I thought the scoopers might find this interesting.
from:
http://college-basketball-blog.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/34725732
The Poll Attacks: Marquette over Duke is wrong
Posted on: February 6, 2012 3:01 pm
Edited on: February 6, 2012 4:17 pm
By Gary Parrish
This is a good time to pick on Duke if you like picking on Duke. The Blue Devils just lost at home to Miami. That's bad. But Coach K's team still has a pretty good body of work, and I'm about to show you just how good in this week's edition of the Poll Attacks.
Associated Press poll: I haven't played "Blind Resume" in a while.
Let's do it now ...
----- Team A -----
Record: 19-4
Wins vs. currently ranked teams: 4 (No. 7 Kansas, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 19 Virginia, No. 22 Michigan)
Losses to currently unranked teams: 2 (Temple, Miami)
CollegeRPI ranking: 3
KenPom ranking: 16
Strength of schedule: 1
----- Team B -----
Record: 19-5
Wins vs. currently ranked teams: 2 (No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 24 Louisville)
Losses to currently unranked teams: 3 (LSU, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame)
CollegeRPI ranking: 12
KenPom ranking: 22
Strength of schedule: 18
You might have figured out using context clues taught in elementary school that Team A is Duke and Team B is Marquette, and you might've also concluded from the information provided that there's no way to rank Duke below Marquette. Unless your Jon Wilner -- who has Marquette ninth and Duke 13th on his AP ballot. That's wrong for three reasons:
Ninth is too high for Marquette.
Thirteenth is too low for Duke.
Those schools are in the wrong order.
Duke has just as many wins as Marquette against a tougher schedule, twice as many wins over currently ranked teams, fewer overall losses and fewer losses to currently unranked teams. The Blue Devils are also rated higher by every respected (and disrespected) computer formula. So I really don't know how anybody could put them on a ballot below Marquette. And I love Marquette!. But come on, man. That doesn't make sense.
Coaches poll: California is pretty good and capable of advancing in March.
But should the Bears really be getting five votes in the coaches poll?
I don't think so.
They just haven't done much this season.
They're 18-6 overall, which looks OK on the surface. But the Bears are 0-3 against currently ranked teams (No. 14 Missouri, No. 14 San Diego State and No. 16 UNLV), and they've got three losses to unranked teams, including a home loss to Arizona last Thursday. They don't own a single win over a single team with a single point in either poll, and it's not like they're playing well lately because they've dropped two of their past four games in a bad league. So why, exactly, would somebody put California on a ballot?
Answer: I don't know.
The Bears might be the Pac-12's best team.
And they might advance to the Sweet 16, just because.
But their body of work just isn't Top 25 worthy at this moment.
Wisconsin and Michigan ahead of Marquette is just as wrong, but Parrish's personal poll has that.
Someone buy Jon Wilner a Marquette shirt!