<font color="DarkRed">NCAA Division I: Official JustBBall.Com Poll (Week 4)</font> This is the Official JustBBall.Com Top 25 college basketball poll with number of first-place votes in parentheses and total points to the side. Team records are through the date the poll was released: 1. Illinois - 199 (3) 2. Oklahoma State - 190 (1) 3. Kansas - 186 4. Duke - 169 5. Pittsburgh - 159 6. Wake Forest - 152 7. Syracuse - 151 8. North Carolina - 150 9. Georgia Tech - 140 10. North Carolina State - 136 11. Kentucky - 120 12. Iowa - 102 13. Connecticut - 92 14. Gonzaga - 71 15. Michigan State - 66 16. Louisville - 62 17. Arizona - 61 18. Washington - 57 19. Texas - 56 20. Cincinnati - 55 21. George Washington - 54 22. Alabama - 47 23. Marquette - 24 24. Wisconsin - 20 25. Boston College - 15 Others Receiving Votes: Maryland (8), Mississippi State (7), Virginia (3), Oregon (2), Oral Roberts (1), Texas A&M (1), Wichita State (1) The Board of Selected Members is made up of 10 quality college basketball posters at JustBBall.Com. All are respected and credible members. The 2004-05 voters: 44Thrilla, CourtKing, CUSA Fan, Dre*, Moo2k4, UKOwnsSEC, S.Livingston14, Shard, STCBBall3*, Voodoo Child *Dre and STCBBall3 were occupied and could not get their rankings submitted. Dropped From Rankings: N/A
I personally think these are pretty good rankings. The only complaint I really have is Alabama. Sure, they're what, 8-1, nice record and all. However, they've beaten NOBODY. The one good team they played, they got beat by. Plus, they've had problems with some of the sub-par teams they've played this year. Maybe it's just me, but I think, even at #22, Alabama still might be overrated.
Cool poll. I used to vote for this last season! Here's the changes I'd make. I think Wake is too high. Just one or two spots too high, but besides having a loss they've had more than a close game or two, trounced by Illinois and only beat Temple by 3, Texas by 1. Same with NC State, a few close games and not enough signature wins. You guys like Michigan State too much. I'm not saying they don't have potential to be a top team, but that's pretty high, especially considering they're above George Washington on there. 1) George Washington beat them! 2) George Washington has less losses than them. 3) George Washington has more quality wins than them (beating Michigan State, beating Maryland, compared to MSU beating... no one). Therefore, GW also needs more love. Boston College doesn't belong there yet. They're undefeated, but they don't have a lot of talent I don't think and they have beaten no one of interest. West Virginia is undefeated too, and they don't have any votes. In fact, BC went to OT against Holy Cross at home and went to 2OT against Yale (2-6) at home. #25? I might throw Wichita St. a vote but they'll probably have some losses soon since they're in such a tough conference.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fast Luck:</div><div class="quote_post">Cool poll. I used to vote for this last season! Here's the changes I'd make. I think Wake is too high. Just one or two spots too high, but besides having a loss they've had more than a close game or two, trounced by Illinois and only beat Temple by 3, Texas by 1. Same with NC State, a few close games and not enough signature wins. You guys like Michigan State too much. I'm not saying they don't have potential to be a top team, but that's pretty high, especially considering they're above George Washington on there. 1) George Washington beat them! 2) George Washington has less losses than them. 3) George Washington has more quality wins than them (beating Michigan State, beating Maryland, compared to MSU beating... no one). Therefore, GW also needs more love. Boston College doesn't belong there yet. They're undefeated, but they don't have a lot of talent I don't think and they have beaten no one of interest. West Virginia is undefeated too, and they don't have any votes. In fact, BC went to OT against Holy Cross at home and went to 2OT against Yale (2-6) at home. #25? I might throw Wichita St. a vote but they'll probably have some losses soon since they're in such a tough conference.