I've already talked about the idiocy of sports writers harping on head-to-head being the be-all, end-all many times, so I won't go on that rant again. Here is my most recent rant on the subject, and others are on the left side of the page of this blog under "BP Classics".
With the new Top 25 polls out, Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports is leading the charge on UConn over Michigan State. You can read his whole rant on his twitter page. He's furious that the Associated Press put Michigan State one spot ahead of UConn. It's a good thing he doesn't read me, because I have Michigan State finishing with a 1 seed, and UConn with a 9.
According to Pomeroy's stats, Kentucky has a 94% chance of beating Boston University tomorrow. I assume that if Boston University wins the game, Goodman will flip out if BU isn't ranked ahead of Kentucky in the next poll? Or what about if Virginia knocks off Minnesota (Pomeroy gives Virginia a 12% chance of pulling that upset off)? Of course he won't, because deep down he understands that upsets happen. He just turns his brain off when it comes to highly rated teams.
With UConn, I'm still not totally on board. We see this every year with teams going on a run at some preseason tournament and getting a ton of hype that builds and builds because reality usually doesn't hit until conference play begins in January. And then those teams crash, and we forget all about it and get excited about another next team that pulls a couple of upsets in November, 2011. UConn played great on two straight days in Maui in November, but let's chill out about projecting that to the rest of the season.
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3 comments:
Good to see my dude Jeff is back! Can't wait to utilize you as my bracket secret weapon this year.
Anyway, any thoughts on TCU? I know its a football move (as I understand it, is it even a step up there?), but how is it going to affect our superior sport? 17 teams in a conference? That's insane. And aren't they just going to another Depaul?
Finally so far, I'm less impressed with Brendon Knight than even Bledsoe at the same point. I know its early to judge, but since he's only staying the one year, I guess I have to. I don't mean to bombard you with questions, but if you've got time, what are the people way smarter than me (ie yourself and the people you read) thinking about Knight?
Glad to have you back for another year!
TCU will, in a basketball sense, be even worse than DePaul. Not only are they not as good as DePaul is now, but DePaul at least has a history of success in the past and is in basketball-rich Chicago, and also has a pretty well-known coach. TCU is something like 12th in the pecking order of Texas schools, and Texas doesn't produce a ton of basketball talent anyway.
At this point the Big East does plan to go with 17 teams. What will end up happening is that the Big East tournament will either exclude some teams, or the earliest round will be played on campus sites.
It's hard to make too many judgments on Kentucky yet because they haven't really played anybody. I need to see more of them before I come to too many conclusions. They certainly don't look as good as last year so far, though.
Thanks for the answers!
You're right, you're right; as much as I try not to, I'm always guilty of the same quick overreaction as the mainstream media, especially with the Wildcats.
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