So....What are we ranked on Monday - 1/6/2025?

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

9 in the coaches poll.

[brewcity77]

But are road losses at AZ State, Iowa State, WV and Kentucky really "worse" than road losses at Indiana and St. John's, especially when combined with the fact that Kansas beat us on a neutral court?

I definitely feel those are worse losses, both in terms of quantity and quality, but I'll circle back to that.

Head-to-head should be the absolute last thing ever considered in rankings, because it creates impossible conundrums. If our loss to Kansas on a neutral is proof that they should be ahead of us, then Kansas should also be ahead of #1 Tennessee, which I'm sure no voter in the country has.

Around the country, should Seton Hall be ahead of Kentucky, should Texas be ahead of UNC, should Arizona be ahead of Iowa State? What about home losses? Would anyone rank Syracuse ahead of Duke or Furman ahead of Villanova? Head-to-head is the worst commonly used metric to rank teams because a team's worst day against another team's best is too often the case in those situations. It's better to look at overall resume and base it on those merits, because head-to-head can only be a factor when it comes to two teams that are otherwise completely evenly matched, and too many teams don't share a head-to-head meeting for it to be something considered regularly.

Kansas has the better wins, though 4 of their 10 top-50 (kenpom) wins came with Azubuike in the lineup, including their two best wins. But when it comes to losses, West Virginia and ASU are worse than our worst loss at St. John's (albeit ASU marginally) and they have more total losses.

[TallTitan34]

I asked Jesse Newell about having Nebraska at 20.  His response:

@jessenewell
Replying to @TallTitan34
Predictive numbers still love them, and part of the reason for the recent struggles has been a brutal Big Ten schedule. But yeah ... it's been rough lately for them.

[The Sultan]

I asked Jesse Newell about having Nebraska at 20.  His response:

@jessenewell
Replying to @TallTitan34
Predictive numbers still love them, and part of the reason for the recent struggles has been a brutal Big Ten schedule. But yeah ... it's been rough lately for them.

Brutal schedule?  They lost at Rutgers and at home v. an Ohio State team that had lost five straight. 

[Herman Cain]

I've said it a lot in the recruiting thread, but this. Wojo and crew has done a great job recruiting without on the court success. It will be a lot of fun to see what the staff can do with this sort of success.

Agreed now when Wojo steps into the living room of a top 100 recruit he no longer has to sell them a vision despite a lackluster season he can sell them on this season and a vision of us doing even better things going forward!   Seashells and balloons!!

These are excellent points.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I asked Jesse Newell about having Nebraska at 20.  His response:

@jessenewell
Replying to @TallTitan34
Predictive numbers still love them, and part of the reason for the recent struggles has been a brutal Big Ten schedule. But yeah ... it's been rough lately for them.

Marquette is the only team in his rankings that deviate from their Kenpom rating by more +/- 2.  The dude straight up copy and pastes Kenpom.  Pretty much guarantee you only reason he has MU in his top 25 this week is he's been torched on twitter for it many times, and he's the only pollster that didn't have them ranked last week.  Everyone else had the 17 or higher.

[TallTitan34]

https://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll

Finally updated. Looks like they got a new website design.

1 vote ahead of Kansas and 92 away from 9th place UNC.

[Cheeks]

Top 10 appearance marks the 164th time MU has appeared in the top 10 in the AP poll, which is 19th best in NCAA history.  Notre Dame is 18th, with 166 top ten appearances.


135 of those 164 appearances happened from 1970 to 1979.

[LoudMouth]

Top 10 appearance marks the 164th time MU has appeared in the top 10 in the AP poll, which is 19th best in NCAA history.  Notre Dame is 18th, with 166 top ten appearances.


135 of those 164 appearances happened from 1970 to 1979.

Curious as to where you found this info? Seems like a fun thing to play around with

[Galway Eagle]

Curious as to where you found this info? Seems like a fun thing to play around with

My guess is college poll archive

[TallTitan34]

http://www.collegepollarchive.com/mbasketball/ap/teams/summary.cfm?teamid=100

[LoudMouth]

http://www.collegepollarchive.com/mbasketball/ap/teams/summary.cfm?teamid=100

Much appreciated Galway and TT

[TallTitan34]

I might try adding this information into my spreadsheet.

A lot of it can be found in the schedule tab, however, I am still missing about 15 seasons or so.

https://tinyurl.com/mubackintop10

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Wow, beat out Kansas by a single vote.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Take care of business and we may have opportunities to move up:

#9 North Carolina plays at #12 Louisville
#8 Nevada should win both their games, but they have looked shaky against poor competition repeatedly
#7 Kentucky will be favored in both but two road games to Vanderbilt (who just took TENN to OT) and Florida

Also, there's a pretty big gap between #11 and #12, then another large gap between #15 and #16. We have some nice cushioning in case we have a misstep.

[brewcity77]

Top 10 appearance marks the 164th time MU has appeared in the top 10 in the AP poll, which is 19th best in NCAA history.  Notre Dame is 18th, with 166 top ten appearances.


135 of those 164 appearances happened from 1970 to 1979.

So basically, beat Butler, St. John's, Villanova, and DePaul and we'll pass ND. Doable.

[jsglow]

At this point other than bragging rights, the rankings really don't matter too much.  What our guys need to continue to play for is a BEast Championship and a highly seeded and hopefully 'local' pod in the NCAA. That's the best way to make a deep March run, something they absolutely look capable of.

[barfolomew]

Wow, beat out Kansas by a single vote.

Hmm, so I guess that means those of us jazzed by the top 10 can thank that one tool who finally put us on his ballot at 25.

[real chili 83]

Top 10 appearance marks the 164th time MU has appeared in the top 10 in the AP poll, which is 19th best in NCAA history.  Notre Dame is 18th, with 166 top ten appearances.


135 of those 164 appearances happened from 1970 to 1979.

We are going to pass those MOFO's this year and widen the gap through next year, eh. 

[82fanatic]

At this point other than bragging rights, the rankings really don't matter too much.  What our guys need to continue to play for is a BEast Championship and a highly seeded and hopefully 'local' pod in the NCAA. That's the best way to make a deep March run, something they absolutely look capable of.

I thought about this during the Xavier game.   The rankings have another side effect that is valuable.   In every game, the competition is pumped to play a high ranked team, and we get their best game.   It is great training for the tournament!   Every game we play it's like a tournament game.   Toughens up the guys, and gets them used to playing under pressure!    Almost as important as the PR value! 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Hmm, so I guess that means those of us jazzed by the top 10 can thank that one tool who finally put us on his ballot at 25.

Not only that. But that tool is the Kansas beat writer for KC Star!

[CountryRoads]

.

[jsglow]

I thought about this during the Xavier game.   The rankings have another side effect that is valuable.   In every game, the competition is pumped to play a high ranked team, and we get their best game.   It is great training for the tournament!   Every game we play it's like a tournament game.   Toughens up the guys, and gets them used to playing under pressure!    Almost as important as the PR value!

+1. We are getting everyone's best shot from here on out. Makes us tougher.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Only one point seperated us and Kansas on Monday. If we keep winning, it will be a lot more votes next week. Kansas loses by double digits at 11-9 Texas

[HowardsWorld]

Only one point seperated us and Kansas on Monday. If we keep winning, it will be a lot more votes next week. Kansas loses by double digits at 11-9 Texas

Kansas is a completely different team without their center.