2017-18 National Rankings

[WuShock Reaper]

"Blog: my new AP Top 25 basketball ballot" - The Roanoke Times

By Mark Berman, AP Voter
Posted:13/03/17, 8:40pm cst

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/blog-my-new-ap-top-basketball-ballot/article_d449893a-d88e-11e7-b700-5f498a6df6b5.html

It's time to send a new Top 25 men's basketball ballot to the Associated Press. I evicted Texas Tech after its loss to Seton Hall. I booted Southern Cal after its loss at SMU. i did not need to kick out Louisville after its losses to Purdue and Seton Hall because I had not been ranking Louisville. I did not have to boot Alabama after its loss to UCF because I had not been ranking Alabama.

Here is the ballot:
1. Duke (10-0) stays here after winning at Indiana and beating South Dakota. Next: Tues. against St. Francis (Pa.) and Sat. at BC.
2. Michigan St. (7-1) moves up a spot after beating Notre Dame and Nebraska. Next: Tues. at Rutgers and Sat. against Southern Utah.
3. Kansas (7-0) drops a spot after beating Toledo and after defeating Syracuse in Miami. I hate to drop a team after wins, but I do believe Michigan State now deserves to be ranked No. 2, now that Michigan State has a win over Notre Dame to go with its win over UNC. Next for Kansas: Wed. against Washington in Kansas City and a big game Sunday against Arizona State.
4. Texas A&M (7-0) moves up a spot after beating Texas-Rio Grand Valley. Next: intriguing game Tuesday against Arizona in Phoenix and Sat. against Prairie View.
5. Villanova (8-0) moves up a spot after beating Penn and St. Joe's. Next: huge game Tuesday against Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden and a Sun. game against La Salle.
6. Notre Dame (7-1) drops two spots after losing handily at Michigan State and beating St. Francis (N.Y.). Next: Tues. against Ball State and Sat. at Delaware.
7. Wichita State (6-1) stays here after beating Savannah State and winning at Baylor. Great road win, but I need to keep Wichita State behind the Notre Dame team that it lost to. Next: Tues. against South Dakota St. and Saturday at Oklahoma St.
8. Kentucky (7-1) stays here after beating Harvard. Next: Saturday against Monmouth at Madison Square Garden.
9. Florida (5-1) stays here after an idle week. Next: intriguing game Monday against Florida State, a Wed. game with Loyola of Illinois and a big game Saturday against Cincinnati in Newark.
10. North Carolina (8-1) stays here after beating Michigan, Davidson and Tulane. Next: Wed. against Western Carolina.

Others:
22. Baylor (5-2) falls six spots after losing at Xavier and falling at home to Wichita State. Next: Monday against Sam Houston State and Sat. against small-college foe Randall at Fort Hood.
24. Cincinnati (7-1) falls 12 spots after beating Alabama State and losing at Xavier. Next: the big game Sat. against Florida in Newark.
25. For this last spot, I looked hard at leaving Texas Tech on my ballot here. I also looked hard at SMU and Tennessee. I also eyed Texas. But in the end, I decided to put Purdue back on my ballot. Purdue (8-2) has righted itself this past week by beating Louisville, winning at Maryland and beating Northwestern. Purdue has now won four straight after its back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Western Kentucky. Next: Thursday against Valpo and Sun. against IUPUI.

[Fafhrd Mouser]

Damn, that's a long way for Cincinnati to fall after losing to a ranked team at their place.

[WuDrWu]

SMU lost to Northern Iowa. They shouldn't be talked about being ranked until the roster is full.

[Play Angry]

Seth Davis has us at #7 (up from 8 last week) and west coast clown Chris Murray votes us at #10 (unchanged).

[Play Angry]

Jerry Carino slots us at #5 (up from 7th last week), and Chris Dachille has us at #7 (up from 8th on his prior ballot).

[Play Angry]

Dave Borges bumps us up to #5 (from 8 last week).

[Play Angry]

6 ballots in so far with the Shockers gaining +7 in the raw total. Looking good to lock in some nice gains on an absolute basis today - relative gains will be interesting.

[WuShock Reaper]

"College Basketball Power Rankings: Miami, Gonzaga and Xavier are climbing; Louisville plummets" - NBC Sports

By Rob Dauster
Dec 4, 2017, 1:32 AM EST

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/12/04/college-basketball-power-rankings-miami-gonzaga-and-xavier-are-climbing-louisville-plummets/

"...One other note: I know that I have Wichita State in front of Notre Dame despite the fact that Notre Dame has a neutral court win over the Shockers. That’s frowned upon. But here’s my rationale, and if you think it’s dumb, oh well: I think Wichita State is a better team than Notre Dame this season. For Notre Dame to win, they needed three things to happen in the final 14 seconds to cap a comeback from 14 points down: 1. Connor Frankamp to give the ball away under his own basket; 2. Austin Reaves to miss the front-end of a one-and-one, the only free throw he’s missed this season; and 3. center Martinas Geben to make two free throws, one of which got the friendliest, most “soft rims in Maui” bounce in the history of the soft rims in Maui....

