Poll Watch (2013-14 Edition)

[Play Angry]

Breakdown of this week's AP votes.

Doug Haller brings up the caboose on the IQ train by ranking us 19th. Chuck McGill and Jason Franchuk show uncanny wisdom slotting us 6th. Everyone else is in between, with #8 being the most common slot (by 17 voters).

Also of note, all-around-solid-dude Tom Keegan has us at #8.

[AZ Shocker]

I would be embarrassed if I were a Kansas, Kentucky or North Carolina fan seeing my team in the Top-25 poll with those 3 teams being the only 3 teams being ranked with 3 losses. Even the hardcore fans of those teams have got to pause for a moment and say thank God the name on our jerseys gives us not one, not two...but 3 mulligans. LOL

[ShockerFever]

Top 8 out of 351 is elite company, folks.

Enjoy it.

Go Shocks.

[jocoshock]

@EyeOnCBB: RT @Gary:ParrishCBS Oklahoma State won a game Monday but might’ve lost a starter for the season. Story: http://cbsprt.co/1haTwJ9

[im4wsu]

Since yesterday morning, Realtime RPI has dropped WSU's Realtime RPI from .6507 to .6457 and the SOS rank from 94 to 105.

Projections for year now has us #15 with .6147 RPI and 141 rank SOS. Kansas with 10 losses and Colorado with 9!

Rank		School	W-L	RPI	SOS Rank	SOS	Conf.	Conf. W-L
	1	Oklahoma St.	30-1	0.6553	26	0.5520	Big12	18-0
	2	Villanova	30-1	0.6516	48	0.5424	Bige	18-0
	3	Wisconsin	27-4	0.6508	11	0.5658	Big10	14-4
	4	Syracuse	31-0	0.6504	68	0.5338	Acc	18-0
	5	Ohio St.	26-5	0.6408	14	0.5638	Big10	13-5
	6	Arizona	28-3	0.6397	47	0.5428	Pac12	15-3
	7	Massachusetts	27-3	0.6343	65	0.5344	Atl10	14-2
	8	Kansas	21-10	0.6258	1	0.6036	Big12	11-7
	9	Louisville	29-2	0.6235	92	0.5172	Aac	18-0
	10	Oregon	24-6	0.6190	38	0.5465	Pac12	12-6
	11	Michigan St.	24-7	0.6173	23	0.5553	Big10	13-5
	12	Kentucky	23-8	0.6172	6	0.5707	Sec	13-5
	13	Colorado	22-9	0.6153	2	0.5785	Pac12	11-7
	14	Iowa St.	23-7	0.6152	18	0.5588	Big12	11-7
	15	Wichita St.	30-0	0.6147	141	0.4863	Mvc	18-0
	16	Memphis	23-7	0.6070	32	0.5498	Aac	13-5
	17	Iowa	22-9	0.6056	13	0.5645	Big10	11-7
	18	Gonzaga	24-6	0.6012	87	0.5230	Wcc	15-3
	19	Saint Louis	24-6	0.5992	83	0.5271	Atl10	12-4
	20	LSU	21-9	0.5974	25	0.5527	Sec	11-7

[im4wsu]

Statsheet.com has team rankings:

1.		Arizona (13-0)	98.6	A+
2.		Syracuse (13-0)	97.3	A+
3.		Wisconsin (13-0)	95.9	A
4.		Ohio State (14-0)	95.4	A
5.		Iowa State (12-0)	94.1	A
6.		Oklahoma State (12-1)	94.0	A
7.		Villanova (12-1)	94.0	A
8.		Oregon (12-0)	93.9	A
9.		Wichita State (13-0)	93.9	A
10.		Michigan State (12-1)	93.9	A
11.		Baylor (11-1)	93.8	A
12.		Kansas (9-3)	93.8	A
13.		Massachusetts (11-1)	93.6	A
14.		Colorado (11-2)	92.8	A
15.		Harvard (11-1)	92.6	A
16.		Illinois (12-2)	92.5	A
17.		Florida (10-2)	92.5	A
18.		Kentucky (10-3)	92.4	A
19.		Duke (11-2)	92.2	A
20.		Missouri (11-1)	92.1	A

[im4wsu]

http://www.bbstate.com/

basketball state has WSU #5

[shocks771]

I would be embarrassed if I were a Kansas, Kentucky or North Carolina fan seeing my team in the Top-25 poll with those 3 teams being the only 3 teams being ranked with 3 losses. Even the hardcore fans of those teams have got to pause for a moment and say thank God the name on our jerseys gives us not one, not two...but 3 mulligans. LOL

You have got to be kidding me with this post. I do not like any of those three teams but they each have resumes good enough to warrant their respective rankings.

Kansas has beaten Duke, New Mexico and Georgetown. Their losses are all either neutral site or road losses and all their losses are to good teams.

Kentucky has beaten Louisville and their three losses are either neutral site games (Michigan State and Baylor) or a road game (North Carolina). I would say that they should be in the #20-#25 range.

North Carolina has been so up and down with wins over Michigan State, Kentucky and Louisville with losses to Belmont, UAB and Texas. I still think that resume is worthy of a Top 25 ranking.

[AZ Shocker]

You have got to be kidding me with this post. I do not like any of those three teams but they each have resumes good enough to warrant their respective rankings.

