Sunday, February 15, 2009

My Ballot

RankTeamDelta
1 Connecticut
2 Oklahoma
3 North Carolina
4 Pittsburgh 1
5 Memphis 2
6 Michigan St. 9
7 Wake Forest 3
8 Missouri 10
9 Marquette
10 Clemson 1
11 Louisville 7
12 Duke 6
13 Arizona St. 10
14 Gonzaga 2
15 Kansas 2
16 Illinois 3
17 Villanova 5
18 UCLA 10
19 Brigham Young
20 Butler 7
21 Dayton
22 Xavier 8
23 Purdue 3
24 Washington 2
25 Davidson
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Utah St. (#21), Syracuse (#24).

Lots of losses this week really shook up the standings. Utah State and Syracuse drop out with defeats. Say hello to BYU and Dayton, new members of my ballot.

Duke took a tumble after two losses this week. Arizona State is the big mover after beating UCLA while the Bruins dove to 18th with two straight losses.

2 comments:

MJenks said...

I've always had a soft spot for Dayton, because they were the only D1 school to offer me anything--it was a preferred walk-on role, but still, it was something.

I always like seeing them do well.

I realize that it's a bit out the realm of the blog's intent, but what are your thoughts on Duke and Wake's sudden tumble?

BlackandGreen said...

I love Dayton and have some connections there. It's a great school with a solid hoops program and history.

I never really got the feeling that Duke was championship-caliber. Sweet 16 or Elite 8, yes, but not really any different from recent years. The magnitude of their loss to Clemson shocked me, but not necessarily the outcome. It was really a sign of things to come.

They can be pretty erratic and seemingly find ways to lose. With Michigan, it was fouling. Clemson and UNC, poor shooting and rebounding. BC was just a failure to create bad shots (they forced turnovers, but the Eagles hit 60%).

With the level of competition they've played, 5 losses isn't too bad. However, their high Pomeroy ranking suggests that there might be a sizable gap between the the top four schools and the rest of the nation.

Wake Forest is just a case of a school cruising through an easy nonconference schedule and riding some home momentum. I think we'll learn a lot more on Sunday at Cameron. Right now their high ranking is based on success earlier in the year. Just as Notre Dame's losses piled up, the Deacons got going on a winning streak and beat some more highly regarded teams. I wouldn't be surprised if they slip back into the middle of the ACC with another road loss or two.