Why Isn't Cincy Ranked?

[Tugg Speedman]

15-4 and 5-1 in the BE.  Just won at Uconn.  Right now they might be the second best team in the BE

We have them in a home/home in Feb.  All of a sudden these games look really tough.

[nyg]

No clue, but they are playing great.  UCONN is #11 and just got beat on home floor.

That game tonight was awesome in last two minutes.  Napier with a three to tie and then Kilpatrick hitting a Kobe-type 3 for win.  Big balls shot and great game to watch.

[jsglow]

Their non-con schedule (and RPI) were unusually weak.  But the win over UConn on the road will get them noticed.  Now they face a weekend game at West Virginia.  Win that and they are ranked for sure.

[RJax55]

Cincy is legit and they have a great shot to finish top 4 in conference.

[Warriors10]

Because they put their basketball players on a pedestal, therefore causing them to fight, therefore causing a bad taste in the mouths of voters.

There non-conference schedule is extremely weak.

[tower912]

Pestle or pedestal?

[Warriors10]

Pestle or pedestal?

Must have auto-corrected to the wrong word...Thanks.

[Norm]

I actually don't like MU's chances against Cincy this year. We don't match up well against them and I can see Yancy Gates going off against us. We better not start slow against them, or it could make for long National Marquette Day on Feb. 11.

[tower912]

We usually screw that one up along with Senior night, so, yeah, I look for a slow start.

[mubb34]

I still can't wait for Murray St. to lose so the voters have a reason to drop them....I just think they are sooo overrated...

[brewcity77]

Why isn't Cincy ranked? You're kidding, right? Because they again played a pathetic non-conference schedule. Their only half-decent non-con win was Oklahoma. At home. By one. They have two bad losses -- Presbyterian and St. John's are not good teams. Six of their wins came against sub-250 RPI teams.

Okay, sure, they started 4-1 in conference and beat Georgetown on the road, but prior to tonight, what else had they done? Beat Pitt, 'Nova, and Notre Dame? Sure, all tourney teams last year, but right now those aren't even bubble teams.

Before beating UConn tonight, they had more sub-100 losses than they did top-50 wins. After tonight, maybe they deserve to be ranked...if they can follow it up with a win at WVU. If they lose Saturday, they will still be unranked, and won't deserve any better. There's a reason they don't have a single vote in the Coaches Poll. Because they haven't done anything of worth prior to this week. One win at GTown does not offset two god-awful losses at home and a non-con schedule that 5 random Scoopers could have gotten 11 wins out of...

...which for the record, is 1 win MORE than Cincy got out of it.

[jesmu84]

a non-con schedule that 5 random Scoopers could have gotten 11 wins out of...

...which for the record, is 1 win MORE than Cincy got out of it.

haha. actually laughed out loud on that one

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

The threes were falling for them; the FTs...not so much!

[geps]

Ranked in preseason for a reason and yes we will have trouble with them just like last year.

[MuMark]

This pretty much says it all.

They do have 7 straight BE road wins going back to last year though which is really impressive.

Why isn't Cincy ranked? You're kidding, right? Because they again played a pathetic non-conference schedule. Their only half-decent non-con win was Oklahoma. At home. By one. They have two bad losses -- Presbyterian and St. John's are not good teams. Six of their wins came against sub-250 RPI teams.

Okay, sure, they started 4-1 in conference and beat Georgetown on the road, but prior to tonight, what else had they done? Beat Pitt, 'Nova, and Notre Dame? Sure, all tourney teams last year, but right now those aren't even bubble teams.

Before beating UConn tonight, they had more sub-100 losses than they did top-50 wins. After tonight, maybe they deserve to be ranked...if they can follow it up with a win at WVU. If they lose Saturday, they will still be unranked, and won't deserve any better. There's a reason they don't have a single vote in the Coaches Poll. Because they haven't done anything of worth prior to this week. One win at GTown does not offset two god-awful losses at home and a non-con schedule that 5 random Scoopers could have gotten 11 wins out of...

