The People's Poll: Week 12

I don't get the argument that Indiana should be ranked higher than Florida because of stronger competition. Indiana hasn't played stronger competition. Use the B1G argument all you want, but Florida played a much tougher OOC schedule. 

 

so yes OK St ahead of NC but not yet in the top 25

Fair enough, but Ole Miss is top 25 worthy ?

Jags.. Indiana has better WINS than Florida, that is why they deserve to be ahead. Now, you cannot truly believe Florida is having better competition that Indiana because its not even close.

Now, you cannot truly believe Florida is having better competition that Indiana because its not even close.

Than please explain your beloved Hoosiers having a SOS of of 23 compared to Florida's SOS of 7?  Not saying that by then end of the year things will be the same, but as of now, your argument is invalid.

Now, you cannot truly believe Florida is having better competition that Indiana because its not even close.

Not right NOW (conference play), but yes, Florida played a much tougher non-con schedule than Indiana. 

Yes, Indiana has better wins (they've had more opportunities at home againsst top teams), but that home loss to Wisconsin wasn't pretty. Both of Florida's losses were to ranked teams in hostile environments (Kansas State was in KC). If people are going to penalize Kansas for losing at home, then why not penalize Indiana? 

The two resumes are fairly even imo. Indiana's certainly isn't head-and-shoulders above UF's like many are trying to say. Sure, Indiana plays in the much better conference, but that doesn't make them the better team, nor does it make their resume superior to UF's. 

1. Florida (3)
2. Indiana (4)
3. Michigan (2)
4. Kansas (1)
5. Duke (5)
6. Gonzaga (7)
7. Arizona (9)
8. Miami (FL) (10)
9. Michigan State (12)
10. Syracuse (8)
11. Ohio State (14)
12. Kansas State (15)
13. Louisville (13)
14. Georgetown (20)
15. Cincinnati (21)
16. New Mexico (22)
17. Butler (13)
18. Oregon (6)
19. Minnesota (NR)
20. Creighton (NR)
21. Oklahoma State (NR)
22. Pittsburgh (NR)
23. Mississippi (11)
24. Belmont (NR)
25. Middle Tennessee State (NR)

Drop Out: #16 Wichita State, #18 Missouri, #19 San Diego State, #23 Iowa State, #24 La Salle, #25 Villanova
 
Next 10

26. Notre Dame
27. Kentucky
28. Missouri
29. San Diego State
30. Marquette
31. Wichita State
32. Colorado State
33. Memphis
34. Louisiana Tech
35. Iowa State 

Jason UConn not even in the first 10 out?

1. Indiana
2. Michigan
3. Duke
4. Florida
5. Kansas
6. Gonzaga
7. Arizona
8. Miami (FL)
9. Michigan St.
10. Syracuse
11. Ohio St.
12. Louisville
13. Cincinnati
14. New Mexico
15. Kansas St.
16. Butler
17. Georgetown
18. Oklahoma St.
19. Marquette
20. Missouri
21. Memphis
22. Creighton
23. Notre Dame
24. NC State
25. Minnesota

Next 30:
26. Pittsburgh
27. Oregon
28. Wichita St.
29. San Diego St.
30. St. Louis
31. UNLV
32. Colorado St.
33. UCLA
34. UCONN
35. VCU
36. Ole Miss
37. Wisconsin
38. Iowa St.
39. North Carolina
40. Arizona St.
41. Oklahoma
42. Boise St.
43. Temple
44. Baylor
45. Kentucky
46. St. Mary's
47. La Salle
48. Illinois
49. Colorado
50. Wyoming
51. Maryland
52. Charlotte
53. Virginia
54. Villanova
55. Alabama    

Just outside the list:
BYU, Belmont, Indiana St., Southern Miss  

Jason UConn not even in the first 10 out?

UConn is #36 and where is Stephen F. Austin?

UConn is #36 and where is Stephen F. Austin?

If this was to me, I battle with myself over them every week. I actually had them at 53rd when they lost at Northwestern St. a couple weeks ago so that has made it difficult for them to crack even my top 55. They are #59 on my current rankings though (ahead of Southern Miss but I still couldn't bring myself to list them on here)

9 Kansas St.       17-4    Only bad loss os Iowa St

I'm not sure I'd count that as a "bad" loss... they are a top 40 RPI team and likely an at-large tournament team at least.

Jason UConn not even in the first 10 out?

UConn is #36 and where is Stephen F. Austin?