</div> I have some thoughts. Michigan State may have two losses, but remember this. George Washington is a very good team this year. In my opinion, that was at least a semi-quality opponent for MSU. Also, their other loss was to Duke, and it was only by seven. And, outside of those two losses, they've had wins by 32, 50, 58, 25, and 18 points. So, what I'm saying is, they're not just beating the teams they're supposed to, they're crushing them. By all means, they probably should have beaten Duke, but a lot of missed free throws and other miscellaneous things at the end of the game kicked them in the head. So, in my opinion, we're not really overrating them if you look at it in the way I am. I will say this though, GW has been impressive thus far, but, they don't have the hardest upcoming schedule for one, and some of their wins have been against some very poor teams. About Wake....I don't think they're at all too high. They've beaten three top 25 teams in George Washington, Arizona, and Texas. The only loss they have is to a VERY good Illinois team, and yea, it was a blowout. However, they've bounced back from that, and that's the showing of a good team. We'll see how good Wake truly is come January, when they have five top 25 opponents in their schedule. But personally, I still believe they are a very good team and are probably right around where they should be. Than with NC State...the only loss they have is to a good Washington team, and it was only by four points. Aside from that, they've dominated every single team they've played, with the exclusion of La Lafayette and Purdue. Every other win they've had has been by 16 or more, including five wins by mroe than 30 points. So really, I don't see them as overrated either.
Sometimes you just have to look past the record and look past the quality of opponents. If you look at Michigan State's roster, it's one of the ten strongest rosters in the nation. They lost twice, but both losses came against ranked teams. While they have yet to beat a ranked team, they beat Stanford by 25 points and have crushed every midmajor they have faced. If we judged everything based on records, then Wichita State, Hofstra, and Texas A&M would all be top 10. If we judged everything based on quality wins, then Kansas would not be in the top 25. Anyway, the only three teams under them that I would think of ranking over them are Washington, George Washington, and Cincinnati. All of them have better records and more quality wins. However, this poll is a team effort, and the team as a whole just thought that Michigan State was better for whatever reason. But would you rank Louisville over them? Arizona? Texas? I think they're rightfully ranked over them. Anyway, I thought the rankings turned out pretty good in general. I think they blow away ESPN's (which are some of the worst I've ever seen by the way).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post"> Anyway, I thought the rankings turned out pretty good in general. I think they blow away ESPN's (which are some of the worst I've ever seen by the way).</div> Couldn't agree with you more. Both the AP and ESPN polls are pretty bad. ESPN seemingly bases their poll on who plays for the team, not who they've beat. That's the only way I could explain some of their rankings (i.e. Iowa at #19 despite beating two top 15 teams).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">I have some thoughts. Michigan State may have two losses, but remember this. George Washington is a very good team this year. In my opinion, that was at least a semi-quality opponent for MSU. Also, their other loss was to Duke, and it was only by seven. And, outside of those two losses, they've had wins by 32, 50, 58, 25, and 18 points. So, what I'm saying is, they're not just beating the teams they're supposed to, they're crushing them. By all means, they probably should have beaten Duke, but a lot of missed free throws and other miscellaneous things at the end of the game kicked them in the head. So, in my opinion, we're not really overrating them if you look at it in the way I am. I will say this though, GW has been impressive thus far, but, they don't have the hardest upcoming schedule for one, and some of their wins have been against some very poor teams. About Wake....I don't think they're at all too high. They've beaten three top 25 teams in George Washington, Arizona, and Texas. The only loss they have is to a VERY good Illinois team, and yea, it was a blowout. However, they've bounced back from that, and that's the showing of a good team. We'll see how good Wake truly is come January, when they have five top 25 opponents in their schedule. But personally, I still believe they are a very good team and are probably right around where they should be. Than with NC State...the only loss they have is to a good Washington team, and it was only by four points. Aside from that, they've dominated every single team they've played, with the exclusion of La Lafayette and Purdue. Every other win they've had has been by 16 or more, including five wins by mroe than 30 points. So really, I don't see them as overrated either.</div>Oh, I agree with you and all, I think it's a great poll. And I agree with what you're saying. I'm not talking about a massive overhaul or anything, just a couple teams moving a couple spots. 