3/7 Polls

[UCBearcats]

Polls come out this afternoon. Where do you expect the Bearcats to be ranked if at all????

Saw that Gary Parrish did his top 25 and 1 on cbssportsline and has the Bearcats at 19th. I would say that we are in for sure and I wouldn't be surprised to see us at 20th or better.

I just hope to God that we are ranked higher than Xavier and that we draw a higher seed too. I've been real tired of hearing them talk about how they're playing so well right now and how they're ranked and we're not. I'm constantly having to remind them about the 20 point beatdown.

GO CATS!!!

 

[UCalum08]

In my heart I want to believe we will be in the top 25. BUT, realistically, I think we will be 27-30 in AP and receiving 7 votes in the coaches poll. I have no other reason to think other wise considering the way this year has gone. But I will gladly be happy with being wrong.

 

[vielhaber]

Normally I'm one to count on us being left out of the polls, but I honestly don't think there is any way that they can be at this point. If they aren't ranked this week I will personally knock on the door of every coach/writer that casts a ballot and punch them in the jeans.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Jeff Goodman of Foxsports didn't include UC on his top 25 ballot. I think they should be in but we'll see.

 

[UCalum08]

From the Dan Hoard article this morning he wrote this paragraph about being ranked and what Cronin had to say.

"People say that 'Mick should shut-up' or 'Coach Cronin is whining.' Well, we've been disrespected all year and it does matter. It's kept us off ESPN and off the highlight shows and that stuff affects recruiting. The reason why I comment on it is that it also affects my players. These kids have hopes and dreams and they deserve to be talked about like the other Big East teams that are having good years. And they deserve to be talked about as individuals when they have good games. So I'm going to fight for my team and my players. If people want to take shots at me, they can have at it. The only opinion that I care about belongs to a little 4-year-old girl named Samantha Jean."


I personally think this is an awesome statement. I know people think Cronin says things he should not but I love what he says. He does not stray away from saying what he feels but importantly what A LOT of us fans are thinking and want to hear too. It really is impressive how he does stand up for his players and believes in them not just as players but as people in general. If you were a player, I would love to hear coach making public statements as such.

 

[cincinnati insanity]

Hopefully not getting the attention that they deserve will force them to prove themselves in the tournament. I dont care if the cats are in the top 25 or top100 i am very proud of them and very proud(like always) to be a UC fan. i hope they dont get any attention and then come tournament time they blow up, and we can all sit back and watch it happen. On a side note, these players dont need the attention, every time UC has reached the top 25 they have lost and fallen out. so who cares, lets prove with our play in the tournament, because i dont think something like and elite 8 run is out of the question. GO UC !!!!!

 

[TheLongHaul]

Jeff Goodman of Foxsports didn't include UC on his top 25 ballot. I think they should be in but we'll see.

He also included Georgetown at #20. The guy has been hating on UC all year and he doesn't want to admit he is wrong. UC should be ahead of Villanova and I'm not sure how Vanderbilt and Missouri are ahead of them.

 

[SlamJam]

AP poll: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

Xavier- 18
UC-25

Coaches came out- Xavier 20....UC unranked.

 

[UCBearcats]

Son of a B**CH!!! Oh well, polls mean nothing. Let's make some noise in New York and in the NCAA's.

 

[anbuc88]

The polls are a joke. UC beat GT handily twice in 10 days, and GT is ranked 22nd in both polls and UC is unranked in the coaches poll. XU keeps moving up as they keep winning BIG games in the guantlet that is the A10. LOL.

 

[UCalum08]

Coaches poll is an absolute crock of sh!t. The fact that WV and UC are not in compared to Gtown and Temple is bs. Whatever though, it has been this way all year so why should it change.

 

[UCalum08]

I can't wait till we play some of these "Top 25" in the tourney. I am fully confident we can play and beat a lot of those teams and I would imagine the team is chomping at the bit to play those teams outside of the BE.

 

[Ryno99]

I think I'm going to boycott the polls,they are just silly. It's a popularity contest. There is no reason for UC not to be in the high teens. How XU is ranked above them is beyond me. We beat them by 20+ all of our losses are to top 25 RPI teams (at the time we played them, top 31 now), and we have more top 25 RPI wins than just about anyone in the nation. I don't think they have any top 25 wins and they have 2 losses to teams with an RPI above 100. Absolutely assinine.

It gives Mick some ammo for the pre game talk that's for sure and will get these guys even more fired up going into the tournaments.

