Beyond the Arc : Polls

Dissecting the preseason AP, coaches Top 25

Mike Miller — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:19:00 GMT

The first game isn’t for 11 yet, but it’s always a good day when the preseason AP and coaches’ polls are released. It gives college basketball that extra little nudge into that crowded late October/early November sports scene of World Series, NFL, college football, NBA and NHL.

Of course, casual fans won’t care until they catch highlights of the Thanksgiving week tournaments, but that’s another post. An angry one.

Back to the Top 25. Kansas was a nearly unanimous No. 1 – stunner – and the rest was what you’d expect. (If you’ve seen our Top 25, that is. It’s almost spot on.)

Tami Chappell/AP

Should Al-Farouq Aminu and Wake Forest have been ranked in the Top 25?

It should be noted that the top 9 in both are the same, just in a slightly different order. Kansas, Michigan State, Texas, UNC, Kentucky, Villanova, Purdue, Duke and West Virginia are your front-runners.

And the two polls only differed by one team. The coaches placed Syracuse 25th, while the media put Illinois at 23rd. After that, both parties agree that the same 24 teams deserve to be ranked in the Top 25.

So what else should you know?

Rush the Court does a great job breaking down the disparities between the two polls. Louisville and Minnesota are the two with the biggest difference between the two polls. They also note the strange case of USC garnering 22 votes from the coaches poll. The Trojans were just picked to finish 9^th in the Pac-10. Perhaps the coaches meant South Carolina, which only got 1 vote?

Sporting News writer Mike DeCourcy also takes apart the two polls. The flaws (Georgia Tech, Louisville ranked and Michigan overrated), while he says voters are underrating Georgetown and Wake Forest (which was essentially 35^th.)

So there you go. Two polls to argue over. Too bad March is still so far away. Then we could argue about NCAA tournament seeding, too.

Follow me on Twitter (@BeyndArcMMiller) and get more college basketball news at NBCSports.com.

Duke's the 1

Mike Miller — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:49:00 GMT

It’s almost like Coach K knew this was coming.

A couple of weeks ago, Duke’s coach was lamenting that his Blue Devils weren’t being feted by the local media for being the nation’s No. 2 team. They were 13-1, but behind Pitt. When Wake Forest upended UNC and Pitt lost, the Deacs went to the top spot.

And now? Duke is No. 1. For the 111^th week in school history. Only UCLA has been atop the polls more often.

“Any level of high success, even though it’s not permanent with a No. 1 ranking, it’s a good benchmark,” Mike Krzyzewski said Monday.

Duke (18-1) hadn’t been No. 1 since J.J. Redick’s senior season, three long years ago. Seriously, when you’re Duke and you haven’t been No. 1 since the 2005-06 season, that’s an eternity. The players have said as much. They want everyone to know just how good they are.

"For us, the last couple years, the one thing we've developed is a chip on our shoulder," Jon Scheyer told the Raleigh News & Observer. "Going into [the Maryland game], or going into any game, we just feel like we have something to prove."

Duke gets a chance to answer more questions Wednesday when it plays at No. 6 Wake Forest.

More news and notes from Monday:

The Blue Devils, for tempo-free fans, also are atop kenpom.com’s rankings and sports -- by far -- the best conference-only efficiency margin among BCS teams. Impressive indeed.
Speaking of efficiency margins, SI.com’s Luke Winn has targeted the sleeper team of the season that no one’s talking about. Here’s a hint: They’re Tigers.
Mark Gottfried, fired.
Indiana charged $5 for balcony seats Sunday against Minnesota and actually made Assembly Hall a nasty place to play. It makes me sad that the Hoosiers can’t fill the place.
Houston’s Aubrey Coleman is sorry for stepping on Chase Budinger’s face.
Brandon Jennings was going to attend Arizona, but opted for Europe instead. Turns out you don’t have to go to college to learn about regrets.
How to improve free-throw shooting and reach first place in the Pac-10, by the Washington Huskies.

Lastly, a detailed look at NJIT, its 51-game losing streak and what happens next.

Best school to never be ranked No. 1?

Mike Miller — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:37:00 GMT

It’s amazing how time gets away from you. Vacation, other duties at work piling up, no Internet at home, etc. – and just like that, it’s been nearly two weeks since my last post.

(Actually, that’s not a bad thing for most teams. My friends and family have decided I’m worse than the SI cover jinx lately. They’re only half kidding. Since blogging on Gonzaga on Dec. 11., the Bulldogs have lost four of their last five games, including a home loss to Portland State. Ouch. On Dec. 22, I said Oklahoma and UNC would be the last two teams to lose. Oops.)

So I’ll open the new year with a first: Pitt reaching No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time.

The Panthers (14-0) ran away from Georgetown and took advantage of the Heels’ loss to B.C. to snag all but two of the votes this week. Pitt had been No. 2 nine times since 1987-88 (most recently three times in the 2006-07 season; Ben Howland’s Bruins were No. 1, oddly enough), but finally broke through.

“I think it means a lot to our fans and our city and it means a lot to our university, much more so than to me and our players,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “But it is part of the reason why we play and work so hard so I am glad for them.”

Pitt’s first big test at No. 1 comes Jan. 17 against Louisville, which means it’ll likely be No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. (Home games against St. John’s and South Florida aren’t likely to derail Pitt, but the jinx could kick in…and two other No. 1 newbies lost after reaching the top spot the last two seasons – Wisconsin and Tennessee. Those two did lose to ranked teams, but hey, you never know.)

Being No. 1 in January doesn’t bring home a title, but it is a nice achievement for Dixon’s squad, and a little surprising the Panthers had never been there before.

They’re the 54^th team to reach the top spot since the rankings began in 1948 and the 9^th team to have one week under their belt. (Georgia Tech, Iowa, Oklahoma State, St. Joe’s, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wichita State and Wisconsin are the others.)

Looking at the AP poll through the years, it’s strange to see some of the teams that have been No. 1 (‘Bama, 2003; Seton Hall, 1953) and some of the programs that reached the top but haven’t been back for a while (Georgetown hasn’t been No. 1 since 1985 and N.C. State since 1975).

But it’s also odd to think of some of the best schools that haven’t ever reached No. 1 during the regular season. To name a few champs:

Louisville (No. 2 for nine weeks in 1966-67 and at least once in ’72, ’75, ’80, ’83, ’86)
Maryland (No. 2 for eight weeks in 1975-76, five weeks in 2001-02 and for at least one week in ’72, ’73, ’75, ‘98)
Utah (No. 2 in ’54, ’97, No. 3 in ’55 and ‘98
Villanova (No. 2 in ’95 and ’06).

The question is, what is the best school to never be ranked No. 1?