1. Duke, 10-0 (Last Week: No. 1)
2. Michigan State, 7-1 (2)
3. Kansas, 7-0 (3)
4. Villanova, 8-0 (4)
5. Florida, 5-1 (5)
6. Texas A&M, 7-0 (6)
7. Miami, 7-0 (11)
8. Wichita State, 6-1 (9)
9. Gonzaga, 7-1 (12)
10. Xavier, 7-1 (13)

Others:
11. Notre Dame, 7-1 (7)
13. Cincinnati, 7-1 (8)
24. Baylor, 5-2 (20)

[Play Angry]

Luke DeCock stays true to his name, voting us 10 (up from 11).

[Cdizzle]

I get the whole not ranking us ahead of ND. But for how long? The game was essentially a toss-up on a neutral court. Since then, both teams have played Top 20 road games. One team got blown out, the other won.

[Shockm]

Anyone who has us in the Top 10 will not receive ridicule from me. We need to continue to win OU, OSU, and GCU. Then we will be close to Top 5 again. Then Markis comes back and we need to work to where we are peaking at the right time in February. To me, peaking means that we get hot in Feb.-March, hitting our outside shots and free throws as a team.

[Steeleshocker]

I get the whole not ranking us ahead of ND. But for how long? The game was essentially a toss-up on a neutral court. Since then, both teams have played Top 20 road games. One team got blown out, the other won.

I agree somewhat, but Michigan State is a whole other animal from Baylor.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

MSU is about 9-10 pts better than Baylor. The Shox winning by 7 and ND losing close would have been more representative of equality. ND losing by 18 was a bad showing, even after factoring in how good MSU is.

[Steeleshocker]

That's a fair point based on the available data, but I'm guessing Baylor is still benefiting from some of last year's data in KenPom. I bet as the year goes on MSU is more than 9 points better than Baylor on a neutral floor.

[ShockingButTrue]

The data suggests WSU would have maintained a 16 pt. halftime lead if the game was in Wichita rather than Hawaii.

[FadedCrown]

http://cbbpoll.com/

8th in the CBB Reddit User Poll

[Fafhrd Mouser]

No change I think from last week

[WuShock Reaper]

"College hoops Power Rankings: The Pac-12 is in trouble" - ESPN

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Posted: 12'04/17, 7:21 AM CT

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...gs-mess-pac-12

1. Duke Blue Devils - Record: 10-0 - Last week: 1
2. Kansas Jayhawks - Record: 7-0 - Last week: 2
3. Michigan State Spartans - Record: 7-1 - Last week: 3
4. Villanova Wildcats - Record: 8-0 - Last week: 4
5. Texas A&M Aggies - Record: 7-0 - Last week: 7
6. Florida Gators - Record: 5-1 - Last week: 9
7. Miami Hurricanes - Record: 7-0 - Last week: 10
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Record: 7-1 - Last week: 8
9. Wichita State Shockers - Record: 6-1 - Last week: 13
The lone blemish on the Shockers' résumé is a one-point loss to Notre Dame in Hawaii, and they now own a road win at Baylor after ending the Bears' home-court winning streak over the weekend. Shaquille Morris' efficiency with his minutes continues to impress, averaging around 14 points and five boards despite playing just 22 minutes.
10. North Carolina Tar Heels - Record: 8-1 - Last week: 12

Others:
18. Cincinnati Bearcats - Record: 7-1 - Last week: 5
25. Baylor Bears - Record: 5-2 - Last week: 21

[WuShock Reaper]

"College Basketball Power Rankings 2017: Week 5 Rankings" - COED Sports

by Tyler Gambill
Posted: 12/04/17, 10:20 am cst

https://coed.com/2017/12/04/college-basketball-rankings-week-5-power-standing-projections-top-25/#!gallery-inline-selection-instagram_BbptjjyAieL-instagram_BcNhex2DGbIFD4z-6

1. Duke Blue Devils
2. Michigan State Spartans
3. Kansas Jayhawks
4. Villanova Wildcats
5. Miami Hurricanes
6. Florida Gators
7. Wichita State Shockers
8. Kentucky Wildcats
9. Texas A&M Aggies
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Others:
14. Cincinnati Bearcats
20. Baylor Bears

[DUShock]

Did anyone notice pic #7 on the website's around the NCAA at the bottom of the page?

Go Shocks!

[OregonShocker]

Some of these just make no sense unless you factor in bias, either towards certain teams or against others.

[Cdizzle]

#6.

Jumped UK and ND. Guess I'll have to put my pitchfork away.

https://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll