Official JustBBall.Com Poll (Weeks 12 & 13) <font color="DarkRed">NCAA Division I: Official JustBBall.Com Poll (Weeks 12 & 13)</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 - 175 (7) 2) Boston College - 166 3) North Carolina - 160 4) Oklahoma State - 150 5) Wake Forest - 144 6) Kansas - 140 7) Duke - 135 8) Michigan State - 125 9) Utah - 118 10) Washington - 107 11) Kentucky - 101 12) Arizona - 93 13) U of the Pacific - 90 14) Syracuse - 89 15) Gonzaga - 75 16) Louisville - 73 17) Pittsburgh - 61 18) Wisconsin - 54 19) Alabama - 51 20) Connecticut - 36 21) Charlotte - 28 22) George Washington - 24 23) Villanova - 22 24) Oklahoma - 20 25) Texas Tech - 18 Others Receiving Votes: Cincinnati (11), Iowa State (8), Miami-Ohio (1) The Board of Selected Members is made up of 7 quality college basketball posters at JustBBall.Com. All are respected and credible members. The 2004-05 voters: CourtKing, CUSA Fan, Moo2k4, UKOwnsSEC, Shard, S.Livingston14, Voodoo Child Dropped From Rankings: #24 Vermont
Some interesting rankings, I like BC getting credit from everyone and making it to the #2 spot. I don't really agree with North Carolina ahead of Oklahoma St. and I think Duke should be behind Michigan St. Even taking into account Duke's big win over Wake Forest, I still think Duke should drop another spot losing to two unranked teams. Also what does Nevada need to do to make the rankings? They have solid 20 wins now.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Duke should be behind Michigan St. </div> Michigan State lost to Duke earlier this season, and now they both have four losses. It'd be unfair to Duke to put them under Michigan State. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Also what does Nevada need to do to make the rankings? They have solid 20 wins now.</div> Beat someone. They have no top 25 wins. When they played Kansas, they got blown out by 33. They only have five losses and are now ranked #25 in the AP poll because of their weak schedule. They got blown out by Toledo, lost to UTEP, and lost to Fresno State. The win over Vermont was big for them, but they're still the team that barely beat Eastern Illinois. Their r?sum? isn't good enough at this point.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post">Michigan State lost to Duke earlier this season, and now they both have four losses. It'd be unfair to Duke to put them under Michigan State. Beat someone. They have no top 25 wins. When they played Kansas, they got blown out by 33. They only have five losses and are now ranked #25 in the AP poll because of their weak schedule. They got blown out by Toledo, lost to UTEP, and lost to Fresno State. The win over Vermont was big for them, but they're still the team that barely beat Eastern Illinois. Their r?sum? isn't good enough at this point.</div> Earlier this season was a long time ago. Lately, I think Michigan St. has played better basketball than Duke. Duke has been a team living and dying each game on the shoulder's of Reddick as of late. You cannot hold Nevada's strength of schedule against them, 20 wins is 20 wins. Sure they got blown out by Kansas, but almost every other ranked team has suffered a blow out. It's the only chance they've had to face a ranked team and it was a road game. It also happened very early in the season and Kansas played with a lot of venom in this game after being upset in the tourney last year by Nevada. Nevada has suffered 3 losses to weaker teams, but so have a lot of other ranked teams. It's just part of college basketball. Nevada has won 9 out of their last 10 games and 16 out of their last 18.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Earlier this season was a long time ago. Lately, I think Michigan St. has played better basketball than Duke. Duke has been a team living and dying each game on the shoulder's of Reddick as of late.</div> Look who they've played as of late though. The toughest teams that Michigan State has beaten as of late have been Minnesota and Iowa. On the other hand, Duke has knocked off Wake Forest and North Carolina. There's no way I would have given my vote to Michigan State over Duke on this one, and I'm a big time fan. Shape, it's not all about just winning basketball games. You have to play and beat good teams. If you're such an advocate of letting these mid-majors in without them proving themselves with a ranked win (or at least a few decent wins), then why aren't you arguing for Old Dominion who is 24-4? Why aren't you arguing for Holy Cross who is 20-5 (including a 3 pt game against BC)? Why aren't you arguing for Wisconsin-Milwaukee who is 21-5 (including games against Kansas and Wisconsin)? Why not argue for Southern Illinois who is 22-6? We can't let every mid-major in with 20 or more poor quality wins. It's just not fair to teams like Texas Tech who have already played Ohio State, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma State (twice), Iowa State, Texas, and Oklahoma. Nevada padded their records by playing Colorado CS, Georgia State, UC Davis, UGA, SMU, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Rice (twice), Tulsa (twice), Boise State, Eastern Illinois, UNLV, Florida Atlantic, and Toledo. In fact, in their only four decent games (Kansas, Pacific, Fresno State, and Vermont), they have an amazing 1-3 record. So before you criticize our #25 team in Texas Tech for having two more losses, just look at the schedules. It's obvious who the better team is. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Sure they got blown out by Kansas, but almost every other ranked team has suffered a blow out. </div> It depends on what you mean by a blowout. A 33 point loss is a little different than a loss under fifteen or twenty points. Show me one team in the top twenty five with a loss greater than twenty-one points other than Nevada. I haven't checked all of the teams, but I doubt there is one. And if there is one, they probably have some damn good quality wins to back it up.
I could make a case for all the Mid-Majors you mentioned above, but I chose Nevada, because they are a proven team. They proved themselves last year in the tournament taking down Kansas. They lost their best player, Kirk Snyder, to the NBA, but they have still managed to hit the 20 win mark. You defend Texas Tech for playing against stiffer competition, but they have an equally amazing record against top teams, 2-4. You condemn Nevada for being blown out by Kansas, and I explained why it was a blow out, yet Texas Tech has been blown out by Iowa by 30, and Oklahoma State by 29. They also lost to TCU by 15, it happened early in their schedule so I'm willing to overlook that. Even though Nevada is 1-3, they've been in all four of those games, except Kansas. They only lost by 3 points to Pacific and Fresno St. I'm not criticizing your rankings, they are actually very good, I'm just asking what Nevada has to do to crack the top 25, when their schedule hasn't allowed them the opportunity to play against more ranked teams, or as you like to call it 'stiffer competition?'