...which for the record, is 1 win MORE than Cincy got out of it.

[Windyplayer]

They do have 7 straight BE road wins going back to last year though which is really impressive.

Wow. That's incredible.

[wadesworld]

I still can't wait for Murray St. to lose so the voters have a reason to drop them....I just think they are sooo overrated...

I hope they keep winning and end up the 2 or 3 seed in our Region.

[forgetful]

Wow. That's incredible.

The kids are just glad to be out of Cincinnati.

and Brewcity, why did you have to go an use logic to answer this question.  Personally I think the pollsters just want Cronin out of a job and they are hoping that if they just pretend Cincy doesn't exist they might just go away.

[mubb34]

I hope they keep winning and end up the 2 or 3 seed in our Region.

If they win out, I think the Committee will only reward them with a 3 or a 4 seed...Just a terrible SOS. Then they will get matched up against 13 or 14 seeded Long Beach State and get destroyed by LBST. You saw it here first!

[downtown85]

I actually don't like MU's chances against Cincy this year. We don't match up well against them and I can see Yancy Gates going off against us. We better not start slow against them, or it could make for long National Marquette Day on Feb. 11.

Can't wait to see Yancy Gates vs. Jack-in-the-Box.  I agree that we could have trouble against them though.  We seem to have trouble against long, athletic teams a la, LSU, Vandy, etc. 

[brewcity77]

I actually don't like MU's chances against Cincy this year. We don't match up well against them and I can see Yancy Gates going off against us. We better not start slow against them, or it could make for long National Marquette Day on Feb. 11.

I actually think we match up really well with Cincy. Gates is a beast, but lately they seem to be playing a lot of 4-guard sets. Sure, they may throw Gates out with Mbodji or Jackson for some spells, but I feel decent matching that with DG, Crowder, and Jamil in the frontcourt. In terms of effective height, Cincy is smaller than we are. I think that Gardner will have an absolute field day against their frontcourt and if Buzz continues to substitute well, he can get them in a lot of foul trouble.

The only things that worry me are that they protect the ball well and can shoot the three. But we have a better eFG% and are much better at getting to the line. But both Jackson and Mbodji are foul-prone. Go after them, wear down their depth up front, and as bizarre as it sounds, we'll have a nice size advantage.

[Golden Avalanche]

I actually don't like MU's chances against Cincy this year. We don't match up well against them and I can see Yancy Gates going off against us. We better not start slow against them, or it could make for long National Marquette Day on Feb. 11.

Agree.

MU's toughest remaining games are Cincy(x2) and South Florida.

Kilpatrick is just a sick offensive weapon. He could have a field day against our perimeter defense. Gates actually makes the Bearcats worse because he slows the entire assembly line so it'd be interesting if Cronin sees MU's typical height disadvantage and plays to that which would be a benefit for the leprechaun.

This is what they did after the Xavier fight and its been the most impressive stretch of their season.

[bilsu]

Agree.

MU's toughest remaining games are Cincy(x2) and South Florida.

Kilpatrick is just a sick offensive weapon. He could have a field day against our perimeter defense. Gates actually makes the Bearcats worse because he slows the entire assembly line so it'd be interesting if Cronin sees MU's typical height disadvantage and plays to that which would be a benefit for the leprechaun.

This is what they did after the Xavier fight and its been the most impressive stretch of their season.

Villanova won last night and has a good chance to win their next game. I suspect it will be  a very tough game for us at their place.

[MuMark]

South Florida?

At UConn, At WV, GT, SH,at ND and at Nova are all harder then SF at home....

I mean come on....

[79Warrior]

Agree.

MU's toughest remaining games are Cincy(x2) and South Florida.

Kilpatrick is just a sick offensive weapon. He could have a field day against our perimeter defense. Gates actually makes the Bearcats worse because he slows the entire assembly line so it'd be interesting if Cronin sees MU's typical height disadvantage and plays to that which would be a benefit for the leprechaun.

This is what they did after the Xavier fight and its been the most impressive stretch of their season.

You are dreaming if you think those are our toughest remaining games.