POWER 16: Feb. 18 Edition
by BracketCat on Feb 19, 2010 12:00 AM CST
in Men's Basketball
22 comments
OK, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this.
Follow the jump and see if you agree.
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Kentucky Wildcats (+1)
- Syracuse Orange (-1)
- Villanova Wildcats
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Duke Blue Devils (+2)
- Kansas St. Wildcats (+3)
- BYU Cougars (-2)
- New Mexico Lobos (-2)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (-1)
- Baylor Bears (+5)
- Vanderbilt Commodores (NR)
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (-1)
- Butler Bulldogs (-3)
- Texas Longhorns (-1)
- Georgetown Hoyas (-3)
Very minor shuffling at the top. There might have been more, but Villanova decided to immediately mimic Syracuse and stub its toe in similar fashion. Both teams lost at home to bubble teams fighting for their lives, and thus confirmed that neither is quite as good as Kansas or Kentucky.
I made a minor adjustment to my algorithm because I no longer could justify keeping BYU and New Mexico ahead of Duke and K-State. The Wildcats clearly are at least the seventh-best (if not better) team in the country.
While I still think the Cougars and Lobos are Top 10 caliber, in contrast to most "professional" voters, it's time to take into account that the Mountain West Conference is not as competitive as the ACC or the Big 12.
I didn't overly punish West Virginia, considering one loss came to No. 3 and the other came in 3OT. But one more defeat will send the Mountaineers plummeting to the bottom of this list, if not off it entirely.
After that, it got real hazy. Everyone else has five or six losses and it became difficult to differentiate. As a result, Baylor made a strong upward move and Vanderbilt replaced Tennessee, which lost to the Commodores and Kentucky, and thus fell out for this week.
A pair of Bulldogs, Gonzaga and Butler, fell for the same reason as BYU and New Mexico, while Texas and Georgetown stayed in because I really didn't see any better options. Ohio State's clunker at home exposed the Buckeyes, in my opinion.
The Longhorns and Hoyas have undeniable talent and are capable of beating many teams when they get into the NCAA Tournament — but each has some really head-scratching losses, too.
So there you go. Have at it!
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Getting better!
The Longhorns have got to go. Period. It’s a Power poll and they can’t beat anyone with a pulse right now. Even Virginia Tech is playing better basketball right now and they haven’t even played anyone with a pulse.
Although I’m not going to back this up with anything factual, but I don’t believe the SEC gets two teams in this poll and the Big 10/11 only gets one. Maybe at either 15 or 16 you could have have put Big 10/11 #2 like they do for the football bowl games. I’d probably go with Michigan State, but that’s only because…I’ve got nothing.
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
20-6, man
They’ve got fewer losses than Michigan State, play in a better conference and… oh, yeah, beat the crap out of them head to head.
The Big Ten is the number FIVE RPI conference. No way are they getting more than one team when all of the rest have 6+ losses.
Well in that case
why does the SEC get more teams in than the ACC?
Virginia Tech has only 4 losses compared to Michigan State’s 6 or Texas’s 6.
Vanderbilt has 5 losses with one of those being a really bad loss. They’ve only beaten Tennessee (albeit twice) for their signature wins. Michigan State has the 6 losses, but no bad ones and hs two signature wins against two different teams.
I’m not trying to argue for Michigan State (although it does look like that….). I’m just teasing you on your logic. That’s why I love college basketball – it’s all decided in the tournament. We can bicker about the top 16 teams, but in the end they will all have a chance to prove themselves in March – unlike the BCS….
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
Virginia Tech's composite computer numbers are terrible
Due to a pathetic non-con.
Vanderbilt’s are surprisingly good. Keep in mind that the Commodores also beat Missouri. That carries weight with me.
Also, I'd say Okie Lite has a pulse
Texas is what it is — the sixth-best team in the Big 12.
Doesn’t mean their non-con gets thrown out the window, though.
I define a power poll as the teams I can envision in the Sweet 16. With the right draw, Texas still has the talent to make it if it can just pull together a little.
I guess we have different views on a power poll
I’ve always thought of them as how they’re performing right now and what they could do tomorrow. I think a power poll doesn’t necessarily take how they started out into consideration. It’s more of momentum poll.
I believe thats why there are power polls. That’s the difference between the power poll and the rankings/rpi/etc.
I’ll accept your premise that Texas can make it to the Sweet 16 based on overall performance. I’m not doubting their overall talent. That makes sense. But right now they’re playing like a team that is in the mud of the middle of the conference. Their momentum is low.
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
Then call it a momentum poll
I’m ranking teams by what I perceive their power level to be.
Everyone’s different. I like to think that I’m at least consistent within my own system.
Just like Big 12 refs, right?
I like to think that I’m at least consistent within my own system.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
There's a reason I'm not a coach...
…because if I were, I would have punched Truman in his already-flat nose.
(Cue RPT and his “That’s Racist!” animated GIF in 5…4…3…)
We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats
I've stolen it and consider it my own
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
I have also stolen a pic from a KU blogger - and will consider it my own
but I am still waiting on a worthy GIF though.
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
The rest of my pics/gifs
are “original”
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
I like it...
I’m not sold on the mountain west teams, but their RPI’s are good. I tend to agree with Texas because even though they’ve sucked recently, it’s baffling to me with the talent they have and I think they are a sweet 16 team.
I also think the big 10 sucks compared to the big east and big 12, so keep Ohio st and Michigan st out in my opinion, at least until they show something more.
Wildcat for life
It just struck me but it is so obvious...
The parallel team to Texas this year is UNC. Both have underachieved while having some of the best talent in the nation. Which is puzzling because I think Roy Williams is a good coach. He was interviewed recently and even he was perplexed as to why his group just was not getting it.
Yeah, except one's getting in the Dance and the other ain't
A better analogy to UNC would be Oklahoma.
Both are stocked to the brim with underachieving McDonald’s All-Americans.
Why so high on Duke?
I have seen them play and I truly believe they are not as good as K-State. Also, contrary to popular opinion, this is a down year for the ACC. Top to bottom the Big East and Big 12 are better conferences this year.
It's down, but it's balanced
And Duke still is running away from the pack.
Four losses is four losses. And one of those was at Georgetown, where very few teams have won.
Duke is a very disciplined team that doesn’t beat itself. Don’t underestimate how far that can take the Blue Devils.
If it makes you feel better, it’s more of a tie for sixth.
The ACC gets props because...
they have no really bad teams in terms of RPI. If you average the conference RPI was higher than the big 12 in the near past. Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa State are well below 100 so that hurts our perception. But I agree that if Duke played in the big 12, they would really be challenged and the big 12 and big east are by far stronger conferences I think. That being said, Duke is still a top 10 team. They were down 12 the other night in Miami and came back strong to win. A Duke/Kstate matchup is really intriguing. Duke has an easier road ahead compared to us also.
Wildcat for life
I understand that the MWC is a little low on the totem pole,
but I really don’t understand why BYU is ahead of UNM other than name recognition. UNM has beaten BYU and has played a way more difficult schedule as far as non-cons go. Check their RPI comparison. UNM is somewhere around 9. BYU is closer to 25.
Other than that, I like your list. Who knows what to think about them Hoyas. Something tells me they just aren’t consistent enough for tourney play.
Honestly, it's mainly based on the fact that BYU is ahead of UNM in the composite computer rankings
We’ll know for certain which is better this week, I think.
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