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UConn Outside AP Top 25

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People forget that UConn was ranked #17 and #15, respectively, in the Preseason AP and Coaches' Polls after winning the 2014 championship... and that 2014-2015 roster also relied heavily on one returning talent (Boatright), a heralded freshman (DHam), and an impact transfer (Purvis). To me, that says you definitely get a preseason ranking bump based on the "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?" metric. Until we've earned it, we're not gonna get it, which is also why preseason rankings do not matter.
 
runner11 said:
Ok, not the point
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The point is beating Stonehill, BU Del State, etc gets you zero. It just means you didn’t lose to the lowest of the low. And it hurts how you are perceived if, heaven forbid, you lose to one. Especially in light of our history after 2014.
 
yungdowork said:
We were always going to be sort of a question mark this year just due to the turnover on the roster. Unfortunately, I do think we get dinged for not having won a tournament game in 6 years. Oh well, I'd rather be ranked at the end of the year than the start of it
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Sure, there are question marks. But UConn has more returning talent than Duke does. Probably as much as KU does as well. Duke basketball: Updated look at next season’s growing roster

Why does Duke get the benefit of every doubt?
 
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Fishy said:
1) Who cares?

2) We’re replacing a bunch of players and voters are likely not very familiar with the transfers.

3) But seriously who cares? It’s a
preseason poll - win a few games in a row and we will be ranked.
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We weren’t top 25 preseason in 2010-2011 or 2014 we finished decently those years
We were in 2011-12 and of course infamously in the disaster of 2016-17
Anyone who looks at a preseason poll and does anything but yawn is really marked as casual with a capital C
When we come back from Oregon we will have a better idea of what we have.
 
tennmike said:
I prefer being ranked than not, but it is easily fixable. Just win games.
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I agree but I’d say if you aren’t Top 10, Top 16 at worst, it really doesn’t matter. And 21-25 means you are probably not going anywhere. You are a 6 or 7 seed come tournament time. You probably need to bring a change of socks but odds are against you lasting more than 1 weekend.
 
27 in the preseason poll isn't bad at all, and honestly that's about where I'd expect them to end the season as well. I think we have some great pieces, and a really strong front court, but we have major questions at guard again and I think we're a few years away from getting the type of talents like Castle coming in that push us into the upper echelon of teams and a team consistently ranked in or near the top ten. I don't have to tell UConn fans that college bball is a guard dominated game.

Unless Hawkins makes a huge jump and the transfers immediately mesh, I don't see how we do appreciably better than the team did last year. I like Hawkins, but I'm a little worried he won't put it all together again this year and then we're back to where we were - a bunch of pretty good but not great players who play great and gritty D but don't have a go to scorer/fluid offense. Hope I'm wrong.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Sure, there are question marks. But UConn has more returning talent than Duke does. Probably as much as KU does as well. Duke basketball: Updated look at next season’s growing roster

Why does Duke get the benefit of every doubt?
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Duke gets the "brand vote"..

Since 2000, 3 NC's, 2 Semi Finals...including last tournament....if they fall off, they will drop in rankings...

Duke also, since 2000 has 7 sweet sixteens....
 
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We were preseason ranked #1 in 2000 after our first Natty and promptly lost the first game to Iowa.
 
Remember in 2010 when we were ranked like 80th preseason? Yeah...these rankings mean nothing.
 
LoyalFanCT said:
The whole idea with going to the so-called Big East is how much it would help the men's BB team. So far, I haven't seen it. Is the improving FB team under Mora going to push us into the ACC, with the men's BB team tailing along?
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Be still my heart!

I’ve been saying since the move was made that the NEWBIE wasn’t going to give us what folks think. Why? The NEWBIE ain’t even close to the original. You know, the one that had 3 different teams win national championships between 1999 and 2013. Once had 3 of the final four, had something like 7 different teams make the final four. Had 2 of the final four multiple times. The NEWBIE is a nice league. But it isn’t the ACC by any stretch. And it doesn’t hold a candle to the original Big East.
 
