With many of the teams in the bottom half of the Top 25 losing last week there was quite a bit of movement in the rankings. However, with so many teams losing, very few teams had significant moves, and for the most part the top of the rankings still pretty closely resembles what we would have expected at the beginning of the season. While the traditional powers take up the top spots in this week’s RTC Top 25, seven non-Power Six conference teams managed to make it into the poll. The Quick ‘n Dirty after the jump…
QnD Analysis:
- Kentucky is the unanimous #1 in this week’s poll while voters are split between Syracuse and Ohio State being the second best team in the country. In the end, the Orange got the nod thanks to a 4-3 edge in votes, but don’t be suprised to see the Buckeyes move ahead of the Orange in the coming weeks if both teams continue winning as the Big Ten appears to be a much stronger conference this year.
- The bigger mover in this week’s poll was Indiana, who dropped 8 spots after losing at Wisconsin. The move might be a bit excessive based on that single loss, but it probably is more of a reflection of writers correcting their previous ranking after the Hoosiers lost 4 of their past 5 games before their offensive explosion on Sunday against Iowa.
- Likewise, Florida State was the biggest riser moving up 4 spots from last week’s poll. They made that move despite their only win this past week coming against Wake Forest. The Seminoles rise is probably due to a combination of the Seminoles winning five in a row including games against two top 10 teams–UNC and Duke–and several teams ahead of them losing games in the past week.
- As you would expect Murray State continues to be the most difficult to rank team in our Top 25. While two voters have them in the Top 10, two other voters barely even have them in the Top 25 putting them at 24th in their polls. It will be interesting to see if those two voters who are holding out on the Racers will let them move up in the rankings and how far the Racers will plummet if they lose a game before the NCAA Tournament.
Top 25 Games:
- #22 Indiana at#20 Michigan on February 1
- #3 Ohio State at #23 Wisconsin on February 4
- #4 Kansas at #6 Missouri on February 4
- #17 Virginia at #19 Florida State on February 4
- #20 Michigan at #8 Michigan State on February 5
Conference Call – Big Ten (5), Big East (4), ACC (4), Big 12 (3), Mountain West (2), Missouri Valley (2), West Coast (2), and Ohio Valley (1)
View Comments (6)
This is the first time I have visited your sie and I must say it's definately more enjoyable than most college hoops blogs. I am a huge Duke fan, as family went there, and I am disappointed that they are behind Kansas and Michigan St. I admit that as of now I am unfamiliar with how you rank teams (I will figure it out). I understand that Duke's recent wins have been anything but impressive. They are a young team that has lost 3 games. One of those games was early at Ohio St the day after Urban Meyer accepted the Head Football Job and that campus had a PULSE. The Temple loss was bad but on the road in a tough city against a well coached tournament team. Then the loss at home vs Florida St. were Duke outrebounded and outplayed the Seminoles in a game that Duke doesn't do that. Florida St. is TOUGH, ask UNC how tough? By the way, it did take a Michael Snaer prayer of a bankshot three pointer at the half and a buzzer beater to take down the Blue Devils. Back to my original question. Duke has a better record than both Michigan St and Kansas. Duke also beat them on neutral courts. How are they ahead of them?
This is a totally minor thing because they are only 1 rank apart and a mere 0.14 points apart, but I'm still shocked to see Kansas ranked above UNC at this point.... Voters who prefer KU, would you pick them to beat UNC on a neutral floor? Because their resume is not better. UNC is 18-3 and only lost to UNLV in Vegas, Kentucky in Lexington (by 1), and at FSU in a total no-show. Kansas has 4 losses which includes a loss to Davidson in Kansas City..... I just don't see what logic is keeping KU on a higher level than UNC. If you had to pick one of those teams to make the Final 4, who's taking KU over UNC?
Both have major games remaining on the road (KU @ Mizzou and Baylor, UNC @ Duke and Virginia), so we'll see who comes through
The RPI and Pomeroy and a few other rankings have KU ranked higher so that is interesting as well.... Again they are so close in the aggregate rankings but I personally see UNC in a completely different tier, as one of the elite, national title favorites. I respect the heck out of Bill Self and KU but they have no business being a 1-seed, interested in what my fellow colleagues feel about that
I have Kansas at #4 and UNC at #6, but you'll note that pretty much all season I've had UNC lower than most of my compatriots. My ballots are a combination of overall resume and how teams are playing now, probably leaning a bit more to the latter criterion than the former. That's essentially my justification for the two-spot difference here. Despite their records with both having one loss in the same period, UNC just hasn't played as well in my mind in the last month as Kansas has -- and their destruction at the hands of FSU really sticks out to me. I have trouble believing in a team that gets humiliated that way. If they turn around and start humiliating ACC foes in the next couple of weeks, I'll have no hesitation jumping them, but for now I think Kansas is playing better basketball.
I've got Kansas a bit ahead of UNC, but they're more or less a draw. I've got questions about both teams, but with the injuries at the two and the FSU loss, I've got slightly more questions about UNC. The fact is, KU is overachieving and UNC is underachieving - KU deserves the nod on that basis alone.
And really, what's a worse loss, a six-point loss to Davidson or a 33-point loss to FSU? For me, I'd just as soon throw out those games completely and look at who they've beaten, and KU's got the better wins.
Indiana is definitely way too low. Some ratings have them at least top 15. Wisconsin's home edge and the way they have been playing of late should have moved them down 2-3 spots or not at all.