Basketball ranking
When does Michigan get ranked? Currently have 18 votes in the AP poll and 1 in the USA Today poll. Meanwhile, UM is 5th in the CBSSportsline RPI rankings. The UCLA victory can't be taken as an aberration yet, even if we did get beaten by Duke and needed OT to beat Savannah State. I assume most sports writers with a vote aren't really following basketball closely with the football seasons in full swing, but does Michigan deserve to be ranked in the AP/USA Today Top 25s? An upset of Duke would surely warrant being ranked, but even with a competitive loss does UM get consideration, or is it really just too early in the season to expect a ranking?
December 1st, 2008 at 9:03 PM ^
hold on there fella. I don't think you can get too crazy yet. I think they caught UCLA on a bad night and I also think UCLA was pretty overrated.
Sure, they are much improved from last year, but they might not be top-25 worthy yet. I'm going to the Duke game on Saturday and will be cheering for a win, but I certainly don't think it's likely. Lets just hope they beat the teams they should beat in the non-con and go .500 in Big Ten play. That should get them in the tourney with that UCLA win being enough to get them off the bubble.
December 1st, 2008 at 9:21 PM ^
I think UCLA was overrated too, but I think the win was a result of outstanding play on Michigan's behalf, and not necessarily on UCLA playing exceptionally poorly.
I agree we might not be top 25 yet, but I guess what I'm wondering is if a solid UM team that wins the games it is supposed to and maybe pulls a couple more upsets will get ranked or will be overlooked because of the recently poor past.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 AM ^
beilein's system also matches up really well with UCLA for some reason. he's 3-1 against them all-time(?) and we played them close in that one loss last year
December 1st, 2008 at 9:03 PM ^
I guess the question is, are 25 other teams that would normally be considered better than us taking care of business after a handful of games? I would guess the answer is yes. I don't care if we're not ranked for a while, or even at all, so long as we can get into the tourney.
December 1st, 2008 at 9:25 PM ^
The rankings will take care of themselves, and besides, we're talking basketball. Who really cares about the polls?
Michigan will be a bubble team, which is a lot more than I would have said before the season. They have one quality win, and a big one at that, even if UCLA is overrated (they are, but they'll still win the Pac 10 and be a 2 seed). Two more big non-conference tests: Maryland, Duke, and much later in the year, UConn. If they get one of those, they're in good shape. In my opinion Maryland is tough but winnable, and Duke, not so much. UConn I have no idea.
The key will be conference play. The Big Ten is not highly regarded and will probably not get more than 5 teams in the tournament. Michigan will be in a fight to finish in that top half.
December 1st, 2008 at 9:28 PM ^
That UConn game is terrifying. Have you seen their center? The dude is a beast. I have no clue who is going to check that guy. Rutgers? That freshman...uh....Cronin? I think that's his name. UConn's center is going to have a field day because Michigan has no inside presence.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:05 PM ^
.....even scheduled that game to begin with....and in February, to boot.
The Beast you refer to is Haseem Thabeet. I say we suit up Carson Butler for the game to guard him.
A few months ago when I saw the Huskies on the schedule, i was like 'Good Grief.' Now, I see it as a great resume opportunity for the team.
Although it could go either way....UM on the bubble....Uconn blows them out.....suddenly all the good will UM had built up is gone.
Shit. Now I am back to Good Grief.
December 1st, 2008 at 9:41 PM ^
Its still way too early, and one impressive win over a top ten team isn't enough to break Michigan into the top 25. If Michigan can keep on winning the games it should win, and throwing in a few upsets here and there, I would not be surprised to see Michigan jump into the rankings. But at this point a.) its too early b.) there are too many other "better" teams out there that havent lost any games they shouldn't and c.) and as mad magician said anyway, its basketball - who cares - the tourney will sort everything out in the end.
I hope michigan makes it to the tourney. I would kill for a Georgetown/Michigan matchup.
And Michigan should be able to take care of Maryland. What a shitty school in a shitty state.
HOYA SAXA
December 1st, 2008 at 9:42 PM ^
to tell, but Beilein has done a good job to date making sure the team is prepared each game. I don't think we'll know much until we get into the Big Ten season. I think the Maryland game is winnable, Duke is more than likely a loss (but it's at home I believe and anything can happen, especially since they have seen the Dukies once already), and I think UConn is a definate loss - too many athletes on that team. Anyhow, 5 wins to date is a great start and the field of 64 is a definate possibility.
December 1st, 2008 at 9:47 PM ^
I thought they would recieve more votes this week than last week. Bball rankings seem to be pretty meaningless b/c teams play 3-0 games a week. Teams left out of the rankings early find it hard to crack them. When they finally do they quickly drop out after losses that are bound to happen w/ so many games. They are fun to look at but we can't take much stock in whether or not Michigan is ranked or not.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:13 PM ^
Are fun to talk about, but borderline irrelevant.
Maybe I am a March Madness nerd, but I prefer to absorb all the various predicted brackets out there than digesting the polls.
My take on the polls......the back half, if not more, of the basketball poll is more fluid than football. You will often see wholesale changes on 15-25 on a week to week basis.
The Michigan win over UCLA will resonate louder long term if UM keeps playing well and winning games. In the short term, as for getting pollsters to vote for them, Michigan was largely a forgotten team this week. There was a ton of awesome college hoops all week, and Michigan's marquee games were the week before. So perhaps the lack of groundswell for UM in this week's vote was a case of out of sight, out of mind.
They wont have that problem if they are impressive this week.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:33 PM ^
Michigan is probably better than last year, but really, they barely squeaked out a win over freakin' Savannah State (whose most impressive wins this year are Coastal Carolina and North Florida, who are respectively 1-4 and 0-5 -- yeah, really). Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
I mean, if we had barely taken Toledo this year in football, you wouldn't be banging the drum for a top-25 ranking, would you?
December 1st, 2008 at 11:32 PM ^
is that the top 10 teams are carefully picked, and the list is usually valid (more so as the season goes on), and that the teams 10-25 (again, better as the season goes on) are just a hodgepodge of teams that are no more deserving for their ranking as the next team. We certainly attracted some attention with the UCLA win, and I don't think the loss to a clearly superior Duke team hurt us greatly, but it's going to take a convincing winning record and other big wins to get us from the back of pollers minds and into the top 25, which probably won't happen this season. Ya never know though, do ya.
I believe in Beilein and I'm extremely proud of his progress. I have real hope we're going to be a huge Big Ten contender in a few years and maybe a powerhouse in a few more, but now I'm just enjoying the fruits of a competent, competitive team.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:57 AM ^
Beating Maryland will be nice, but that will never happen if they play like the first half of the last game. Also why the hell is Anthony Wright ever starting?! He can't shoot. They should start Sims/Gibson or Sims/Shepard. Anyone but him - he just keeps shooting.