"Arizona is the definitive #1 team in the nation"

[Quazzum69]

With Oregon and Colorado - the only ranked teams remaining on Arizona's schedule - losing today, that is great for Syracuse getting the overall number one seed.

Also, with the Pitt guy going down, is there any game left on the schedule that Syracuse is not any worse than a couple point underdog? Undefeated in the ACC looks more and more likely ...

 

[Knicks411]

yeah Arizona does have some quality road wins, which they deserve credit for. They are #1 ahead of us because they started ahead of us though, plain and simple.

I actually think our wins are better overall since Nova > than SDSU and Baylor far outdistances any of Zona's other wins. Even Cal, Minny, and UNC equal the UCLA and Michigan wins. Unfortunately, none of them were @ wins.

Yeah the road thing is big, Nova is probably better than SD State but I would probably saying winning at SD State is more impressive than beating Nova at home. They also won @ Michigan, before McGary was out, which is probably pretty comparable to neutral Baylor? (Baylor is ranked high in the polls, but they are 29th in Ken Pom, good, not great. But Minnesota and Cal are neutral wins against solid teams. I don't know; probably pretty close.

Also, with the Pitt guy going down, is there any game left on the schedule that Syracuse is not any worse than a couple point underdog?

Using the Ken pom #'s right now, we'd be 3 point dogs at Pitt (which can change with the injury), 1 point favorites at Duke, and 1 point dogs at UVA.
But the odds of an unbeaten season still have to be super low. Too manyt hings can happen

 

[orangefan13]

Wonder how much a healthy Dajuan would help against slower but stronger team in the paint like arizona.

 

[normaliswear]

With Oregon and Colorado - the only ranked teams remaining on Arizona's schedule - losing today, that is great for Syracuse getting the overall number one seed.

Also, with the Pitt guy going down, is there any game left on the schedule that Syracuse is not any worse than a couple point underdog? Undefeated in the ACC looks more and more likely ...

There is ZEROOOO chance we go undefeated in the ACC. The ACC is a step down from the BE and its a down year... but there are good teams and it only takes one guy getting insanely hot and hitting 9 3's... or a road game where we let a team hang around, like we've done, only at the end they make a couple shots and we miss a couple. I'd say 3 losses, an ACC title and tourny win, and a #1 seed are realistic goals.

 

[2-3zone]

Great execution tonight by Arizona and lockdown defense in the 2nd half

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

Also, with the Pitt guy going down, is there any game left on the schedule that Syracuse is not any worse than a couple point underdog? Undefeated in the ACC looks more and more likely ...

Not happening. 4 losses is more likely than undefeated.

 

[skurey]

Not happening. 4 losses is more likely than undefeated.

strictly regular season?

 

[moqui]

The top 9 teams have a total of 3 losses.

2 of them came to us and 1 came to UNC who we crushed.

food for quality wins thought

that was last week's meme

since then, OSU has lost twice, ISU & Baylor once each. The previous top 9 now has 7 total losses.

We have as much of an argument to that spot as they do.

60 out of 65 writers and 30 out of 32 coaches disagree

SU has an argument - a good one even - but clearly not one as strong as the Cats in the eyes of those who vote.

Also, with the Pitt guy going down, is there any game left on the schedule that Syracuse is not any worse than a couple point underdog? Undefeated in the ACC looks more and more likely ...

more and more possible, yes, but way too soon to invoke "likely"

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

strictly regular season?

yep. 18-0 is just not happening, folks.

and i love this team!

 

[Dave85]

Arizona is a very nice team. I think us and them in the Championship game would be fabulous.

Christmas is a lot better big man on defense than he gets credit for. I think our zone would give Arizona a lot of trouble.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I want that #1 spot. I don't think being #1 at the end of the season is "all that matters". Being #1 for however long you have it elevates your program in the eyes of fans, media and recruits.

Being in the top 5 all the time is pretty awesome too but it doesn't carry anywhere near the attention #1 does. Just like how, on an infinitely larger scale, garnering Final 4 banners is a huge program boost but in no way carries the prestige of National Champion.

No problem with Zona being #1 but they are NOT "definitive" #1. We have as much of an argument to that spot as they do.

Just don't go making any t-shirts this time. Let's act like we've been there before (and not jinx it ...).

 

[IthacaMatt]

On paper Arizona deserves the #1 IMO - its quality win portfolio of at UCLA, at San Diego St, at Michigan, Neutral Duke is better than Syracuse or Wisconsin. People tend to undervalue quality road wins.

But they are not definitive #1 - to me that means they would clearly be the top team on the court against anyone. And that is not the case.

We are going to have to overtake them via a Zona loss. In terms of the ACC schedule, our 5 toughest road games are in the last 8 games of the season.

As an aside, one UConn crackhead fan said that we would be unprepared for the tourney due to the weak ACC. Sure our first 10 games of the ACC may not be great preparation. But playing at Duke, at Virginia, at Pitt, at Florida St, and at Maryland in our final 8 games, plus the ACC tourney, will get us more than adequately road tested and having to play our best basketball at season end.

Yes, we should run out to a big lead in the standings, the way the schedule has been set up. But late February and the first week of March is going to be a meat grinder. I wouldn't be surprised at a loss or two in there, just because of how many roadies it is all bunched together.

