2014-15 National Rankings

[Play Angry]

Being ranked will always be a really big deal to me. We sucked, bigtime, for all of the 90s. Every time we register a spot in the rankings, I remember the that decade and it makes it that much sweeter.


Here is a breakdown of the individual voters- note that Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette dropped us out entirely. He did provide Penn State with all 5 of their votes by placing them 21st though. Not a homer, nope.

http://collegepolltracker.com/basketball/team/wsu2/2014

[wushock27]

Being ranked will always be a really big deal to me. We sucked, bigtime, for all of the 90s. Every time we register a spot in the rankings, I remember the that decade and it makes it that much sweeter.


Here is a breakdown of the individual voters- note that Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette dropped us out entirely. He did provide Penn State with all 5 of their votes by placing them 21st though. Not a homer, nope.

http://collegepolltracker.com/basketball/team/wsu2/2014

He also has TCU ranked #10, and they have the #351 SOS according to KenPom... Wow

[pogo]

He also has TCU ranked #10, and they have the #351 SOS according to KenPom... Wow

A lot of those east coast writers know their stuff and keep up on what they are supposed to know about.:)

[fansince80s]

Prob looking at the would we rather be a #6 seed instead of the 4-5 and get Kentucky 2nd round discussions.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

fansince80s, I personally don't think the committee puts much effort into setting up specific matchups, but if you believe they do even the slightest bit, you have to think if WSU finishes anywhere between 10-25 on their S-Curve, they would find a way to get a (1)Kentucky vs (4 or 5)WSU Sweet 16 matchup arranged. It would be a ratings hit of massive proportions.

I rarely get too worried about possible matchups beyond the first round or two, but this year, I sure would prefer to be on the opposite side of the bracket from Kentucky.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Polls don't mean everything, but they aren't meaningless either. They are an indicator of national perception. They provide free advertising for the basketball program in general as people see a number in front of the name and take note.

Recruiting

[AndShock]

I know we shouldn't be afraid of playing top teams, but watching us go against UK or Duke this year is something I have no interest in seeing. Put them on the opposite side of the bracket and let them get upset by Texas Southern or Columbia because they are going to be completely focused and locked in a game against us.

[Dan]

Good to still have a decent ranking going into conference play. Time to start racking up a bunch of wins.

[fansince80s]

fansince80s, I personally don't think the committee puts much effort into setting up specific matchups, but if you believe they do even the slightest bit, you have to think if WSU finishes anywhere between 10-25 on their S-Curve, they would find a way to get a (1)Kentucky vs (4 or 5)WSU Sweet 16 matchup arranged. It would be a ratings hit of massive proportions.

I rarely get too worried about possible matchups beyond the first round or two, but this year, I sure would prefer to be on the opposite side of the bracket from Kentucky.

How about a possible #3ku #6 wsu 2nd game in Omaha.

[im4wsu]

We play 9 games prior to going to Cedar Falls

#4 @ Loyola
#6 @ Evansville
#9 Loyola AT CKA
#10 @ Northern Iowa

Certainly time to get a few kinks worked out.

[Play Angry]

Most years we've developed the bench against a slate of mostly meh OOC opponents.

This year is the opposite- the OOC opponents (although not as strong as projected) were pretty brutal and we had to ride the veterans a lot of minutes. We've now got 10 of our next 18 games against teams projected to finish with RPIs of 200+.

Let the depth-building begin.

[Bluzrover]

16th is reasonable. Could easily justify dropping us further, so it shows a lot of national respect.

Kansas only dropping three spots after a 25-point drubbing by an unranked opponent is indication of the respect the program gets. WSU staying in the top 25 (remember when it was only 20 teams that were ranked? I remember when it was only 10!) after two losses in only 12 games is a pretty good indication of the respect our program is now getting.

[jocoshock]

Most years we've developed the bench against a slate of mostly meh OOC opponents.

This year is the opposite- the OOC opponents (although not as strong as projected) were pretty brutal and we had to ride the veterans a lot of minutes. We've now got 10 of our next 18 games against teams projected to finish with RPIs of 200+.

Let the depth-building begin.

Those games will further separate the men from the boys on our bench.

[fansince80s]

Kansas only dropping three spots after a 25-point drubbing by an unranked opponent is indication of the respect the program gets. WSU staying in the top 25 (remember when it was only 20 teams that were ranked? I remember when it was only 10!) after two losses in only 12 games is a pretty good indication of the respect our program is now getting.

I remember the UPI poll.

[CBB_Fan]

fansince80s, I personally don't think the committee puts much effort into setting up specific matchups, but if you believe they do even the slightest bit, you have to think if WSU finishes anywhere between 10-25 on their S-Curve, they would find a way to get a (1)Kentucky vs (4 or 5)WSU Sweet 16 matchup arranged. It would be a ratings hit of massive proportions.

I rarely get too worried about possible matchups beyond the first round or two, but this year, I sure would prefer to be on the opposite side of the bracket from Kentucky.

I definitely want either a 3 seed or a 6 seed. We all know that the selection committee doesn't set up games for ratings, like the entire bracket last year or the continuous UNC vs KU matchups. It just feels like a certainty that we'd get matched with UK if we land in the 4/5 spot, and that is NOT a place I want to be. Not only are they the best team by a mile, we match up quite badly and they'd be more motivated to play us than any other 4/5 seed because of last year. Unfortunately, I think a 3 seed will require perfection from here on out and I don't see us dropping to a 6 seed.