My Top 25 - Thoughts?

[PorkshankRedemption]

TLDR
1. Purdue
2. UConn
3. Virginia
4. Bama
5. Arizona
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. Tennessee
9. Kansas
10. Baylor
11. Arkansas
12. Duke
13. UCLA
14. Maryland
15. Indiana
16. Gonzaga
17. Ohio State
18. Iowa
19. Kentucky
20. Miss State
21. West Virginia
22. Illinois
23. Va Tech
24. Memphis
25. Auburn

1. Purdue - they destroyed Gonzaga and Duke…they’ve had two games within 10 all year: a decent Marquette team and Nebraska on the road. They’ve been dominant with two of the top five wins on the year.
2. UConn - see Purdue with one less dominant win. The 15 point win vs Bama on a neutral site looks like the #2 win on the season right now.
3. Virginia - impressive wins vs Illinois & Baylor. At Michigan is also an impressive non-con win
4. Bama - #1 win on the season, lost to an elite team at a neutral site. They have an insane schedule coming up: Memphis and Gonzaga to finish up the first portion of their non-con
5. Arizona - the odd Utah game aside, they have the most dominant offense in CBB.
6. Texas - Lost to a pretty good Illinois team in OT. Arizona and Texas are interchangeable for me, but ‘Zona won Maui which gives them the nod for me.
7. Houston - Hard grade here. Computers love them because they kill the cupcakes…but they’ve played 4 teams with a pulse and are +14 with a 3-1 record. The only teams they’ve looked dominant against are garbage.
8. Tennessee - while I think they’re a bit inflated because of their Kansas win, you can’t overlook it. Their offense is dependent upon the other team messing up. Any time they have to pass backwards, you’ve won that possession. 70% assist rate with a sub 50% eFG. They have no ability to score in a set offense unless it’s a kick to a wide open shooter…and even then they’re shouting sub 30% from 3 in Q1/2.
9. Kansas - perhaps the best passing team in the country. If they can find a big to step up, they’ll be hard to beat come March. But that Tennessee game looked pretty rough. Tennessee had 2x TO - A and still won going away
10. Baylor - Two tough losses to Virginia and Marquette…but the best perimeter shooting team, IMO, in the country
11. Arkansas - Brazile was a huge loss, but they have three guards in NBA mock drafts, a center playing very efficient, and a stretch 4 McDAA just starting to find his role. Shooting is rough (mainly skewed by 1 player), but there aren’t many teams with 3 guards who can get a bucket whenever they want.
12. Duke - 2 losses to two good teams, but they also have also have 3 big wins. A lot like UCLA, but with more good wins.
13. UCLA - went 0-2 in the bigtime non-con tournament with UCLA, Virginia, Baylor, and Illinois…but those aren’t bad losses. Not sure what to feel about the Oregon and Stanford wins…but I don’t think they should be overly downgraded for playing good teams…like Bama, they have two bigtime games coming up.
14. Maryland - really excited for the game vs Tennessee. Lost a tough one at Wisconsin…but hard to win, there.
15. Indiana - Rutgers was an odd one and Arizona is just good. But when they get JHS back they’ll be just fine
16. Gonzaga - offense has looked bad, good scheduling, but they’re 3-3 against teams that would get an NCAAT (top 40) bid right now. Playing a hard schedule, but looking dominant doing it even though they have a lot coming back in terms of minutes played
17. Ohio State - Good team, but not sure on their offense. Two losses but they’re not bad losses.
18. Iowa - Great offense. But they’ve played two teams right now that would make the NCAAT right now and lost both games.
19. Kentucky - Really don’t get this team. Insane amount coming back, great pieces, but they have no identity. Nice win vs Michigan. But they’ve been put in the spotlight 3 times and have put up a stinker twice while also struggling with some of their cupcakes
20. Miss State - One of the worst schedules in CBB 351/363 per KP, but they’re undefeated. We’ll see how good they really are here shortly
21. West Virginia - Decent schedule with some borderline Q1 wins, but they’re 0-2 in the big games.
22. Illinois - a ton of talent, some great wins, but still 3 losses
23. Va Tech - Aside from an odd loss to Charleston on the road (may end up being a Q1 loss), they’ve looked good
24. Memphis - was split between them and Auburn here, but Memphis just won
25. Auburn - see above

 

[boilerzz]

I approve

 

[KerryRhodes]

We used to be in the top 25......

