SEC Power Poll Ballot -- February 14-20
by Glenn Logan on Feb 19, 2010 9:49 AM EST
in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball
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I keep forgetting to post and link this. I am a bad boy. Sorry.
As the old saying goes, better late than never. This week's power poll results may be found at Garnet and Black Attack, as usual. My ballot and comments follow the jump.
Here is my ballot:
| ASOB | Conf | Overall | Rankings | |||||
| Rank | School | W | L | W | L | Pomeroy | RPI | Remarks |
| 1 | Kentucky Wildcats | 9 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 0.96 | 0.66 | Kentucky continues to win games, tough or otherwise. |
| 2 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 8 | 2 | 19 | 5 | 0.91 | 0.63 | Vandy won the battle of Tennessee, but the way to the SEC regular-season title goes through Lexington. |
| 3 | Tennessee Volunteers | 6 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 0.91 | 0.62 | The banged-up Vols tried a tricky 3-2 on the 'Cats, but in the end, they didn't have enough to win in Lexington. |
| 4 | Mississippi Rebels | 5 | 5 | 17 | 7 | 0.89 | 0.59 | Second in the league in offense, but 10th in defense. That way leads to inconsistency. |
| 5 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | 6 | 4 | 18 | 7 | 0.9 | 0.58 | This team puts no pressure on opposing ballhandlers, and as a result, gets few easy baskets. |
| 6 | Florida Gators | 6 | 4 | 17 | 8 | 0.87 | 0.58 | Next to last in 3-point FG%. If Florida doesn't tighten that up soon, they'll be NIT bound again. |
| 7 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 4 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 0.82 | 0.54 | Gutted out a tough win against the Hawgs, but this team just doesn't take care of their defensive boards. |
| 8 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 5 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 0.8 | 0.57 | Allows opponents to get 38% OR, and can't get to the line. They can beat anybody on a given night, but those nights aren't coming often enough. |
| 9 | Georgia Bulldogs | 3 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 0.76 | 0.55 | If Georgia had some decent guard play, they would be a tournament team. Alas, they don't. |
| 10 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 6 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 0.74 | 0.53 | Courtney Fortson has the suddenly resurgent Hawgs surprisingly at the top of the West. Can they continue and shock the world with an NCAA bid? |
| 11 | Auburn Tigers | 3 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 0.69 | 0.51 | This team is going nowhere, slowly. |
| 12 | LSU Tigers | 0 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 0.42 | 0.47 | LSU is winless, hapless, hopeless. Maybe next year. |
Observations:
- Note that this ballot was cast on Monday, so nothing that has happened since then was figured in.
- I did a lot of second-guessing about putting the Mississippi Rebels ahead of the Mississippi St. Bulldogs. I was persuaded by Ole Miss' higher RPI, but I would not disagree whatsoever if someone complained those two should be swapped. It's a close call.
- Arkansas probably deserves a better ranking than Georgia right now, but their earlier schedule is still weighing them down. I guarantee you after beating South Carolina this week, the Hawgs will not be this low next week. In fact, if I was a Gator, I'd duck.
- South Carolina really needed that Arkansas game. They are looking more and more like a team in a death spiral.
- I sure am glad we played Arkansas before they got it going. They look like a different team right now, and I don't believe an at-large NCAA tournament berth is out of their reach. Getting to nine wins should be easy for them, but that tenth, eleventh, or twelfth looks really tough.
If they get 12, I say they are in, but fewer than that and they'll need a deep SEC tournament run.
Discuss.
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Comments
4-11 are basically a blur.......anyone of them can take you out on any given night,
or flop like a pancake…..The rest are secure in their spots
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
While we COULD have problems with Syracuse's zone
I see them as the biggest threat, but I don’t see them making it to the final four, as one of the problems with playing zone and only zone, is that any team with a scalding hot shooter can beat them. And during the tournament, there is a history of Stephen Curry’s and Brice Drew’s coming out of the woodwork.
"all the way"
I know this much, Jim Boeheim does NOT want to find out if his zone works against us nor not......
although I myself wouldnt mind finding out……Syracuse’s problem is that they wont be able to handle us down in the paint……same problem everyone faces…..that “non-stop” Zone he has can handle one down inside, just not 2
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
Sounds like a good job for him.
I wish him well, and hope he has success >= to what he had at Texas A&M
"all the way"
just remember kiddies.....if ol BCG does get himself back on the upswing, we could see him come tournament time....
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
To be the best you have to beat the best
If he can do that, all power to him; if not, I will certainly relish seeing the Cats destroy his team on any court.