I know I had SFA ranked good earlier but they lost a conference game when they needed to keep showing superiority. It wasn't really a bad loss considering it was Northwestern State on the road but they need to string together another little streak before I rank them again. Same thing is happening with Memphis now. They keep it up and they stay ranked. If not they drop hard.

1. Indiana (3) - Huge week with big wins over the Boilers and Wolverines. Another huge one coming up on the road at Illinois and Ohio State
2. Florida (4)
3. Michigan (2) - This team is legit. Make no mistake.
4. Duke (6)
5. Kansas (1)
6. Arizona (7)
7. Gonzaga (9)
8. Miami (11) - Jim Larranaga is my vote for coach of the year at this point.
9. Syracuse (5)
10. Michigan State (12)
11. Ohio State (13)
12. Louisville (14)
13. Butler (8)
14. Kansas State (15)
15. Minnesota (17) - Great last minute win over Iowa
16. New Mexico (19)
17. Oregon (10)
18. Pittsburgh (NR) - Resume building win over Cuse
19. Georgetown (22)
20. Cincinnatti (23)
21. Oklahoma State (NR) - One of the most impressive wins of the season at Kansas
22. Missouri (20)
23. Creighton (NR)
24. Marquette (24)
25. Wisconsin (NR) - I guess that winning at #1 Indiana would be considered the best win of anyone this year so far.

Next up: Saint Louis (quality wins over UNM and Butler)

Dropped from rankings
Wichita State (16), San Diego State (18), North Carolina State (21), Ole Miss (25)

So.....all you Florida bandwagonwers are saying Florida would be undefeated in the B1G half way through the season? I guess it hypothetical and everyone is entitled to their fantasies. Florida at # 1 wont be far off though so have patience. I.U. has to play some teams coming on the road that can actually play, as does everyone else in the B1G. If you haven't noticed they have 5 teams in the top 20, 3 teams in the top 10, and 2 in the top 5. Home or road that's pretty stiff competion.

Concerning Florida vs Indiana, I picked Florida as #1 for a couple of reasons.  Overall, they still have a tougher overall SoS and RPI.  Obviously, their margin of victory is off the charts lately.  The deciding vote, though is how they fared against the same competition.  Florida beat Wisconsin easily and Wisconsin beat Indiana.  Indiana beat Georgia by 13 points and Florida beat Georgia by 33.  I realize there are some reasons this happened, but there are viable reasons to assume that Florida is a little better than Indiana right now.  I'll agree that the SEC sucks in comparison to the BIG, therefore, if IU wins out and Florida wins out, I'd likely vote for IU as the better team overall regardless of margin of victory, but even then, there would be a doubt in my mind.  We'll see what happens.

I'll go along with that and I really wouldn't mind Florida being # 1 right now. The biggest arguement I've seen against Indiana though is their lack of winning against a top opponent on the road. My question is where is Florida's quality road win against a top team? Looks to me like they lost them both. But yeah, Indiana winning out is impossible where as Florida could easily with their schedule, so they will be # 1 before long.

1) Indiana
2) Florida
3) Michigan
4) Arizona
5) Duke
6) Kansas - how many narrow wins do they have? It's more than you think. They, like Syracuse are the most consistant teams, but not that much better then the upper mid-pack teams in their conference.
7) Gonzaga - I am tired of the same story, play well in November, don't play anybody until March, and lose in the round of 32 or round of 16, long before a # 2 seed should lose. But, alas, with Gonzaga, here we go again.
8) Syracuse
9) Miami
10) Michigan State
11) Ohio State
12) Oregon
13) Louisville
14) Creighton
15) Cincinnati
16) Kansas State
17) New Mexico
18) Butler
19) Wichita State
20) Minnesota
21) Missouri
22) Mississippi
23) Arizona State
24) Saint Mary's (CA)
25) Norte Dame - was going to rank Pittsburgh, until they lost.