 

[GE Nole]

Purdue and UVA didn’t scream “top 3 team” to me when I saw them against FSU. Both felt more like 2 or 3 seeds than 1 seeds.

That said, I’ll admit that based on resume they both have great cases for top 3 right now.

 

[boilerzz]

Purdue and UVA didn’t scream “top 3 team” to me when I saw them against FSU. Both felt more like 2 or 3 seeds than 1 seeds.

That said, I’ll admit that based on resume they both have great cases for top 3 right now.

Purdue had some serious travel issues getting back from Portland and getting to Tallahassee. And was coming off playing 3 games in 4 days out there. We were definitely lethargic.

 

[WeAreDePaul]

TLDR
1. Purdue
2. UConn
3. Virginia
4. Bama
5. Arizona
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. Tennessee
9. Kansas
10. Baylor
11. Arkansas
12. Duke
13. UCLA
14. Maryland
15. Indiana
16. Gonzaga
17. Ohio State
18. Iowa
19. Kentucky
20. Miss State
21. West Virginia
22. Illinois
23. Va Tech
24. Memphis
25. Auburn

1. Purdue - they destroyed Gonzaga and Duke…they’ve had two games within 10 all year: a decent Marquette team and Nebraska on the road. They’ve been dominant with two of the top five wins on the year.
2. UConn - see Purdue with one less dominant win. The 15 point win vs Bama on a neutral site looks like the #2 win on the season right now.
3. Virginia - impressive wins vs Illinois & Baylor. At Michigan is also an impressive non-con win
4. Bama - #1 win on the season, lost to an elite team at a neutral site. They have an insane schedule coming up: Memphis and Gonzaga to finish up the first portion of their non-con
5. Arizona - the odd Utah game aside, they have the most dominant offense in CBB.
6. Texas - Lost to a pretty good Illinois team in OT. Arizona and Texas are interchangeable for me, but ‘Zona won Maui which gives them the nod for me.
7. Houston - Hard grade here. Computers love them because they kill the cupcakes…but they’ve played 4 teams with a pulse and are +14 with a 3-1 record. The only teams they’ve looked dominant against are garbage.
8. Tennessee - while I think they’re a bit inflated because of their Kansas win, you can’t overlook it. Their offense is dependent upon the other team messing up. Any time they have to pass backwards, you’ve won that possession. 70% assist rate with a sub 50% eFG. They have no ability to score in a set offense unless it’s a kick to a wide open shooter…and even then they’re shouting sub 30% from 3 in Q1/2.
9. Kansas - perhaps the best passing team in the country. If they can find a big to step up, they’ll be hard to beat come March. But that Tennessee game looked pretty rough. Tennessee had 2x TO - A and still won going away
10. Baylor - Two tough losses to Virginia and Marquette…but the best perimeter shooting team, IMO, in the country
11. Arkansas - Brazile was a huge loss, but they have three guards in NBA mock drafts, a center playing very efficient, and a stretch 4 McDAA just starting to find his role. Shooting is rough (mainly skewed by 1 player), but there aren’t many teams with 3 guards who can get a bucket whenever they want.
12. Duke - 2 losses to two good teams, but they also have also have 3 big wins. A lot like UCLA, but with more good wins.
13. UCLA - went 0-2 in the bigtime non-con tournament with UCLA, Virginia, Baylor, and Illinois…but those aren’t bad losses. Not sure what to feel about the Oregon and Stanford wins…but I don’t think they should be overly downgraded for playing good teams…like Bama, they have two bigtime games coming up.
14. Maryland - really excited for the game vs Tennessee. Lost a tough one at Wisconsin…but hard to win, there.
15. Indiana - Rutgers was an odd one and Arizona is just good. But when they get JHS back they’ll be just fine
16. Gonzaga - offense has looked bad, good scheduling, but they’re 3-3 against teams that would get an NCAAT (top 40) bid right now. Playing a hard schedule, but looking dominant doing it even though they have a lot coming back in terms of minutes played
17. Ohio State - Good team, but not sure on their offense. Two losses but they’re not bad losses.
18. Iowa - Great offense. But they’ve played two teams right now that would make the NCAAT right now and lost both games.
19. Kentucky - Really don’t get this team. Insane amount coming back, great pieces, but they have no identity. Nice win vs Michigan. But they’ve been put in the spotlight 3 times and have put up a stinker twice while also struggling with some of their cupcakes
20. Miss State - One of the worst schedules in CBB 351/363 per KP, but they’re undefeated. We’ll see how good they really are here shortly
21. West Virginia - Decent schedule with some borderline Q1 wins, but they’re 0-2 in the big games.
22. Illinois - a ton of talent, some great wins, but still 3 losses
23. Va Tech - Aside from an odd loss to Charleston on the road (may end up being a Q1 loss), they’ve looked good
24. Memphis - was split between them and Auburn here, but Memphis just won
25. Auburn - see above

