Polls, 12/21: AP Hoyas # 14; ESPN #13

[FHillsNYHoya]

www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/polls/ap

[blueandgray]

I was expecting worse. I know people don't place much weight in the rankings and often prefer the hoyas to remain under the radar...i'm not one of those. I happen to think its good for the team and the university to be highly ranked. It certainly doesn't hurt recruiting either. Would love to win 4 in a row, crack the top 10 and stay there for a while.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

This sounds about right, since we lost, but so did teams ranked #9, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16 (or thereabouts). And to be honest, we have better wins than many of those teams, and many also have more than one loss.

I think #15 is about right for where this team is right now. I also think we'll probably go 3-1 in the next four, and stay right about here.

[DanMcQ]

espn: 13

sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?pollId=2

[prhoya]

The team picked a good week for the first loss. Lets not repeat it this week.

[blueandgray]

Interesting how UNC's loses their 3rd and doesn't budge in the rankings.

[prhoya]

Lost to #2 and a lot of bad losses around them

[hoyaalf]

With Temple's accession , that's 3 ranked teams in the bag.

[FLHoya]

As early as it is to make this kind of projection...

after the last three seasons when the seeds advancing to the Final Four went (1-1-2-2), (1-1-1-1), (1-1-2-3), does this year strike you as the year when the crazy s^#@ happens in the NCAA Tournament?

Kansas and Texas have been taking care of their business, no doubt. Ditto Kentucky, but I'm always leery of freshman-heavy teams.

I don't think it's an accident that there were so many losses in the Top 25 this weekend. I think the oft-quoted theory that this is a "down year" in college basketball rings true.

Put it this way...I go through that Top 25 and find far more teams for which I say "they're ranked HOW HIGH?" than "they're undervalued right now".

[Boz]

In a word, yes.

Kansas and Texas are solid. Everything else is up for grabs.

(Kentucky is not coached well enough. And, no, I am not kidding.)

[prhoya]

FL wrote: Put it this way...I go through that Top 25 and find far more teams for which I say "they're ranked HOW HIGH?" than "they're undervalued right now".

While watching the #7 Duke - #15 Gonzaga game, I kept thinking the same thing. Then, I heard about our game...

[jgalt]

Kentucky cant play against a team that plays defense (this is the same problem that Washington had when they played gtown, but im not going to say that gtown could beat Kentucky), but a team that can play D and force Kentucky to play half court all game would have a very good chance of beating them.

Shockingly to many of you i think Temple, if they could dictate the pace and force a half court game they (and hit shots), they would have a very good shot at winning, also a long team like FSU. BUT Kentucky gets to play in the SEC which is full of mediocre teams, especially from a defensive perspective; Florida is the best defensive in the SEC. Tenn and Fla offer the best chance, on paper, to beat Kentucky.

[hoyaalf]

I agree with the premise that this could be an all-around goofy season.

That's why NO ONE SHOULD BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED!

Crimson, Friars, Pirates, Bulls[?]. No letdowns.

[cdnhoya]

Dec 21, 2009 13:15:06 GMT -5 blueandgray said:

I was expecting worse. I know people don't place much weight in the rankings and often prefer the hoyas to remain under the radar...i'm not one of those. I happen to think its good for the team and the university to be highly ranked. It certainly doesn't hurt recruiting either. Would love to win 4 in a row, crack the top 10 and stay there for a while.

Agreed blueandgray. Not sure why anyone wouldn't want to be ranked. Even pre-season rankings ultimately make a difference for seedings in the tourney since they are an early ranking that shapes future rankings.

Top 15 is fine for now. Let's just win win win and everything sorts itself out.