The People's Poll: Week 12

I know I defended people ranking Florida #1 earlier, but man does it feel good knowing I had them #4 this week! The margin of victory and SOS were undeniable, but the resume just didn't seem #1 or #2 worthy to me. Still I respect people that had them #1, time to refigure that for next week. For those that had them #1 and were bashing Indiana (there were only a few, but they did exist), you'll really be upset if Indiana wins both this week as there won't be much of an arguement for anyone other than them at this point.

I knew this chatter would be active tonight - Florida is a great team - road games are tough but the arguement for # 1 is not moot.

I knew this chatter would be active tonight - Florida is a great team - road games are tough but the arguement for # 1 is not moot.

True.  Florida fell a whole rung with that loss.  Prather /Yeguete situation did affect Florida and they were simply beaten down from the tip-off.  Trouble is that there's a curse being #1 this season.  Going into these next two games, I sure wouldn't want to be #1...  Perhaps that goes for #2.

Florida won't be top 5 next week... that is a putrid loss.

That's the beauty..it doesn't matter! FL got to #1 the year of their first of the back to back championships, then lost a few and it was the best thing that coulda happened to them. They came back and DOMINATED the tourney...then again the next year;) Probably will be the best thing that happened to them this 11pt Arky loss...now I'm really worried about seeing them come March!

Must agree with KU...very diplomatic. I think either of those teams could beat each other...even after an 11pt loss AT ARKY....both are THE elite teams at this point. Feel like #1 and #2 are the kiss of death right now;)

Pretty sure it was either #13 Mizzou or #15 ole Miss...not positive...but its the margin of victory. Before an 11pt loss AT Arky, FL won EVERY game by an average of 29pts!!! Teams like Marquette, too, not just SEC...

I really don't get all the Florida hate before and after tonight's game.  As several before me have said in their well written posts, there is absolutely cases to be made that Florida was deserving of being #1 as of Monday.  You may disagree with said reasoning, but to completely deny that it exists is burying your head in the sand.  I believed, and still do believe, that if Florida and Indiana were to play 10 times, Florida would win the majority of the games.  Despite that, after weighing the various pieces of evidence for and against both teams, I sided with Indiana as my #1.  To those who think or have implied that I would have been a crazy idiot to vote Florida #1, what about the 13 AP and Coaches poll voters who did vote Florida #1?  Clearly the logic and reasonings laid out here are not unique to this board and are shared by others.

Pretty sure a couple of those voters ranked virginia this week. logic fail.

Indiana could lose their next 2 games. It's tough on the road and Arkansas is no better than Illinois on any given night. Ohio State can beat anyone on any given night period. To say that Florida would beat Indiana in a ten game series on a neutral court is purely subjective opinoin. Offensively, Indiana just causes a lot of match up problems for teams.
You've convinced meI really want to see an I.U./Florida match up, hopefully in the NC game. "I have a dream...."

If OSU isn't there, I'll have to agree with you, Brick...would be a GREAT game against the two top teams right now

Nascar, the FL hate comes from pure jealousy because their teams are lesser. FL went to 2 National Ch games in CF (8SEC titles)with Spurrier and 2 NCGs with Meyer and back to back basketball Championships including another final four. People just love to hate winners. It's pathetic, but you have to listen to them anyway....kinda like Trolley

Can someone explain to me how Creighton continues to be ranked so high by everyone? I realize they have a legitimate POY candidate in McDermott, but they really don't have much to show for it. Their best win is against an unranked Wisconsin team. Their 2nd best win is against a bubble team, Arizona St. After that, they have a win against Indiana St., another potential bubble team. Aside from that, they have no other wins against teams in my top 68 (which is all the further I rank teams weekly). They have a bad loss to Drake, as well as losses to Boise St (another bubble team) and Wichita St (which after 3 losses, is looking more like a bubble team as well).

I just don't see how that resume justifies anyone ranking them above 20th. I had them 23rd this week, but after researching it a bit, I feel that was way too generous. Going strictly off of resume, they are somewhere closer to the 30-32 range.  A win @Indiana St. would help some for sure, but let's not pretend as if they have a top 15 resume by any means.  When compared to teams such as Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Pittsburgh (yes many BE teams), Missouri, Oklahoma St, heck even Colorado St., you'll see that their resume just doesn't hold up.

KUNfl,

I have them at #13 as a result of which one of these wonderful 4-5 loss teams, that are highly inconsistant, do you want to rank ahead of them? Take Louisville who I have ranked in the same area, they have 4, 4 losses, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, and Duke.

Duke loss no problem, Syracuse loss no problem, Georgetown loss is to a lower ranked/not ranked team, and Why did they loose to Nova, who at best is a bubble team?  Who is their best win? Memphis, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Kentucky? Kentucky and Mephis are bubble teams or lower seeded teams, and Pittsburgh & Marquette are marginal top 25 teams, so nothing to right home about.

