Am I the only one to notice...

[Mark Joe]

...that UNC actually moved up from #5 to #4 in the AP Poll after LOSING this past week?

I know the voters have an unhealthy, Sandusky-like feeling for UNC (like Vitale, normally), but gimme a break. They got a beatdown to an ordinary UNLV squad, and lost to UK now. Last time I checked, close doesn't count in B'ball.

I can guarantee you Syracuse would not have moved up in the poll if roles were reversed.

And how bout this AP ballot...Didn't Gtown win AT Alabama?:

http://www.pollspeak.com/component/...67/t1_1,67/t2,/t2_1,/v,682/v_1,682/w,5/w_1,5/

 

[Nate44]

UNC deserved to move up. They beat a really good Wisconsin team at home and lost at #1 UK by one point. A team shouldn't be penalized for losing on the road to the #1 team, especially when you only lose by 1.

 

[Ghost]

Wow, that's quite a ballot that guy has goine on. Dartboard, maybe?

 

[EastCoast2]

We got #2 votes from AP voters in Mass, Maryland, Providence, and OKC.

 

[Mark Joe]

UNC deserved to move up. They beat a really good Wisconsin team at home and lost at #1 UK by one point. A team shouldn't be penalized for losing on the road to the #1 team, especially when you only lose by 1.

1.UNC has 2 losses already, one of which is to UNLV who was shown to be an avg team by getting hammered this past wk
2. Wisconsin lost at HOME to Marq. so I hardly hold Wisconsin in high regards, especially when UNC struggled mightily to beat them @ UNC.

Just admit that you'd vote based on UNC's hype and potential talent. Why aren't Baylor, Xavier and Missouri ranked ahead of UNC with 0 losses? And since Marquette is unbeaten and has beaten "mighty" Wisconsin, like UNC did, why aren't they ahead of UNC? Because their name isn't UNC. Period.

 

[Knicks411]

1.UNC has 2 losses already, one of which is to UNLV who was shown to be an avg team by getting hammered this past wk
2. Wisconsin lost at HOME to Marq. so I hardly hold Wisconsin in high regards, especially when UNC struggled mightily to beat them @ UNC.

Just admit that you'd vote based on UNC's hype and potential talent. Why aren't Baylor, Xavier and Missouri ranked ahead of UNC with 0 losses? And since Marquette is unbeaten and has beaten "mighty" Wisconsin, like UNC did, why aren't they ahead of UNC? Because their name isn't UNC. Period.

That is part of it, but who has Baylor beaten? The best team they have beaten is Northwestern. You don't think UNC is undefeated on Baylor's schedule?

Certainly part of it is hype; they started #1, so they have further to drop. And I disagree on UNLV; just because they lost one game doesn't mean they're an average team by any means. They're going to win the MWC. Mizzou probably has an argument to be right in the range of the top 5, they've been outstanding this year, ditto Xavier.

If UNC played Xavier tomorrow on a neutral court, who you got?

 

[Mark Joe]

That is part of it, but who has Baylor beaten? The best team they have beaten is Northwestern. You don't think UNC is undefeated on Baylor's schedule?

Certainly part of it is hype; they started #1, so they have further to drop. And I disagree on UNLV; just because they lost one game doesn't mean they're an average team by any means. They're going to win the MWC. Mizzou probably has an argument to be right in the range of the top 5, they've been outstanding this year, ditto Xavier.

If UNC played Xavier tomorrow on a neutral court, who you got?

Just because Baylor hasnt played a ranked opp. doesn't mean they aren't worthy. They've beaten SDSU (a team with 2 wins over previous Top 25 teams) and smoked a quality N'western team by 28 on the road.

UNLV? C'mon they lost by 19 pts to Wichita St, a 2-loss team that isn't even receiving votes AFTER their win over UNLV. UNLV = Average.

You just contradicted yourself, first saying Xavier has been outstanding, and follow it up by trying to make them pale in comparison to UNC to prove a point that isn't valid. Xavier won @ Vandy, and has 0 losses. Not 1, not 2, 0. So I'd take Xavier... UNC is a good team, but by no means are they a level above any other good team AT ALL. I mean, they eeked by Wisconsin at home and were not overly impressive v. Mich St. and the rest of their games were v. garbage.

