A Mild Pick-Me Up
...but only a mild one.
Apparently Jeff Sagarin undertook to rank 330 D1 college basketball programs based on their all-time accomplishment (I guess). In an upset, Michigan checks in ahead of MSU (as do a bunch of other B10 teams).
All in all, the rankings seem quite ridiculous (as Mr. Forde points out). On the other hand, it is on the internet, so it has to be true.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=453…
October 5th, 2009 at 1:38 PM ^
This paragraph struck me as odd...
"Kentucky also thrived for decades in an all-white league while African-Americans were taking over the game elsewhere. It's probably not coincidence that Adolph Rupp's long era of domination started waning as black players began to make their impact on the sport in the late 1950s and 1960s. Rupp's last national title came in 1958, and his last Final Four ended in defeat in the famous game against all-black Texas Western in 1966."
So, you think Rupp is a crap coach and Kentucky didn't really beat much of anyone because they lost in the Final Four to Texas Western? What about the fact that they made it to the Final Four? Does that count for nothing at all?
I guess, to him, Fielding Yost would be a joke of a coach.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:42 PM ^
He made the point because the way the schools were ranked UK was "far and away" ahead of UCLA, which he thought was ridiculous (and it is).
October 5th, 2009 at 1:52 PM ^
Saying UM is far and away better than, say, Nebraska, is ridiculous because almost all of our NC's came before 1950 whereas all of their NC's came after 1970. I just don't like how people discount history because it wasn't the same game then. I think we all know that but to throw out all the records and such just because the game has evolved is a meaningless task. At what point is only 1990 and on going to be considered "the modern era" and all others will just be talked about as living in the past?
October 5th, 2009 at 2:07 PM ^
Technically App State was "in the past" but State fans won't stop letting us hear about it.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:46 PM ^
I can't tell if you are disagreeing or agreeing with me.
My point is that it is ridiculous to consider the gap between Kentucky (#1) and UCLA (#2) as the LARGEST gap among all the teams. That is what these S rankings do. The authors point (ugh, Forde I believe, ugh) is that it is absurd to consider UK THAT MUCH of a better team than UCLA because UCLA has more titles.
If you read the entire article (and not just the little bit on race you were commenting on), you'd notice that his overall point is "why is the #2 team so far behind the #1 team if it has the most NCAA titles of all time?".
October 5th, 2009 at 2:40 PM ^
Saying the Michigan Program is far and away better than Nebraska's is not ridiculous, because we're talking about BASKETBALL. Technically, I don't think we've ever played App St. in basketball.