Kansas has beaten Duke, New Mexico and Georgetown. Their losses are all either neutral site or road losses and all their losses are to good teams.

Kentucky has beaten Louisville and their three losses are either neutral site games (Michigan State and Baylor) or a road game (North Carolina). I would say that they should be in the #20-#25 range.

North Carolina has been so up and down with wins over Michigan State, Kentucky and Louisville with losses to Belmont, UAB and Texas. I still think that resume is worthy of a Top 25 ranking.

Kentucky = One "true" Road Game and LOST. But still THREE LOSES total.
Kansas = Two "true" Road Games and LOST them BOTH. But still THREE LOSES total.
North Carolina = Two "true" Road Games and LOST one and won one. But still THREE LOSES total.

I'm probably in the minority here....but if my team Wichita St. had THREE loses on a season thus far....I would be a tad embarrassed feeling like we were getting preferential treatment staying alive in the Top-25. I mean seriously....if the Shockers had 3 losses this early in a season they wouldn't even be close to sniffing the Top-25???

If the pollsters are going to rank three teams (regardless of names) with 3 losses thus far in the early season....put them at #23, #24 and #25.

[rialaigh]

Kentucky = One "true" Road Game and LOST. But still THREE LOSES total.
Kansas = Two "true" Road Games and LOST them BOTH. But still THREE LOSES total.
North Carolina = Two "true" Road Games and LOST one and won one. But still THREE LOSES total.

I'm probably in the minority here....but if my team Wichita St. had THREE loses on a season thus far....I would be a tad embarrassed feeling like we were getting preferential treatment staying alive in the Top-25. I mean seriously....if the Shockers had 3 losses this early in a season they wouldn't even be close to sniffing the Top-25???

If the pollsters are going to rank three teams (regardless of names) with 3 losses thus far in the early season....put them at #23, #24 and #25.

er
I mean...who the heck are you going to replace them with in the top25...

Any team you replace Kansas with in the top25 (drop kansas out and put an unranked team in) would get their tail kicked by kansas 9 out of 10 times.

Kentucky has lost to three teams that could all win the national championship this year...If we played the same schedule Kentucky did I would say we could be undefeated or we could easily be a team with 3 or 4 losses.

[jdmee]

er
I mean...who the heck are you going to replace them with in the top25...

Any team you replace Kansas with in the top25 (drop kansas out and put an unranked team in) would get their tail kicked by kansas 9 out of 10 times.

Kentucky has lost to three teams that could all win the national championship this year...If we played the same schedule Kentucky did I would say we could be undefeated or we could easily be a team with 3 or 4 losses.

The only issue I have with Kentucky being ranked is if WSU had played the same schedule as Kentucky and had the same three losses I doubt WSU would even be in the also receiving votes category, much less ranked 15th.

[AZ Shocker]

er
I mean...who the heck are you going to replace them with in the top25...

Any team you replace Kansas with in the top25 (drop kansas out and put an unranked team in) would get their tail kicked by kansas 9 out of 10 times.

Kentucky has lost to three teams that could all win the national championship this year...If we played the same schedule Kentucky did I would say we could be undefeated or we could easily be a team with 3 or 4 losses.

I would replace all 3 of those teams (KU, UK NC) with 3 teams that have better overall records. Simple as that. This is just how I see it. I put more weight on the actual win/loss record than schedule and "potential". BUT....having said that...I of course would "consider" who those 3 teams have lost too...and I must admit it would be hard to overlook that. So if I were a voter I would put those 3 teams with 3 losses at #23, #24 and #25 to make room for 3 other teams that have a better overall record. As a voter I would penalize teams that don't go on the road and who also lose games. As a voter...I simply would not give two-shits about names on jerseys. I'd rather judge and vote on results (ala win/loss record).

[rialaigh]

I would replace all 3 of those teams (KU, UK NC) with 3 teams that have better overall records. Simple as that. This is just how I see it. I put more weight on the actual win/loss record than schedule and "potential". BUT....having said that...I of course would "consider" who those 3 teams have lost too...and I must admit it would be hard to overlook that. So if I were a voter I would put those 3 teams with 3 losses at #23, #24 and #25 to make room for 3 other teams that have a better overall record. As a voter I would penalize teams that don't go on the road and who also lose games. As a voter...I simply would not give two-shits about names on jerseys. I'd rather judge and vote on results (ala win/loss record).

The win loss record is such a poor way to gauge team strength. I would take a 10 loss kansas team this year over a 5 loss harvard team...There are going to be plenty of teams at the end of the year that have 10+ losses that are easily better then some teams with less than 6 losses

[shockmonster]

It appears that we have a couple of bandwagon fans who may be looking at this issue their from blue and rose colored glasses. Welcome aboard the Shocker train (too). There is plenty of room. As to this issue, KU has tons of talent and potential. They will probably be very good but at this time they have not been playing to the level of their hype. I think that the suggestion stated earlier in this thread that KU should be ranked 23, 24, or 25 is more than reasonable and fair at this portion of the year. They have shown very little consistency to this point. There are other teams who have shown potential too and are just as deserving of a shot at a ranking. KU began the year with a high ranking due to the level of their program and recruiting class. They need to earn it at some point. They are a good team but haven't proven elite status at this time.

[vancedave56]

Rankings, especially at the beginning of the year, are often about potential. The grind of actually playing the games and a dose of reality set in; eventually, the rankings become more accurate.