We made the top 25

[drewm88]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6296385


St. John's, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Xavier and Georgetown fell out of the poll, while Florida State, Marquette and Richmond -- all of whom pulled off upsets in the tournament -- ascended into the final Top 25 of the season.

[Freeport Warrior]

#23

[Sir Lawrence]

#23

?

#20:  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/usatpoll.htm

[HoopsMalone]

I wonder who gave Ohio State a vote for #1?

[MU B2002]

I wonder who gave Ohio State a vote for #1?

Someone who saw them play George Mason.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I wonder who gave Ohio State a vote for #1?

Someone who knew they were the best team in the country but came up 1 point short in a tournament game.

[TheDOC816]

Someone who knew they were the best team in the country but came up 1 point short in a tournament game.

Agreed. Just because VCU made a deep run does not put them in the top 10 IMO

[Dawson Rental]

I wonder who gave Ohio State a vote for #1?

Someone who doesn't like Kansas for numero uno.


I don't see how anyone could vote for Ohio State for number one after that "bad loss" they had at Wisconsin.

[Lennys Tap]

Someone who knew they were the best team in the country but came up 1 point short in a tournament game.

Who did Ohio State beat outside of Columbus to make you or anyone else think they're the "best team"? UCONN beat Texas, Arizona, Kentucky (twice), Butler, San Diego St, Cincinnati, Pitt, Syracuse, Georgetown, Louisville and Marquette (among others) away from Storrs. They proved beyond any reasonable doubt on hostile and neutral courts (where the best teams prove themselves) that they're the best.

[🏀]

UCONN at #1, totally legit.

Butler at #2, cannot agree with that.

[Niv Berkowitz]

MarqPTM....this is long overdue...

Outstanding unfrozen caveman lawyer photoshop there.

[MisterJaylenBrownMU]

I get that this is an unimportant poll.  It's obviously just a ceremonial list after the tournament and nobody should read into the order.  That being said.....

I don't understand how VCU could possibly be ranked higher than Duke.  And if the answer is "they went farther in the tournament," which also explains Butler at #2, then why is Syracuse ahead of both Florida State and Marquette?  The order of this poll is truly bizarre. 

[TheDOC816]

I get that this is an unimportant poll.  It's obviously just a ceremonial list after the tournament and nobody should read into the order.  That being said.....

I don't understand how VCU could possibly be ranked higher than Duke.  And if the answer is "they went farther in the tournament," which also explains Butler at #2, then why is Syracuse ahead of both Florida State and Marquette?  The order of this poll is truly bizarre. 

It's most likely people voting with emotion rather than rational thought since the poll really doesn't matter

[🏀]

MarqPTM....this is long overdue...

Outstanding unfrozen caveman lawyer photoshop there.

That's all MS Paint there, but thank you.

[bamamarquettefan]

Who did Ohio State beat outside of Columbus to make you or anyone else think they're the "best team"? UCONN beat Texas, Arizona, Kentucky (twice), Butler, San Diego St, Cincinnati, Pitt, Syracuse, Georgetown, Louisville and Marquette (among others) away from Storrs. They proved beyond any reasonable doubt on hostile and neutral courts (where the best teams prove themselves) that they're the best.

Agreed they can't be in front of UConn, but OSU did go into Florida and Florida State and win, so I believe they are legit and can't fault a 1st place vote from someone.  Not bad finishing in the Top 20 with a Sweet 16 on teh resume.

[brewcity77]

Because I'm bored, here's my thoughts on the top 25...


1. Connecticut: Absolutely, 11 straight to end the season, 17-0 against non-Big East schools, anyone else is simply a stupid vote

2. Butler: No way, no how. Top ten? Sure. But they are not the #2 team in the country. The tourney played perfectly in their favor, in a different region, they never make the Sweet 16.

3. Kentucky: I think they earned this, let's not forget they also won the SEC tourney before their Final Four run.

4. Kansas: Really? Ahead of tOSU? Not far out of line, but I'd have tOSU higher, their loss came to a notably better team.

5. Ohio State: Maybe a spot too low, but they don't deserve a 1st place vote. UConn had 5 wins against top 10 opponents on road/neutral courts. tOSU had 0.

6. VCU: Please. Just please. Top 15 at best.

7. Duke: Fine.

8. North Carolina: Fine.

9. Arizona: Maybe a little high, but I can see that.

10. Florida: How does Arizona leap them, is a loss to "#2" that much worse than a loss to #1?

11. San Diego State: Probably about right, though they didn't deserve to fall this far. Makes up for them being over-ranked most of the year, I guess.

12. Pittsburgh: Ludicrous. If Butler is #2, Pitt shouldn't fall from 4 to 12, behind VCU, UNC, Arizona, and Florida. They should be 7 at worst.

13. BYU: With Duke, San Diego State, and Pitt falling as far as they did, it's a wonder why Team Jimmer only fell one place.