Butler wins over Indiana and Gonzaga, but so-so losses.

When you start comparing resumes as a whole any team ranked from about #10 down to #50 has flaws, and either only has 3 losses, none really bad, or 4 losses, one could be bad, but 1-2 good wins to offset, or 4 losses none bad, or 5 losses, none bad and 1-2 good wins. Take your pick, plus, bias or non bias as everyone tries to be, we all still only see a few games a week, and for the most part still rank teams that we are the most familar with ahead of the unknown. So, don't get caught up in teams from #15-#50, remeber come NCAA tourney time, one could throw them in a hat.

I appreciate the feedback jhzak, still to me Creighton is just too high, especially at 13th having no good wins. If Wisconsin loses a couple more, Creighton may not have ANY tournament quality wins, plus they DO have a bad loss to Drake.  I stand by my belief that any ranking of them above #20 is too high, but do respect others' opinions. I just know that if I were blindly ranking these teams, without team names and just showing what rank team they beat/lost to and what the RPI's of those teams were and then ranked them out, Creighton would be around 30th (maybe lower) and I've done the research already so I know that to be true. I'm being lenient saying 20th is ok, but really anything above that must be strictly perception/eye test/trusting the coach's poll because they just don't have the quality resume to back it up.

Before an 11pt loss AT Arky, FL won EVERY game by an average of 29pts!!! Teams like Marquette, too, not just SEC...

Wrong again googleboy.

Florida's average margin of victory prior to the Arkansas game was not quite 26 points.  That doesn't include any of the losses factored in either.  Include the Arizona and K-State game (the didn't play Kansas... another point you were wrong about) and that number drops even lower.

If you're going to make up numbers, at least make up believable numbers.

UKNFL,

What about Gonzaga? Why are they ranked in the top 10? They have 1 quality win, Kansas State. 2 losses to Illinois, now a bubble team, and Butler a team that now is in the top 15 but not top 10 anymore. So, where is Gonzaga's 2nd best win? OK State, OK, take you pick on which bubble team you want to say. That's why I made the comments I did about Gonzaga, and I myself ranked them in the top 7, more or less because I, and I'm sure that just about everyone has them in the top 10, but there is currently not a team on paper besides Kansas State that is worth anything, but at the time, losing to Illinois, which was a top 15 team, no big deal. See, once again everyone is going to rank Gonzaga on lofty record.

Before an 11pt loss AT Arky, FL won EVERY game by an average of 29pts!!! Teams like Marquette, too, not just SEC...

Wrong again googleboy.

Florida's average margin of victory prior to the Arkansas game was not quite 26 points.  That doesn't include any of the losses factored in either.  Include the Arizona and K-State game (the didn't play Kansas... another point you were wrong about) and that number drops even lower.

If you're going to make up numbers, at least make up believable numbers.

---

Hey, you know what they would call googleboy if he was big and fat?

Big Fat Liar.

jhzak - Ok, even I'll admit to giving Gonzaga the benefit of the doubt by a smidge. But at least they are 5-2 against the top 50 and have no losses outside the top 50. I'm also a B12 homer, and personally think that the wins against OU and Ok St are great wins. Throw in decent wins against St. Mary's and BYU and I can justify their ranking more than Creighton being above 20. Creighton is 2-2 against the top 50 and has a loss 51-100 and a loss outside the top 100... very similar to teams well below them in the rankings. Basically, Gonzaga's resume is on par (or at least very, very close) with their ranking and Creighton, not so much. 

Throw in this week where the Illinois loss doesn't look as bad again and Creighton lost again and now both arguements are looking even stronger. Thanks for the discussion though, I was hoping to hear from at least 1 person on how they ranked Creighton... I myself will be ousting them out of the top 25 almost for sure after the loss this week, so I'm anxious to see how the coaches and people's poll respond.  

pencil top 25 before weekend games

1 Michigan - the spin the bottle lands on them, the kiss of death
2 Arizona - nobody has them, but they do have that win over Florida
3 Duke
4 Miami - They're better than Duke but 3 losses vs 2.
5 Indiana
6 Gonzaga - This is it, but I see wrongly, IMO, the potential for a #1 seed
7 Florida
8 Kansas
9 Syracuse
10 Michigan State - 3 #1 seeds from the Big 10, well, it is possible the way things are going, because Duke and Miami play again
11 Kansas State
12 Louisville
13 Butler
14 New Mexico
15 Mississippi
16 Ohio State
17 Georgetown
18 Minnesota
19 Pittsburgh
20 Oklahoma State
21 Marquette
22 VCU
23 Creighton
24 Colorado State
25 Saint Mary's (CA)