 

[IthacaMatt]

There is ZEROOOO chance we go undefeated in the ACC. The ACC is a step down from the BE and its a down year... but there are good teams and it only takes one guy getting insanely hot and hitting 9 3's... or a road game where we let a team hang around, like we've done, only at the end they make a couple shots and we miss a couple. I'd say 3 losses, an ACC title and tourny win, and a #1 seed are realistic goals.

Do I need to remind you that we had a 1 loss season in a tougher deeper conference just a couple years ago?

 

[hungrychuck]

Wouldn't say zero percent, but two to four losses in regular season is a rational prediction.

Not because the other teams are better. But because stuff happens. Poor effort by SU, knockout night by opponent raining down 3s, ball bouncing the wrong way, bad matchup...it can happen and history shows it will happen.

Board will go into meltdown, of course.

And then the ship will be righted, the critics will deny they were ever critics, and it will be onward and upward.

 

[Orangeyes]

It's January 12, and I'm a patient man.

In 2003 we were finally ranked in the top 25 in week 10 on January 13 at # 25 by the AP.

However, the next week we were dropped out of the rankings after a 70-63 loss at Pitt.

Week 12 after we downed Seton Hall & Miami we climbed to #24 in the AP.

At this point the USA Today poll hadn't acknowledged us yet.

Finally the next week, February 3rd, we entered the USA Today poll at #21. The AP had us at #19.

We stayed in the teens for six straight weeks through March 17

In the field of 64 we were the #3 seed as an at-large in the East, Arizona was #1 in the West as an at-large.

The Wildcats coached by Lute Olson beat Vermont 80-51, Gonzaga 96-95, Notre Dame 88-71 before falling to Kansas 78-75.

 

[SmilinBob]

This guy can say all he wants and I couldn't care less. The #1 I care about is the one when you hoist the trophy up in the air after the last game, some guys opinion means nothing...it's determined on the court. That's the #1 I want, the one that is earned not voted on.

 

[TheCusian]

There is ZEROOOO chance we go undefeated in the ACC. The ACC is a step down from the BE and its a down year... but there are good teams and it only takes one guy getting insanely hot and hitting 9 3's... or a road game where we let a team hang around, like we've done, only at the end they make a couple shots and we miss a couple. I'd say 3 losses, an ACC title and tourny win, and a #1 seed are realistic goals.

Until we lose there is always a chance.

 

[newmexicuse]

It's all irrelevant......unless we meet them in the NC game.

 

[orange2win]

Arizona has beaten only one ranked team this year - Duke - who are now ranked #16. They do not deserve to be #1. Expect them to lose to Colorado in a little over a week. We already have five #1 votes, so I am not alone in this view.

 

[Orangeyes]

Arizona has beaten only one ranked team this year - Duke - who are now ranked #16. They do not deserve to be #1. Expect them to lose to Colorado in a little over a week. We already have five #1 votes, so I am not alone in this view.

Two things

Colorado star guard Dinwiddie injures knee

Wilcox, Washington upset No. 15 Colorado

 

[longtimefan]

With Oregon and Colorado - the only ranked teams remaining on Arizona's schedule - losing today, that is great for Syracuse getting the overall number one seed.

Also, with the Pitt guy going down, is there any game left on the schedule that Syracuse is not any worse than a couple point underdog? Undefeated in the ACC looks more and more likely ...

Other than SU, the top 3 teams in the ACC now appear to be Fla St, UVa and Pitt (prior to injury). We play all 3 of them on the road. Plus, we still have Miami, who gave us fits, down there. I'd settle for 3 losses.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

I looked through the Pac-12 conference and man, that conference might be even cup cakier than the ACC this year. California should be ranked (maybe as of today) but the next best teams in the conference (Oregon and Washington, both ranked) both just lost and UCLA is the only other team with a winning conference record (and they are not ranked.) UCLA does have some pretty gaudy numbers (nationally, 3rd in FG%, 8th in points/gm) so maybe they'll make some noise by tournament time.

All teams in the conference have an overall winning record, which I think is a little odd but the ACC only has one team (BC) with an overall losing record so maybe not too odd.

 

[PoppyHart]

Arizona has beaten only one ranked team this year - Duke - who are now ranked #16. They do not deserve to be #1. Expect them to lose to Colorado in a little over a week. We already have five #1 votes, so I am not alone in this view.

They won at SDSU.

 

[orangefan13]

Wins @SDSU, @Michigan, @UCLA and Duke

They have everything you want in a team

1. Watching them play Drexel, they looked awfull,
2. Duke is weak inside That played right into Arizonas strength they won by 6-8 and duke was winning for a good amount of time if I remember.
3. Michigan isnt that good. they got beat by duke by 10, lost to charlotte and their best win is @minni by 3 they beat fsu barely in overtime and @ nebraska by one.
4.ucla is pretty weak. Duke beat them by almost 20 they absolutely smoked them Itheir win against ucla on a neutral court was better then zonas), and missouri beat them by 10 at home. They have beaten nobody outside of drexel and a decent arizona state team at home.
5. SDSU was a good win but it was in the first week of the season and they shot 36% they are shooting 45% as a team for the season.

I am not saying zona isn't very good, they have a ton of balence. I just don' think their resume is as impressive on paper as it looks on the eyes.