MBB ranked 13th USA/ESPN 11th AP poll
We are up to 13th in the new USA Today / ESPN poll. The other poll isnt out yet but since we were higher in that poll already could be higher than13th when it comes out. I was told we are up to 11th same as recruits we have after this great weekend in th AP.
February 20th, 2012 at 1:52 PM ^
Wins over #6, #9, #15, and #24. Me gusta.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:48 PM ^
So is everyone hating on BISB because he imposed a brutal Kate Upton policy on us?
February 20th, 2012 at 5:48 PM ^
I wasn't hating on him (if that was directed at me). His comment made me think of that meme so I made the meme pic thingy for him and replied to him with it.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:20 PM ^
I'm guessing we have wins over #39 and #63 too.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^
However, I'm sorry, the correct answer is 36 and 51.
Edit: I see what you did. Agree to disagree.
February 20th, 2012 at 1:49 PM ^
We have yet to crack the top 12. We were #13 in Week 10 as well, hopefully we crack it next week!
February 20th, 2012 at 1:52 PM ^
In order to move up next week we will have to beat both NW and Purdue, at which point we'll have a pretty high chance of winning out and cracking the top ten. Our stiffest tests are this week.
February 20th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
If we beat NW and Purdue we have a higher liklihood of winning our remaining games?
Man, odds makers in Vegas love people like you.
As we've seen all year - our D is going to be consistent, and our O is not. If Burke / TH Jr hit their shots, we have a good chance to win every game. If they continue their hot streaks over the next two games, it doesn't mean they will continue for the rest of the regular season.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^
That's not what I said at all. Our two toughest games are our next two, so the odds of winning all four is mostly predicated on the chance of winning the next two. The main point that I was trying to get across was how difficult it would be to move up again next week. However, if we do that, we'll likely win out and make the top ten at the end of the regular season.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:07 PM ^
I get what you are saying. I still disagree with you.
In theory, we'd have to be around 80% favorites in our final two games to have great odds of running the table (assuming we win the next two). Why? Well, you'd need both games to hit, so you'd multiply the % against each other... meaning if we were 80% to win both, we'd be 64% to win out.
My argument is that's ridiculous. The B1G is strong this year. Every game is different. Even if we win the next two, we're (in theory) only 50/50 to win each of the last two games, meaning we'd have a 25% chance of running the table.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:13 PM ^
Illinois is collapsing. Penn St is the worst team in the B1G. They have like 2 wins combined in the last month.
Edit: To avoid being misinformed, I looked it up. Three wins between them in the last month for a combined record of 3-13.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:16 PM ^
I get it, they are bad. We're not really 50/50 in that game. Closer to 80/20 most likely.
Still - shit happens. We lost to Iowa by 16 on the road this year. I don't think anyone is going to tell you that Iowa is much better than Illinois (PSU? perhaps).
February 20th, 2012 at 2:21 PM ^
Whatever, I don't really see the need to continue this and I wasn't the one that negged you, but it seems unnecessary to call out a secondary point of my post on an issue of semantics and considering that I'm a financial math major, I don't really need a lesson in basic probability from some guy on the internet.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^
I would absolutely say that Iowa is a better team than Illinois right now. Iowa just beat up Indiana, and Illinois is a shell of its early-season team. So yes - Iowa is much better than both Illinois and PSU.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:56 PM ^
Illinois is playing like the worst team in the BIG. Nebraska blew them out!!!
February 20th, 2012 at 3:38 PM ^
Iowa is not quite the pushover people believe. They're 6-8 in Big Ten play. They just were very bad outside the conference for some reason.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:58 PM ^
Don't backpedal; you're correct. Given new information (wins against NW and Purdue), it's perfectly acceptable (and appropriate) to revise probabilities.
February 20th, 2012 at 11:13 PM ^
I like to think of the season as a Markov chain.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:07 PM ^
If we beat NW and Purdue we have a higher liklihood of winning our remaining games?
Man, odds makers in Vegas love people like you.
It's funny when people try to be snarkily condescending, but really just reveal their own lack of reading comprehension!