1. Indiana - Deserved after beating #1
2. Michigan - Shouldn't fall much after losing on the road to #3
3. Florida - If they keep handling the SEC like they are they should get #1 cred soon.
4. Duke - Without Kelly they are just not as good and I expect them to drop a few more soon. Beating FL St. was a good win but not great.
5. Kansas - The loss to OK St. at home was bad but shouldn't hurt them too much. They'll be better for the loss to get them focused
6. Gonzaga - Still not totally impressed but deserve the cred if they keep winning.
7. Miami (FL) - I fully expect them to start dropping games but they are playing good ball right now.
8. Syracuse - Depleated without Coleman in the middle. The Big East is a grinder and they need the beef down low to keep up. But they are still very good.
9. Louisville - The Marquette win following the Pitt win shows we are back on track. I expect the Cards to blitz a few bottom dwellers in the coming weeks to get back in the discussion. Trap game at Notre Dame this weekend. Need to stay focused.
10. Ohio St. - Looking better and will upset a few BIG big boys.
11. Michigan St. - Never count out the fighting Izzos.
12. Arizona - Have good talent but the PAC12 is week IMO and until they start blowing out teams and not getting lucky breaks I will not give them top 10 cred.
13. New Mexico - Wqtch out for the Lobos.
14. Missouri - This has to be the biggest schizophrenic team in the country. Who shows up is anybody's guess.
15. Kansas St. - Not sold on them.
16. Butler - Blue collar workers and always tough to beat but the loss to Rhode Island was bad.
17. Oregon - Never was a believer and the loss to Cal proved it to me.
18. Oklahoma St. - They got a big one catching Kansas napping.
19. Cincinnati - Do or die from the 3. Their inside game isn't good enough to respect right now.
20. Georgetown - Hate..HATE their style of play but always a tough game.
21. Creighton - They fall right in there with Butler as a tough team to beat but not a contender.
22. Marquette - UofL made them look bad and exposed their weaknesses. Inside game is soft and sloppy gaurd play but gritty.
23. Memphis - Too many headcases and not good coaching. They have tons of talent but they play streetball IMO.
24. Pittsburgh - Boring style of play but getting better. Adams is a big man. Gaurds hit some crazy 3s when they are in a fight.
25. Minnesota - Saw this one coming. Gophers are cursed.

The Next Six:
26. Ole Miss
27. NC State
28. Notre Dame
29. Wichita St.  
30. St. Louis
31. San Diego St.

1. Florida
2. Indiana
3. Michigan
4. Duke
5. Kansas
6. Gonzaga
7. Arizona
8. Syracuse
9. Miami
10. Louisville
11. Creighton
12. Ohio State
13. Pittsburgh
14. Colorado State
15.  Michigan State
16. Minnesota
17. Cincinatti
18. St Marys
19. Mississippi
20. Georgetown
21. Kansas State
22. Oklahoma State
23. Wichita State
24. New Mexico
25. Belmont 

Here's my take on the rankings, for what it is worth.

Florida - reminds me of Kentucky last year, racked up some very solid wins early, played in a weaker conference, and blew them away, and won the title. OK, 2 factors here. Both this years Florida team and last years Kentucky team have a lot of talent and both are very good, but last year's SEC was a little stronger than this year's SEC, as clearly there is not a solid #2 team in the SEC, just a pack, and 4 teams will be lucky to get to the NCAA's FL, MS, MO, and Kentucky barring an upset in the SEC tourney.

Indiana - they have a stronger conference at least on paper and by rankings, and have beat those teams by pretty impressive margins.

Michigan - ditto Indiana, except I agree, they lack a bit on the interior play
So, clearly these are the top 3 teams, not just right now, but taking the whole season into account.

Kansas, Duke, Arizona, and Syracuse - all interchanable at this point. All talented teams with some flaws. All of these teams have had close shaves with less than steller competition, and all 4 are just a little better than the top teams reamining in their respective conferences, but by no means dominate. Here is the fight for the 4th #1 seed, for what it is worth.

Gonzaga - I am so tired of this merry-go-round with them. They beat good teams in November and December, and with the exception of Saint Mary's and to a lesser extent BYU, they go to the weak WCC conference, and play nobody until March, get a 2 or 3 seed, based on rankings, which, I also have them in the top 10, and then disappear in the NCAA tourney to a 6 or 7 seed or fall before reaching the sweet 16.

PAC 12 - I think we're all sleeping on them. They play when 90% of us on the east coast or centeral time are asleep. I'm not saying that they are the toughest conference, but with AZ, OR, AZ State, and UCLA the PAC 12 has 4 solid teams for the tourney.

Butler - finally in a conference that has some talent and good teams to match Butler, which with playing in the Horizon League only had Cleveland State or Valparaiso to deal with, but the A 10 has Temple, Saint Louis, Xavier, VCU, and Charlotte to push Butler, so they are not going to fare as well record wise as normal, but 23-7 regular season will be ranking worthy.