Roy, I don’t know who Number 1 is either……..
It’s fitting that my 2nd stab at this occurs the week No. 1 is in now in our rearview…..
I kid, I kid……
Well, that didn’t take long did it? One week as no. 1. Man, that was fun. I want to do that again real soon. All kidding aside, this was a great week for Tennessee, despite the heartbreak loss to Vanderbilt. It’s not every day, heck, every year that we’ve been able to tame the boys in blue from our respective rival institutions, so the sandwich loss to the black and gold is a cost of doing business I guess.
Two things from the KY game yesterday:
1. I thought we played very well on defense yesterday. It’s a pity KY kept hitting the one shot they took on each possession. Have you ever seen more buckets go in with 1-2 seconds on the shot clock? The only time I got upset was the two times we fouled with 1 second left.
2. We gave up a ton of easy baskets inside, and we once again looked like we struggle finding offense in straight half court sets. Yesterday’s play was a prime example of why we get described as “out of controlâ€. It was also an example of why people say we’re one of the most tenacious teams in the country. Can’t we have the latter, with out the former for once??? Pretty please with a cherry on top?
I digress, on to the subject at hand, our past week’s games did get me to thinking, I know, that’s a bad thing, given how this past week has gone, how do we really stack up? Since most of us recognize that the rankings are for all intents and purposes meaningless, where do we fall in the pecking order, if not the lead dog?
I did a little research, meaning I went to cbs.sportsline.com and reviewed their RPI and schedules and made a list. You always here “so and so’s record against the RPI top 50†or something about their road record, or the conference they play in, so I figured, I’ll keep it simple. 65 teams are going to get in right? So, what is each team’s record against the top 65 in the RPI? Easy. Then, let’s see what their road record is. Again, easy. And then the overall record. Real easy.
So, when I say research, I use the term loosely, but I still think it proves a point. For this little study, I used UNC, Duke, UCLA, Texas, Memphis, Kansas, Georgetown and Tennessee. All of these teams, except maybe Georgetown, will likely be vying for a 1 seed when all is said and done.
So hear you go:
Team Road W/L vs. top 65 overall
UNC 12-0 7-1 27-2
Duke 8-3 8-3 25-3
Kansas 7-3 6-2 26-3
G’town 9-4 5-4 24-4
Texas 8-3 11-4 24-5
Memphis 9-0 9-1 28-1
UCLA 10-1 10-3 26-3
Tennessee 11-3 11-3 26-3
Now, I’m not going to swear by these numbers (what do you expect for nothing?), but even if did miss a game or two, like I said above, all this is on cbs.sportsline.com for all to see. But what I do glean from this is Texas, UNC, Memphis, UCLA and Tennessee each have done more to prove where they are then the others.
The Pac 10 is widely accepted as the best overall conference, and it shows here. The Big 12 is well represented, and what made our schedule was the OOC scheduling. According to the website, and its RPI ranking, Tennessee has the #2 overall SOS. Arizona has the #1, likely a function of the Pac 10 conference schedule and some tough OOC games themselves. UNC’s undefeated road record is impressive, and the ACC as a conference is #1 in RPI, so can’t ignore them. Texas will, and should, get a lot of praise for who they beat. They’ve got 4 losses to teams in the top 65; the one that hurts is @ Mizzou, and the timing of this past weekend’s loss is bad. But then again, they’re also the only team to beat Tennessee, UCLA and Kansas. Throw in splits with Texas Tech and A&M, and sweeps over Baylor and Oklahoma, Texas has put together a nice little resume for themselves. As for us, the back to back road games @ Xavier and @ Gonzaga are looking much better now. And we’re the only team to have beaten Memphis that will go a long way. Surprisingly, wins over Mississippi St, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Ohio State all enhance the already impressive resume. No home losses, no bad losses. We are legit as one of the top 4-5 teams in the country, and it’s not even that close anymore.
Lots left to play for obviously, but as we take stock of what has transpired this season, I think it’s safe to say we’re in the discussion and worthy of any recognition we get. I think it will be very difficult to choose the 1 seeds this season, unless a couple of these teams stumble down the stretch or in their conference tourneys.
If it ended today, trying to be as objective as I possibly can, my 1’s would be:
UCLA, UNC, Tennessee, Memphis
The Texas loss this weekend hurt or they’d be in there.
Go Vols. Beat Florida.