New AP Basketball Poll (Tennessee drops to #16)

[TheMookieMonster]

Missouri going to be the first #3 seed to get bounced in the NCAA tournament mark my words. That team is solid, but not elite. They have some good wins, but it doesn't feel like a roster built to make a deep tournament run.

 

[beachvol23]

The polls have been extremely volatile this year. It’s no big deal. Take a look, at today and last three weeks polls to see how many teams have moved up or down AND how many spots. 5-10 spot moves are very common. Also the voter polls are largely irrelevant now and don’t factor into NET for ‘AA seeding.

 

[VolunteerCeltic]

Hopefully the coming out party from Springer and Johnson against Kentucky will be a positive trend moving forward. Those two guys need the lion’s share of touches in the offense from now on. Their ability to get into the lane to score or pass to open guys appears to be the best recipe on offense right now. No one else on the roster can attack the rim like those two.

I really like the fact they are not afraid to drive, take the hit and finish! Some freshmen wont go into the lane because they are intimidated by the size of the competition, Keon and Jaden dont care, they welcome it!!!

 

[Roustabout]

1. Gonzaga 18-0
2. Baylor 17-0
3. Michigan 13-1
4. Ohio State 15-4
5. Villanova 12-2
6. Illinois 13-5
7. Texas Tech 14-5
8. Houston 16-2
9. Virginia 13-3
10. Missouri 13-3
11. Alabama 15-5
12. Oklahoma 12-5
13. Texas 11-5
14. West Virginia 13-5
15. Iowa 13-6
16. Tennessee 13-4
17. Florida State 10-3
18. Virginia Tech 14-4
19. Creighton 14-5
20. USC 15-3
21. Wisconsin 14-6
22. Loyola Chicago 18-3
23. Oklahoma State 12-5
24. Purdue 13-7
25. Rutgers 11-6

That seems about right. I’d say anywhere between 16 and 22 would work. They are going to need a favorable draw come tourney time.

 

[cardvolfan]

I think some of that is fools gold at this point. They may trend up to like 15 & 12 but the 27 & 23 should not be taken as a coming out party and UK is a little lacking D wise. Hopefully they can get an on average consistent 12- 4 & 4 with minimal TO's the rest of year and play solid D as a team.

Kentucky was ranked 14th in the country in defensive efficiency prior to the Tennessee game.

 

[VolPack22]

The Big12, I’d agree with. The Big10 is heads above the rest, IMO, though. Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue...even their middling teams have impressive wins. Clearly the best conference, this year, to me, from top to bottom.

I disagree about the Big 10. The SEC has more teams above .600 in conference play than the Big 10. And if you look at the overall records of the top 4 teams from each league combined the SEC is 55-17 and the Big 10 is 55-16. We have the exact same number of teams .500 or better overall. There’s not much separation between the two conferences other than the numbers in front of the team names.

 

[vegasvolfan]

1. Gonzaga 18-0
2. Baylor 17-0
3. Michigan 13-1
4. Ohio State 15-4
5. Villanova 12-2
6. Illinois 13-5
7. Texas Tech 14-5
8. Houston 16-2
9. Virginia 13-3
10. Missouri 13-3
11. Alabama 15-5
12. Oklahoma 12-5
13. Texas 11-5
14. West Virginia 13-5
15. Iowa 13-6
16. Tennessee 13-4
17. Florida State 10-3
18. Virginia Tech 14-4
19. Creighton 14-5
20. USC 15-3
21. Wisconsin 14-6
22. Loyola Chicago 18-3
23. Oklahoma State 12-5
24. Purdue 13-7
25. Rutgers 11-6

As we should BUT I think we gained some ground in SEC standings. It’s highly unlikely that we reach #1 but at least it is possible... we saw one of Barnes’ teams do it before. The <C putting up points like that in the last game was HUGE. Young players often start not knowing what they can and cannot do and some never trust it will be OK to just do whatever and use their talent. Always afraid players with more time or their coaches will yell at them and bench them if they don’t convert. This seems to be an example of these kids realizing their C> need help for them to win period and cannot do it on their own... welp the opponent paid for it lol which is beautiful... I think teams will still lean on Fulky and Pons to make sure this wasn’t a fluke. That will give us a chance to see if it was. <C need to be ready to go and when they see the adjustments... start dishing to the 5th to get it back to 1 and 2... let’s see what happens...

