My Top 25

To paraphrase the great thinker Biff Tannen, college basketball polls make about as much sense as a screen-door on a battleship.
Every Monday the Associated Press and ESPN release their polls (voted on by the media and the coaches, respectively) and every Monday the polls have glaring omissions, mind-boggling inclusions and Oklahoma.
The problem starts with the pre-season poll. These used to be released the week before the season, but now come out in mid-October. At this rate, AP will soon be releasing their 2004-05 pre-season poll during halftime of the late Final Four game.
These early polls are utterly ridiculous. How can a sportswriter or a coach know which teams are going to be good three weeks before the season starts? They can’t. That’s how Michigan State, Missouri, Florida were all ranked in the Top 10 in October, yet are unranked now. And it’s not the voters fault. Everybody thought Missouri was going to be good, but instead Quinn Snyder’s team has lost to Belmont on their way to a 13-10 record. Well, at least they won’t be in suspense on Selection Sunday.
(That’s what you get when you hire a Dukie to be your head coach. Notre Dame, coached by Mike Brey, another Coach K disciple, was also ranked in the pre-season Top 25. They are also likely looking at an NIT bid. Hmmmmm… makes you think.)
The voters take a liking to teams ranked highly in the pre-season, and vote them into polls later in the year that they don’t deserve to be in.
For instance, at one point this year, Michigan State was ranked #25, despite a 3-4 record. If the same exact Michigan State team had played the same exact schedule and had the same exact results, yet started the season unranked, they would not have received a single vote for that poll. But because the Spartans started the year at #3, voters still thought they were among the Top 25 teams in the country.
And maybe they were. Even when Michigan State had a losing record in January, they easily might have had one of the 25 best teams in the country. But therein lies the problem with the polls.
Too often voters rank teams based on potential, hype and most importantly, previous ranking, rather than a team’s recent results.
This was displayed earlier this year when Duke, with one loss, was ranked ahead of undefeated Stanford. The only reason this happened is because when Duke lost their game, they fell to #7 in the country, while Stanford was stuck at #17.
I probably would have voted Duke ahead of Stanford in that poll also. But when Stanford kept beating teams and winning important games, they should have leapfrogged over Duke for the #1 spot.
But voters don’t want to do that. For some reason, they can’t justify moving another team ahead of a team that didn’t lose.
The college basketball polls (and college football’s too, for that matter) shouldn’t come out until a few weeks into the season. The first polls should come out in the beginning of January, at the start of the conference season.
This wouldn’t solve all the problems with the polls (I’m not going to even get started on what a sham the coaches poll is), but it’s a start.
Anyway, I thought that instead of ranting today, I would instead make my own Top 25. But, seeing as how I’m probably 500 words deep into my tirade, I guess I’m going to do both.
So below is my hypothetical ballot if I were an Associated Press voter.

These rankings aren’t based on who I think the best 25 college basketball teams right now. If that were the case, teams like East Tennessee State wouldn’t be on it. Nor do I rank based on who I think would win in a head-to-head match up. In that case, Mississippi State would be hovering near the bottom of the list, instead of in the Top 10.
Instead, this is a ranking based on which 25 teams have a) played the best basketball this season and b) are playing the best basketball right now.
There will be discrepancies. Some teams will be ranked higher than teams they lost to. Some teams will be ranked below teams that have fewer losses. It’s not a perfect system.
Anyway, without further adieu:

Chris’s Sports Blog Top 25 Men’s Basketball Teams
Record and current AP rank in parenthesis

#25 – Texas Tech (18-7, #22)
#24 - East Tennessee State (23-4, NR)
#23 – Wisconsin (17-6, #12)
#22 – Kansas (17-6, #21)
#21 – Kent State (20-3, NR)

These five teams are the reason that these polls should only rank 20 teams. None of these squads have been particularly great this year, and none really deserve to have any number affixed to their name. But, since the polls go 25 deep, so will my ballot.
Sure, I could have put Syracuse or Oklahoma or Michigan State in my rankings, but Syracuse needed a late 3-pointer to beat Georgetown, Oklahoma is awful and Michigan State has nine losses. In a straight up game, I’d probably take ‘Cuse and MSU against East Tennessee State, but that’s not what the polls are about. They’re about which teams are playing the best at the moment, and ETSU is 14-0 in the Southern Conference. And in Division I college bsaketball, any undefeated record in any conference is impressive.
Kent State has been playing superb basketball in the Mid-American Conference, while Texas Tech, Kansas and Wisconsin make this list only because of the lack of any other deserving teams.
Bill Self’s Jayhawks are easily the most disappointing team in college basketball.
Louisville (#11 in the AP, but on their way down after two losses this week) doesn’t make my Top 25. The Cardinals were #3 in the AP a mere two weeks ago, but have lost five of six including a 25-point loss to TCU. Sorry, but anytime you lose by 25 to a team with a nickname that includes the word “horned”, you don’t get ranked in my poll.

