Any Way We Could Be #1 On Monday?

[jncuse]

The polls are worthless, but I agree with others... there is certainly an allure to being #1 at some point of the year.

I happen to think they have 1-2 correct right now. But neither team is clearly better than the other.

 

[Knicks411]

I remember Pomeroy doing a blog post about this, guess I was totally wrong. This is from 2010

The flip side is also illustrative. There have been 12 cases of a #1 team being dropped without losing a game the previous week (at least ten games into the season). The last was in 1983. And even that was because a loss suffered by #1 Memphis State the previous week occurred too late to be considered by pollsters. Thus, they remained at #1 with one loss before dropping a week later, still with one loss.

This is unrelated to the discussion, but I thought a really interesting stat

Research I did for College Basketball Prospectus 2008-09 showed that a team that beats an opponent at home by 10-19 points ends up losing the re-match against the same opponent about half the time.

 

[Alsacs]

Sorry, I meant in college hoops. There is a part of me that wants to s ay it has happened in the last 5 years, but it's really rare.

November 22, 2004 Kansas was the preseason #1 then narrowly beat Vermont 68-61 and then move down to #2 and Chris Paul led Wake Forest moved up to #1.

 

[Knicks411]

November 22, 2004 Kansas was the preseason #1 then narrowly beat Vermont 68-61 and then move down to #2 and Chris Paul led Wake Forest moved up to #1.

Hmm, surprised Pomeroy missed that. Was that the AP or coaches poll?

Edit: Both polls. Good find. Maybe Pomeroy wasn't counting pre-season polls or something

 

[jncuse]

We've been told that a win at the dome is worthless, so no.

Take home and road totally out of the equation:

In terms of top 25 wins, Arizona has better ones in terms of where teams are currently ranked.
In terms of outside top 25, its basically a draw.

Then add in the fact of location -- not sure how you can argue our wins are more impressive. Unless you decide to ignore some because of date.

 

[RF2044]

Zero chance of that happening. Arizona would have to lose.

Agree 100%. But if we beat Duke, it will start to erase some of the "Arizona is clear cut #1 based on their schedule" chatter.

 

[Marsh01]

Agree 100%. But if we beat Duke, it will start to erase some of the "Arizona is clear cut #1 based on their schedule" chatter.

Yea I think it will shrink the gap for sure. Arizona certainly deserves to be #1 until they lose. No way around that.

 

[Knicks411]

Agree 100%. But if we beat Duke, it will start to erase some of the "Arizona is clear cut #1 based on their schedule" chatter.

That's true, but to really put a dent in that (if it matters, which, in the end, it doesn't. They'll probably be the #1 in the west and we'll be the #1 in the east, no jinx) we'll need to win a few of the really tough road games we have coming up.

 

[jncuse]

Hmm, surprised Pomeroy missed that. Was that the AP or coaches poll?

Edit: Both polls. Good find. Maybe Pomeroy wasn't counting pre-season polls or something

Look again at the quote you posted from the Pomeroy site, he said "at least 10 games into the season".

But good find by all parties.

 

[chs234]

Duke is much better now than we were in November. Much better. I feel if you guys beat us on Saturday that it should hold more weight than Arizona's win over us in November.

I personally feel that this Duke team would beat Arizona on a re-match, Duke was just decent then and was in control for 30 minutes of the game. Arizona is overrated as far as I am concerned but they should remain #1 until they lost.

 

[jncuse]

A more interesting question: how far do they move us down if we lose today or Saturday? We beat Pitt and lost first place votes.

We stay at #2 IMO. There is a nice gap between #2 and #3 right now.

Some voters may put Florida ahead of us, but not many. They have 2 losses, and quality wins are modest.

Wichita St has already been surpassed (by the slightest of margins - 1 AP point) by a 2 loss Florida team. Its clear that many voters have "capped" them.

Michigan St did have a huge week by winning at Iowa. But will they surpass everybody?

 

[MGP]

Damn. Sorry I asked. Don't get your panties in a bunch...

Just bustin'

Damn. Sorry I asked. Don't get your panties in a bunch...

Just bustin' chops Hak - no worries It's just that these threads pop up every so often, and the answer is always the same. There is NO WAY that we jump 'Zona until they lose. That's just how the polls are. If there were any precedent for it, it would ony be if 1st place votes were REALLY close - that's not the case. Just as a side as well, Duke is only the #17 team in the country...

 

[Madbiker]

I'm just worried about winning our games...period.

 

[RF2044]

That's true, but to really put a dent in that (if it matters, which, in the end, it doesn't. They'll probably be the #1 in the west and we'll be the #1 in the east, no jinx) we'll need to win a few of the really tough road games we have coming up.

Personally speaking, I couldn't care less. Just win. We control our own destiny. Home games / road games--that type of hair splitting is for sports talk radio and the ncaa seeding committe to place teams that hopefully won't have the resume we do, and need to be compared against one another to jockey for position.

 

[Garbs]

this has probably been said 39 times already (didn't read the thread), but ZERO CHANCE

 

[PoppyHart]

Two road wins against Cal and Stanford would not be scoffed at.

 

[CorduroyG]

i think if we beat wake and duke we'll be #1 because arizona will lose at cal.

 

[Rocco]

Duke is not a great team, we're supposed to beat them. Zona has to lose for us to get to #1. Either way, as long as we're #1 in the East in March that's all that matters.

 

[moqui]

it's hard to imagine half the voters switching their 1st place votes after an undefeated week.

 

[SWC75]

As others have said, there's a certain amount of swagger that comes with being the #1 ranked team in America...for them and for us as fans. Plus, if we don't win it all, it's nice to say that at some point this season, we were ranked #1.

We have had four teams attain a #1 ranking and have had five Final Four teams. Nine different teams.

 

[dasher]

Although marsh is generally wrong. On this topic he is correct.


West genny is comprised of girly men and ugly womens.

That is your best post ever. By the way, Marsh01 is a closet UConn fan.

 

[edowd26]

That is your best post ever. By the way, Marsh01 is a closet UConn fan.

this makes me feel like a horrible failure.

 

[Flora'cuse]

Any Way We Could Be #1 On Monday?

You all most got your wish.
Arizona squeezed by Stanford. I had that game on the previous channel button and watched it during every commercial.

2 Things
- The commercials all come on at the same time on every channel on earth!
- My wife was going crazy every time I changed the channel. Luckily I'm a professional and did not miss any SU action.

 

[Marsh01]

i think if we beat wake and duke we'll be #1 because arizona will lose at cal.

Cal lost at home to AZ State last night. Zero chance they beat Arizona

 

[SWC75]

We need more first place votes for a palace coup:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

63-2 and 31-1. The rest of the country doesn't see us as neck and neck with the Wildcats.