The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form)

The preseason AP and Coaches polls were released today.

Thus, it's time for some preseason Poll Attacks .

(For those unfamiliar, The Poll Attacks are released Mondays during the season after the AP and Coaches polls are made public. It's the vehicle I use to highlight other's stupidity, and you can't imagine how much stupidity exists.)

AP Poll: Rarely would a school that returned four starters from a team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament begin the subsequent season unranked. But Siena is not a part of the power structure voters respect, so the Saints got the shaft.

It's shameful.

Look, I've doubted Siena before, and I thought I had good reasons. But I'm not so stubborn that I can't adjust when I see a program advance in the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons, which is why I adjusted and gave Siena the benefit of the doubt. The Saints deserve that considering what they've accomplished and what they return. If they flop, I'll punish them accordingly. But not getting a preseason ranking is wrong, I think.

Among those who did not vote for the Saints is Bill Cole from the Winston-Salem Journal .

He must hate non-BCS schools.

Because Cole not only omitted Siena, he also left Butler off his ballot.

Seriously, no Butler?

(Picture me YELLING that question)

The Bulldogs return every relevant part from a team that won 26 games and made the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season. They have high-level players like Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack, and there is absolutely no way to justify leaving the Bulldogs off a Top 25 ballot. Perhaps that's why Cole was the only of the 65 AP voters to do so. Meantime, Cole has UCLA 24th, meaning he ranked a NCAA tournament team returning just one starter 24th but did not rank an NCAA tournament team returning all five starters. Make sense of that, if you can.

Also: Cole has Kentucky ranked 12th.

I could spend 500 words telling you how off that is, but I'm ready to move on.

Coaches Poll: It took me 17 seconds of examining the Coaches poll to realize those 22 votes awarded to Southern California were probably intended for South Carolina and submitted under the label "USC." So why do you think the folks tabulating votes for the Coaches poll couldn't figure that out, too?

I mean, Southern California shouldn't be getting votes in a Top 50 poll, much less a Top 25 poll; that's why the Trojans got zero votes in the AP poll, because nobody voted for them and the people tabulating votes for the AP didn't senselessly award them points. And I'm furious if I'm South Carolina coach Darrin Horn. I'm not saying the Gamecocks deserve to be ranked, but they do deserve to get whatever votes they actually get. Mistakes like this shouldn't happen. It's embarrassing. For them, not me.

What is so great about Butler ??? Like they didn't do what Davidson did when Curry had his coming out party in the tournament some yeas ago. Ok they won 26 game...SO WHAT. They lost to Ohio State (overrated) LSU, Loyola, and Milwaukee (3 of those losses came towards the end of the season so they were slacking heading into its conference and big tournament). Then they struggle against a good non-BCS school (that I think was better than Butler last year), which they split with them meaning they didn't even win their conference tournament ending the season with a 4-4 record (in that same span they struggled with Wichita St.) They didn't even advance past the first round, but yet they are in the top 10, because they return an overrated team.

I'm willing to guarantee that Butler will not be ranked come the start of 2010. Remember this post, because I will and I will post it again come January 2, 2010...

And if anything, why is California (they finished the season with a 2-5 record, 0-3 final 3 games) ranked above Maryland, someone explain that to me ???

