As of last week, the AP Rankings first-place votes were as awarded: Duke (71), Connecticut (0).
As of today, the AP Rankings first-place votes are as awarded: Duke (7), Connecticut (64).
And more relevent, as of when both teams were still undefeated: Duke (63), Connecticut (7)
Duke lost to Georgetown by 3. UConn's single loss was to Marquette by 15. (But it was 3 weeks ago.)
Going into this week, looking at every team objectively, without chronological consideration, I doubt 64 people would have placed UConn #1. Actually, I know they wouldn't because when both had an equal record, they didn't. In fact, it was the opposite.
And THAT is what is wrong with college rankings.
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3 comments:
I agree completely. There are just some additional points that should be made here:
In NCAA basketball, the AP and Coaches’ polls mean next to nothing. First of all, 65 teams get invited to the dance and are selected by a committee with no affiliation to the AP or the Coaches. Also, the most current AP and Coaches’ polls at the time of tournament field selection are always out-of-date because they would have been created the week before the conference tournaments. Therefore, they play very little roll in the seeding of the field (geographic loactions of teams plays a bigger roll). Furthermore, the polls have no roll in deciding which bubble teams get in, since all bubble teams would not be ranked in the top 25.
On the contrary, the issue of polls being too fluid and too responsive from the previous week has HUUUUGGGGGEEEE implications in NCAA football. In the current BCS formula, the polls almost entirely decide who will play for the championship (“almost” could pretty-much be eliminated from that sentence). Prior to the BCS, the polls directly determined the champion.
The most recent case when overactive polls played a huge roll was 2003 when Oklahoma, ranked number 1 and the only undefeated team through most of the season lost its final game, the Big XII championship to Kansas State. The result was 3 teams (USC and LSU being the others) which all had 1 loss. The polls, being over-responsive to recent games obviously voted OU as the odd team out (3rd), despite the fact that all teams had 1 loss, and OU had the toughest schedule and the most impressive team stats. However, the computer portion of the BCS ranking does not take the timing of losses into consideration…nor does it consider emotion or bandwagons. Instead, they use various algorithms based on which teams beat which teams throughout the season, location of games, scores of games, team statistics, weather patterns, and stock market prices. That’s why in 2003, Oklahoma was ranked number 1 by the computers despite losing the conference championship game: because throughout the season, OU was the most impressive team.
Consequently, the weight the computer portion has in the BCS ranking was reduced to comic levels.
Another scenario that illustrates this problem with the polls is when team A (ranked 10) beats team B (ranked 11th) in the 24th overtime due to team A’s last kick hitting the upright and bouncing through and team B’s last kick hitting the upright and bouncing out. Then in next week’s poll, team A moves up to 6 and team B moves down to 21. Didn’t that game just verify that the teams were exactly where they should be?
Back to UConn/Duke…I would have voted UConn number 1 even if Duke hadn’t lost. UConn sealed themselves as the best team in my mind when they went in to Syracuse and made the Orangemen look like Orangeprepubescentjuniorvarsityboys. Following that up with a solid win at Louisville was also impressive.
UConn just might have the best frontcourt in America.
UConn just might have the best backcourt in America.
UConn just might play the best defense in America.
UConn just might play the best offense in America.
UConn just might be the Number 1 team in America, and unless something rash happens, they’re my pick to win it all.
Good points. And we both know an article on NCAA Football polls and how unjust they are would be pages long.
You might be right about UConn. I honestly don't know who I'd place at #1 because I think UConn has played the best consistently, but I'd have to pick the absolute curbstomping of Texas by Duke as the most impressive win thus far (even though it was at home). I'm really not sure who should be ranked first, but I do know not to take any stock in a bunch of sportswriters that behave like John Kerry.
good political crossover. did you hear that he called for an Alito filibuster as he and wife were sampling cheese and wine in Switzerland?
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