Michigan basketball makes its debut in the AP Top 25 at #23
Doesn't look like ESPN has updated its rankings quite yet, but here's the link:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings
EDIT: Rankings are now up to date
January 15th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
I don't have data to back this up but I suspect the rankings influence the selection committee. If our RPI is in the 30s because of those three December opponents but our ranking is in the top 25, I do think that could help our seed.
January 15th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
but the committee and voters alike are influenced by things like how well a team is playing recently, margins of victory, injuries/changes in team composition (all things the RPI doesn't take into account), and they're not required to treat a win over the 300th best team much differently than a win over the 200th best team like the RPI does so they'll generally deviate from RPI in similar ways.
So if you did have the data I'm sure you'd see closer correlation between the rankings and the seedings than RPI and the seeding, but it's not because the committee says, oh look, the AP voters think this team is better than RPI does, maybe we should move them up the S-curve. No. The committee uses human judgement like the voters do and comes up with similar conclusions.
January 15th, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^
I wish the committee would keep track of how the refs rip you off from a big home game win. I know they won't but I hope that they would.
January 15th, 2018 at 3:47 PM ^
Nah. The committee tends to stick very closely to RPI Top X win stats. AP poll has no impact
January 15th, 2018 at 5:41 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
Meh. Just keep winning, make the tournament, and then from that point on the rankings don't mean a damn thing anymore.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^
Bruh, set them as your favorite!
Minus one fandom point.
January 15th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
Two voters ranked Michigan as high as No. 10, fifteen voters had the Wolverines unranked.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) January 15, 2018
January 15th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 1:14 PM ^
I don't know. MSU might end up being one of the most underperforming teams in some time. Just like their '16 football team that quit. We just need to keep it up and rankings/seedings will be fine.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
Why does Graham Couch get 15 votes?
January 15th, 2018 at 3:34 PM ^
to be fair, Graham Couch had Michigan ranked 12, so he's well ahead of the curve.
Of the 15, Dickie V had us unranked. Some guy named Chris Dachille had St Mary's, Creighton, and Rhode Island (all unranked) in ahead of Michigan.
In all, it seems Rhode Island, Creighton, FSU, St Mary's, and Nevada are the most popular unranked picks.
Some of them are at least somewhat defensible, as St Mary's, Nevada, and Creighton are all KenPom top 25.
The guy who picked New Mexico State, though, is just trying to be contrarian.
http://collegepolltracker.com/basketball/team/michigan-wolverines/2017
January 15th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
Yes. He had OSU 11 and MSU 14, but
a) I didn't know that at the time
and
b) Why let facts ruin jokes?
January 15th, 2018 at 5:15 PM ^
1. Sparty is awesome.
2. And anyone who beats Sparty must be really good to do that.
I'm sure he would've ranked Rutgers if they would've beaten MSU.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:53 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 9:54 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
I don't think Beilein gets the respect he deserves.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
nationally or from our fanbase? I think he is definitely respected by both. Of course there are going to be some factions or both of those communities that don't really respect Coach B like they should, it is what it is. What some people forget is that Beilein teams are known for catching on late, so it never surprises me that Michigan isn't ranked or ranked very highly to start the season because Michigan often loses games it shouldn't early in the season. This could be one of Coach B's best defensive teams, you couple that with his offense and this team has scary potential.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 5:35 PM ^
When we were sitting at 11-6 last year, coming off a terrible loss to Illinois and well outside of the bubble such that we were about to miss the tourney for the second time in three years (with the one year we made it a first round exit after limping in), despite having a clearly talented and experienced team, fans were justifiably unsatisfied.
Only a few of the fans on the extreme end of the unsatisfied spectrum wanted him fired, but there was a more moderate block of the fanbase (I admit to being part of this group) that felt he may be losing steam, and that while he had earned the right to go on his terms, if the current underacheivement kept up for a couple more seasons, he should probably voluntarily hang it up.