Incursio007 said:
Remember in 2010 when we were ranked like 80th preseason? Yeah...these rankings mean nothing.
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In 2008-9, UConn was ranked #2 in preseason AP.....and lost in Final Four

2009-10...UConn lost six of their last nine games and went to the NIT

2010-11...not ranked in the AP Preseason poll
 
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aburks41 said:
I'm getting really sick of these voters constantly disrespecting us. They seriously think that a team with the preseason BE POY and multiple projected draft picks isn't worthy of being a top 25 team..?
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There were. Number of years we were given the benefit of the doubt in the Ollie years and demonstrated we we didn’t belong. 27 is fine to start. We will earn the rest
 
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I don’t call it disrespect at this time of year but in some previous years at tourney time we have been often overlooked and disrespected.
 
jibsey said:
I don’t call it disrespect at this time of year but in some previous years at tourney time we have been often overlooked and disrespected.
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Respect is earned, we weren't a tournament team for several seasons and in the past two seasons we lost first round as a 7 seed and a 5 seed.
 
superjohn said:
Respect is earned, we weren't a tournament team for several seasons and in the past two seasons we lost first round as a 7 seed and a 5 seed.
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I'm talking about 11 and 14 and I remember the ESPN tourney shows with us getting dissed.
 
jibsey said:
I'm talking about 11 and 14 and I remember the ESPN tourney shows with us getting dissed.
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They were a #3 seed in 2011. The schedule and conference were a killer but 9 losses and 9-9 in the Big East. What seed do you think they should've gotten?
 
superjohn said:
Because they always win. They have the best recruiting but K is gone so we'll see how it goes.
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Oh I know. And they do, almost always, win. Kentucky too, even if the kids don't always prove as good as expected. But for everyone saying "UConn has open questions at key positions", not really. UConn has filled every spot with a proven veteran player or more than one. We have fewer "questions" than many of the teams on the list, including Villanova, who like Duke, also has to replace a HOF coach. We just aren't trendy and cool again yet.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Oh I know. And they do, almost always, win. Kentucky too, even if the kids don't always prove as good as expected. But for everyone saying "UConn has open questions at key positions", not really. UConn has filled every spot with a proven veteran player or more than one. We have fewer "questions" than many of the teams on the list, including Villanova, who like Duke, also has to replace a HOF coach. We just aren't trendy and cool again yet.
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Nothing would make me happier to see Scheyer run that place into the ground
 
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HuskyHawk said:
Oh I know. And they do, almost always, win. Kentucky too, even if the kids don't always prove as good as expected. But for everyone saying "UConn has open questions at key positions", not really. UConn has filled every spot with a proven veteran player or more than one. We have fewer "questions" than many of the teams on the list, including Villanova, who like Duke, also has to replace a HOF coach. We just aren't trendy and cool again yet.
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You become “trendy and cool” by winning and making tournament runs. We haven’t done that really since 2014. Yeah we got a bit dissed that year. We were better than a 7. But extenuating circumstances like a new league that nobody could quite figure how to evaluate, and a lot of parity nationally that year ( remember Kentucky was an 8). There really was no dominant team.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Oh I know. And they do, almost always, win. Kentucky too, even if the kids don't always prove as good as expected. But for everyone saying "UConn has open questions at key positions", not really. UConn has filled every spot with a proven veteran player or more than one. We have fewer "questions" than many of the teams on the list, including Villanova, who like Duke, also has to replace a HOF coach. We just aren't trendy and cool again yet.
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Losing in the first round was a killer the past 2 years. Just one sweet 16 run in the past 2 years would've totally changed perception. Tournament success this season is a must.
 
freescooter said:
You become “trendy and cool” by winning and making tournament runs. We haven’t done that really since 2014. Yeah we got a bit dissed that year. We were better than a 7. But extenuating circumstances like a new league that nobody could quite figure how to evaluate, and a lot of parity nationally that year ( remember Kentucky was an 8). There really was no dominant team.
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Ok, and that's different than now for Villanova and Duke? Both just lost HOF coaches, that's a big caution sign. Duke has only Roach returning. Villanova is in better shape, especially if Moore returns, but it has some questions on top of coach. These polls are a mix of very bad guesswork and popularity, nothing more.
 
freescooter said:
The point is beating Stonehill, BU Del State, etc gets you zero. It just means you didn’t lose to the lowest of the low. And it hurts how you are perceived if, heaven forbid, you lose to one. Especially in light of our history after 2014.
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Ok, still not the point. Can you maybe figure it out?
 
Aside from the Dukes and Kentuckys that rake in new five-star talent every year, a lot of the voters’ mindset is on what is reliable: past performance of returning players.

UConn doesn’t have a lot of proven returners, which I’m fine with and I think the rating is fair. I’d put them somewhere in the early 20s, personally.

Overall, I like this team. Maybe my projection is a little lower than where it was at the start of last year, but I’m excited for the ride to start!
 
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