Michigan MBB #17 in AP Poll, #19 in ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings
Men's cagers up 5 spots from last week in the AP Poll (22 to 17) and 6 spots in the Coaches Poll (25 to 19).
Commence posts on how unimportant college hoops rankings are, a viewpoint I would wholeheartedly agree with.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^
Rankings aren't important, but it's still more fun to have a good one than a poor one.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:39 PM ^
I guess the one extra loss is huge, but how is Wisconsin ranked above Michigan when Michigan is ahead in both conference and head to head play?
February 13th, 2012 at 1:42 PM ^
UM has the better conference record (same number of losses though), more top 50 wins, and won the head to head fairly convincely. Voters don't always use common sense, though.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:52 PM ^
If we have more top 50 wins, that means that we have more losses to not-so-good teams (not in the top 50), FWIW.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:53 PM ^
Or it means we played more top 50 teams...
February 13th, 2012 at 2:17 PM ^
not a science.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:48 PM ^
Ok St had the same record as Bama and played a tougher schedule, but they were behind them in the polls because they lost to a bad team.
All I'm saying is that the same mentality applies here.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:53 PM ^
You guys have 7 losses, they have 6. They come to Breslin on Thursday so that should change this week.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:07 PM ^
You didn't complain about the BCS this year then right?
February 13th, 2012 at 2:14 PM ^
Nice. You beat me to it.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:40 PM ^
Don't think I did. Feel free to search my post history
February 13th, 2012 at 2:10 PM ^
It's really not that big of a deal, and I certainly wouldn't say the voters lack common sense with those particular rankings. There's a case for both teams being ranked higher than the other, which is reflected in the fact that they're only separated by 2 spots.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:23 PM ^
Their loss to us was on the road, and other than Iowa (whom we also lost to), Wisconsin's only losses have been against teams ranked 6, 7, 8, 12 and 17 (us).
We on the other hand, have lost, in addition to Iowa, to an unranked Arkansas team, 22 ranked Virginia team, and 18th ranked Indiana team, all of which are worse than Wisconsin's non-Iowa losses.
Does this mean Wisconsin should be ranked ahead of us? No. But the resumes are close enough that its certainly not outlandish for them to be two spots ahead of us.
Let's be honest, if the resumes were flipped and the rankings were the same, we'd have fans complaining about being ranked behind them.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:15 PM ^
If you start moving teams around based on head to head play instead of overall resume, then you just end up creating other issues. I didn't see too many posters here complaining about UM being ranked higher than MSU in spite of head to head play.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:36 PM ^
Because since the lost at Crisler, they've won every game except for the OSU game. We've been back and forth with losses and wins while they've had a good streak going.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:06 PM ^
Keep in mind that the polls, in theory, are about how teams are performing right now. Wisconsin is 7-1 in its last eight games, with the one loss a close game at OSU. We OTOH were alternating wins and losses for awhile before finally winning two straight.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
Pull the Fab 5 retro jerseys and we will go to the final 4.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^
has us at a #5 in Nashville.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
Ultimately, the only ranking that is going to count is that of the seeding committee. At the end of the season, the committee has to rank Michigan 24th or better to get them a sixth seed or better. I don't know what happens if, say, a 35th to 40th-ranked team wins the ACC or Big East. Do they get a high seed by virtue of winning the conference's automatic berth? Or do they move up a few notches and get a seven or eight seed?
Mid majors can make a difference, too. Media darling Gonzaga is ranked 24th because they beat St Mary's, who were previously undefeated in their conference, giving the WCC two projected six or better seeds. SDSU and UNLV are both ranked from the MWC. Murray State is ranked 16th at 24-1 out of the Ohio Valley Conference.
My guess is that Michigan needs to go at least 4-1 the next five games, and win two in the Big Ten Tournament to guarantee a seed in the tournament that doesn't force them to play the number one or two seed in their bracket for the second game. They may make it with one less win somewhere, but it would be great if they didn't leave it up to the committee.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:33 PM ^
seems about where we should be in the first place. We aren't quite an elite team yet but we have a chance at doing some damage in the tournament. If our three-point shooters catch fire down the stretch there seems to be a chance that we are set up for an even better seeding.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:53 PM ^
In Wisconsin's defense, they have been playing much better b-ball since they lost to Mich. They've won 7 out of their last 8, all big ten games.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:24 PM ^
have ONE bad loss this year,Iowa!!! We have had a GREAT season!GO BLUE!!!
February 13th, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^
is an Ass
February 13th, 2012 at 4:04 PM ^
should be banned, obviously.
EDIT: This comment was directed at a since caved user, and not john22.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^
Let's see where this goes
February 13th, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
to be fair-minded, but his username, singling out a particular user, shouldn't be tolerated.
I understand you being hesitant to make that call; but with respect to all of your efforts on this blog, another mod should do you the courtesy and punch his ticket.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^
I've never seen a negative karma value of -2. That's kinda impressive.
Any guesses on which recently banned guy this is?
February 13th, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^
Blue in South Bend seems to have really gotten under his skin. A look at BISB's posts the last few days probably would give a good indication.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
Just a hunch, but my money is on MrMario, being that his trolling attempts are at an age level of 14.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
It gets you on ESPN. Thats about it. Michigan has some nice scalps though, and those are important. If Beilein can find a way to hang some buckeye hair up there with the hoosiers, badgers and spartans we wont need to worry about seeding.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
if we were to finish the season at #17 wher does this put us seed-wise in the ncaa tourney?
like 4-5 seed?
February 13th, 2012 at 4:22 PM ^
Probably, but the committee has its own set of rankings, which determine seedings, and they don't necessarily correlate with the polls (or the RPI).
February 13th, 2012 at 4:23 PM ^
If THEY see Michigan as #17 they'll be the top 5 seed(one spot from the last 4 seed)
February 13th, 2012 at 4:34 PM ^
As others have said, the rankings aren't used for seeding. Last year, Michigan was largely considered a bubble team or a game off of the bubble toward the end of the season and they ended up as an 8 seed. This year, if we were ranked #17, we could probably be as high as a 3 seed or as low as a 6 seed, but most likely a borderline 4/5 seed. It really just depends on what the selection committee values in a resume this year.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:44 PM ^
Everyone was like "how do they deserve an 8 seed?" and I thought we were cheated out of an 11 or 12 seed that might have landed us in the sweet 16.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
Glad to see we moved up, even though it was pretty much only because of other teams losing. All of these teams dropped below us in the AP poll (with previous week's rank listed):
- Mississippi St (#20)
- Virginia (#19)
- Creighton (#17)
- Saint Mary's (#16)
- Florida St. (#15)
There's our 5 spot jump.