He didn't say that we would have a "higher" likelihood of winning our remaining games if we beat NW and Purdue. He said that we have a pretty "high" likelihood of winning out if we get past the next two games. Which is a perfectly rational comment. So not only were you being a dick, you were being a stupid dick as well.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:12 PM ^
I think he was saying that:
@NW + PUR >> @ILL + @PSU
The more likely losses are to Northwestern and Purdue (both possible-to-likely tourney teams), rather than the tire fire and monkey rodeo that are Illinois and Penn State, respectively.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:06 PM ^
DOn't forget the tournament primarily chooses based on RPI and momentum. If Michigan can win out or go 3-1 in our last 4 games and perhaps win a Big Ten tourney game or two, we are in GREAT position for a 3 or 4 seed. Our RPI and strength of schedule is outstanding. We may not be the best in ranking, but there's little to no doubt we will probably be even higher if we continue what we're doing now and have a great seed come tournament time
February 20th, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^
Yeah, if the tournament were to start now, we'd definitely be seeded higher than Murray State, which should top out somewhere around a 6 seed, if they win out and win their tournament, if the committee's past ranking practices hold up. Even with their bracket busters win, their RPI is still in the mid-30s.
We should also be above Florida, whose RPI is 18. We've got a better resume against the top 30 (UM: 5-4 against RPI top 25 vs. Florida's 2-3; and 7-5 against top 50 vs. FLA's 3-3).
February 20th, 2012 at 2:44 PM ^
Are we out of contention for a 2-seed? I could see us moving up to around 8ish in the rankings if we win out.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:47 PM ^
Not at all. The rankings don't correspond exactly to the bracket and we have one of the best resumes in the country. On the insider bracketology stuff, Lunardi actually has us as the top three seed right now. A strong finish, including in the B1G tourney, could definitely lead to a 2-seed.
February 20th, 2012 at 1:54 PM ^
I declared this team worthy of its 20-25 ranking only a week or two ago. That was predicated on THJ/Smot/Vogrich's combined struggles continuing. After seeing some life from this trio in recent games, and after the fantastic defensive showing on Saturday, I am now completely on board for a top 15 ranking.
Beware, though...tomorrow night in Evanston is a true Admiral Ackbar game.
February 20th, 2012 at 1:59 PM ^
11th in AP.
February 20th, 2012 at 3:26 PM ^
That's Michigan's highest AP ranking since early January 1997 (when they were ranked 8th).
February 20th, 2012 at 10:26 PM ^
that was the poll right after or sure close to it when we upset the #1 team in the nation the Duke BlueDevils? Well anyway I am just happy we have been ranked from wire to wire so far this season. I was a little worried when we kept going 1 win, 1 loss each week for 3 or 4 weeks in a row we would fall out. But the nice 3 game winning streak including a win over #6 Ohio now puts all my worries to rest.
February 20th, 2012 at 11:06 PM ^
We did beat Duke that year, but they weren't #1 at the time. The win over the #1 Duke team came in December 1997 - the same day Woodson won the Heisman.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:06 PM ^
Although there are teams here that I think would beat us on a neutral floor, there isn't a single NCAA tournament match-up that I would look at and think "we're done." I think this group has the potential to put together a serious run this spring.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:37 PM ^
If Burke can score 17 on Craft, he can score on anyone
February 20th, 2012 at 3:00 PM ^
I don't think we are on par with the UNCs, Dukes, or Kentuckys yet.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^
Football team was 13 and the Basketball team is 13...is this destiny?
February 20th, 2012 at 2:34 PM ^
And to think at the beginning of the season, we thought we were a bubble team
February 20th, 2012 at 3:53 PM ^
I'm very surprised there are no comments about us being overrated. These ranking threads are usually full of them. I don't miss them.
February 20th, 2012 at 7:20 PM ^
been but after that huge win I dont think anyone can say that now. We have 8 quality win, and really only one bad loss which is Iowa who also has been playing a lot better of late. Memphis, Iowa State are now looking a lot better has key wins also. Let just get these last 4 wins and hope Ohio takes down MSU and we get the share of the title first since I was 6 years old in 1986. Go Blue
February 20th, 2012 at 8:00 PM ^
No "I don't want us to be ranked" comments, either. Good. We are turning into one of the big boys.
February 20th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ^
we dont care about ranking or rankings are useless untill your rankedand then it is the greatest thing ever. Yeah I love when people use the ranking only for there own purpose.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:25 AM ^
February 20th, 2012 at 4:10 PM ^
I'll take it. I have a feeling this team is gonna make some noise come tournament time.
February 20th, 2012 at 11:50 PM ^
this team. It is a team you can be proud of, not just because they win either. They play hard, they play unselfishly, and they play with confidence. To be as small as they are, and to play defense as well as they do is a testament to this team, and coaching staffs hard work.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:22 AM ^
February 21st, 2012 at 6:37 AM ^