Monday, January 21, 2008

Updated Power 10


Lots of shit has gone down since Young Porque posted his NCAA B-Ball Power 10, so how do things shake out now after this huge weekend of upsets?

1. Kansas (18-0). Probably the most solid, well-rounded team of the two unbeatens. Extreme depth. Many threats with Chalmers, now-healthy Rush, Arthur, etc. Not to mention it's much harder to play a Big 12 Schedule than in the CUSA.

P.S.: Just imagine how nasty IU would be if Darrell Arthur had honored his commitment to be a Hoosier. Oh well, if he thinks playing for Sampson is that much worse than Davis, he's probably so stupid that we're better off without him.

2. Memphis (17-0). Yeah yeah, they're undefeated. They also play a bunch of pretenders. Derrick Rose isn't even good enough to be allowed to wash Eric Gordon's jock strap.

3. Tennessee (16-1). Are they they best one-loss team? Maybe. But do they have the best resume of any one-loss teams? Yes. Vandy might be very overrated, but they have still taken care of their business.

4. Duke (15-1). Looked like dogshit earlier in the season, but the real Dookies are starting to show up. I think a lack of Dickie V seriously hurt this team, there was no one around to obnoxiously over-hype them. But now that UNC has been exposed as a team that can't play D, Coach K is pushing his team to show all the haters that the Devils are the true kings of the ACC.

5. North Carolina (18-1). Everybody knew they were probably the weakest undefeated team until Maryland did work against them. Young Hansbrough is still a man amongst boys, but why was he taking the last-second three against the Terps? I'll bet Roy & co. would like to have that shot back, but it isn't exactly curtains for the TarHeels. Look for them to rebound against weaker ACC foes, struggle with Duke (but maybe eek out a win), and go deep in March.

6. Your INDIANA HOOOSIERS (16-1). They're only loss was to a very strong, if inconsistent, Xavier club. They've won 12 in a row, and the Big 10 is the toughest conference to play in, night in and out, especially on the road where it's always hostile as hell. White/Gordon might be...actually IS, the best inside-out combo in the country, and the supporting cast is deep and damn good. Upcoming games against a resurgent UConn, Wisconsin, and Sparty will tell us a lot about how the Hoosiers will fare in March.

7. Michigan State (16-2). Very talented team, despite two losses, including one to Iowa, an opponent that they should be beating. And even though they did have a brutal pre-season loss, this is Tom Izzo we're talking about and his teams always show up to play hard when it counts. They will almost certainly win their next six games before I show up to watch them lose to the Hoosiers in B-town.

8. UCLA (16-2). An hour before they lost their second game of the season, everyone was SURE they were the best one-loss team in the country. Haha. Frankly I hate this team, but they are well-rounded and well-coached, so they are always going to be dangerous.

9. Georgetown (14-2). This team only belongs here on days that Roy Hibbert decides to play. Otherwise, Pat Ewing Jr. isn't really taking this team anywhere.

11 (tie). Washington St. (16-1). I hate to put them here, but they do only have one loss...never mind that they play stinky teams. If they hadn't pulled out a close one against Oregon last night they would have fallen very, very far down.

11 (tie). Wisconsin (15-2). Don't look now but Bo Ryan (aka undisputed master of winning no matter the talent level) has Landry and Flowers playing like two guys named Tucker and Harris. Oh and Bryan Butch is pretty good too.

11 comments:

dickmau5 said...

So UNC takes one loss and they drop out of the top 10? I don't know if I necessarily agree with that.

Otherwise, I like where your head is at.

Unknown said...

My bad on UNC. I worked them in.

Young Swole said...

Three things:

1. The Big 10 is not tougher than the Pac 10 or Big 12, they are better than the SEC though.

2. Wisconsin is straight butt cheeks. They have one and done in March Madness written all over them.

3. After our big win over Arkansas on Saturday, can't UGA get some top 10 love?

Andrew Adamson said...

Alright swole, lay off the pipe. UGA has as much of a chance making the tourney as you do of getting laid by a Bulldog Cheerleader.

You can't judge these rankings based on conferences, so it shouldn't matter which conference is better when deciding how teams should be ranked.