Great thread OP! Love the write up for each team. Please keep this up all season.

 

[CUJO_1970]

19. Kentucky - Really don’t get this team. Insane amount coming back, great pieces, but they have no identity. Nice win vs Michigan. But they’ve been put in the spotlight 3 times and have put up a stinker twice while also struggling with some of their cupcakes
------------------------------------------------------

Pretty much spot-on analysis of our team, no argument here.

Hate to say it but UConn is probably playing the best basketball in the country right now.

 

[GE Nole]

Purdue had some serious travel issues getting back from Portland and getting to Tallahassee. And was coming off playing 3 games in 4 days out there. We were definitely lethargic.

That’s helpful context. Easy to forget how much of a headache multi time zone travel can be.

 

[ExitFlagger]

I don't know about KU being the best passing team in the country. Their lob passing has been pretty brutal.

The Tennessee game was humbling, but it was also their third game in three days. Looked like a team with tired legs. But with the defense that Tennessee's capable of playing, when they're hitting threes like that, they're tough. Probably the best defensive team in the country.

The 5 will be a concern for KU all year. Not sure that anyone will ever step up to become a consistent post scorer or rebounder. Adams has done some nice things, but at 6'7" he's just physically limited.

 

[dukedevilz]

I'd have Arizona State on there somewhere. Easily the best Arizona State team Hurley has had. Don't expect them to challenge Arizona or UCLA for the conference ship, but I think they're a solid #3 team in the Pac-12.

They've been playing much, much better without Marcus Bagley. He plays too much hero ball. I expect Bagley will announce his intentions to transfer soon... or possibly go pro. Either way, the split is ideal for both parties.

 

[dukedevilz]

WTH happened to Creighton?! Lots of hype in the preseason, looked good in Maui with wins over Texas Tech and Arkansas. Close losses to Arizona and Texas... and now this week? Losses to Nebraska and BYU? Kalkbrenner's status is uncertain. Yikes.

 

[boilerzz]

That’s helpful context. Easy to forget how much of a headache multi time zone travel can be.

Yeah, the team took a red eye that Sunday night from Portland and got in at 5AM Monday. Then tried to fly out Tuesday afternoon, got delayed and then stuck in Des Moines for some reason and didn’t land in Tallahassee until 2AM Wednesday morning.

 

[ExitFlagger]

I'd have Arizona State on there somewhere. Easily the best Arizona State team Hurley has had. Don't expect them to challenge Arizona or UCLA for the conference ship, but I think they're a solid #3 team in the Pac-12.

They've been playing much, much better without Marcus Bagley. He plays too much hero ball. I expect Bagley will announce his intentions to transfer soon... or possibly go pro. Either way, the split is ideal for both parties.

Bobby's results have been up and down at Arizona St so far, but I'm not sure there's a Hurley that can't coach. I've always wondered what Bob Hurley Sr could have done at the college level.

 

[PorkshankRedemption]

WTH happened to Creighton?! Lots of hype in the preseason, looked good in Maui with wins over Texas Tech and Arkansas. Close losses to Arizona and Texas... and now this week? Losses to Nebraska and BYU? Kalkbrenner's status is uncertain. Yikes.

Couple of things, IMO.

1) Texas Tech is a bit overrated and Arkansas was without their best scorer. Not giving excuses, but I don’t think those wins look that great when you zoom in.

2) Trey Alexander was elite for them in Maui, he’s been non-existen since. P/FGA (excludes FTA/FTM), he’s gone from just over 1.0 (average to pretty good), to 0.5 (really bad)

With Nembhard not really being a scoring first player, scoring on the perimeter has fallen almost completely to Baylor S.

