Entries Tagged 'Polls' ↓

For the first time since the 1990, Kentucky failed to be ranked in The Associated Press pre-season top 25 poll.

Kentucky appeared on 13 of the 72 ballots. The Cats finished sixth among the schools listed in the also-receiving-votes category.

Of the 13 voters who placed Kentucky on their top 25, six are based in states that are home to Southeastern Conference schools: Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. As I noted in an earlier blog, I voted Kentuiucky No. 15.

Dick Vitale, one of the poll’s two at-large voters, also included Kentucky in his top 25.

Kentucky made a brief appearance in The AP top 25 last year. The Cats were No. 20 in the pre-season poll, then fell out for good after the loss to Gardner-Webb.

The wire service will release its pre-season top 25 this afternoon.

It’s official. The weekly media vote made Tennessee the new No. 1 team in the country. The Vols won that vote after beating the previous No. 1 team, Memphis, on Saturday night.

When asked about this unprecedented stature for UT basketball, Coach Bruce Pearl suggested mixed feelings.

“The response has been overwhelming here,” he said on the SEC coaches’ teleconference on Monday. “There will be a lot of talk: where were you when Tennessee went on the road and beat the No. 1 team to become No. 1. It was that kind of event.

“It’ll have some staying power. But for us, it has very little staying power because we have to go to Vanderbilt.”

Tennessee, which is seeking its first outright SEC regular-season title in 41 years, plays at Vandy on Tuesday night. Vandy has not lost at home this season and beat Kentucky by 41 points there on Feb. 12.

“We’ve turned the page,” Pearl said.

Pearl also noted how the No. 1 ranking for his program does not put it ahead as much as in a catch-up mode with other Tennessee programs. The football team and women’s basketball teams have been No. 1 and won national championships.

“You can point to a number of different sports to show we’re proud to be part of one of the finest athletic programs in the country,” Pearl said, “and this adds to that.”

For what it’s worth, STACK magazine has listed the top 50 colleges. The University of Kentucky did not make the list.

Two of UK’s biggest rivals made the list. The University of Louisville was No. 40 and the University of Indiana No. 48.

North Carolina, which enjoyed a men’s basketball victory at UK this weekend, was No. 1. The rest of the top five were Stanford, Texas, UCLA and Duke.

Minnesota, which hired Tubby Smith as basketball coach last spring, was No. 28. Billy Gillispie’s former school, Texas A&M, was No. 27.

STACK based its rating on academic excellent, athletic opportunity and athletic performance.

Here’s the top 50 list:

1)   University of North Carolina

2.)   Stanford University

3.)   University of Texas

4.)   University of California, Los Angeles

5.)   Duke University

6.)   University of Florida

7.)   University of Michigan

8.)   University of Southern California

9.)   Ohio State University

10.) University of Wisconsin

     11.) University of Virginia

     12.) Notre Dame

     13.) University of Georgia

     14.) University of California at Berkeley

     15.) University of Tennessee

     16.) Louisiana State University

     17.) Auburn University

     18.) University of Illinois

     19.) Penn State University

     20.) Florida State University

     21.) Rice University

     22.) University of Washington

     23.) Arizona State University

     24.) University of Maryland

     25.) Georgetown University

     26.) Northwestern University

     27.) Texas A&M

     28.) University of Minnesota

     29.) Oregon State University

     30.) Clemson University

     31.) Boston College

     32.) Georgia Tech

     33.) Vanderbilt University

     34.) University of Connecticut

     35.) Wake Forest University

     36.) Rutgers University

     37.) University of Kansas

     38.) Cornell University

     39.) University of Nebraska

     40.) University of Louisville

     41.) Brigham Young University

     42.) Southern Methodist University

     43.) University of Arizona

     44.) California State University at Fullerton

     45.) University of Portland

     46.) Michigan State University

     47.) University of Colorado

     48.) Indiana University

     49.) Baylor University

     50.) Purdue University

In case you haven’t had your fill on Gardner-Webb’s upset of Kentucky:

Gardner-Webb had never beaten a top 25 team until beating No. 20 Kentucky last week.

In three previous games against top 25 teams, the Runnin’ Bulldogs lost all three games by an average of 46.7 points.

While it’s tempting to wonder how Kentucky can lose to a team that went 9-21 last season, it’s also unfair. It’s early, when odd things are more likely to happen.

Plus Gardner-Webb’s newcomers were considered the best in the Atlantic Sun Conference, which we now know includes Mercer,w hich beat Southern Cal. Junior college transfer Aaron Linn was a heady floor leader for Gardner-Linn.

From The Associated Press:

The Atlantic Sun Conference doesn’t have any members in the Top 25, but its teams knocked a couple of big-name schools out of the rankings.

Gardner-Webb’s win over Kentucky and Mercer’s victory over Southern California weren’t enough to get them into The Associated Press’s first regular-season poll Monday, although both did receive votes.