14. Notre Dame: A far fall, but I won't complain, mainly because I don't like Notre Dame.

15. Wisconsin: Hmm...Pitt loses to Butler and drops 8 spots, Wisconsin loses to Butler and climbs 1. Completely nonsensical.

16. Texas: Fine.

17. Purdue: Fine.

18. Syracuse: Actually fine with this. It seems about right. Maybe not considering all the other bizarre shakeups in the poll, but in a logical world, this seems right.

19. Florida State: Fine.

20. Marquette: Really? I mean, I'm glad, but really? We get no props all year, then our 15 loss season gets us into the final poll? And with the fewest number of wins of any team in the poll? I think this reflects the potential of this team, but I'm not sure the results really support the ranking.

21. Richmond: Is it simply obligatory that the entire Sweet 16 be ranked? Richmond goes from 0 votes on March 7 to 21st in the country despite not beating a single team in the final poll? Color me confused.

22. Louisville: I think they dropped a bit too far, but that's what losing to a 13-seed gets you. Like ND, I don't like Louisville much, so I don't mind them getting a bit screwed.

23. Washington: No movement, probably fair, though I think they should be higher. But strictly based on polls, this is fine.

24. Kansas State: Like Washington, probably right, but how does the #24 team stay there when Georgetown fell out of the poll and lost to a significantly better opponent (according to the poll)? Makes no sense.

25. Utah State: Fine.

[bamamarquettefan]

I agree with you at the top.

1. UConn
2. Kentucky (barely lost to UConn)
3. Ohio State (barely lost to Kentucky)

Even if you are going to go overboard in putting Butler ahead of everyone they beat in this run, they did NOT beat any of these 3 and as badly as UConn intimidated them last night I don't see how they had a chance against any of these teams or UNC for that matter.

You can strain to put Butler at 4th in a best-case.

While #6 is obviously way higher than VCU is really, the fact that they destroyed teams in the tourney from 5 of the 6 BCS conferences does justify quite a leap with this much focus on the tournament.

Completely agree with Marquette though.  Showed all year we were on par with ranked teams, and just had to show we could pull off a couple of the tough wins.  With four of our final 10 games being wins on nuetral courts against West Virginia, Xavier, Syracuse and AT the national champion UConn Huskies, I believe 20th was very appropriate.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I think it would be funny someday if a school ends up ranked #1 in the final polls and did not win the title.

For Wisconsin having the "great season" and Marquette "should be in the NIT"   UW ended #15 and MU #20. So I say eat crap, MU haters!! :h

[ChicosBailBonds]

Brew....excellent post.  You nailed most of them in my opinion.  Butler as #2...give me a break.  I bash on coaches and writers polls for preseason all the time and for good reason.  I'm going to have to add the end of year polls, too, with this debacle.

For them to put Butler #2 absolutely defies any sort of logic whatsoever, yet they then apply a different logic to put VCU as #6.  If they justify Butler #2, then VCU by their own stupid logic should be #4.  Of course 99% of us know that Butler at #2 is plain dumb, VCU at #6 screams stupidity, and on and on.  I agree with you on MU as well, but I'll take it for recruiting reasons. 

All I need to know about how the coaches vote in these polls is what I saw and heard during the Deane administration.  They used to tell some great stories about how some of their colleagues took the "seriousness" of voting in this thing .....it's a farce and they knew it as did their colleagues.  The stories over the years with Majerus, and others and how they would have secretaries vote, student managers, etc, only solidifies it.  This poll today puts the cherry on top.

[Coleman]

Best postseason poll since we were also ranked 20 at the end of 2006-2007. Finished 21 in 2007-2008.

Finished 6 in the Final Four year.

I'll take it.

[HoopsMalone]

MU finished 21 in 2009 as well after the Mizzou loss and DJ injury.

I am surprised we finished #20 in 2007.  That was the year we beat Duke's worst team in years during Thanksgiving and everyone overhyped the team.  Then we got spanked by MSU with that cold streak to open the game.  A first round exit after a mediocre year. 

[BMEater]

as well we should. we were a top 25 team. no doubt.

[MerrittsMustache]

I wonder who gave Ohio State a vote for #1?

It was Mike Adras the head coach at Northern Arizona. His reasoning: "I voted for who I thought was the best team in the country based on the entire body of work during the season. I believe it is Ohio State. I want to congratulate Connecticut for winning the NCAA tournament."

I find it to be both logical and completely stupid at the same time.

[wojosdojo]

as well we should. we were a top 25 team. no doubt.

Ahh, there is certainly some doubt there. The logic on how they are ranking these teams is questionable, based on the runs in the tourney. The only other reason would be that we played to most ranked teams in the country all year.

Hope we are, but I would rather see them make a reasonable poll without Butler and VCU in the top 6.

[Tugg Speedman]

I believe this makes 7 straight years that MU has been ranked at least one week.  And, in this case the one week was the last week of the year!

Can anyone confirm that we have been ranked at least 7 straight years.