1) move GW ahead of Michigan State. They beat them, beat Maryland, have only one loss. Don't know why they're SIX spots behind a team they beat. 2) Wake Forest is good as you said, but it wasn't just the blow out to Illinois. It's also those close games I listed. I'm just saying I would put UNC above them and Georgia Tech above them. 3) NC St is just a few slots too high, no offense to them. 4) And of course BC shouldn't be top 25.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fast Luck:</div><div class="quote_post">Oh, I agree with you and all, I think it's a great poll. And I agree with what you're saying. I'm not talking about a massive overhaul or anything, just a couple teams moving a couple spots. 1) move GW ahead of Michigan State. They beat them, beat Maryland, have only one loss. Don't know why they're SIX spots behind a team they beat. 2) Wake Forest is good as you said, but it wasn't just the blow out to Illinois. It's also those close games I listed. I'm just saying I would put UNC above them and Georgia Tech above them. 3) NC St is just a few slots too high, no offense to them. 4) And of course BC shouldn't be top 25.</div> Wake has had only three close games, two to top 20 teams. Close games were: Temple, #17 Arizona, and #12 Texas. Every other game they've won by at least 12 points. So, aside from Temple, the close games were against very good opponents. NC State, I don't understand what you have against them? They're 8-1, only loss was to a very good Washington team. Aside from them...no one has really even been close to them. They're beating everyone they're supposed to. I don't believe they're overrated really. MSU....I still believe they're where they should be. They've blown a lot of people out, and their only losses was a close game to Duke, which, like I said, they could have won, and a good GW team. I don't feel as if they're ranked too high. You make good arguments....but I still stand by what I've said.
I would say the rankings look pretty good. I'm proud to be the only one that put OK State at #1. I do wish that Gonzaga was a little higher, and that Duke wasn't so high. To answer any questions, I thought a lot of you guys were ranking Cincy too high, so that's why I left them out.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">3) NC St is just a few slots too high, no offense to them.</div> Take into consideration that when this poll was made, they were undefeated. For an undefeated NC State team, I think that was the perfect place for them. Of course, I expect them to drop a lot more next week. That loss was pretty pathetic. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">4) And of course BC shouldn't be top 25.</div> Why not? They're undefeated. Sure, they haven't played amazing competition, but they've played the same kind of competition that Kansas has played.
Oh, I didn't know NC St. was undefeated during polling. And the difference between BC and Kansas is that Kansas has lots of big talent players, and BC does not. Also, none of the other undefeated teams have gone to OT and 2OT against the likes of Holy Cross and Yale AT HOME. That doesn't bode well for a team with better competition down the line. Other undefeated teams who have done better so far this season are West Virginia and Texas A&M and Kansas State and Wichita State. I don't know if I would rank any of those teams top 25 either.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fast Luck:</div><div class="quote_post">And the difference between BC and Kansas is that Kansas has lots of big talent players, and BC does not. Also, none of the other undefeated teams have gone to OT and 2OT against the likes of Holy Cross and Yale AT HOME. That doesn't bode well for a team with better competition down the line. Other undefeated teams who have done better so far this season are West Virginia and Texas A&M and Kansas State and Wichita State. I don't know if I would rank any of those teams top 25 either.</div> Boston College also crushed a decent Clemson team and beat a then undefeated UCLA team by ten points at UCLA. Also, Craig Smith isn't a big talent player? He leads the Big East in scoring and is fifth in rebounding. He has the potential to be a solid NBA player. I just don't see why we should penalize Boston College at this point. BTW - Did Wake convince you with their blowout of a very solid New Mexico team?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post">BTW - Did Wake convince you with their blowout of a very solid New Mexico team?</div>I don't believe we disagree as much as you think. I'm already convinced in Wake Forest, I always have been. All they haven't convinced me is that they should be ranked ahead of UNC or GT.
Michigan State do deserve do be in the top 20 right now despite losing to GW. Just like they said up there^^, GW has a strong squad this year and MSU has lost to them and Duke. Good poll by the way.