#20 – Utah State (22-2, NR)
#19 – Illinois (18-5, NR)
#18 – Providence (18-5, #17)
#17 – Georgia Tech (19-7, #18)
#16 – North Carolina State (17-6, #13)


Maybe Providence should be ranked ahead of Tech and State, but both those teams get bonuses for playing in the ridiculously tough ACC and for not losing to Virginia Tech.
NC State and Georgia Tech are the first of five ranked ACC teams, easily the most for any conference.


#15 - Southern Illinois (22-2, #20)
#14 – Arizona (16-7, #14)
#13 – North Carolina (16-7, #16)
#12 – Memphis (19-4, #23)
#11 – Connecticut (21-5, #8)

Uconn is still riding high in the polls due to its #1 pre-season ranking. They didn’t lose this week, and thus will remain in the Top 10 of the AP and ESPN polls, but I have a sneaking suspicion that if the “Uconn” script on their jerseys was replaced with “Rutgers”, the Huskies would find themselves out of the Top 10. They lost two games last week, but still were ranked ahead of more deserving teams like Texas and Kentucky because of their name. They’re kind of like Eddie Murphy in the Distinguished Gentleman. UNC beat Uconn a few weeks back at home, but that’s not enough to rank them ahead.
Southern Illinois is one of those mid-majors that will deserve a high seed in the tourney, but will probably receive a #6 or a #7. But, wherever they are, big conference teams will not feel comfortable seeing the Salukis on their side of the bracket.
Memphis has quietly surged to the top of the Conference USA standings, and looking at the resume of John Calapari’s team, they could nab a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they win out.

#10 – Wake Forest (17-6, #20)
#9 – Texas (19-4, #11)
#8 – Mississippi State (21-2, #4)
#7 – Kentucky (19-4, #9)
#6 – Pittsburgh (23-2 #4)

I know what you’re thinking. How can Mississippi State be ranked behind Kentucky, who has two more losses. Well, Kentucky held serve this week while Mississippi State came off a bye and lost to 13-10 Alabama… at home. As I said a few weeks ago, I think Miss. St. is overrated. But, regardless of what I think, losing at home to the Crimson Tide merits a big drop.
Wake Forest, after a rough stretch in late January, is playing some of the best basketball in the country and has moved into sole position of 3rd place in the ACC after defeating Duke and Georgia Tech this week. NC State is still ahead of the Demon Deacons in the ACC race, but Wake didn’t lose to Clemson and that’s why they are ahead of State.
Pittsburgh keeps winning, thus continually proving me wrong, and with some help, the Panthers could score a #1 seed.

#5 – Duke (21-3, #3)
#4 – Gonzaga (23-2, #6)
#3 – Oklahoma State (21-2, #7)
#2 – St. Joseph’s (24-0, #2)
#1 – Stanford (23-0, #1)

I realize that there is a bit of hypocrisy in my rankings. In my opening rant, I complained that team’s are often ranked on their promise and based on their reputation. I mentioned Duke by name. Then, I have them ranked ahead of Pittsburgh, despite the fact that Duke has lost two of its past three games while Pitt hasn’t lost in two weeks.
Still, the ACC is a much better conference than the Big East, and Duke lost two road games against the second and third best teams in the conference. Plain and simple, I don’t think that Pitt deserves to be ahead of them.
Gonzaga has been playing solid basketball all season, and hopefully this year they will be rewarded with a respectable seed.
Oklahoma State is the most underrated team in the country, and with the potent backcourt of Tony Allen and John Lucas, the Cowboys could send Eddie Sutton back to the Final Four for the first time since Big Country was in Stillwater.
The easiest spots to fill-in were the top two. Stanford deserves to be #1 based on a stronger schedule than St. Joe’s. I’ll save my thoughts about the Hawks for another day. To make a long story short, with the right match-up, St. Joe’s could be the first #1 seed to lose in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament since the field expanded to 64. Don’t laugh, it’s going to happen one day.

Once again to recap:

#1 – Stanford
#2 – St. Joseph’s
#3 – Oklahoma State
#4 – Gonzaga
#5 – Duke
#6 – Pittsburgh
#7 – Kentucky
#8 – Mississippi State
#9 – Texas
#10 – Wake Forest
#11 – Connecticut
#12 – Memphis
#13 – North Carolina
#14 – Arizona
#15 – Southern Illinois
#16 – North Carolina State
#17 – Georgia Tech
#18 – Providence
#19 – Illinois
#20 – Utah State
#21 – Kent State
#22 – Kansas
#23 – Wisconsin
#24 – East Tennessee State
#25 – Texas Tech