Polls/Bracketology

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:41 pm

Right. I'm neither surprised nor upset. Just how it fell this week.

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:46 pm

If you really want to break it down, the substantial increase in votes does indicate more widespread recognition across the voting body. It solidifies us as a Top 25 team, even if we slipped a spot. We separated some from those knocking on the door.

thecaptain · Post by **thecaptain** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:48 pm

just keep beating teams, and we will climb. that's all there is to it.

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:51 pm

The good news is UMass is #20 in the Coaches poll this week.

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

Marty Peretz · Post by **Marty Peretz** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:52 pm

Sorta odd that we moved up two in the coaches and went down one in the AP. Whatever. Means nothing at this point. And maybe it'll fire up the guys and convince them that they're still not respected.

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:53 pm

Obviously, winning is what is most important and this type of stuff takes care of itself if we take care of business.

But we will lose, at some point. And it would be nice not to drop out, then have to try to scrap our way back in. It's not a fair process.

And rankings DO matter. Recruits see it. Casual fans see it. Our players care about it. It gets our scores front and center nationally. It can help with scheduling, and getting on TV next year. It matters in many ways.

ScottieB · Post by **ScottieB** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:56 pm

Max11 wrote: GW should be getting more respect. They have a very good squad this year.

Was thinking the same thing - their resume this season is just as impressive as many above them too (IMO). But "mid-major" teams need to prove it more apparently. It sucks, but the one thing you can control - just win.

Old Prospector · Post by **Old Prospector** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:01 pm

Our best win to date has been against an early-season #19. In this respect, we are right about where we should be.

fenway617 · Post by **fenway617** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:02 pm

Doug Doughty is a brilliant man and a great asset to the AP voting process. He has Umass 7th this week on his ballot

http://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll-voter/doug-doughty

Jeff Faraudo had them 12th
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll-voter/jeff-faraudo

Steve81 · Post by **Steve81** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:06 pm

It's a poll and fine with anything around #20 plus or minus a couple. The season has been fun and the team and coaches have been doing great.

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:14 pm

Love those high votes, but they tell me that some still don't even have us in their Top 25, which is a head scratcher.

Marty Peretz · Post by **Marty Peretz** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:15 pm

It's so early and a lot of the teams losing are losing to top 10 or top 20 type teams, so it's hard for voters to justify dropping them. The only team, IMO, that shouldn't be ranked above us is Gonzaga. They have a loss and don't really have anything in the way of an impressive win. You could make a case that we should also be ranked ahead of Florida, but their two losses are both road losses to top ten teams, one of which was a buzzer beater by UConn. And then Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky all have two losses, but they're all to top 20 opponents and by respectable margins. Plus each of those teams possesses quality wins. Duke is probably the least fairly ranked team right now. Their best win is against Michigan, who's now unranked and yet somehow they're still 8th in the country. I understand that their two losses were against Kansas and Arizona, but still. They've struggled against ECU and barely beat Vermont. To me, they should be more like 15th.

ScottieB · Post by **ScottieB** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:17 pm

Marty Peretz wrote:Sorta odd that we moved up two in the coaches and went down one in the AP. Whatever. Means nothing at this point. And maybe it'll fire up the guys and convince them that they're still not respected.

Coaches' poll has seemed a week behind the AP poll so far (we were on AP poll a week before Coaches etc). Maybe this is just more evidence of this?

No matter what, winning two and dropping is really weird a week after not playing and moving up. I know the top 25 isn't an exact science, but that makes no sense at all.

fenway617 · Post by **fenway617** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:20 pm

Looks like 9 voters left UMass off their ballot. Last week 8 left Umass of their ballot.

JPBoSox2 · Post by **JPBoSox2** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:23 pm

fenway617 wrote:Doug Doughty is a brilliant man and a great asset to the AP voting process. He has Umass 7th this week on his ballot

http://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll-voter/doug-doughty

Pretty clear what his #1 priority is. The top 12 in his poll are all unbeaten and all 15 undefeateds are ranked. I have no problem with this.