#18 in Coach's Poll

[adlai]

We check in at 18. Seven BE teams ranked.

Link: usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/usatpoll.htm

[prhoya]

Again, Seven is the BE limit for the "experts". Syracuse should be in. Providence will be better than many teams in the Others receiving votes section.

[idhoya]

too low to me. Flip flop GU with Memphis.

[revsly]

Well, we'll get a chance to prove that one

[HoyaSinceBirth]

how come there are only 6 coaches from BCS schools and 25 midmajor coaches on the voting panel?

[kghoya]

anybody know why there arent more bcs coaches voting on this poll?

maybe hsb knows

[kchoya]

Here's a question that no one has asked: how come there are only 6 coaches from BCS schools and 25 midmajor coaches on the voting panel?

[CTHoya08]

There is one coach per conference. There are 31 conferences. Six are BCS conferences. That's why.

[Jack]

Oct 30, 2008 9:48:41 GMT -5 HoyaSinceBirth said:

how come there are only 6 coaches from BCS schools and 25 midmajor coaches on the voting panel?

6 BCS conference = one from each. It looks like each conference gets one rep. Why Sweaty Gary and Magoo have been the ACC and Big East reps for as long as I can remember, I don't really know- seems like the other conferences may switch it around a bit more- Painter, Floyd, Pelphrey, and Sadler have not been at their respectives schools nearly as long.

[kghoya]

Oct 30, 2008 10:45:46 GMT -5 CTHoya08 said:

There is one coach per conference. There are 31 conferences. Six are BCS conferences. That's why.

makes sense to me

thanks!

[HeartAttackHoya]

I'll probably get banned from the board for saying this but i'll take my chances: Am I the only one who thinks Syracuse is stacked this year and deserves to be a top 10-15 team? I know we can always question coaching etc, but pre-season polls look at the team on paper and I see a roster full of talented ballplayers..

I appologize if this message has offended anyone

[jgalt]

Oct 30, 2008 11:22:59 GMT -5 HeartAttackHoya said:

I'll probably get banned from the board for saying this but i'll take my chances: Am I the only one who thinks Syracuse is stacked this year and deserves to be a top 10-15 team? I know we can always question coaching etc, but pre-season polls look at the team on paper and I see a roster full of talented ballplayers..

I appologize if this message has offended anyone

I dont think the are "stacked" but they are definately better than a lot of the teams on this list. i dont know what their OOC games are but they could be in the top 15 after OOC games. They are definately a top 25 preseason team

[kchoya]

Oct 30, 2008 11:27:25 GMT -5 jgalt said:

Oct 30, 2008 11:22:59 GMT -5 HeartAttackHoya said:

I'll probably get banned from the board for saying this but i'll take my chances: Am I the only one who thinks Syracuse is stacked this year and deserves to be a top 10-15 team? I know we can always question coaching etc, but pre-season polls look at the team on paper and I see a roster full of talented ballplayers..

I appologize if this message has offended anyone

I dont think the are "stacked" but they are definately better than a lot of the teams on this list. i dont know what their OOC games are but they could be in the top 15 after OOC games. They are definately a top 25 preseason team

Looking at their schedule, they actually leave the state of New York before the start of conference season.

In fact, they play Florida and KU/Washington in Kansas City. They also play at Memphis. Those are high-quality OOC games. They also play UVA, but I don't think the Hoos are going to be any good this year.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Sorry stupid internet was screwing up.

[CAHoya07]

18 seems about right to me - I was expecting anywhere between 15-25. But damn, the Big East does look stacked according to these rankings.

2. Connecticut
3. Louisville
6. Pittsburgh
9. Notre Dame
17. Marquette
18. Georgetown
25. Villanova
ARV. Syracuse (31st, 23 votes)
ARV. West Virginia (37th, 10 votes)

Also happy that Memphis is ranked 12th. Not sure if they deserve to be that high with all they lost, but hopefully they stay there at least by the time Dec. 13 rolls around.

[dailey247]

Syracuse is simply not a top 10 team. 15 is the highest they could possibly be ranked at any point this season, but I'm skeptical. Boeheim, after all his histrionic whining, has finally figured out that the selection committee demands road games, and I think they'll lose to Memphis and Florida. Even winning their other games, those 2 L's will keep them in the 20's before BE season. Their biggest problem is that they're small without having an abundance of team quickness. I've never been a big believer in Devendorf, and I think we've already seen the best that Paul Harris will ever be. I think Flynn will take a step forward this year, but I'm not sold on Scoop Jardine. Ongenaet and Onuaku are role players at best. Rautins is a one trick pony. Certainly not a team to look past, but this is a 6 seed who is not going to upset the 3.

[royski]

Hm. I think as far as SUcks goes, it will all depend on what Devendorf and Rautins we get. If they come back better than they were in 2006-07, I believe that gives Syracuse a guard corps that is matched only by us and Marquette in the Big East. I may not personally like them, but its reasonable to assume that Rick Jackson, Scoop Jardine and especially Onuaku will be productive. When you add in two talented freshmen like Joseph and Mookie, I could see how this team could be very good.

Not as good as us though, obviously. And they're bad people who are going to hell.

[grokamok]

5. Duke (28-6)

Points: 578.

Previous ranking: 16.

Outlook: We're not sure why we put the Blue Devils so high on this list. Maybe there must be some sort of conference competition for Psycho T's heart to allow UNC to live up to being #1 -- nobody is going to believe it if we say Miami. Also, Big East teams are going to knock each other around so we can't put three in the top five even if they *are* better. Anyway, we're confident Coach K will have this team of veterans, none of whom inspires great confidence, very prepared for the early season so that they knock off most of their out-of-conference opponents. Losing to Purdue will be a fluke and beating a depleted Xavier squad will be an epic triumph, considering they were a 3 seed last year; it will certainly justify Duke's 2 seed so we can put our minds to rest and forget about their play against the Mountaineers. Playing Davidson and Georgetown at Cameron Indoor will be brave and not influence game calls in the slightest. Sure, there will be disappointments in the ACC but there's always the chance they'll knock off UNC so we can claim they belonged in the top 10 to begin with. Besides, they only have to make it to the Sweet Sixteen for us to say, "They're back!"

Opens: Nov. 10 vs. Presbyterian in 2K Sports Classic (ESPNU, 7).

[hoyalove4ever]

SU will be in the NCAAs this year. Other than that, it is hard to say what exactly they will do. They need to realize that Rautins is a ROLE PLAYER who should not see serious minutes; if he does, they are not that good. They also need Harris to develop some more offensive skill. They do have some talent, though, and they will win a fair number of games- hopefully none against the Hoyas.

[SFHoya99]

Syracuse looks loaded, if you only look at offense. Their big men are not intimidating and not particularly suited to the 2-3, IMO.