 

[Border Vol]

The BasketVols will rise in the polls again

 

[tnvols72]

Can you imagine if the dynamic duo play like that for the rest of the year?? I guess there was speculation that Barnes finally gave them the green light and they went off. Not sure how much substance there is to that rumor?

It worked earlier in the season and it will work now

 

[VFL1127]

Crazt thing is this team has thr potential to be great!

 

[LordBolton]

Hopefully the low point of the season. Shameful egg laid at Ole Piss and messed around and almost lost to the worst Kentucky team in our lifetime. Obviously UT is far better than they showed this week, my bet is they turned the corner at the end of that last game and remembered who they are.

 

[Lankykong]

Hopefully the low point of the season. Shameful egg laid at Ole Piss and messed around and almost lost to the worst Kentucky team in our lifetime. Obviously UT is far better than they showed this week, my bet is they turned the corner at the end of that last game and remembered who they are.

I don’t think you can blame the team that much for the first half of the UK game. Second half of the Ole Miss game, sure, but UK was a whole other experience

 

[wmcovol]

Tennessee won’t play many teams that will play them like KY did. LSU will. That’s about it. Others will play tight man or Zone. Ky didn’t guard anyone.

 

[cncchris33]

Can you imagine if the dynamic duo play like that for the rest of the year?? I guess there was speculation that Barnes finally gave them the green light and they went off. Not sure how much substance there is to that rumor?

If you believe Barnes and listen to the two freshmen, they've had the green light and even been pushed to do what they did @ UK, but they finally put it together and did what CRB was pushing them to do.

 

[walkenvol]

If you believe Barnes and listen to the two freshmen, they've had the green light and even been pushed to do what they did @ UK, but they finally put it together and did what CRB was pushing them to do.

No - I’ve been listening. CRB is stubborn and his offense is outdated. He’s holding the freshmen back more than Dean Smith held back Jordan!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

No - I’ve been listening. CRB is stubborn and his offense is outdated. He’s holding the freshmen back more than Dean Smith held back Jordan!

How does he hold them back? He is very strict with his defense but he runs an offense that isn’t going to overwhelm players learning it. Big time athletes really aren’t being throttled are they? Barnes doesn’t slow them down, there really hasn’t been enough speedy ball handlers to push the pace. Barnes had been bringing Springer along to advance the ball and he hurt his ankle. Then with Springer out it seemed like Keon was often filling the role. It would be coaching malpractice to throw two non-point guard freshmen immediately into the PG role. Now both Springer and Keon are experienced and confident to push the ball. Barnes would prefer to score points off of the defense and stay out of half court sets.

 

[cncchris33]

I disagree about the Big 10. The SEC has more teams above .600 in conference play than the Big 10. And if you look at the overall records of the top 4 teams from each league combined the SEC is 55-17 and the Big 10 is 55-16. We have the exact same number of teams .500 or better overall. There’s not much separation between the two conferences other than the numbers in front of the team names.

Ok, remove the human element that you seem to have an issue with and use the NET Rankings. Big10 has 7 teams in the top-25...SEC has 3. In fact, the Big10 has more teams in the top-10 than the SEC has in the top-25.

 

[VolNGA1]

I was shocked when I looked at MO remaining schedule. They will favored the rest of the way out. I do expect them to lose a couple, but they really have played most of their tough games.