laxattacker1117 Reputation: 92 Level: All-Star Since: Mar 8, 2008	Posted on: October 29, 2009 6:29 pm Score: 122 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) Umm... from your first statement: There's no way a power-conference school that returned four starters from a team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament would begin the subsequent season unranked. But Siena is not from a major conference, so the Saints got the shaft. It's shameful. I'm pretty sure that the University of Maryland is in a power-conference called the ACC, and if you had done at least minor research you would have found out that the Terps are also returning four starters, who by the way made it to the second round just like Siena. (Although the Terps are first in receiving votes outside the top 25). But you cannot justify that major conferences get more votes just because they are in a certain conference. I am not saying that the Terps should be ranked either, but do realize that this does happen more than once some times in one year . [ Reply to Comment ]
Gary Parrish Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Feb 8, 2007	Posted on: October 29, 2009 6:58 pm Score: 116 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) You got me. (And I've corrected the wording.) I guess I'd argue the situations are a little different because Maryland finished 7-9 in the ACC (in seventh place) and got destroyed in the second round by a Memphis team that went on to get destroyed by a Missouri team. For that reason, I'm OK with leaving Maryland unranked. As for Siena, the Saints won their league and league tournament, then beat Ohio State and played Louisville close in the second round. That's impressive. But either way, the way I had it worded was wrong. So I've fixed it, thanks to you. [ Reply to Comment ]
tyellington Reputation: 97 Level: Superstar Since: Jul 8, 2007	Posted on: October 29, 2009 8:17 pm Score: 92 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) Mr. Parrish, it simply is not worth the effort to try to explain or out all the horrible voting that goes on. You're just going to drive yourself insane trying to rationalize peoples' biases. [ Reply to Comment ]
austin26666 Reputation: 91 Level: All-Star Since: Sep 27, 2009	Posted on: October 29, 2009 8:28 pm Score: 48 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) I think you can analyze and criticize/critique the rankings when they come out at the beginning of the season, but the fact is that many teams that are in the top 25 now will end up out of the top 25 in the next few months. That is when your teams like Sienna will move into the top 25- as long as they are winning. If the teams that are left out take care of business, they will end up where they belong at the end of the season. [ Reply to Comment ]
ATLredskin Reputation: 96 Level: Superstar Since: Dec 29, 2007	Posted on: October 29, 2009 10:19 pm Score: 108 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) What is so great about Butler ??? Like they didn't do what Davidson did when Curry had his coming out party in the tournament some yeas ago. Ok they won 26 game...SO WHAT. They lost to Ohio State (overrated) LSU, Loyola, and Milwaukee (3 of those losses came towards the end of the season so they were slacking heading into its conference and big tournament). Then they struggle against a good non-BCS school (that I think was better than Butler last year), which they split with them meaning they didn't even win their conference tournament ending the season with a 4-4 record (in that same span they struggled with Wichita St.) They didn't even advance past the first round, but yet they are in the top 10, because they return an overrated team. I'm willing to guarantee that Butler will not be ranked come the start of 2010. Remember this post, because I will and I will post it again come January 2, 2010... And if anything, why is California (they finished the season with a 2-5 record, 0-3 final 3 games) ranked above Maryland, someone explain that to me ??? [ Reply to Comment ]
kjlwfr Reputation: 78 Level: Pro Since: Oct 27, 2009	Posted on: October 29, 2009 10:26 pm Score: 66 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) Pre-season rankings are just a formality. It gives the media, and us something to talk about....and its definitely worth it. Its all about hype and reputation. Who is going to fall short? Who is going to live up to the hype? Best of all, Who is going to surprise us all? I love it. College basketball is the 2nd most watched and anticipated season behind the NFL. Heres to another great college basketball season and many more years of pre-season rankings. [ Reply to Comment ]
pn21250 Reputation: 98 Level: Superstar Since: Jan 16, 2007	Posted on: October 29, 2009 11:13 pm Score: 111 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) Good call about USC. I don't know how anyone could consider them top 25. I would be real interested in hearing the rationale. I have to respectfully disagree about your take on Siena, however. Siena is a good team, but not a home run for the top 25. They beat a grossly overrated Ohio St. team in the tournament last year, good for them. Played LV really tough. Last year. I like Siena, but new year, new stripes to be earned. [ Reply to Comment ]
USMC_Gator Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Feb 19, 2008	Posted on: October 29, 2009 11:38 pm Score: 101 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) Look at that, a sportswriter on this site that actually addresses those comments worthy of a response. You are the one shining star of the cbs sports world, which is rather confusing given the great strategic moves upper echelon management has made over the years(contracts, rights, multimedia, etc). To have them continuously hire the worst sportswriters and commentators is rather perplexing. Except for you Mr. Parrish Sorry for the rant... [ Reply to Comment ]
wildcatsfan1 Reputation: 98 Level: Superstar Since: Jan 20, 2007	Posted on: October 30, 2009 12:42 am Score: 118 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) G.P. as you say back into form already. Loving it. Great read. Listen like many I despise Kentucky. I hate Calipari. And yet having them outside the Top5 is awful. Outside the Top 10? I can't even respond to that. Seriously. Someone have Louisville ties or something? Anyways, looking forward to the G.P Friday Look aheads and Monday Morning Look-backs. Always a great read and continuously wondering how this same website employs donks like Doyle, Freeman, and Dodd. BTW, like to take the time to give this shout-out to Dodd who continues to pick against Clemson eveytime I see him and as everyone knows it was nice to go into Miami and silence Dodd's "expertise." [ Reply to Comment ]
skinheels420 Reputation: 96 Level: Superstar Since: Mar 13, 2008	Posted on: October 30, 2009 1:03 am Score: 97 The Poll Attacks (already in midseason form) Unlike other writers, Parrish actually cares about reader feedback. If you prove him wrong, or make a comment that he thinks is ludicrous, he will respond. He may not respond every time he posts an article, but I can tell that he actually does read feedback to his articles. Most of the time his responses come late at night after a trip home from a bar, but at least he cares enough to respond to his readers. And his responses are very lucid no matter how drunk he may be when he writes them. [ Reply to Comment ]

Gary Parrish

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