Top 144 countdown

[WuDrWu]

Not that this particular ranking is the gold standard, but at least it's a fair accounting of our non con that should contain very few RPI killers. There's a chance for 4 top 50 games, none on our home court, with 4 other top 150 or better games, and the requisite 4 road apples although I would contend that NNC will be top 150 when it's all said and done and Depaul shouldn't be horrible, if only due to SOS. That leaves only ORU and Tennessee State as potential RPI killers, both of whom still could be competitive, especially in their conference.

[shox1989]

Shocker opponent Tennessee checks in at #20. They project Tennessee to finish 3rd in the SEC and make the ncaa tournament as a 5 seed.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/7593

[kcshocker11]

Co at #19

[shox1989]

Ku comes in at #18. Boy do I love these rankings! That means they rank the Shockers higher than Ku (don't tell anybody at the "flagship").

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/7604

[ShockerPrez]

Im no KU fan, but 18?? Thats just stupid.

[shox1989]

Im no KU fan, but 18?? Thats just stupid.

I don't follow ku at all so I really have no basis no judge their assessment, but some of the article's reasoning makes sense:

" The entire lineup for Kansas' 2012-2013 squad is gone. All five starters have either graduated (four were seniors) or left for the NBA (Ben McLemore). To make matters worse, Coach Self rarely alternated or shifted his lineups. Travis Releford, McLemore, Elijah Johnson, and Jeff Withey all started 37 of 37 games last season. And forward Kevin Young started 33. With that, the team's leading "veteran" is sophomore forward Perry Ellis with all of three career starts under his belt. And you can figure the type of production that is now gone. Ben McLemore led the team in scoring as a freshman; Withey finished second in the country in blocks per game while tallying 13 double-doubles and one triple-double. All five men took at least 200 field goal attempts and, with the exception of Young, played well over 1000 minutes last season......."

I think it is pretty clear from that article that they feel that if Ku had not recruited Andrew Wiggins, they probably wouldn't be in the top 25 at all. In spite of all of their losses they do however, pick ku to win the big 12 conference.:

This is how they begin their discussion of Wiggins:" ..... This team has lost a ton of veteran production and experience. There is no doubt about that. What they've gained though is the greatest college basketball prospect since Kevin Durant, the best high school player since LeBron, the best Kansas recruit since Danny Manning....."

[Capitol Shock II]

Makes complete and total sense to me. I would have ranked them 26.

[SpanglerFan316]

Im no KU fan, but 18?? Thats just stupid.

Why? They lost all of their starters; look at Kentucky last year. This is a reasonable ranking; it will either be too low or too high at the end of the season but it is OK for the pre-season.

[kcshocker11]

Didnt notice anything about the transfer from Memphis-hes suppose to be their leader. This ranking will piss some chicken feathers off

[RoyalShock]

So many pre-season rankings are really "what we think will shake out by the end of the season" rankings. That is, of course, stupid. But I truly think that's how the voters in the major polls think, and why they seem to have so much inertia. KU may indeed be a top-10 team by March, but there's no reason to think they will be in November. So kudos to this particular ranking for being truly "pre-season".

[im4wsu]

Ku comes in at #18. Boy do I love these rankings! That means they rank the Shockers higher than Ku (don't tell anybody at the "flagship").

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/7604

Still assuming that the Shockers aren't overlooked completely? LOL

[shox1989]

Still assuming that the Shockers aren't overlooked completely? LOL

I think it is a pretty safe assumption for 2 reasons. 1. There is no way the Shockers aren't one of the top 144 teams in the country and 2. They still haven't picked the top team in the Valley yet. For the Shocks to NOT be in their top 17, WSU would have to not be in their top 144 all together, WSU would have to be 5th or worse in the Valley and someone like SIU or Ill. St would have to be their pick to win the Valley (Indy St, UNI and Evansville have already been picked 2nd, 34d and 4th in the Valley).

[im4wsu]

I think it is a pretty safe assumption for 2 reasons. 1. There is no way the Shockers aren't one of the top 144 teams in the country and 2. They still haven't picked the top team in the Valley yet. For the Shocks to NOT be in their top 17, WSU would have to not be in their top 144 all together, WSU would have to be 5th or worse in the Valley and someone like SIU or Ill. St would have to be their pick to win the Valley (Indy St, UNI and Evansville have already been picked 2nd, 34d and 4th in the Valley).

scarcasmmeter.jpeg

[ShockerPrez]

I don't follow ku at all so I really have no basis no judge their assessment, but some of the article's reasoning makes sense:

" The entire lineup for Kansas' 2012-2013 squad is gone. All five starters have either graduated (four were seniors) or left for the NBA (Ben McLemore). To make matters worse, Coach Self rarely alternated or shifted his lineups. Travis Releford, McLemore, Elijah Johnson, and Jeff Withey all started 37 of 37 games last season. And forward Kevin Young started 33. With that, the team's leading "veteran" is sophomore forward Perry Ellis with all of three career starts under his belt. And you can figure the type of production that is now gone. Ben McLemore led the team in scoring as a freshman; Withey finished second in the country in blocks per game while tallying 13 double-doubles and one triple-double. All five men took at least 200 field goal attempts and, with the exception of Young, played well over 1000 minutes last season......."

I think it is pretty clear from that article that they feel that if Ku had not recruited Andrew Wiggins, they probably wouldn't be in the top 25 at all. In spite of all of their losses they do however, pick ku to win the big 12 conference.:

This is how they begin their discussion of Wiggins:" ..... This team has lost a ton of veteran production and experience. There is no doubt about that. What they've gained though is the greatest college basketball prospect since Kevin Durant, the best high school player since LeBron, the best Kansas recruit since Danny Manning....."

I get it, but lets not forget that they play in a shitty conference that offers no competition every year. So they undoubtedly will be ranked in the top 10 by the end of the year guaranteed. And then whatever tgey do in the tournament.

Dont get me wrong. I am thrilled we are in a position to claim the spot as best in the state. But the same reason they are ranked low, is the same thing they said about WSU last year and look what happened.

I dont think losing players means all that much anymore.

[Kung Wu]

I get it, but lets not forget that they play in a shitty conference that offers no competition every year. So they undoubtedly will be ranked in the top 10 by the end of the year guaranteed. And then whatever tgey do in the tournament.

Dont get me wrong. I am thrilled we are in a position to claim the spot as best in the state. But the same reason they are ranked low, is the same thing they said about WSU last year and look what happened.

I dont think losing players means all that much anymore.

I think that's heavily dependant on the coach of the institution losing key players.