2010 Pre-season Poll

[mugrad99]

Looks like Big Ten media day is today, but they should be top ten in their conference.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL #10 PRESEASON RANKING  *in conference

[4everwarriors]

Is this the new banner hoisted up in Assembly Hall?

Which team finishes behind the ElectricBeachBum?

[chapman]

Is this the new banner hoisted up in Assembly Hall?

Which team finishes behind the ElectricBeachBum?

My guess is Iowa.  Two of their best three players transferred from an already bad team.  No reason IU shouldn't finish ahead of them.

[dsfire]

They should beat Northwestern as well.  Not sure after that since IU is sort of rebuilding again this year, given that this year's recruits may start ahead of most of the guys on last year's team.

[ChicosBailBonds]

They should beat Northwestern as well.  Not sure after that since IU is sort of rebuilding again this year, given that this year's recruits may start ahead of most of the guys on last year's team.

IU is picked 10th this year, Iowa 11th.  The results came out today for the Big Ten.

[dsfire]

IU is picked 10th this year, Iowa 11th.  The results came out today for the Big Ten.

Oof, behind Northwestern?  It's not like they've got Evan Eschmeyer!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Oof, behind Northwestern?  It's not like they've got Evan Eschmeyer!

Northwestern was as close to the NCAA's last year as they've been in a long time (they've never made it). NW made the NIT last year and they have a shot at the big dance this season. Northwestern is picked 8th this year, which is a bubble NCAA team for that league.  They are probably going to get 6 teams in for sure, 7 a possibility and 8 on the very outside (unlikely, but not impossible).  UW-Madison is picked for 7th....bubble as well.  Will the Badgers streak end this year?  Last year they were one of the last 4 teams in.  They return 11 scholarship players but lost their best players.  The league is also much better than last season.  9-9 is very possible for them, so is 8-10 or 10-8.

[dsfire]

It was mostly tongue-in-cheek.  That said, I think Northwestern is probably NIT-bound again this year, and that's a fairly likely destination for Indiana too.

[4everwarriors]

I've stated this before, but it's worth repeating. NU (yes, it's properly abbreviated as NU, not NW) is not your father's basketball team. Carmody has his own players and they execute the Princeton offense as expected. Last year's team beat Florida State and UW at Welch-Ryan Arena and defeated Michigan State on the road. Don't make the mistake of selling the Wildcats short. They play smart, intelligent basketball and execute their offense and defense very well. While Northwestern may not have the athletes other schools have, their games are fun and entertaining to watch.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It was mostly tongue-in-cheek.  That said, I think Northwestern is probably NIT-bound again this year, and that's a fairly likely destination for Indiana too.

I'd be really surprised if IU makes the NIT this year.  The conference is really good and they just don't have the horses or experience yet.  But, if they did make it and MU made the NIT also......

[4everwarriors]

I'd be really surprised if IU makes the NIT this year.  The conference is really good and they just don't have the horses or experience yet.  But, if they did make it and MU made the NIT also......

Maybe Crean uses his connections to cop an invite.

[ChicosBailBonds]

At the very least, I would expect better treatment then the last time we played them in the NIT.

[4everwarriors]

Knight and Majerus will not be there and we probably won't have to play 4 on 5 either.

[Benny B]

ahhh if you look down at the bottom you see Jim Boeheim as one of the voters...
How does one become a registered voter?

Back on track... I firmly agree that MU should not have received any votes in the pre-season polls, but the Coaches Poll is, and always has been, a joke.  I have read in more than one place that in many cases, it is not the coach who actually votes but instead, one of his assistants who fills out the ballot.  Additionally, once the season is in full swing, these coaches are so engrossed into their own schedule and upcoming opponents (not to mention recruiting), that they have nowhere near the time to effectively assess the performance of and evaluate as many as 50 teams across the country that may deserve consideration.  Remember when some AP football voters said last year that they didn't see a single game Utah played... these are guys whose sole job is to watch & write about college football.  Coaches are paid to coach first, recruit second (or vice versa) and vote third... how many games do you think they watch?

My guess is that the simple, yet nearly universal, process for whomever is filling out the ballot on Sunday evening goes like this:

1) Look at last week's poll.
2) Look at last week's AP poll.
3) Watch Sportscenter.
4) Fill out the ballot.

Either way, you have a) a coach who probably hasn't seen a single game played by half of the top 25 teams or b) some graduate student filling out a ballot based on what he saw on Sportcenter last night.

It bears repeating - the Coaches Poll is a joke.

[Daniel]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?pollId=2

Poll is out and needless to say, not one vote for MU. 

Did someone somewhere have us like in the 80's or something?   So not getting any votes at all makes sense.  I'd rather surpirse some people and beat somme rtanked teams so we can creep in sometime this season

[77ncaachamps]

Interesting note by Goodman (Fox Sports):

How in the world did USC get 22 votes in the Preseason Coaches Poll? Well, my guess is that coaches meant to vote for South Carolina instead of a Trojans team that lost Demar DeRozan, Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson.

[chapman]

Interesting note by Goodman (Fox Sports):

How in the world did USC get 22 votes in the Preseason Coaches Poll? Well, my guess is that coaches meant to vote for South Carolina instead of a Trojans team that lost Demar DeRozan, Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson.

Gary Parrish of CBSSports said the same thing, only in a harsher tone.  I love his Poll Attacks column, where he singles out one or two individual voters each week and points out how stupid they are.