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The polls are out and showing Kentucky once again at the head of the class. Syracuse moves up to second, and third belongs to the Ohio St. Buckeyes.
Despite some losses near the top, there was very little overall movement. Missouri dropped a couple of places due to a loss to the Oklahoma St. on the road. North Carolina has recovered nicely after a beat-down on the road at Florida St., and have won their last three by convincing margins.
Kansas takes the biggest drop of the top 5 to #8 after dropping a game to unranked Iowa St. The biggest drop in the poll was the Georgetown after becoming lowly Pittsburgh's second Big East win.
The conference distribution in this week's polls looks like this (note - both polls are considered together):
Conference | # |
Big Ten | 5 |
ACC | 4 |
Big East | 4 |
SEC | 4 |
Big 12 | 3 |
Mountain West | 2 |
West Coast | 2 |
Ivy League | 1 |
Missouri Valley | 1 |
Ohio Valley | 1 |
Here's the polls, with some commentary afterwards:
AP | Coaches | |||||||||||||
Rank | Prev | Delta | Rnk | Prv | Team | Wins | Losses | Votes | 1st | SOS | SOS Projected | SOS Rank | SOS Proj. Rnk | Conference |
1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Kentucky | 21 | 1 | 1623 | 63 | 0.5399 | 0.5697 | 82 | 55 | SEC |
2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Syracuse | 22 | 1 | 1550 | 2 | 0.5905 | 0.6003 | 9 | 15 | Big East |
3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ohio State | 19 | 3 | 1498 | 0 | 0.563 | 0.6004 | 46 | 14 | Big Ten |
4 | 2 | -2 | 4 | 2 | Missouri | 19 | 2 | 1363 | 0 | 0.5259 | 0.5579 | 105 | 75 | Big 12 |
5 | 7 | 2 | 6* | 8 | North Carolina | 18 | 3 | 1331 | 0 | 0.5644 | 0.5966 | 40 | 16 | ACC |
6 | 6 | 0 | 6* | 7 | Baylor | 19 | 2 | 1310 | 0 | 0.5819 | 0.595 | 14 | 17 | Big 12 |
7 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 | Duke | 18 | 3 | 1250 | 0 | 0.6069 | 0.6113 | 1 | 3 | ACC |
8 | 5 | -3 | 8 | 5 | Kansas | 17 | 4 | 1178 | 0 | 0.5928 | 0.6076 | 8 | 5 | Big 12 |
9 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 11 | Michigan State | 17 | 4 | 1098 | 0 | 0.6032 | 0.6279 | 2 | 1 | Big Ten |
10 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 9 | Murray State | 21 | 0 | 979 | 0 | 0.4622 | 0.4563 | 265 | 257 | Ohio Valley |
11 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 15 | UNLV | 20 | 3 | 946 | 0 | 0.5529 | 0.5793 | 58 | 40 | Mountain West |
12 | 14 | 2 | 11 | 13 | Florida | 17 | 4 | 861 | 0 | 0.5426 | 0.577 | 73 | 41 | SEC |
13 | 15 | 2 | 12 | 14 | Creighton | 20 | 2 | 803 | 0 | 0.5229 | 0.5277 | 110 | 112 | Missouri Valley |
14 | 9 | -5 | 14 | 10 | Georgetown | 16 | 4 | 762 | 0 | 0.5673 | 0.5907 | 33 | 24 | Big East |
15 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 18 | Marquette | 18 | 4 | 682 | 0 | 0.5759 | 0.5892 | 22 | 27 | Big East |
16 | 19 | 3 | 18 | 21 | Virginia | 17 | 3 | 578 | 0 | 0.5087 | 0.5448 | 131 | 89 | ACC |
17 | 13 | -4 | 17 | 12 | San Diego State | 18 | 3 | 566 | 0 | 0.541 | 0.564 | 79 | 65 | Mountain West |
18 | 21 | 3 | 16 | 20 | Saint Mary's | 21 | 2 | 472 | 0 | 0.5132 | 0.5082 | 122 | 140 | West Coast |
19 | 25 | 6 | 20* | 25 | Wisconsin | 17 | 5 | 415 | 0 | 0.577 | 0.595 | 20 | 17 | Big Ten |
20 | 16 | -4 | 20* | 17 | Indiana | 17 | 5 | 395 | 0 | 0.5623 | 0.5808 | 48 | 37 | Big Ten |
21 | 23 | 2 | 24 | - | Florida State | 14 | 6 | 375 | 0 | 0.5948 | 0.6012 | 6 | 13 | ACC |
22 | 18 | -4 | 19 | 16 | Mississippi Sta | 17 | 5 | 329 | 0 | 0.5487 | 0.5645 | 62 | 63 | SEC |
23 | 20 | -3 | 22 | 22 | Michigan | 16 | 6 | 305 | 0 | 0.5793 | 0.6042 | 15 | 10 | Big Ten |
24 | - | - | Gonzaga | 17 | 3 | 141 | 0 | 0.5415 | 0.5369 | 78 | 99 | West Coast | ||
25 | - | - | Vanderbilt | 16 | 5 | 102 | 0 | 0.5857 | 0.607 | 11 | 6 | SEC | ||
- | - | 23 | 23 | Harvard | 18 | 2 | - | 0 | 0.4686 | 0.4787 | 250 | 191 | Ivy League | |
25 | 25 | Louisville | 17 | 5 | - | 0 | 0.5825 | 0.5922 | 47 | 21 | Big East |
Remarks:
- I still think Duke is over-ranked in this poll. Their defensive efficiency is about 93rd in Division I according to Kenpom.com. That's lower than I can ever remember a Mike Kryzewski team.
- Wichita St. lost a triple-overtime game at Drake, and they got dropped out. They should be in over either Louisville or Michigan.
- How good is Florida St.? They beat Duke at Duke and UNC by 30 at home, and they still languish below the top 20.
- Good to see Vanderbilt back in the poll.
- Not sure why Gonzaga belongs here. I'd take Vandy over them 100% of the time. Heck, I'd even take Louisville over them.
Comments? Observations?