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Collegesportsmadness' Top 144


bauman

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While the main question in my mind regarding Billiken basketball right now is the hoped for word that Jacobs is on campus and taking courses, it is fun being able to anticipate an A-10 championship and NCAA bid this year.  Other than that, real Billiken news is limited to player sightings on campus or a hoped for 2019 commitment.  For some reason I decided to check the Top 144 listing last year both for us (#58) and for known 2018-19 opponents.  When doing so I noticed that they started their countdown on 6/19/17.  While we can debate the actual knowledge of the Top 144 writers it does provide an off-season source of information to generate discussion about college basketball.  I remember last year some disagreement as it became apparent that either SLU or Richmond would get the last available A-10 slot. 

Since they are ready to start their Top 144 countdown I thought some of us might want to make an on-the-record prediction.  If you are in St. Louis and attend Billiken games,  I WILL BUY the closest predictor one of AB's finest at one of the games.  No Price is Right rules here-just be the numerical closest.  Tie breaker is the higher predictor, e.g.;  if the Top 144 # is 43 and the two closest predictions are #42 and #44, then #42 wins.  If there is still a tie after the previous example then the final tie breaker is whose number was locked in first.  (limit is 2 winners after all tiebreakers with a coin flip the final determination of winner(s).)

Predictions must be made NLT  9/1/18 or until the Bills appear in the ranking (whichever comes first) and only Board members as of today's date are eligible.

I think the web site will notice our roster makeup and the predictions of people like Jon Rothstein.  Side point, I think they will predict us to finish 2nd in the league.

I'll start the bidding at #48.  Predicted number may be changed up until 8/15

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3 minutes ago, Major Majerus said:

51...nobody predicts SLU in the top  50 unless we were there the year before.  I no longer drink AB products but there are some fond memories there. 😱

If you win, I'll be glad to substitute a soda and a dog!  We'll see about your top 50 comment.

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It is always fun to see if or where we fall in this ranking. The only problem I have with it is that those doing the ranking rely too heavily on your previous finish and often down play your incoming players unless they are big names so they can be way off at times  That being said it is still fun to watch the count down  

 

 

 

 

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At a minimum, I think these guys do look at preseason conference analyses. Doubtful they go thru every team's roster of returnees and additions. Instead they rely on reports/blogs from conferences. It's usually easy for them to come up with the top 25-30 teams, hell, even us MBM'ers could do it. We know UK, KU, Duke, UNC, MSU, et al will be there come the end of the season. They can get this info from team websites as to who their top recruits are and ESPN's way too early top 25. As for the rest of the field  here's what I figure they do, for purely hypothetical lets say Wofford comes in at 144. Yes, they may look at their record from last year and peruse who's returning and who's been added for about 25 minutes. But my guess is they've ranked the conferences based on last year's results or other rankings and deemed the SOCON, or whatever conference the Fighting Terriers play in, and deem it's somewhere near rock bottom. Wofford's picked to come in 2nd, again just hypothetical on my part, so they're the first team announced on the countdown clock.

I do think the A10 is still a top 7-10 conference, so now they pay a little more attention to conference blogs and maybe analyze some of the transfers and incoming FR. For this reason, I've got them ranking us somewhere between 50-40. Split the middle and we come in at 45. If I win, Bauman, send me a Billikens window decal since I don't think I'm making it to STL this year. I'll have Broy give you the address. Or, if we make the dance and play in Louisville, Columbia, or Columbus you can buy me that A&B product, since Taj Mahal 79 will be covering all my single malts.

Ice Billiken likes this
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