And lo, we turned it around, resumed playing great defense (like we did early in the season) and became the team our talent said we should have been. He's now killing it recruiting, and he's in the midst of another brilliant season thanks to sophomore leaps and contributing freshmen. Given what's happened the past 365 or so days, I doubt there are many, if any, fans that want Beilien fired.
People are allowed, and should be encouraged(!), to change their minds and opinions based on new information.
January 15th, 2018 at 5:55 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 9:14 PM ^
started by a tiny minority of the fanbase. It was literally like 3 people that started the threads (Maizen, Stringer Bell probably, and mayyybe one other one?) and a handful of people that agreed with them, with most other posters in the threads calling for reason (he's earned his time, who else is a sure upgrade, etc.).
Believe me, a few vocal people are not representative of the fanbase. This is the internet, where the fringe/margin gets an outsized voice becase rational people aren't here wasting that kind of time.
January 15th, 2018 at 2:16 PM ^
Beilein and his teams are definitely appreciated. They're just not always top-of-mind.
As you said, Michigan has tended to have some slower starts. That does play a role here.
His WVU teams --- I tend to remember the same dynamic.
Beilein's a very good coach (obviously). But his personality also makes him less of a "celebrity coach" versus others in the college game. I'd say that's also plays a factor in Michigan's frequent "under-the-radar-ness." College hoops is a sport where the coaches are often more of a star than the players .
January 15th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
This is probably because he runs a clean program and isn't purpble faced while screaming at the refs and playthers throughout the games.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
Wow... beating a top five team after being hosed out of a win vs another top five team just days earlier would seem worth of a higher ranking.
Oh well, it doesn't really matter yet.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
some of us are still upset about the Purdue game, but that was the right call. Whether or not a gentleman's agreement was violated is another issue. I have no problem getting on officials when they make the wrong call, this is not one of those times. The ball hit of off Matthews last before it went out of bonds, period.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^
The Purdue defender didn't get all ball. He got some of his wrist when he hit the ball. If you want to get into what the letter of the law states, that's a foul.
If you don't want to call a foul there because "referees shouldn't decide the game," OK, but then don't call it on Mo at the other end.
And then there's the issue of the officials needing six minutes before they could decide whether the ball was off Matthews or not...
January 15th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^
the ball didn't "hit off Matthews". It was in his hands and swatted out of bounds by the defender. It didn't hit or bounce off anything else on its way out of bounds. That was a bad call.
This is irrelevant now, and we've moved on; but that remains a bad call.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
The purpose of replay is not to redefine what constitutes "last touches," it's there to correct clear mistakes within the current interpretation and application of rules. It's not supposed to be CIA-level triangulation and photo study. The refs obsessed over a play to the detriment of the game flow and then decided on possession by a technicality rather than in the spirit of the play and the rules.
Look at what replay has done to the NFL and what constitutes a catch. Countless common sense catches are over turned because in super slow-mo we see the ball move 5 mircons to the left. Sports aren't science, they're games. And they should be treated as such.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
Its incredible to think what this program has done since that dreadful Ohio State loss at home last year.
I remember thinking that Beilein was lame duck coach at that point. Can't believe how things have turned around and if not for a couple of 50/50 bounces could have been even better.
January 15th, 2018 at 3:17 PM ^
27-7 since last year's loss at home to OSU. Average loss by 5 points.
*** 2-0 vs. MSU
January 15th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
get another hobby, please
January 15th, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^
We're not. Just want you to go away.
January 15th, 2018 at 5:53 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Gonna have to disagree with that. Losing by 40 and losing by 1 are not the same thing and it's silly to say they should be weighted the same way.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
January 15th, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^
A win is better than a loss? Well, that's news to me.
January 15th, 2018 at 1:55 PM ^
I don't know that this is true - I think some consideration is given for competitive losses, even if it isn't as much as wins. I would have to believe that, come March, the committee looks at a 1-point loss to what was at the time the #5 team and sees it quasi-favorably despite the fact that it is an "L". If the committee simply saw a loss as a loss, NCAA tournaments would look a lot different, I think.
January 15th, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^