The Poll Attacks
Posted on: November 16, 2009 6:54 pm
Edited on: November 16, 2009 7:20 pm
The AP and Coaches polls make less sense than signing Allen Iverson.
I'll tell you why right now.
It's time to Poll Attack !
AP poll: Proof that the Poll Attacks are making an impact came Monday when I learned that Bill Cole ranked the Butler Bulldogs. This is a massive development because, for those who don't remember, Bill was the only AP voter who didn't have Butler on his preseason ballot, which caused me to dedicate a large portion of the preseason Poll Attacks to his inexplicable decision.
I didn't understand why Bill ranked UCLA but not Butler.
It made no sense.
I said so.
And Bill responded this week by moving Butler onto his ballot and dropping UCLA completely despite nothing of note happening with either team between the time his first and second ballots were filed. The only thing that happened is that Bill got Poll Attacked , and he adjusted his ballot to (presumably) avoid another beating. It makes me proud, honestly. I'm bringing change to America one ballot at a time.
In a related note, I'd like to take a moment to make sure Elton Alexander, Al Balderas, Pat Ridgell, Charles Goldberg and Jason Groves understand the season started last week. They all included Mississippi State on their latest ballots, this despite Mississippi State -- at best a borderline Top 25 team in the preseason -- losing its season opener at home to Rider by an 88-74 margin.
Come on, guys.
Try to keep up.
Coaches poll: Remember the preseason Coaches poll and how I pointed out that Southern California/USC getting 22 points was ridiculous? I surmised those "USC" votes must've been intended for South Carolina , and that the geniuses who tabulate the votes incorrectly credited them to Southern California.
No doubt, that's what happened.
Because Southern California got zero points in this week's Coaches poll.
That's more like it.
But what's confusing is that South Carolina got zero points, too.
It's crazy.
South Carolina got one point in the preseason Coaches poll, and if we're assuming the 22 "USC" points should've also gone to South Carolina then it's fair to assume South Carolina should've received at least 23 points in this week's poll. Instead, the Gamecocks beat Alabama A&M by 38 and lost its one point and the other 22 that we're incorrectly credited to Southern California. The only explanation is that the coaches simply wanted to avoid confusion and declined to vote for Southern California, South Carolina, USC or anything close to any of those things. Poor Darrin Horn. Guy might never be ranked again.
Category: NCAAB
Comments Add a Comment
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kaara |
Posted on: November 17, 2009 11:24 am
The Poll AttacksI guess he jumped to the right conclusion considering UCLA got beat AT HOME by Cal-Sate Fullerton last night....yikes
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bigdog2323 |
Posted on: November 17, 2009 11:18 am
The Poll AttacksGary, You realize Elton seems to find his way into Poll Attacks quite a bit? Not only did he have Miss. State ranked at about 20, but he didn't even have Ohio State ranked! Usually when someone says a writer or website hates a school, I brush it off. But Elton really does hate OSU in my opinion. He constantly leaves them off his top 25, even look back at his polls last year. We also have 3 writers predict the OSU football outcomes/scores in the Plain Dealer, and who picks OSU to lose twice as much as anyone else? Of course, Elton. I just don't see how Ohio State can be left off of anyones top 25, let alone MSU be on it. I'm confident OSU will beat UNC on Thursday, whom Elton has ranked #2, so we'll see if that changes anything. He's one of those writers that pays little attention to outcomes and abuses the privilege of having a ballot. |
Coogles1
Since: Jun 18, 2009 |
Posted on: November 17, 2009 10:12 am
The Poll AttacksNice going UCLA. How many airballs did I see in that game? Yeesh! Play even remotely like that against Portland and it's a quick trip to the consolation bracket for you. Either way, playing either Minnesota or Butler in the second game will be an almost guaranteed loss.
So sorry, Bruins fans. |
BUjet15
Since: Feb 20, 2008 |
Posted on: November 17, 2009 9:34 am
The Poll AttacksMan, Parrish really is eating his words! CS Fullerton?? You can't even say CS Fullerton is a decent team. They had 18 TO's. That was just an ugly game.
Butler might not even have to play UCLA in the 76 classic if UCLA can't beat Portland. |
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LebronForMVP
Since: Sep 19, 2006 |
Posted on: November 17, 2009 4:53 am
The Poll AttacksParrish a Big Ten bias? If anything he's biased against it. Parrish always has preffered teams that flashly, offensive teams to defensive teams like are prevalent in the Big Ten. Time will tell if that many Big Ten teams will be ranked by the end of the season, but the Big Ten got 6 or 7 teams into the tourney last year, and all of those teams sans Wisconsin look better on paper this year. It is not too far-fetched to think that most of those teams will be in the top 25. Mich. St. and Purdue are both legit top ten teams. Illinois has their best players back and a really nice recruiting class, so they figure to be better. Michigan and Ohio St. both have everybody back. I myself, probably wouldn't rank Minnesota b/c of all the turmoil that has been going on there. But they have quite a bit of athleticism on that team and certainly are capable of it. And I think Wisconsin, while I have no problem with them being unranked right now, is going to be better than people think and be right in the thick of things.
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boogieboy
Since: Jan 26, 2009 |
Posted on: November 17, 2009 1:51 am
The Poll AttacksGary, how are we supposed to take you seriously when you have 6 Big 10 teams ranked in the top 25. I know you have always had a
big 10 bias but this is over the top. You and I both know they will only have 3 teams at most ranked at the end of the season. As a CBB expert I would expect your poll to be a little more creative than most. Your poll looks pretty similar to the ap and coaches polls. |
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Ltrain430
Since: Nov 17, 2008 |
Posted on: November 16, 2009 10:37 pm
The Poll AttacksThe S and the N are next to one another on a dvorak keyboard which is an alternate layout that places commonly used letters in the home row so that a typist need not stretch to reach letters. So your hypothesis does make sense.
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Kingofzachland |
Posted on: November 16, 2009 10:21 pm
The Poll AttacksGary, props (and yes, "Kudos") to another successful edition (and apparently preseason edition) of Poll Attacks. Don't worry about the Kentucky haters and SoCal homers, you're doing a great job. For the past few season I've looked forward to your weekly evisceration of the highly fallible human polls--keep up the good work!
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CotoGuy
Since: Oct 22, 2006 |
Posted on: November 16, 2009 10:09 pm
The Poll AttacksThe inescapable conclusion is that you are enjoying pointing out that UCLA and USC are down this year. Otherwise you would not make such a big deal about these two minor incidents. Nobody knows who is any good in preseason polls, so nobody is stupid for ranking a team with UCLAs potential over Butler. The teams haven't played. You can say that Butler has better returning players, or that UCLA has recruits with more potential. Both are true. It is also true that Gary may have to eventually eat his words and come out with his obligatory "Howland works so hard that he makes his team almost like a Big East team" article. Either way, bias is revealed...
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chui44
Since: Nov 16, 2009 |
Posted on: November 16, 2009 9:25 pm
The Poll AttacksWhat about Miami (FLA) they just played two great games and they look even better than the Miami team of last year with Jack McClinton. This proves how good they were without McClutch and they have a chance at the tournament
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