"all the way"
I would really enjoy that....
and I am like most who hope he gets his life turned around and gets another shot. But I also will never forget what a mess he made of things here. I just keep telling myself “Remember last year. Remember last year.” when I get all in a lather if the Cats are struggling in a game.
by maysvilleblue on Feb 19, 2010 3:43 PM EST up reply actions
ESPN power poll
In the conversation http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/show/story/4924339?prosaction=newpost&status=ok
Everyone says we have a weak schedule ; As far as UK’s schedule, we can’t help it traditional powerhouses like UNC, UConn, Indiana, and Louisville are down, we schedule the best of the best, we even used to schedule KU, which I’m sure they will again in the future. We schedule all comers, and hide from no one; it’s up to them to live up to their billing.
"all the way"
Your are right...
….and the people who say that our schedule was weak this year are also right.
It was weak, but we can’t help that.
Our NC schedule was a little weak.
Even if UNC, UConn and Indiana had been historically normal, it still would have been pretty weak.
I expect it will get much tougher very soon. Calipari darn sure didn’t schedule weak at Memphis, and I don’t expect him to schedule weak here.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Reading Katz...
about VT this morning I came across this quote…
The Hokies won every one of those games, save Temple. And Greenberg says, the Hokies played a healthy North Carolina in Chapel Hill when the Tar Heels were still, well, the Tar Heels, and prior to their monumental collapse.
So my question is: why is that point not part of the discussion when considering UK’s SOS? It seems to me, UK beat a completely different UNC team from the one that is playing now — not only with respect to personnel (re: injuries) but also a… well… less dysfunctional UNC. I haven’t seen that point mentioned (in relation to UK’s win) anywhere – especially in the MSM…perhaps I’ve overlooked it. Katz seems to allow it for VT.
A follow-up question, if I may, is: if the point is valid, does the RPI factor for it or is there another index/ranking system that does? Perhaps some wins (against the same team) are more equal than others…
(Oh, and I really, really enjoy seeing the words “monumental collapse” and “Tar Heels” in the same sentence.) : )
That's surely fair ...
… when it comes to North Carolina, but that’s only one game. UConn, Indiana, even Louisville are also similarly weaker than usual, and the SEC isn’t exactly a powerhouse conference this year.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Glenn Logan on Feb 21, 2010 11:35 AM EST up reply actions
Agree with this
As you say, there are basically two ways to view a weak NC schedule:
1) Was it intentionally scheduled that way by a team that wanted to prop up its win total (see Virginia Tech for a perfect example of this)
2) Is it weak because the teams that normally would be good are having off years. This is where UK sits, with not only UNC, UConn, and UL being down, but also really bad Stanford and Indiana teams along with a bad year for a Cleveland St team which has been pretty decent the last few years.
3 > 2, except for very large values of 2.
Arkansas
I’m not so sure that Arkansas has a chance at an at-large bid. I know the NCAA will give consideration to a team that is without a star player for a length of time, but that’s for an injured player – i.e. something outside the control of the team or player. I’m not sure that same consideration will extend to a circumstance where the player was suspended or academically ineligible because those absences are within the direct control of both the player (by his behavior, studying, etc) and the team (by their decision making process).
Florida has put themselves back into a position for an at-large. They likely need a minimum 10 SEC wins and then win a game in the SECT, but it’s possible. They do have the 2 good wins over MSU and Florida St and only 1 bad loss to South Alabama.
3 > 2, except for very large values of 2.
I'm not sure either.
But I think they do. It would take at least 11 wins and a deep run in the SECT. Keep in mind what they would have to do to get there — beat Auburn and LSU on the road (doable), and then beat two of Vandy, Tennessee and Ole Miss, plus win two tournament games (very tough).
If they get that done, they would at least have a case in the same way UK had a case in 2007-08, and the SEC was even weaker then than it is now.
I don’t know, though, if the tournament committee would look askance at Fortson’s reappearance because of the manner of his absence. My feeling is they wouldn’t care — he has “done his time,” so to speak, and the team may be tournament caliber with him on it. I suppose that could be wrong, but — well, all I can say is, if I was on the committee, it wouldn’t make any difference to me. I would not be interested in punishing Arkansas because Fortson misbehaved and had that misbehavior dealt with appropriately.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
The other thing about Arkansas is their NC schedule
They have absolutely nothing to point to and even if the committee gives them some consideration for no Fortson, they aren’t just going to ignore home losses to Morgan St, East Tenn St, and South Alabama.
3 > 2, except for very large values of 2.
True.
We’ll have to see. The odds are against them, no matter what.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Glenn Logan on Feb 21, 2010 11:36 AM EST up reply actions
The purpose of playing
a season of basketball other than revenue enhancement is to develop individual and team skills. I think way too much is made of early season losses and I don’t like the fact that the NCAA selection committee has gotten away from giving more weight to the last ten games or so. Who has developed as a team and is on a roll at tourney time should be a consideration.
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