 

[dukedevilz]

Bobby's results have been up and down at Arizona St so far, but I'm not sure there's a Hurley that can't coach. I've always wondered what Bob Hurley Sr could have done at the college level.

Do successful high school coaches have to pay their dues and work their way up as an assistant before landing a major head coaching position in CBB? Plenty of head coaches have experience at the high school level. Just can't think of anyone that went straight from high school coach to head D1 coach in a power conference.

I'm sure Bob Hurley would have done fine at Rutgers or Seton Hall, or wherever. Could have transformed either one of those programs. But, not sure how long it may have taken him to land a significant position after leaving St. Anthony's. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with uncertainty.

 

[ExitFlagger]

Do successful high school coaches have to pay their dues and work their way up as an assistant before landing a major head coaching position in CBB? Plenty of head coaches have experience at the high school level. Just can't think of anyone that went straight from high school coach to head D1 coach in a power conference.

I'm sure Bob Hurley would have done fine at Rutgers or Seton Hall, or wherever. Could have transformed either one of those programs. But, not sure how long it may have taken him to land a significant position after leaving St. Anthony's. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with uncertainty.

I don't know how long it would have taken him to land a significant position, but I think he would have and would have done well. He just had no interest.

 

[winin11]

Like the rankings and the write up on each team.
Thanks for the effort Porkshank!

 

[IUfanBorden]

That’s helpful context. Easy to forget how much of a headache multi time zone travel can be.

Odd, Purdue dudes, didn't seem to agree with this when IU had to deal with multiple games, in multiple days, traveling through multiple time zones as well..


But I will allow it.

 

[IUfanBorden]

Do successful high school coaches have to pay their dues and work their way up as an assistant before landing a major head coaching position in CBB? Plenty of head coaches have experience at the high school level. Just can't think of anyone that went straight from high school coach to head D1 coach in a power conference.

I'm sure Bob Hurley would have done fine at Rutgers or Seton Hall, or wherever. Could have transformed either one of those programs. But, not sure how long it may have taken him to land a significant position after leaving St. Anthony's. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with uncertainty.

John Wooden went straight from HS to college....Coaches at South Bend Central, before taking the HC job at Indiana State...

John Thompson as well----St.Anthony's to Georgetown...

McKillop at Davidson...Went from Lutheran HS in NY, to Davidson...

And recently Samford hired Bucky McMillian as their HC. Had been a HS coach the past 12 years...

 

[winin11]

Man, that's on top of it Borden. Bucky McMillan has Samford rolling. I live about 15 minutes from their campus and have watched a couple of games there this season.
Make no mistake about it, Bucky will be the head coach at a P6 school before long.

 

[Boilermaker03]

Odd, Purdue dudes, didn't seem to agree with this when IU had to deal with multiple games, in multiple days, traveling through multiple time zones as well..


But I will allow it.

Not sure which instance you are referring to, but I can't imagine that there was any prejudice there. TIC

 

[dukedevilz]

John Wooden went straight from HS to college....Coaches at South Bend Central, before taking the HC job at Indiana State...

John Thompson as well----St.Anthony's to Georgetown...

McKillop at Davidson...Went from Lutheran HS in NY, to Davidson...

And recently Samford hired Bucky McMillian as their HC. Had been a HS coach the past 12 years...

Certainly many coaches made the transition from high school to college in the early days. I was thinking of John Wooden when I wrote that. Rupp, Iba, Haskins, and Phil Woopert all made the transition straight from high school to college, as well.

I was thinking about something more recent, maybe in the last 40 years or so. John Thompson might be the best example. Though, I also qualified it and said a power conference. G'town was an independent school at the time and they only had 1 tournament appearance in school history when Thompson was hired.

McKillop and McMillan were both hired from schools competing in the Southern Conference, so that wouldn't qualify as a school in a major conference. Dan Hurley also went straight from St. Benedict's to Wagner. And I'm sure many others have, as well. But, to go straight from high school to a head coach in a power conference? It happened a lot in the old days, but can't think of any examples in recent memory.

 

[dukedevilz]

The bigger "mistake" is that the AP allows women to vote.

 

[PorkshankRedemption]

View embedded media

The bigger "mistake" is that the AP allows women to vote.

