Obviously, voting Memphis No. 3 in the AP poll has really offended a lot of Tiger fans. No.3? Oh, the horror! Never mind that I voted Memphis No. 1 in the preseason poll, and kept them No. 1 for months when very few voters had Memphis at No. 1. Never mind that I was one of the few voters to put Chris Douglas-Roberts on my preseason All-American team. Never mind that I have spent hours and hours writing stories, blogs and doing radio interviews around the country explaining why Memphis is a legitimate national title contender and why the primary theories about why Memphis will lose in the tournament (that the league will hurt them and free throw shooting) are bogus. Never mind all that. Because I put the best team from the best league in the country at No. 1, and the team that beat Memphis one week ago at No. 2 in this week’s poll, I’m somehow an idiot. Though you might not agree with my methodology, you have to acknowledge that my job in voting is different from your job as fans. I could make a case for any of four teams in the No. 1 spot, and that’s why voting is so difficult. As a fan, you are only trying to make a case for your team.
I’ve been saying for weeks and weeks that Memphis is a better team than Tennessee, a more complete team, and I believe that if they played 10 times on a neutral court it would be 5-5 or 6-4 in favor of Memphis. I think Tennessee caught Memphis at a perfect time, as the Tigers were ripe for a loss that night. But to move Memphis ahead of UT again would be completely discrediting the head-to-head victory that happened just one week ago. To do that would be punishing Tennessee for losing a road game against a top-25 team, and I just don’t do that. I’d afford Memphis the same benefit of the doubt if the roles were reversed. So my options were to keep it the same way I had it last week (which I didn’t want to do, because UT should be moved down a little bit for losing) or move somebody else up to No. 1. And I decided UCLA on merit was deserving of that spot based on their performance the past month. Just look at the road wins: Stanford, USC, Arizona, Arizona St., Washington St.
Meanwhile, if I were Tennessee, I’d be very worried about Sunday’s victory against Kentucky. The thing that kept coming to mind as I watched that game was that UT looked like a tired team. This happened two years ago, if you remember. The Vols played lights out until the end of the season, faded down the stretch, got that controversial No. 2 seed and lost in the second round to Wichita St. I didn’t see a lot of legs or energy yesterday in a game that should not have been close. Is it possible that UT reached its peak last week in Memphis and now is on the down side of its season? Who knows. But there are a lot of teams surging for No. 1 seeds right now, and UT really needs to win at Florida to avoid the pressure of having to win the SEC Tournament. It’s hard to play the way UT plays — all out, all the time — and not get worn down toward the end. Another epilogue to that game is that Kentucky exposed a very significant trend. UT doesn’t like to play defense for 35 seconds. Kentucky held the ball, held the ball, then went to the rim once the shot clock got to 8 or 7, and it was a fantastic gameplan that worked pretty much the whole way through. It shows even further the folly of Memphis trying to take quick shots in that game last Saturday, failing to pass the ball around and run their offense. The Tigers really let UT off the hook by playing that way, and a more measured attack on offense probably would have propelled them to a win.
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Responses to “UT wearing down? More poll thoughts…”
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I personally don’t have a problem with how you voted. Moreover, I could care less how you or any other sports journalist votes. I agree you can’t vote like a fan. In doing so, you’ll automatically vote your team No.1 when the reality may be otherwise.
Being objective and stating your case is fine, but I don’t understand why you made the point of addressing angry e-mails. Why mention it in one breath, and do exactly as you said you weren’t going to do the next?
At any rate, I concur with most of the points you made. And I’m not going to answer any angry e-mails about it either.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I think your take on the Tenn-Ky game and the lack of legs is right on target, started seeing it
against Vandy.
I’ll accept your poll logic as being a
good a shot as anyone else can make. If UNC wins
at Duke and UCLA beats Stanford it should validate
your position. After all OUR GOAL is a #1 on 3/16
and a Final #1 on 4/8.
Memphis needs Texas to get a #1 otherwise we’ll be deja vu all over again in Houston.
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I am a Tiger Fan and I am NOT angry that you voted the Tigers third in your voting. I am very surprised however that you had the guts to do it given that you are paid to cover the Tigers. I have said many times (mostly to my friends) that you are one of the best the Commercial Appeal has ever had and your insight into all things related to Tiger and NCAA basketball is appreciated very much.
Regarding Tennessee, I think most Tiger fans conceded that Tennessee was superior to the Tigers in Football, our series record stands at 1-18. We always prided ourselves in being better in basketball even though our series record is 7-12. Tennessee never really made a commitment to being a top basketball program and to lose to them hurts a lot.
