Marquette's at #15
1. UCLA
2. UNC
3. Florida
4. Wisconsin
5. Duke
6. Ohio State
7. Arizona
8. Alabama
9. Kansas
10. Pitt
11. Texas A&M
12. Oklahoma State
13. Butler
14. LSU
15. MARQUETTE
16. Oregon
17. Notre Dame
18. UConn
19. Tennessee
20. Air Force
21. Nevada
22. Memphis
23. Clemson
24. Washington
25. West Virginia
duke at 5 still has me scratching my head.
???
Quote from: TVDirector on January 01, 2007, 04:31:57 PM
duke at 5 still has me scratching my head.
???
I'm assuming you're not scratching it because they're not ranked ahead of Florida and North Carolina--which they arguably deserve.
Using their only common opponnent--Gonzaga--UNC lost and Duke won. They have identical records, but Duke has played a slightly tougher schedule.
Duke is not just a top 5 in the rankings, but also top five team in RPI, Sagarin, and Pomeroy.
They're 7-1 against top 100 RPI teams--that's a record untouched by the teams below them.
But let me lay out the teams behind them. You tell me which ones deserve to be ahead of Duke right now:
6. Ohio State (Only 1 top 100 RPI win--Loyola--blown out by Florida)
7. Arizona (lost to unranked Virginia, 7-1 in top 100 games)
8. Alabama (Only 3 top 100 opponnents -- Lost to Notre Dame)
9. Kansas (Lost to unranked ORU and DePaul)
10. Pitt (Lost to UW and Oklahoma State 4-2 against top 100 foes)
11. Texas A&M (1-2 against the top 100. And SLU is the win!).
12. Oklahoma State (5-1 against top 100--lost to unranked UT.
13. Butler (lost to Indiana State, 6-1 against top 100)
14. LSU (one top 100 win--Texas A&M. 3 top 100 losses).
15. Marquette (3-2 against top 100, win over Duke)
16. Oregon (1 top 100 win -- Loyola of Chicago)
17. Notre Dame (2 top 100 wins).
18. UConn (no top 100 wins)
19. Tennessee (4-2 against top 100)
20. Air Force (lost head to head matchup).
Duke is a legitimate top 5 team.
Now Marquette84 that argument was logical and based on facts that were clearly laid out. Keep that up and you'll be banned from this board.
Shame, Marquette84. Shame! ;D
Admit it: Duke isn't a top 5 team
January 6, 2007
As if you weren't already aware of how incomparably silly the college basketball polls are, the Virginia Tech Hokies offered a refresher course Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Hokies weren't ranked in any recent poll. They didn't get a single vote. And they did not deserve one. They spent November and December finding ways to lose games to Western Michigan and Marshall. The best team they beat before New Year's was Appalachian State.
Saturday, though, they went on the road and defeated the team that had been ranked No. 5 in the nation by the gentlemen who claim to know basketball best (the coaches) and by the people those coaches frequently insist don't know the game (the media). That team is Duke.
How did Duke come to be ranked No. 5? Did the Blue Devils start at a reasonable preseason ranking (say, No. 10, like in the Sporting News College Basketball yearbook) and then keep rising because they never lost? Nope. The Blue Devils fell to Marquette in the CBE Classic in November.
Did they earn so many impressive victories they had to be ranked among the nation's elite teams? Not really. Duke beat Gonzaga and Air Force on neutral floors, which is quite respectable. The Blue Devils also beat Georgetown and Indiana at home. Lots to be proud of there, but the clear truth is that Butler's list of victims is better.
Was Duke ranked so high because its talent is so exceptional it can't help but eventually dominate? Not if you do a little more research than simply examining the letters on the team's jerseys. Duke is a young team that still is working to find itself, trying to figure out where its points will come from, how best to defend opponents and, most important, whether the player it planned to use at point guard can handle himself against major-conference man-to-man defenses.
Take a look at Duke's issues, point-by-point:
Scoring. Junior guard DeMarcus Nelson delivered a terrific effort for the Blue Devils against Virginia Tech, scoring 22 points and making a huge 3-pointer to force overtime. But this was only the second time this season he'd taken more than a dozen shots. It might help to get him the ball more consistently in scoring position. Duke continues to run its offense through Josh McRoberts, which is at is should be, because defenses react when he catches the ball. But he has to diagnose double-teams more quickly and be ready to deal with them. His six turnovers against the Hokies were mostly the result of indecision.
Defense. The Blue Devils excelled in this area for much of the year, but Tech again found it could spread the court and do damage with dribble penetration. Normally among the most aggressive defensive teams, Duke forced only six turnovers.
Point guard. Greg Paulus wound up playing only 18 minutes and going scoreless. His day would not have been memorable if Virginia Tech forward Deron Washington had not soared completely over Paulus -- literally, Washington hurdled him -- to score an inside basket. Paulus had recovered his form in recent games, with four consecutive double-figure scoring efforts, but none of those opponents was a solid defensive outfit. Paulus' own defense is such a concern that he can't play if he's not producing points and assists.
Duke still has much to recommend it as a basketball team. Freshman Gerald Henderson keeps showing little moments that promise greatness is coming as soon as he feels entirely comfortable demonstrating it. Freshman Jon Scheyer once again was solid filling in for Paulus at the point and managed a double-figure scoring game despite hitting only one 3-pointer.
It's just going to take time. The likelihood is that even if Duke reaches the whole of its potential this season, it never will be the fifth-best team. How is it that the people charged with voting in those polls couldn't see that?