxious to find out who voted us lower when they release the information at the end of the season."

 

[msf22b]

Interesting how much differences there are in the "other teams receiving votes" between the two polls.

Muffit: one competitive lady.

 

[Olde Coach]

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

There are four (4) Big East teams in the top 25:

UConn Notre Dame Louisville Syracuse

Only UConn will still be in the Big East for 2014-15.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

 

[Forty_four]

There are many good reasons to rank UConn ahead of ND.

Very little if anything should supercede head to head competition.

 

[doggydaddy]

Very little if anything should supercede head to head competition.

I disagree. A game that close tells me nothing about who is the better team. A wide open 3 missed by a 50% shooter that would have given UConn the win means ND is better?

SOS, stats against top teams, analysis of both teams.

If UConn beats Baylor, would you still have ND ahead of UConn? How about Baylor. Would ND now be ahead of Baylor if UConn wins? Can't be since Baylor beat ND.

It's not so simple.

 

[huskybill]

There are many good reasons to rank UConn ahead of ND.

I think the best one is that you don't want to make doggydaddy angry.

 

[doggydaddy]

I think the best one is that you don't want to make doggydaddy angry.

Me? Mr. Mellow?

 

[UConn990411]

Muffet wants to know who those coaches are who voted ND below UConn, dagnabbit. Those coaches better watch out.

"I told our players not to comment," McGraw said. "We don't talk about the polls at all. I told them after the UConn game, the polls don't matter, no matter what they say. Nothing matters until the end. But, I did tweet about it. I tweeted that, 'History is written by the victors, unless you're on the women's basketball coaches poll.' But that was a while ago. I'm over it now, but I'll be anxious to find out who voted us lower when they release the information at the end of the season."

For someone who thinks "the polls don't matter," Muffet sure seems to care an awful lot about them.

I wonder if these comments came before or after she conducted team-flopping exercises during practice.

 

[uconnfan68]

I disagree. A game that close tells me nothing about who is the better team. A wide open 3 missed by a 50% shooter that would have given UConn the win means ND is better?

SOS, stats against top teams, analysis of both teams.

If UConn beats Baylor, would you still have ND ahead of UConn? How about Baylor. Would ND now be ahead of Baylor if UConn wins? Can't be since Baylor beat ND.

It's not so simple.

Sure it is. ND 73, UC 72. Almost everyone that has a rudimentary knowledge of math or basketball knows who won.

 

[iri10]

Sure it is. ND 73, UC 72. Almost everyone that has a rudimentary knowledge of math or basketball knows who won.

In a league where teams don't play every other team over the course of the season, it is imperative that intangibles be used when trying to figure out a ranking. No way around it, really.

The reason why ND didn't pass UConn on that poll is because, prior to that loss, UConn was ranked #1 and ND was ranked #5. Pollsters don't like moving teams too far up and down with a single win if they can help it.

This approach isn't totally insensible either. Imagine a hypothetical case where a #1, undefeated Baylor was upset by a single point to a then-unbeaten mid-major. Let's say that mid-major had been ranked 23rd prior to beating Baylor. Do we move the mid-major all the way to #1 based on that single result? If they play nothing else but cupcakes for the rest of the season and win them all, do we keep the mid major at #1 all season?

You get some really kooky results if you look just at the head-to-head. And then the approach breaks logically when you get situations of "team A beats B, B beats C, C beats A." Which is what we have this season with UConn, ND, Baylor, and Stanford, by the way.

edit: and for the record, I would also have ND ranked higher than UConn at this point (by a razor thin margin), but it most emphatically is not based solely on the head-to-head. My personal rank takes into consideration plenty of intangibles beyond that one game's result.

 

[Jonathan Husky]

There are four (4) Big East teams in the top 25:

UConn Notre Dame Louisville Syracuse

Only UConn will still be in the Big East for 2014-15.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

And it might not be the Big East if the catholic schools take that title

 

[pinotbear]

Me? Mr. Mellow?

Quite righteously!

 

[doggydaddy]

Sure it is. ND 73, UC 72. Almost everyone that has a rudimentary knowledge of math or basketball knows who won.

Clever. Imply I can't do math and don't know who won.

Problem is there are many voters in both polls that had UConn ahead of ND, so if it was that simple, ND would be ahead in everyones poll. But they are not.

Almost everyone that has a rudimentary knowledge of basketball knows there are more factors than a 1 point game in determining who should be ranked higher.

 

[herbiep]

Does anyone notice, that some posters are always right, or if you will, "they are never, wrong." Once, I thought I was wrong, but, I was incorrect.

 

[Kibitzer]

Only one thing matters: Winning that very last game.

The rest is just talk. Speculation. Opinion. Noise.

Two goals count: (1) Get TO that last game, then (2) Win it.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I've said this before, but I'm always amused at those who value polls and those who dismiss polls as "a joke."

It's annoying as all get out to participate in a poll. I mean, who in their right might would willingly spend the hour or two a week it would take to evaluate all the nuances of the qualifying teams when their decisions mean absolutely nothing?

 

[stamfordhusky]

I disagree. A game that close tells me nothing about who is the better team. A wide open 3 missed by a 50% shooter that would have given UConn the win means ND is better?

SOS, stats against top teams, analysis of both teams.

If UConn beats Baylor, would you still have ND ahead of UConn? How about Baylor. Would ND now be ahead of Baylor if UConn wins? Can't be since Baylor beat ND.

It's not so simple.

Actually it's really simple:

ND > UConn > Stanford > Baylor > ND > Uconn > Stanford > Baylor >ND

What could be simpler?

 

[Vowelguy]

I've said this before, but I'm always amused at those who value polls and those who dismiss polls as "a joke."

It's annoying as all get out to participate in a poll. I mean, who in their right might would willingly spend the hour or two a week it would take to evaluate all the nuances of the qualifying teams when their decisions mean absolutely nothing?

I don't know if your comment was directed at me, but my "joke" was only about the Coaches poll. I highly doubt they spend an hour or two a week to fill out their poll. I think it's closer to 5 mins -- if they even do it, since their have been lots of reports over the years of someone else doing it. And the results show what little thought went into it. I love polls otherwise.

 

[Wonkster]

Two goals count: (1) Get TO that last game, then (2) Win it.

And, as you well know, Notre Dame has managed to do both just once in the last 25 years.

 

[Joe6cats]

Does anyone notice, that some posters are always right, or if you will, "they are never, wrong." Once, I thought I was wrong, but, I was incorrect.

I on the other hand am one poster who is always wrong.