 

[Rocco]

How isn't Louisville ranked ahead of UNC? UNC lost to UNLV.

 

[texascpa]

We got #2 votes from AP voters in Mass, Maryland, Providence, and OKC.

Two of them with a last name of McNamara. Coincidence? hmmmm...

 

[Knicks411]

Just because Baylor hasnt played a ranked opp. doesn't mean they aren't worthy. They've beaten SDSU (a team with 2 wins over previous Top 25 teams) and smoked a quality N'western team by 28 on the road.

UNLV? C'mon they lost by 19 pts to Wichita St, a 2-loss team that isn't even receiving votes AFTER their win over UNLV. UNLV = Average.

You just contradicted yourself, first saying Xavier has been outstanding, and follow it up by trying to make them pale in comparison to UNC to prove a point that isn't valid. Xavier won @ Vandy, and has 0 losses. Not 1, not 2, 0. So I'd take Xavier... UNC is a good team, but by no means are they a level above any other good team AT ALL. I mean, they eeked by Wisconsin at home and were not overly impressive v. Mich St. and the rest of their games were v. garbage.

Not really, I guess you could've read it that way. It's a serious question.

I've got UNC, but only -3 or 4. Xavier is a damn good team. But I think you are focusing too much just on the # of losses. Pretty much any team in the country is going to lose at UK. (Literally, Calipari hasn't lost a home game yet) The UNLV loss certainly isn't good, but I do believe they are a good team and they blitzed them from 3.

Still think UNC is one of the 5 best teams in the country. Maybe I am an idiot.

Interestingly, Pomeroy doesn't love Xavier, only 23rd or so. (One spot behind UNLV, for whatever it's worth).

I think Xavier is very good though. Like I said, neutral court, give me UNC, but it's close. Holloway is awesome.

 

[Mark Joe]

Not really, I guess you could've read it that way. It's a serious question.

I've got UNC, but only -3 or 4. Xavier is a damn good team. But I think you are focusing too much just on the # of losses. Pretty much any team in the country is going to lose at UK. (Literally, Calipari hasn't lost a home game yet) The UNLV loss certainly isn't good, but I do believe they are a good team and they blitzed them from 3.

Still think UNC is one of the 5 best teams in the country. Maybe I am an idiot.

Interestingly, Pomeroy doesn't love Xavier, only 23rd or so. (One spot behind UNLV, for whatever it's worth).

I think Xavier is very good though. Like I said, neutral court, give me UNC, but it's close. Holloway is awesome.

My bad, I thought you were joking about the Xav/NC game.

If I were being fair, I'd rank UNC around #10, based on results only. Once the season plays out, UNC could and should play itself back into the top 3-4 teams in the country, if their talent is as advertised, but to be 5-2, right now, I can't rank them so lofty on name alone, and give them a mulligans b/c they gave a good effort v. Kentucky, and for laying an egg v. UNLV. If Syracuse were 5-2 with UNC's schedule we would be around #11-12, not #4.

There's too much bias from the voters based on preseason hype. Just look at the 2009-10 UNC team. Preseason Top 5, overhyped, got destroyed by Syr, and ended up in the NIT that year with like 15 losses... And how about Mich. St from 2010-11? Preseason #2, tremendous talent - overhyped and ended up w/ 14-15 losses and deserved an NIT bid. So until UNC proves it on the court to me throughout the year, I'm selling the heels short.

My Top 10 based on performance:

1. Kentucky
2. Ohio St
3. Syr
4. Mizzou
5. Baylor
6. Xavier
7. Marquette
8. L'ville
9. Duke
10. UNC

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

I have no problem moving up a team that loses if it confirms how good they are.

 

[Knicks411]

The only quibble I would have is that I think playing UK to basically a draw on the road is a good performance.

That being said, I do agree that if you were purely ranking them on performance this year, UNC doesn't look as good as I said. (IE, blind resume type). But I'm sort of combining what I know about the teams plus they have done this year. For me, it's too early in the year to just look at the resume, most teams haven't challenged themselves in more than 3 or 4 gamess.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I don't think a team should automatically drop in the polls just because they lost a game.