The irony is, you could ask an 8th grader to come up with a top 25 and it wouldn’t be distinguishable from someone who spent a ton of time researching.

It’s the easiest job in the world.

You have to really not care at all about your work product to mess up a top 25.

 

[jwardelt]

View embedded media

The bigger "mistake" is that the AP allows women to vote.

Don't get me started on her. Not sure how we ended up with her as the beat reporter. Doesn't know a damn thing about basketball.

 

[jwardelt]

The irony is, you could ask an 8th grader to come up with a top 25 and it wouldn’t be distinguishable from someone who spent a ton of time researching.

It’s the easiest job in the world.

You have to really not care at all about your work product to mess up a top 25.

You should've waited on your OP. Iowa shouldn't be sniffing the top 25.

 

[jwardelt]

View embedded media

The bigger "mistake" is that the AP allows women out of the kitchen.

fify

 

[PorkshankRedemption]

You should've waited on your OP. Iowa shouldn't be sniffing the top 25.

At the time of it seemed right, haha.

 

[dukedevilz]

The irony is, you could ask an 8th grader to come up with a top 25 and it wouldn’t be distinguishable from someone who spent a ton of time researching.

It’s the easiest job in the world.

You have to really not care at all about your work product to mess up a top 25.

Without a doubt. Just make your rankings slightly different from everyone else. Double check your picks. You're good.

"Oops! I accidentally clicked on Mississippi Valley State. It was an innocent mistake, I swear! Aren't I cute?"

Don't get me started on her. Not sure how we ended up with her as the beat reporter. Doesn't know a damn thing about basketball.

Not surprising. She looks like someone who just started watching basketball when it was required to watch games for her classes.

 

[jwardelt]

Without a doubt. Just make your rankings slightly different from everyone else. Double check your picks. You're good.

"Oops! I accidentally clicked on Mississippi Valley State. It was an innocent mistake, I swear! Aren't I cute?"



Not surprising. She looks like someone who just started watching basketball when it was required to watch games for her classes.

She must have checked a few boxes. What those have to do with college basketball reporting I do not know.

 

[HoosierstuckinIowa]

View embedded media

The bigger "mistake" is that the AP allows women to vote.

Same goes for our country...I kid I kid

 

[ExitFlagger]

Without a doubt. Just make your rankings slightly different from everyone else. Double check your picks. You're good.

"Oops! I accidentally clicked on Mississippi Valley State. It was an innocent mistake, I swear! Aren't I cute?"



Not surprising. She looks like someone who just started watching basketball when it was required to watch games for her classes.

Didn’t realize you had a mysogynistic side…😆

 

[dankim]

Didn’t realize you had a mysogynistic side…😆

She admitted that she mistook MVSU for Mississippi State and was very apologetic. Sadly, she was one of 12 people that were cut from her newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal, yesterday. I certainly hope it wasn’t because of a simple mistake

 

[jwardelt]

 

[jwardelt]

She admitted that she mistook MVSU for Mississippi State and was very apologetic. Sadly, she was one of 12 people that were cut from her newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal, yesterday. I certainly hope it wasn’t because of a simple mistake

It's because she should never have been hired in the first place. Not exactly qualified for that job.

 

[dukedevilz]

Didn’t realize you had a mysogynistic side…😆

@WeAreDePaul is rubbing off on me.

 

[WeAreDePaul]

@WeAreDePaul is rubbing off on me.

only my good traits...

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Any room for other mid majors?

New Mexico undefeated they get the Pitino VS Pitino Jr matchup. New Mex hit a nice transfer Udeze out of Wich St. If he can beat pops I'd rank em!

CofC has one loss and a win over VA Tech. Not bad.

Any others?

 

[History2222]

UVA is over rated.

 

[GrimTrader]

WTH happened to Creighton?! Lots of hype in the preseason, looked good in Maui with wins over Texas Tech and Arkansas. Close losses to Arizona and Texas... and now this week? Losses to Nebraska and BYU? Kalkbrenner's status is uncertain. Yikes.

They only win if they shoot over 50% from the field and that isn't a great recipe for success. If they scorch the nets they are tough but that is nearly every team in the country. I'm pretty sure only one of their wins they shot under 50% from the field and it was against an absolute garbage team. You have to be able to win some games shooting average.