All the Tigers can do is play the games and try to get better. I hope they have an opportunity to do that, but it seems to me a lot of our opponents try to bait Joey into a scuffle to help motivate their own team. I haven’t seen a lot of improvement outside the realization by Rose that he has to step up in big games and not allow the Tigers to make a bad shot at the end of the game.
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March 3rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
The logic in your predictions was flawed, not the fact that you voted Memphis #3.
The fact that you didn’t drop Tennessee lower than #2 based on the fact that they lost on the road to Vandy in a close game, but you would penalize Memphis for a loss in a tight game that could have gone either way(and ignoring two wins, one on the road)is puzzling.
A lot of guys have predicted Memphis to be in the Final Four, if not the National Champion. Pat Forde, Digger Phelps, and Andy Katz among them. It’s not like you’re the only one who has been championing this team since preseason.
And there you go again with the I, I, I, and me, me, me.
When are you going to learn that it’s not about you, but about the fans?
I personally think that Memphis could be ranked @1 or @2, but with the “what have you done for me lately” mentality that the media has, I think #2 or #3 is fair.
I raise an eyebrow on the boner that all these writers have for UNC. They played nobody challenging in their non-conference schedule, and are dominating a lackluster ACC with losses to Maryland and Duke…blah blah blah. When Davidson and Kentucky are your signature wins…there’s something very, very wrong.
Of course, I’m not blaming you for that, since you had UCLA (HA) as your #1.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Do everyone a favor and not vote next year. I am not questing your writings of Memphis…but your choices in the poll have really been all over the place.
Anyone that voted Memphis less than #2 should have their credentials removed. Remember when I said I would check back after you showed Texas so much love earlier in the year with your poll and see where you would put Memphis. Way NOT to step up Dan.
Memphis has ONE loss. You and all the other “clowns” have justified other teams losing 2+ or more games. Everyone is allowed to lose but Memphis. I was wondering when your love for Vandy would kick in and way to show it off too with your lackluster defense of hiding behind Tenn beat Memphis.
There is two sides to look at it. Your punishing..yes punishing Memphis because they lose to Tenn…Its not Memphis fault that Tenn lost to Vandy but lets punish Memphis anyway. I don’t care how recent the victory was. What? Two weeks would of been OK? Its really absurd. Plan to vault Duke over Memphis too if they beat UNC?
UCLA is 2-1 against the Top 20 RPI with 1 RPI 100+ loss. That is what we call a bad loss. There are 5-2 against teams in your AP Poll. UCLA has one win over the top 15 of your AP Poll…sounds like a real number #1 team here.
Tenn is 2-3 against the Top 20 RPI. They are 4-2 against Teams in your AP Poll with two wins and one loss in the Top 10.
Memphis is 2-1 against the Top 20 RPI. Memphis is 4-1 against teams in your AP poll to include two wins in the top 15. How this team isn’t an automatic qualify for the number #1 overall seed is beyond me.
To top it all off UCLA isn’t playing the best ball right now. A 2 point win is the best playing team? Watched the last couple Kansas games pal?
Lets examine your top 5. They all share something in common. They all lost one game in Feb. Memphis, Tenn, and UNC all lost to ranked teams. UCLA and Stanford lost to teams currently not ranked. In fact, UCLA loss is the worst of the five and yet they are number #1.
Why do I even bother. Its clear you have no idea what your doing anymore than the average fan.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:02 am
He’s just being “objective”, remember? When is this kid’s internship over?
March 4th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Dan, Understand that on the MT.org board you are addressing the hardcore of the hardcore fans. We are not rational and have no intention of being so. You’re either with us or against us, LOL.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Matt- nice job in laying out the facts. You’re also correct in saying he doesn’t even have the insight of an average fan- I’m afraid he’s not too objective these days.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Dan you can not make a good case for UCLA jumping either Tennessee or Memphis. 2 defeats at home (one to your cross town rival that is not ranked) and a loss to Washington who is out of the top 100. Are you sure this is the order you want your poll to be in?
March 7th, 2008 at 8:20 am
How’d their legs look in the Florida game? The comparison to the team 2 years ago is totally off base. That team totally over-achieved -first year playing Pearl’s style. This team has been through the wars. What you saw against Kentucky was the result of the entire week: Gritty win against those unbeatable Tigers and then the tough loss at Vandy. Don’t get me wrong, UK had a good game plan, but if you watched that game, they still had to hit various long contested 3’s after running the clock down. Vols half court defense was solid. SEC CHAMPS!
March 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I have to agree with nukem Dan, I feel he makes a good point.
It’s ironic that Tennessee could go so many years just being known for Pat Summitt and their women’s basketball team to ranked high on the top 25 all of a sudden in men’s basketball. Really who would have thought this would happen, and yet sadly the Tigers lose to them.
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