I mean seriously what does it take to get some respect around here? I would think the other BEast coaches would be upset as well. It's basically saying the teams we've beaten aren't that good.

 

[cincycpaw]

Bearcat fans are starting to sound a little too much like Rodney Dangerfield.

 

[babcat]

All kidding aside, I think the rankings came down to the strength of the out-of-conference schedule. That part of the schedule would have been stronger if we got the Oklahoma we expected to get when the deal was made. The XU win is huge, but winning strong games like G'Town played (# 17 Memphis and # 8 Mizzou at the time the games were played) in their out of conference schedule makes a difference at the closing bell.

 

[UCalum08]

All kidding aside, I think the rankings came down to the strength of the out-of-conference schedule. That part of the schedule would have been stronger if we got the Oklahoma we expected to get when the deal was made. The XU win is huge, but winning strong games like G'Town played (# 17 Memphis and # 8 Mizzou at the time the games were played) in their out of conference schedule makes a difference at the closing bell.

I think the SOS plays a part in the 1st half of the year but by now, the facts are in. And the facts are that we have beaten some really good ranked teams and have won like our last 5 of 6. That deserves recognition that the media and coaches do not want to give. If you go to the bracketology part of college basketball on espn and click the teams they give you an awesome resume. Look at Temple's and X's compare to UC and West Virginia. It is not even close. I am simply just picking those 4 schools but there are a lot other teams that have worse resume's than us but yet are ranked better.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/teamId/218
http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/teamId/2132

 

[anbuc88]

All kidding aside, I think the rankings came down to the strength of the out-of-conference schedule. That part of the schedule would have been stronger if we got the Oklahoma we expected to get when the deal was made. The XU win is huge, but winning strong games like G'Town played (# 17 Memphis and # 8 Mizzou at the time the games were played) in their out of conference schedule makes a difference at the closing bell.

Anyone who is still using the early season SOS to consider how to rank teams on March 7th shouldn't be voting. Regardless, if they want to use this, they should also remember that XU beat IUFW in OT and Wofford in 3OT at home when ranking them 18th and 20th. Plain and simple, the polls are a joke.

 

[adrock]

All kidding aside, I think the rankings came down to the strength of the out-of-conference schedule. That part of the schedule would have been stronger if we got the Oklahoma we expected to get when the deal was made. The XU win is huge, but winning strong games like G'Town played (# 17 Memphis and # 8 Mizzou at the time the games were played) in their out of conference schedule makes a difference at the closing bell.

I understand what you're saying about OOC SOS, but just think about it logically. We are a better team than Xavier; we proved it on the court convincingly. If they're the 18th best basketball team in the nation (and that's a big if), we have to reside somewhere between 1-17. It's very simple -- no transitive arguments here saying we beat somebody they lost to, so by proxy we're better. No, we're better by virtue of the fact we beat them, so we should be recognized as being better.

Same goes for Georgetown (and Louisville btw), though the case is even more convincing. We have beaten them not once, but twice in the past two weeks, and our record is superior to theirs in the same conference. If they're the 22nd best basketball team in the nation, we have to be 21st or better. There's just no getting around it.

 

[UCalum08]

What ever happen to being rewarded for player and beating good competition??!! While Xavier is beating 150+ RPI teams and getting better. Its a joke. I think the reason why it bothers me so much now where as before it didn't because it is potentially hurting our seeding. There is just no way Temple, Gtown, Utah State can be ranked higher than us.

 

[SlamJam]

I understand what you're saying about OOC SOS, but just think about it logically. We are a better team than Xavier; we proved it on the court convincingly. If they're the 18th best basketball team in the nation (and that's a big if), we have to reside somewhere between 1-17. It's very simple -- no transitive arguments here saying we beat somebody they lost to, so by proxy we're better. No, we're better by virtue of the fact we beat them, so we should be recognized as being better.

Same goes for Georgetown (and Louisville btw), though the case is even more convincing. We have beaten them not once, but twice in the past two weeks, and our record is superior to theirs in the same conference. If they're the 22nd best basketball team in the nation, we have to be 21st or better. There's just no getting around it.

Im not saying UC should be ranked ahead of Xavier or not- but I dont like that argument. Is Fordham better then St. Johns by virtue of the fact they beat them?

Also to note- Xavier currently has a tougher SOS (57) compared to UC (78)

Again- I think UC should be in the top 25 but the argument "we beat team A so we are better then Team A" is a bad argument IMO. Was Xavier better then UC when UC was number 1 in the country and X beat them (two different times)? No. Using your argument- yes.