The CougCenter blogpoll ballot: Week 2
I had designs on posting this in the FanPosts first to get feedback, but after dealing with a sick kid all weekend -- who's still sick -- I didn't submit my ballot until the very last minute. And in this case, the very last minute was yesterday morning at about 10 a.m. -- before UConn lost to Pitt, and before Purdue whipped Michigan State. So take that into consideration.
The full blogpoll, along with the poll coordinator's breakdown (which I actually find highly interesting), can be found here. The link to all of the voters' ballots is here.
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| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | |
| 2 | North Carolina | |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | |
| 4 | Oklahoma | |
| 5 | Memphis | 3 |
| 6 | Michigan St. | 3 |
| 7 | Duke | 2 |
| 8 | Louisville | 2 |
| 9 | Missouri | 3 |
| 10 | Clemson | |
| 11 | Villanova | |
| 12 | Washington | 7 |
| 13 | Arizona St. | 7 |
| 14 | Wake Forest | 1 |
| 15 | UCLA | 8 |
| 16 | Kansas | 3 |
| 17 | Marquette | 3 |
| 18 | Xavier | 2 |
| 19 | Arizona | |
| 20 | Illinois | 3 |
| 21 | Utah | |
| 22 | Purdue | 1 |
| 23 | Syracuse | |
| 24 | Louisiana St. | 1 |
| 25 | Butler | 7 |
| Last week's ballot | ||
Random thoughts:
- I'm still thinking UConn is the best team in the country. There's one simple reason why they lost last night: Their defense let them down, especially in the rebounding department. Pittsburgh posted an absurd 43.0 OR%, doing a lot of that damage while Hasheem Thabeet was on the bench. Thabeet also wasn't real good while he was in the game, and that was the difference.
- I gave the Pac-10 some love this week, boosting UW and ASU, who I think aren't getting the recognition they deserve, and putting Arizona in the polls. Not sure how they're not getting recognized for their play right now. I think people who underestimate the Pac-10 come tournament time are going to be sorry.
- Big drops for UCLA and Butler. I'm pissed at the Bruins for getting swept in the desert, and my drop of the Bulldogs is due in part to me going against my better judgment and ranking them too high last week. I just knew they weren't that good.
- I feel good about not putting Utah State in the poll last week!
- I almost put Gonzaga at No. 25 instead of Butler. But the Zags barely survived two games against teams they should have handled easily. Something just isn't right up in Spokane. Hasn't been since that UConn game, really.
- But, that loss to Utah by the Zags looks better all the time.
- Just one SEC team in the poll again -- LSU at No. 24. That is downright pathetic. I gave Kentucky some thought, but I need to see something this week to convince me they're a top 25 team.
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12 comments
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Comments
The dogs at #12?!!
No way Nuss. Not a chance.
Maybe 20th.
Our team last season was better than this season’s dog team. We finish….what?…15th or so in the final poll? Maybe 16th. I know…different teams…different seasons, but this dog team is not a top 15 team.
by westsidecougar1 on Feb 17, 2009 7:03 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
You must really not think much of the Pac-10
If you think that there are 19 teams better than the conference leader.
by thecassino on Feb 17, 2009 7:15 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
That's true. I don't think much of the Pac-10
We’ll see how the dogs hold up on the road vs. the LA schools…and then against a hot Zona team. I think they’ll beat ASU again.
by westsidecougar1 on Feb 17, 2009 9:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I also realize that Ken Pomeroy has us ranked as the #2 conference....
but I’m just not real impressed with what I’ve seen vs. other top teams in other leagues. We’ll see.
Basically, the dogs are well-coached enough to be #12 in the country.
by westsidecougar1 on Feb 17, 2009 10:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
When was the last time Pac-10 teams played top teams out of conference?
It’s been a while. This is a young league that lost a lot of talent — a lot of the teams that had some bad nonconference losses are better now.
by Nuss on Feb 17, 2009 10:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I think a more accurate way of putting it is "When was the last time top teams out of conference played the Pac-10?"
I sense it’s more reluctance by the other leagues than reluctance by the Pac-10. Good teams are terrified to come to the west coast. Maybe it’s just the travel miles, who knows.
Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"
by PaulThomas on Feb 18, 2009 2:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Kansas (who beat them already), Marquette, Xavier, Wake Forest...
as a start.
I just don’t think that highly of the dogs.
Again…our team last season was not a “top 12” team…and we were better than this version of the dogs. Agree?
I guess that the argument you’d make is that the top 20 this season isn’t as strong as last season’s top 20.
by westsidecougar1 on Feb 17, 2009 10:00 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I think this is a down year in college basketball for sure
Look at how much talent left for the NBA last year, and look at how much less of an impact freshmen are having this year. I think the 10-20 teams are weaker this year than they were last year.
As for your arguments …
Kansas: Probably your best argument. I’m just not that impressed with the quality of the Big 12, and they missed out on their chance to beat a real good team. The win over UW back in December doesn’t really hold a lot of water for me. That was a long time ago.
Marquette: Ranked below UW in Pomeroy. Recently lost to South Florida (!) and got killed by Villanova. I was probably being generous to keep them where they were.
Xavier: Also ranked lower than UW in Pomeroy. Recently lost back-to-back games to Duquesne (!) and Dayton. Again, it speaks to how weak the 20-25 are that Xavier didn’t drop farther.
Wake: 3-4 in their last seven games, with losses to Virginia Tech (No. 70 Pomeroy), Georgia Tech (103), Miami (25) and NC State (75). There was a win over Duke mixed in. By contrast, the Huskies have just three losses in their past 20 games.
by Nuss on Feb 17, 2009 11:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
OK...I'll admit, I'm hate the dogs and I'm biased...
I also think they’ll underperform from here on out.
Romar is not a very good coach.
Hope I’m right.
Did I say how much I hate them?
by westsidecougar1 on Feb 17, 2009 11:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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