ND is STILL ranked?!

[bs4173]

#19 in the ESPN/USA Today?! Below .500 in conference. They have one quality win over a G'town team that's struggling to stay in the rankings. Garbage media bias. I guess the only consolation is how it bodes well for us by playing them.

[ErickJD08]

its crazy... No six loss team should be ranked this early

[Wade for President]

I agree that no 6 loss team should still be ranked.  Is there any way the ESPN poll would have them ranked for tonights marquee match-up?

Regardless of the conference record, I still think ND's a Top 25 caliber team.  I guess other voters do also.

[ErickJD08]

I agree that they are a good team.  Hypothetically, if ND squeaks in and they end up play like a 3 seed in the first round, I would be PISSED if I were that 3 seed.  Probably never happen but I think my point is clear.

[patso]

Tonight's game will be against a desperate team which has underachieved. We have to guard the three point shot. Harangody will get his 22 and 14 but if we stop the threes and Jackson we should be in good shape.

[NavinRJohnson]

List the 25 teams that are clearly better than ND, and you can support the claim they should not be ranked.

For the record, I much prefer the AP poll, and they are no longer in that one.

[baltimoremufan]

If Notre Dame is ranked it will be a nicer looking win for us down the long run. So who cares if they are ranked.

[mosarsour]

Plus it makes tonight's matchup look more appealing to the ESPN viewers. #8 vs #22...ESPN knows what they're doing with their rankings. Like Navin said, the AP poll has them out of their top 25. It's simply another ploy by the WWL to boost ratings.

[StillAWarrior]

Plus it makes tonight's matchup look more appealing to the ESPN viewers. #8 vs #22...ESPN knows what they're doing with their rankings. Like Navin said, the AP poll has them out of their top 25. It's simply another ploy by the WWL to boost ratings.

I guess I'm naive, but I never understand the "ESPN kept them in the rankings to boost ratings" argument.  ESPN doesn't establish the rankings.  ESPN/USA Today merely publish the coaches' poll, just like AP publishes the writers' poll.  I've never heard a decent explanation about how ESPN manipulates the coaches' poll to ensure that its chosen teams are ranked.  Also, to the extent the original poster wants to argue "media bias," the AP rankings would be more likely to reflect media bias than the ESPN rankings.

I suspect that the fact that ND is still ranked is a reflection of the coaches' respect for the Big East meat grinder.  If there's bias there (and there probably is), I think we might be very happy for that type of bias after our final five games.

[denverMU]

First of all I want to make this perfectly clear, I HATE NOTRE DAME!!!!!, I HOPE THEIR INTAMURAL CHESS TEAM LOSES, but I think they are ranked right where they should be or a little low.  6 losses? so what, 4 of those losses come at the hands of top 10 teams, UCONN, LOUISVILLE, NOTH CAROLINA, SYRACUSE.  They were rated #19 and lost to #3, Why should they go down in the polls?  Isn't the #3 team supposed to win?  The bigger issue I have is MSU rated #7 and losing to unrated Northwestern.  They drop 2 spots to #9, that is ridiculous.  Finally, be careful how far you want them to fall, we will have to play 4-5 top ten teams also I don't think we should fall out of the top 25 if we lose a majority of those games.

[ErickJD08]

First of all I want to make this perfectly clear, I HATE NOTRE DAME!!!!!, I HOPE THEIR INTAMURAL CHESS TEAM LOSES, but I think they are ranked right where they should be or a little low.  6 losses? so what, 4 of those losses come at the hands of top 10 teams, UCONN, LOUISVILLE, NOTH CAROLINA, SYRACUSE.  They were rated #19 and lost to #3, Why should they go down in the polls?  Isn't the #3 team supposed to win?  The bigger issue I have is MSU rated #7 and losing to unrated Northwestern.  They drop 2 spots to #9, that is ridiculous.  Finally, be careful how far you want them to fall, we will have to play 4-5 top ten teams also I don't think we should fall out of the top 25 if we lose a majority of those games.

But you know we will...