get-on-my-lawn

January 27th, 2014 at 6:06 AM ^

Rankings out yet!? Just kidding... And all of u who continue to say " who cares rankings dont matter".... You're pretty much right. But it doesn't mean that as a fan and probably secretly players and coaxhrd as well, that it isn't exciting at times like these to see what we get ranked as and see what others think of us.

Joined: 02/14/2013

MGoPoints: 1064

King Douche Ornery

January 27th, 2014 at 6:41 AM ^

The ratings DO matter. I know the tournament selection committee relies on SOS, how you finish, etc. BUT the ratings matter in terms of getting a better seed and tournament draw. And the higher up you go, one or two losses shouldn't, theoretically at least, knock you down that much.

Joined: 01/03/2011

MGoPoints: 106

ThadMattasagoblin

January 27th, 2014 at 6:48 AM ^

We should cruise against Purdue. I'm a little bit nervous for next weekend though. Things never seem to go right in assembly Hall. Although, things never seemed to go right in the Kohl Center or Breslin either.

Joined: 08/24/2011

MGoPoints: 63999

oriental andrew

January 27th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^

I can still see the rationale.  They've still only lost twice - albeit both on their home court - and still have some impressive wins.  And this is nowhere near the horrid slumps Wisco and osu are going through currently.  The real test for msu will be how they react now to this loss and being without dawson and payne, and with a hobbled appling, for the next few games.  They get through the next few unscathed and the ranking could be justified.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 55992

StephenRKass

January 27th, 2014 at 8:27 AM ^

Upon reflection, I think Michigan deserves the ranking . . . if not higher.

  1. They won 3 games against top 10 conference opponents in the same week, back to back to back.
  2. Two were on the road in extremely hostile environments (no one wins at Kohl, and we are the no. 1 rivalry game at Breslin.)
  3. We ALMOST beat number 1 Arizona (closest they came to a loss this season.)
  4. Our loss to Duke was at Duke, Stauskas hurt, and the team still rounding into form.
  5. There is no one ahead of us from the Big 10, giving pollsters pause.

The first 4 factors, in combination with the fifth, mean this isn't that surprising. I now think we'll end up ranked 8 + or - 2 (my earlier prediction was 10 + or - 2.)

Joined: 07/15/2008

MGoPoints: 23006

Mr. Yost

January 27th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^

...we shouldn't be ranked ahead of MSU.

They've lost 2 games, to North Carolina and Michigan. I take nothing away from Michigan in the win, but the 2nd lost was without 2 starters who they'll presumably have back by the end of the year (unlike Michigan and McGary).

We've lost 4 games. Period. That said, we needed to lose those games, we learned something from each of them. IMO, we don't close MSU out without losing at least two of those games and learning what it takes to finish a game the right way. It's COMPLETELY different from the first 38 minutes of the game. We tightened up/stalled before, now we attack like you should in the final 2 minutes.

I couldn't give a damn about rankings but MSU is still a great team when healthy. They're full of a bunch of little bitches, but they're pretty good. Michigan is too and we're climbing our way back to the top. Just keep taking care of business and others will start falling by the wayside.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

S FL Wolverine

January 27th, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^

FWIW, Sagarin ratings have us fifth, with THREE Big Ten teams in the top 5:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/sagarin/

Not sure I understand how Iowa can be ranked ahead of us given an almost identical record, much stronger SOS, and the head-to-head win, but guess that's just a nit.

I expect maybe #10 in the human polls because the low information voters just can't accept the fact that we are honestly *good*.  I think they still see this as an "overachieving" team minus arguably its best (and definitely its best known) player.

Joined: 01/06/2009

MGoPoints: 982

lbpeley

January 27th, 2014 at 9:35 AM ^

polls this morning and noticed Michigan isn't in the Coaches Top 25 and not even listed in their "others receiving votes" section. Yes, I'm aware they haven't been updated yet for this week but I would have thought we'd be in there given our spot in the other polls from the past week.

I'm assuming this has been covered here already but that seemed strange to me.

Joined: 01/29/2009

MGoPoints: 19651

champswest

January 27th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^

If we lose a couple of games, we will drop like a rock. I wonder how voters treat teams like MSU that have key players out for significant periods of time. Do they rank them based on "when healthy" or "as is"? Or, do they vote based on season to date results? Either way, I won't be losing sleep over this.

Joined: 10/04/2009

MGoPoints: 25916