Southern California fell from the rankings after it was 18th in the preseason. Kentucky dropped out from 20th place.

North Carolina, which opens the season against Davidson on Wednesday, remained No. 1 as the top seven teams held their places from the preseason poll.

Villanova, which beat Stony Brook 86-64 in its season opener, and Butler, which beat Ball State 61-45 in its first game, moved into the rankings at Nos. 24 and 25.

North Carolina received 29 first-place votes and 1,737 points from the 72-member national media panel. UCLA, which opened with a 69-48 victory over Portland, was No. 1 on 24 ballots and had 1,710 points.

Memphis, which beat Tennessee-Martin and Richmond to advance to this week’s semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, was third with 18 first-place votes. Kansas, which beat Louisiana-Monroe and Missouri-Kansas City by an average of 26 points, was fourth.

Georgetown drew the other first-place votes and was fifth, followed by Louisville and Tennessee. Indiana, Washington State, Marquette and Oregon all moved up one spot to eighth through 11th, respectively.

Michigan State, which opens the season Tuesday against Chicago State, dropped four places to 12th after losing to Division II Grand Valley State in an exhibition game.

Duke, Gonzaga, Texas A&M, Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Pittsburgh and Stanford rounded out the top 20.

The last five ranked teams were North Carolina State, Kansas State, Southern Illinois, Villanova and Butler.

Gardner-Webb beat Kentucky 84-68 in the second round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. The Bulldogs, with seven points in the poll voting, will play Connecticut in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, while Memphis faces Oklahoma.

Mercer, which opened its season with the 96-81 victory at Southern California, had four points.

The second full week of the season won’t feature any matchups between ranked teams, but two of the more interesting games have Michigan at Georgetown on Thursday and Virginia at Arizona on Saturday.

Kentuckian Chris Lofton was named to The Associated Press pre-season All-American team. Of course, Lofton will lead Tennessee, which was voted No. 7 in the wire service’s pre-season poll.

North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough was the only repeat on the AP pre-season All-America team. He came within one vote of being an unanimous pick.

Other players on this year’s team are center Roy Hibbert of Georgetown and guards Drew Neitzel of Michigan  and Darren Collison of UCLA.

In the team vote, North Carolina was voted No. 1. UCLA was No. 2 followed by Memphis, Kansas and Georgetown in the top five.

Louisville was voted No. 6, while Kentucky came in at No. 20.

Future UK opponents in the pre-season top 25 are Indiana at No. 9 and Arkansas at No. 19.

     Playboy’s prognosticator David Kaplan ranks Kentucky at No. 20 in his college basketball poll for the 2007-08 season.

Kaplan, a former college assistant coach, has been responsible for Playboy’s annual preview of college basketball for several seasons. And, no, the players do not get to, shall we say, mingle, with playmates when they go to Playboy to pose for photographs that accompany the preview.

Here are Kaplan’s top 25 teams:

1. UCLA
2. Memphis         
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Indiana
6. Georgetown
7. Tennessee
8. Louisville
9. Michigan State
10. Texas A&M
11. Arizona
12. Duke
13. Marquette
14. Washington State
15. Oregon
16. Stanford
17. Gonzaga
18. USC
19. N.C. State
20. Kentucky
21. Texas
22. Davidson
23. Alabama
24. Arkansas
25. Southern_Illinois                                                                                                                 Here’s more biographical information on Kaplan. He has been a host on Chicago’s WGN Radio for the past 12 years, and has received six Achievement In Radio (A.I.R.) awards during that time. During the college football and basketball seasons he is a play-by-play and color commentator on ESPN Television.  Kaplan is a former college basketball coach at Northern Illinois University where he was an assistant to Hall of Fame coach John McDougal (1982-86) and was a regional NBA scout for both the Indiana Pacers and the Seattle Supersonics.

Kentucky is at No. 22 in a coaches’ pre-season poll sponsored by ESPN and released on Friday.

Of course, the Cats will have plenty of opportunity to move up during the season. At the Southeastern Conference Media Days this week, coaches and players dismissed the importance of polls.

No one would argue with that. But it’s a nice perk and something else for recruiters to present to prospects.

North Carolina enters the year as the preseason favorite while UCLA, Memphis and Georgetown round out the top five.

ESPN/USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll

1. North Carolina
2. UCLA
3. Memphis
4. KANSAS
5. Georgetown
6. Louisville
7. Tennessee
8. Michigan State
9. Indiana
10. Washington State
11. Duke
12. Marquette
13. Oregon

14(t) Gonzaga

14(t) Texas A& M

16. Texas
17. Arizona
18. USC
19. Arkansas
20. Pittsburgh
21. Stanford
22. Kentucky
23. Southern Illinois
24. NC State
25. Villanova