The next Top 25 poll will demonstrate the problem with early season rankings:
They're a joke. Beyond that ... no problem.
No team can lay a stronger claim to the No. 1 ranking than Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are 5-0, and they've demolished everyone in their path, including preseason No. 1 Connecticut, then salty Texas Tech, to win the Preseason NIT.
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| J.J. Redick's Blue Devils will likely be the new No. 1 even though they struggled at times vs. Detroit and Pacific. (AP) |
Georgia Tech wasn't ranked in the preseason, and pollsters -- coaches or media -- are too proud to admit defeat. Sports writers are more likely to walk past an open bar, and coaches are more likely to walk past an open gym, than to jump Georgia Tech from unranked to No. 1.
The lack of logic is staggering, but here it goes: The preseason poll is, by far, the most difficult poll to get right -- and yet it is the foundation for every poll that follows.
Preseason polls are brutal in any sport. This football preseason, the Associated Press poll nailed No. 1 Oklahoma but screwed up on No. 6 Auburn. Preseason No. 18 Notre Dame is 4-6. No. 23 Arizona State is 5-7. No. 25 Penn State is 3-9.
Basketball is no different. Want a good laugh in February? Right now, find a copy of a preseason Top 25 basketball poll, cut it out and save it.
Shoot, cut out my first Top 25, the one with Gonzaga No. 1 and Georgia Tech nowhere to be found. Look at that old poll in February. Guffaw.
Voters now have a chance to get it right, but in the wake of Connecticut's tumble from the top, watch them make the worst possible decision. Instead of going with the best-looking team in America, they'll go with the best-looking undefeated team from last week's poll -- even though last week's poll was obliterated by the losses of No. 1 Connecticut, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 7 Syracuse.
Last week's poll was no good -- but it will be the basis for this week's poll.
So, expect the elevation of No. 2 Duke. The Blue Devils might yet prove to be the best team in the country, but by trailing Detroit 12-0 at home and having to hold off pesky Pacific in Alaska, Duke hasn't proved it yet.
The season will have its say, but at this moment no team has done more on the court -- not in a preseason magazine, but on the court -- to earn the No. 1 ranking than Georgia Tech.
No. 6 Kansas (2-0), with a victory against Michigan State, and No. 8 Florida (2-0), with a victory against Arizona, also have a case.
If the next No. 1 team is anyone else, the early season Top 25 will continue to resemble a dog chasing its tail -- inevitable, pathetic and a failure.
