Duff Man Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Yeah. I primarily would like to see the Billikens get to the NCAA tournament. The more often that they're in the top 25 the better their chances and higher the seed. There may not be a direct correlation for this, but their is definitely an indirect relationship. Plus, there is much more information printed everywhere about teams that are in the top 25.from a fans point of view, that alone is reason enough to have some interest in being ranked. I'm not so sure this is true. Gonzaga was ranked #6 one year and ended up a 6-seed. Being ranked is nice because it turns heads in the media who might otherwise not pay attention at all, and surely it helps with recruiting - but it's not inherently boosting our NCAA prospects. At the end of the season, the committee going to look at our quality wins, (hopefully lack of) bad losses, not our weekly ranking history. Also, it's dumb to worry about seeding when the 32 teams seeded 5 thru 12 are typically capable of beating each other on any given night. Bottom line: Beat the teams we're supposed to beat in December, finish in the top 2 in the A10, and everything works out naturally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I'm not so sure this is true. Gonzaga was ranked #6 one year and ended up a 6-seed. Being ranked is nice because it turns heads in the media who might otherwise not pay attention at all, and surely it helps with recruiting - but it's not inherently boosting our NCAA prospects. At the end of the season, the committee going to look at our quality wins, (hopefully lack of) bad losses, not our weekly ranking history. Also, it's dumb to worry about seeding when the 32 teams seeded 5 thru 12 are typically capable of beating each other on any given night. Bottom line: Beat the teams we're supposed to beat in December, finish in the top 2 in the A10, and everything works out naturally. I think the thing you're overlooking is the human element in consensus. Those are people picking the NCAA Tournament field, just as those voting in the polls are people. When there are enough people evaluating things, a consensus forms, and, in general, any representative evaluating group will be fairly close to another such group in evaluating the same sample. If the Bills are ranked in the final poll, they'll be an NCAA Tournament team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizziken Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Well...###### Loyola Marymount just lost to North ###### Texas...in the very same building that we got beat, they turn around and lose to Columbia, and ###### North Texas...I hate those pieces of ###### at Loyola...perfect storm for those ###### when they beat us... at least UNLV had the good sense to get killed @ Wichita State Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Most likely we end up in the 26th-28th, which means we wont be ranked this week but as long as we keep winning we should be ranked for next week. seeing that hopefully at least 1 or 2 teams ranked in the 20's losses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff Man Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I think the thing you're overlooking is the human element in consensus. Those are people picking the NCAA Tournament field, just as those voting in the polls are people. When there are enough people evaluating things, a consensus forms, and, in general, any representative evaluating group will be fairly close to another such group in evaluating the same sample. If the Bills are ranked in the final poll, they'll be an NCAA Tournament team. c u m hoc ergo propter hoc No s h i t if they're ranked in the final poll they'll make the tournament. That's beside the point. First of all, I was speaking to the argument that being ranked consistently indirectly boosts their seed. Being ranked in March is MUCH different from being ranked in December. It's better to be ranked once late in the year, than be ranked every week Nov-Jan, but not in Feb/March. Secondly, not everyone voting in the weekly polls takes their voting responsibility seriously. The committee members know this. While they may not be as informed as the best writers/coaches, they're at least engaged in a vetting process that considers the body of work for each team (unlike some weekly poll voters). It's my perception that the committee (the adults) are - for better or worse - too arrogant to let the opinions of the coaches and writers (the children) influence their decisions. The objective is to make the tournament, not the top 25. If anything being ranked only fires up the opposition and makes it harder to win. LMU is 2-0 against the top 25 teams and 2-4 against all other D1 opponents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk18 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 cbs has us sitting where we were last week - 21st. we'll see what AP says tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 We might stick. I see Georgetown, Ill, and Creighton crashing the party. Not sure about Harvard. Can see Vandy dropping out but we'll probably need at leat one more to go. Any candidates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 The objective is to make the tournament, not the top 25. If anything being ranked only fires up the opposition and makes it harder to win. LMU is 2-0 against the top 25 teams and 2-4 against all other D1 opponents. That is the brass ring. Just win and keep your eye on the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 A clearly overrated suspect, Cal, just lost at San Diego State, 64-63. Cal has 2 losses, including the 39 point annihilation at the hands of Mizzou. SLU should be ranked ahead of Cal tomorrow- in both polls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikens747 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 SLU out of updated Top 25 (and one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 SLU out of updated Top 25 (and one) They ranked us higher than the actual AP & Coaches poll last week, for what it's worth. Their rankings don't mean jack ######. