Michigan received two first place votes (AP) and one first place vote from USA Today, but remain #2 behind Duke. #3 Syracuse had a major drop to #9, after their first loss to Temple. Also nice to see Pittsburgh and Kansas State make the poll at #24 and #25 respectively, since we beat them in the NIT Preseason tourney at Madison Square Gardens. Happy Holidays Michigan Family!!
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings
Our chance of being #1
Look at the teams other top
Look at the teams other top 10 teams have lost to this year already and in the past- it's not as easy as looking for the next top 10 team on the schedule and saying we or any other team won't lose until then.
Plus rankings matter very little- just keep taking care of business and the rest wil lfall into place- way too early to be caught up too much into who is number 1 and projections at this point.
Yes I realize that. Just a
Yes I realize that. Just a thought. All that matters is the tournament
Exactly where we deserve to
Exactly where we deserve to be at this point imo. Not sure who gave us a first place vote, until Duke loses or we get well into the conference season (and we prove ourselves against OSU/Indiana/etc) I don't think we deserve one. Duke's schedule has been extremely difficult thus far and they've passed every test.
COYS and Vive Le Rouge of Detroit FC!
Those Two Votes...
Purely informational stuff here:
According to Pollspeak.com - (LINK) - the breadown for all AP poll voters for the most recent poll is here. Two first place votes from Cormac Gordon (Staten Island Advance) and Fletcher Mackel (WDSU in New Orleans), four #3 votes, two #4 votes, and a sole #5 vote. Interesting distribution. Fifty-six #2 votes.
Very interesting site if you want to see who voted a particular team into what position in a given week. Personally, I like the #2 ranking - that seems about right for how we have performed to date, now at the cusp of the conference stretch.
"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."
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Also
Just to add a little because pollspeak is awesome, you can do your part by publicly shaming or commending the best and worst voters each week. It's and awesome site.
Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast.
We own the bottom of the AP poll...
Our strength of schedule may be the best in the country by tournament time.
Reporter: “Did you visit the Parthenon while in Greece?”
Shaquille O’Neill: “I can’t really remember the names of all the clubs we went to.”
Those teams...
Should all get better by season's end too. Toss in IU, MSU, OSU, Minnesota and Illinois and good lord, you're talking about a gauntlet.
“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”
One More Thought...
We should play ND every year...I think it would be cool to have a home and home series with them where our home games are at the Palace (Pistons) and their are at Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Pacers).
OR
Play all of the games in the United Center (Bulls) as a neutral site game.
...very "Brandon" of me to suggest such a thing.
“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”
Count me surprised
Count me surprised that Fielding Yost is interested in playing Notre Dame.
Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast.
To Hell with notre dame...
Thank you Bo !
Go Blue!
No place on earth I'd rather be on a football Saturday than Michigan Stadium !
It's were we should be...
Honestly, I think we've played like a #5-#8 type team in most years. And maybe that's where we end up if we continue to play like we have. With that said, there's only one team in the country that has played better than us THIS year and that's Duke. So with that said, I think we're right on.
But I haven't seen enough to feel like Indiana and maybe 1 or 2 other B1G conference games are going to be our only challenges all year. If we play at our best for longer stretches of games...then I'll feel more comfortable that Indiana, MSU an OSU will be our only true tests. I want to feel 100% or maybe even 90% sure we can beat the Illinois, Minnesota, N'Western type teams with relative ease before I go crazy about us being a top 5 team.
You win what you're supposed to win and go .500 vs. the other "Big 3" and that's a 3-loss season. That's a top 5 team and a likely #1 seed in the tournament.
With all that said, I think if we play our best, Duke is the only team that can stay with us...maybe IU in Bloomington.
Consistency is all I want to see - and not even Duke has shown that as of late. I thought we did for a good amount of the WMU and EMU games, and for the first 30 minutes of the WVU game. 1/13 is going to be the first real test, IMO...on the road @ OSU. I'm not saying we have to win by 20+, but if we can just play smart and execute to our level for 35+ minutes...we'll win and I'll be ready to move this team from potential Final Four to TRUE National TITLE contender.
“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”
That's not "Brandon" like
That's not "Brandon" like becuase it doesn't throw away tradition. "Brandon" like would be a new jersey for every game and adidas logos on the scoreboard.
903 wins most in college football
We're number 3 in RPI right
We're number 3 in RPI right now, so contrary to what most people think, our schedule hasn't been that easy
If you're doing nothing, how do you know when you're finished?
There's always a bit of human nature...
...involved in the perception of schedule strengh. What I mean is that a schedule will always appear a bit "easier" after you've beaten everyone.
They dominated every team
Except for Pittsburgh who is criminally underrated. It's harder to rationalize that they played a solid schedule since Michigan pretty much win every game by double digits
Just watched Fab Five again
Just watched Fab Five again and it got me all excited for the possibility of a #1 seed and a deep tourney run. Also, we have the potential to see three Freshman starters very soon - pretty cool.I personally think McGary is starting to feel it at this level and GRIII and Stauskas already deserve starting roles. Man, I get goosebumps just considering how awesome it is that Michigan is sooo close to being the iconic sports god I grew up with.
Our chance of being at the top is on January 12th, when Duke takes on NC State at NC State. Upset anyone? (Assuming we win our games prior to that). We take on Ohio the day after at their place.