I think Memphis will probably inch closer to North Carolina in tomorrow’s AP poll given the powerful 85-71 victory over Georgetown Saturday. But in analyzing the voting trends, it will be very difficult for the Tigers to claim No. 1 tomorrow.
In last week’s poll, Memphis was 62 points behind North Carolina. Memphis was No. 1 on 19 ballots (including mine), so the Tigers can’t get any more points out of those voters. Memphis was No. 2 on 30 ballots. Of those 30, 28 had North Carolina at No. 1, and I can’t imagine very many will switch their votes, as UNC is still undefeated too. And as far as the other two, Memphis won’t gain any ground since North Carolina will also move up a spot on those ballots.
Memphis was No. 3 on 13 ballots. Out of those ballots, Memphis could gain 7-9 poll points. Memphis was No. 4 on 6 ballots. Out of those, Memphis should gain at least 6 points and perhaps as many as 9 or 10. Memphis was No. 5 on 4 ballots. Out of those, Memphis will gain at least 7 points and as many as 9 or 10. In other words, Memphis will probably make up about 20 points on North Carolina but is probably unlikely to gain more than 30 if you assume that most of the voters who have North Carolina and Kansas ahead of Memphis will keep them ahead.
Anyway, here’s how I voted this week. I moved Texas from No. 2 to No. 4, as they should not be penalized much for losing a road game to Michigan State. I moved the Spartans from No. 9 to No. 6. Pittsburgh moved up from No. 13 to No. 7 for a big win over Duke. New on my ballot this week are Ole Miss at No. 22 and Stanford at No. 24. They replaced Gonzaga and Xavier.
1. Memphis
2. North Carolina
3. Kansas
4. Texas
5. UCLA
6. Michigan State
7. Pittsburgh
8. Washington State
9. Georgetown
10. Duke
11. Marquette
12. Texas A&M
13. Vanderbilt
14. Tennessee
15. Arizona
16. Indiana
17. Villanova
18. Butler
19. Brigham Young
20. Miami - Fla.
21. Southern California
22. Mississippi
23. Clemson
24. Stanford
25. Massachusetts
in Tiger Basketball
Responses to “Poll thoughts”
December 24th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Wow, what a bad call. Texas falls only 2 spots for losing to a top 10 team. Heck, the team that beats them is below them. What you smoking? Far to generous… Too much credit for a one point win over UCLA. If you think anyone will keep Memphis in the top 5 when they finally lose regardless by how much or where they play your dreaming. Memphis just knocked off a top 5 by double digits and they are not even going to absorb every 2nd place vote at min. If they can’t do that winning then what the heck you think will happen when Memphis loses. Writing for Texas now too?…Sheesh.
No wonder people favor the coaches poll with random logic like that.
December 24th, 2007 at 1:14 am
Hard to argue with Dan’s rankings. You could argue that Texas should be below MSU because they lost, but can’t move them below UCLA becuse they won. The truth is Texas has 2 top 15 wins and no other team can claim that.
December 24th, 2007 at 1:53 am
dan you are an idiot vandy above ut? which vandy win got them above ut? austin peay? south alabama? ut has beat 3 ncaa teams on the road and lost to texas away from thompson b. just another memphis fan upset with 2 straight losses to the vols. this is the reason the ap poll is a joke because of dumba** like you
December 24th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Polls don’t mean anything, Vols get 2 shots at
Vandy,one at Memphis,this is the true barometer.
I think Dan does a good job and shares his vote
to get some talk going. Calling him a DA does not
accentuate a point since even a DA knoiws UT is 1-1 in the last 2 hoops games with UM.
December 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Texas 1 point win was more impressive because it was at UCLA on their homecourt. MSU win over Texas was in Michagan. The Spartans should win that game. I can see Pitt over UCLA and Texas. The win against Duke was huge.
December 24th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
New Poll is out and Memphis gains oh so little. I guess Memphis is better off beating cupcake city. The gain is about equal and oh so much less to lose.
Texas is at 9. How you get 4 is beyond me.
I guess if Memphis can’t beat zone by double digits at home they will lose votes next week.
December 24th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
It’s very easy to justify my vote. Texas has played the toughest schedule in the nation — at UCLA, at Michigan State and against Tennessee in New Jersey. That’s three games against preseason top-10 teams, and none of them were in Austin.
Texas went 2-1 against that slate. I am not sure any team in the country could have done better. I had Texas at No. 2 last week, so why should I drop them way down for losing at Michigan State?
Texas has a more impressive body of work than any team I ranked below them.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Last time I checked MSU is in East Lansing not Auburn Hills. But go ahead and call pro-favored MSU crowd a home game even though it is not.
Way too much credit for a 1 basket UCLA win. Who knows what would of happened if there were 1 or 2 more minutes. Game could of ended either way.
As for preseason rankings…I think college football this year showed exactly how pointless those can be. If you think Texas is such a great pick for #4 then how does the majority of the voters got them down to #9?
December 24th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I didn’t see any burnt orange in the crowd at Auburn Hills just MSU green and some Oakland
white, oh yeah and some red bottoms on Oregon
supporters. Michigan Stae is still suffering
a prestige knockdown from the
Grand Valley State loss in preseason. I see Texas
tied for 6 with MSU behind Wash State and UCLA.
Michigan State will be in the mix and a very
difficult out come March for anyone,especially
at Ford Field (sweet 16)sinilar to our game in San Antonio vs A&M last year.
December 24th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Matt, it was a road game for Texas. Just like when Michigan State went to play BYU in Salt Lake City (not Provo), it was a road game.
You simply cannot argue that point.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Thanks for the blog posts Dan and plase keep ‘em coming. I wish more voters would be forthcoming about why they vote the way they do. It would be wonderful if you could write a little blurb about why each indivdual team is ranked where they are, but I know your time it limited.
The upcoming Arizona game will be a great feather in the Tigers cap if we get the win.
I agree the Texas game at MSU was a road game. Why people try top argue that is beyond me.
Thanks again.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Don’t get me wrong. Its nothing personal against Texas. I just don’t agree with your reasons. Your reasons are sound for seeding purposes. If the season ended today…I wouldn’t object to Texas being the 4th number #1 seed but certainly not 4th in the polls. If that was an elite 8 game Texas wouldn’t be 4th in the year end poll. They played two good games and got pushed up into the Top 5 off that. When it came time to justify them being there to remain they fell short. MSU had that game completely in control for about the last 2/3 of game.
Texas has played a great schedule and Wisconsin is certainly another team that isn’t all that shabby. If Memphis beats Zona next week they will do what even Texas couldn’t. Beat 3 ranked teams in the polls.
Texas was undefeated and lost and yet remains in the top four. It just does not look or feel right. If Wisconsin manages to beat Texas it will certainly be interesting to see where you put Texas next week.
December 26th, 2007 at 8:19 am
Hey Dan, where’s Kentucky in your rankings? How can you leave the CATS out of any college basketball poll? Don’t they get in just based on legacy alone? I know that parity has arrived on the college sports landscape, but a basketball poll without Kentucky is like Kentucky Burgoo without saltines. It just don’t taste right.
Loading ...
13 comment.