 

[walkenvol]

How does he hold them back? He is very strict with his defense but he runs an offense that isn’t going to overwhelm players learning it. Big time athletes really aren’t being throttled are they? Barnes doesn’t slow them down, there really hasn’t been enough speedy ball handlers to push the pace. Barnes had been bringing Springer along to advance the ball and he hurt his ankle. Then with Springer out it seemed like Keon was often filling the role. It would be coaching malpractice to throw two non-point guard freshmen immediately into the PG role. Now both Springer and Keon are experienced and confident to push the ball. Barnes would prefer to score points off of the defense and stay out of half court sets.

Sorry - guess I needed blue font

 

[cncchris33]

No - I’ve been listening. CRB is stubborn and his offense is outdated. He’s holding the freshmen back more than Dean Smith held back Jordan!

Not to mention he's overpaid.

 

[livefaith]

I am ok with this..........Ole Miss was embarrassing.

This is such a good team ... and then there is the Bama, UF(especially!), & OlePiss, ... and then you scratch your head and wonder.

 

[livefaith]

Fun to NOT see these teams in the Top 25:

Kentucky
Duke
UNC
Kansas
Michigan State
Arizona
UCLA

Maybe the FBI and NCAA investigations have hampered some of these schools’ recent recruiting efforts.

That truly is amazing.

 

[VolPack22]

Ok, remove the human element that you seem to have an issue with and use the NET Rankings. Big10 has 7 teams in the top-25...SEC has 3. In fact, the Big10 has more teams in the top-10 than the SEC has in the top-25.

All I know is the 2nd best team in our conference beat the 2nd best team in their conference head-to-head. And that’s the only matchup IIRC between the conferences this season. I witnessed with my eyes that there’s not much separation between the two conferences. I don’t need a computer or a weekly illegitimate poll telling me something differently. If you shuffled up those teams between the conferences then the records would probably be very similar both ways. We have a very good basketball conference and it doesn’t get the same recognition as some of the other conferences.

 

[cncchris33]

All I know is the 2nd best team in our conference beat the 2nd best team in their conference head-to-head. And that’s the only matchup IIRC between the conferences this season. I witnessed with my eyes that there’s not much separation between the two conferences. I don’t need a computer or a weekly illegitimate poll telling me something differently. If you shuffled up those teams between the conferences then the records would probably be very similar both ways. We have a very good basketball conference and it doesn’t get the same recognition as some of the other conferences.

1.) The idea that a single, early-season matchup between two teams from opposing conferences is then the de-facto determining factor of which conference is best, is ridiculous.

2.) I'm not arguing we don't have a very good basketball conference. The lack of recognition is noted, but for a long time, with just a few exceptional stretches, it's been Kentucky and everyone else. What other major conference has seen their conference tourney won 31 out of 59 times by the same team, or their regular season title claimed by the same team 49 out of 105 times? Right or wrong, that's a hard stigma to shake.

3.) The NET Rankings are as unbiased a metric as you'll find. I understand you don't want to legitimize it because it flies in the face of your ill-founded belief, but it is what it is. If you choose not to believe in the evidence, we'll just agree to disagree, and move on, but your argument seems based on 90% emotion and 10% the results of a single matchup of teams.

 

[VolPack22]

1.) The idea that a single, early-season matchup between two teams from opposing conferences is then the de-facto determining factor of which conference is best, is ridiculous.

2.) I'm not arguing we don't have a very good basketball conference. The lack of recognition is noted, but for a long time, with just a few exceptional stretches, it's been Kentucky and everyone else. What other major conference has seen their conference tourney won 31 out of 59 times by the same team, or their regular season title claimed by the same team 49 out of 105 times? Right or wrong, that's a hard stigma to shake.

3.) The NET Rankings are as unbiased a metric as you'll find. I understand you don't want to legitimize it because it flies in the face of your ill-founded belief, but it is what it is. If you choose not to believe in the evidence, we'll just agree to disagree, and move on, but your argument seems based on 90% emotion and 10% the results of a single matchup of teams.

So you truly believe Houston is the 5th best team and Colgate the 13th best team in the country? Because that’s what the NET says. I have a hard time believing that.