First Coaches Poll Out

In case you haven't seen it, here it is. I'm sure you're wondering what I think of it, so a few random observations:

Pac 10 loving: The Pac 10 is going to be a great conference this year, but... man. Six of the top 21 teams? If this happened the Big East, everyone would be screaming East Coast Bias. Is this West Coast Bias now? It's very possible that the Pac 10 will end up with the most Top 25 teams, but maybe we should let some games happen before we throw teams like Stanford in the Top 25.

Big Ten hating: Two teams in the Top 25? Hard to imagine that holding up. Last year the Big Ten ended up with only two teams in the Top 25, but there are a few reasons that shouldn't happen again. First of all, Ohio State and Wisconsin rocked the rest of the conference last year, driving down everyone else's records and rankings. With more parity this year there should be more wins to go around. Second of all, I just think the conference will be a little bit better. New head coaches in Michigan and Minnesota should really help things.

How quickly people forget: Too many of the voters are affected by last year's media bias, where certain players were given too much/little credit for the success of their teams. Exhibit A is an Ohio State which was marketed as Greg Oden And The Others, when in fact it had a bunch of other talented players. Oden missed plenty of time with injuries and fouls, and the team didn't miss a beat. Throw in another Top Ten recruiting class and they will have a ton of talent to throw around. Exhibit B is Texas A&M, where people forget how essential Acie Law was. Every big win they had involved the Acie Law Show. I think people also forget where that university was before Billy Gillispie showed up. Like Stanford, I'd like to see the Aggies win a few games before I give them some Top 25 love.

Quick Hits, a few more underrated teams: Alabama, Wisconsin, Missouri

Quick Hits II, a few more overrated teams: Villanova, Kansas State, Indiana