That said, I disagree with a few of your rankings namely the Pac 10 teams. I'm a huge MSU fan, but how can you put them ahead of UCLA, who beat them (by the way, you said that Michigan State had 2 ugly losses...the one to iowa was, but barely losing to UCLA, not so much). Also, Washington State needs to be much higher. I realize they aren't a name brand, but they only have 1 loss like us (and that loss was to a very good UCLA team). They should be at worst only 1 spot behind us and definitely far ahead of Wisconsin and ahead of MSU too.

dickmau5 said...

Young Swole, once again, I really think you need to stick to college football. I will give you the Pac 10, which I feel is the deepest conference in the nation, but the Big 12?

The Big 10 is at a minimum on par with the Big 12, likely superior. The number 2 team in the Big 12 right now is Baylor!!!

Unknown said...

I'm sorry but I will not apologize for saying the Big 10 is the toughest top to bottom. The road environments are the hardest to play in, without question. Breslin Center with the Izzone, both Assembly Halls, Williams Arena aka "The Barn," the Kohl Center, Crisler Arena.

Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin have posted some of the most ridiculous home winning streaks in recent memory in the past couple years.

And come on, look at the coaches: Kelvin Sampson, Bruce Weber, Tom Izzo, Bo Ryan, Tubby Smith, John Belein, Ed DeChellis, Todd Lickliter, Thad Matta!! Probably the most accomplished group of conference coaches since Jimmy V and Dean Smith were cat-birding the ACC.

Young Swole said...

Bruce Weber has done nothing but watch Bill Self's Program erode since he left. Ed Dechellis? Cmon BC. Thad Matta is the John Cooper of College BBall: all recruiting, can't coach for shit. And i'm sorry, Williams Arena or Assembly Hall is no scarier to play in than Allen Fieldhouse, the Iba Center or whatever Mizzou's stadium is called.

Big 12's solid teams include Kansas, K-State, Mizzou, Texas, Texas A&M, T Tech and Oklahoma, that is in no way inferior to IU, MSU, Wisconsin and whatever mediocre teams from the Big 10 you want to add in with them.

Unknown said...

Texas Tech and K-State are one man teams: Micheal Beasley and Bob Knight.

Mizzou sucks. Trust me.

Texas. Lost to Mizzou. See above.

Unknown said...

And which assembly hall do you refer to? The one with the Orange Krush, second only to the Cameron Crazies (and maybe tied with the Izzone) for craziest student section?

Or the Real one? The one with FIVE NCAA banners hanging from the ceiling? Thats more than twice the number in that shithole called Allen Fieldhouse. Even if they had a few more titles, nobody's taking them seriously with that comical, buffoonish bird painted on the court. Those banners, not to mention John Cougar Melloncamp sitting court side, can be pretty distracting.

Say what you want about Matta and Weber, but I'm pretty sure they've coached teams deeper into March than 98% of the coaches out there.

Young Swole said...

Young Cicero you are out of your element. First of all, I never hated on IU, I merely commented on the wackness of you bragging about a court that isn't even aligned correctly to player's benches on the sideline (Williams), or the head coach of a sorry ass squad like Penn State (DeChellis). And bragging about John Mellencamp being at your home games is like bragging about having a 2 inch penis.

Maybe if the Big 10 hadn't lost a championship game the last 3 times they were there, or if they had won the ACC/Big 10 challenge just one time I'd respect them more. Instead i just see it for how it is, a top-heavy league with a bunch of overrated squads getting a lot more shine then they deserve, as is usual for Big 10 sports.

Andrew Adamson said...

Swole, you retard. You have no room to talk since you have never seen a game at Assembly Hall. I agree with Cicero. The Big 10 has the best Arena's in all of college basketball. Banners aside, the reason the Big 10 is so difficult to get through undefeated is because the road is ridiculous. Even the weak teams has great student sections. Cameron Indoor is insane, but after that I'd put the Izzone, Orange Krush, and the IU Whiteout over just about any other school in the country. The big 12 is still great, but they are proving that they are full of mediocre clubs and Rock Chalk Jayhawk is the only thing keeping the Conference in the spotlight right now. Right now I'd rank the Conferences: Pac 10, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, ACC, Atlantic 10, SEC