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 regarless its safe to say as long as we win out till next Monday we are back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOSLU68 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 A loss at home would have much worse; but I really hate this OOC schedule; can't we add Bradley, Butler, Illinois, Creighton, or Nebraska for coming years and drop Stritch, Ambrose and Springfield? The only reason I put in Bradley is Coach seems to want us to play the corridor from central Illinois to Wisconsin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STLfan Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 FWIW here is what the Top 25 did this week. (using the AP Poll) 1. Kentucky - Beat St. John's and North Carolina 2. Ohio State - Beat Duke and Texas-Pan American 3. Duke - Lost to Ohio State 4. Syracuse - Beat Eastern Michigan and Florida 5. North Carolina - Beat Wisconsin, Lost to Kentucky 6. Louisville - Beat Long Beach State and Vanderbilt 7. Baylor - Beat Prairie View A&M and Northwestern 8. UConn - Beat Arkansas 9. Wisconsin - Lost to North Carolina and Marquette 10. Florida - Beat Stetson, Lost to Syracuse 11. Xavier - Beat Vanderbilt and Purdue 12. Alabama - Lost to Georgetown 13. Missouri - Beat Northwestern 14. Michigan - Beat Iowa State, Lost to Virginia 15. Kansas - Beat Florida Atlantic and South Florida 16. Marquette - Beat Jacksonville and Wisconsin 17. Pittsburgh - Beat Duquesne and Tennessee 18. UNLV - Beat Santa Barbra, Lost to Wichita State 19. Gonzaga - Beat Notre Dame, Lost to Illinois 20. Vanderbilt - Lost to Xavier and Louisville 21. Mississippi State - Beat West Virginia 22. Memphis - Beat Jackson State and Austin Peay 23. Saint Louis - Beat Portland, Lost to Loyola Marymount 24. California - Beat McNeese State, Lost to San Diego State 25. Texas A&M - Beat Alcorn State and Stephen F. Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenbill Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 A loss at home would have much worse; but I really hate this OOC schedule; can't we add Bradley, Butler, Illinois, Creighton, or Nebraska for coming years and drop Stritch, Ambrose and Springfield? The only reason I put in Bradley is Coach seems to want us to play the corridor from central Illinois to Wisconsin Stritch and AMbrose are exhibition games which have to be from D2 or lower. Ill-Springfield is better than playing a dog team from the SWAC or MEAC as those teams' low rpi's hurt the case for making the dance. If you can't get a decent D1 team to come in, it's better to have one game against a D2 as it doesn't count toward rpi, schedule strength, or any of that. OTOH, you usually can get some deep bench players a decent amount of minutes which is a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 FWIW here is what the Top 25 did this week. (using the AP Poll) 1. Kentucky - Beat St. John's and North Carolina 2. Ohio State - Beat Duke and Texas-Pan American 3. Duke - Lost to Ohio State 4. Syracuse - Beat Eastern Michigan and Florida 5. North Carolina - Beat Wisconsin, Lost to Kentucky 6. Louisville - Beat Long Beach State and Vanderbilt 7. Baylor - Beat Prairie View A&M and Northwestern 8. UConn - Beat Arkansas 9. Wisconsin - Lost to North Carolina and Marquette 10. Florida - Beat Stetson, Lost to Syracuse 11. Xavier - Beat Vanderbilt and Purdue 12. Alabama - Lost to Georgetown 13. Missouri - Beat Northwestern 14. Michigan - Beat Iowa State, Lost to Virginia 15. Kansas - Beat Florida Atlantic and South Florida 16. Marquette - Beat Jacksonville and Wisconsin 17. Pittsburgh - Beat Duquesne and Tennessee 18. UNLV - Beat Santa Barbra, Lost to Wichita State 19. Gonzaga - Beat Notre Dame, Lost to Illinois 20. Vanderbilt - Lost to Xavier and Louisville 21. Mississippi State - Beat West Virginia 22. Memphis - Beat Jackson State and Austin Peay 23. Saint Louis - Beat Portland, Lost to Loyola Marymount 24. California - Beat McNeese State, Lost to San Diego State 25. Texas A&M - Beat Alcorn State and Stephen F. Austin Based on the above it would seem there will be a shuffling of spots in the top 17. UNLV, because they beat UNC, will probably drop a few spots from 18 but not out. Vandy, Cal, SLU have a good chance of falling out and being replaced by Creighton, Georgetown, and Ill. Maybe others like Harvard sneak in as well. Wisconsin with 2 losses last week don't drop out they just drop down a few notches while others move up. Friggin' LMU losing 2 games to the likes of Columbia and N. Texas is really gonna hurt us. Maybe had they won those 2, we might have hung on to 25th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccarthyirish7 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Something else to consider. About 1/2 the AP and more than 1/2 of the Coaches didn't even rank us last week. Others that did rank us had us as high as #17. I think the recognition we received last week, along with the positive articles from the thanksgiving tournament and Saturday nights win may overshadow the misstep at LMU. We have been on the ticker all week, and have been planted in peoples heads. I think all of this may create a situation where our 7-1 ranking and "hot start" are enough for more people to consider us in the Top 25 (although not higher than 20) than the week before. My prediction is AP #25 and just outside the coaches Top 25.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomble Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I won't be shocked if we stay in, however, I think we'll drop to around 30 and then work back up. The amount of National pub we've gotten though could keep us in. Every article we've seen seems to discount the LMU game. Lets hope voters have the same opinion. Seems like the most likely outcome, Skip. I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Based on the above it would seem there will be a shuffling of spots in the top 17. UNLV, because they beat UNC, will probably drop a few spots from 18 but not out. Vandy, Cal, SLU have a good chance of falling out and being replaced by Creighton, Georgetown, and Ill. Maybe others like Harvard sneak in as well. Wisconsin with 2 losses last week don't drop out they just drop down a few notches while others move up. Friggin' LMU losing 2 games to the likes of Columbia and N. Texas is really gonna hurt us. Maybe had they won those 2, we might have hung on to 25th. -lmu losing to columbia and n texas did not impact our ranking as much as us losing to lmu -we lost a game, hopefully only a very brief stumble, and back to the rankings we will go if we take care of business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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