2015/6 Polls

[Olsondogg]

Why am I only figuring out now that PHXCATS = Machina...it's pretty obvious, which scares me that I am losing my edge.

It's also sinister that PHXCATS responds to me, while the Machina handle blocks me on every platform...

[UAtrue]

Well, to be honest, it is pretty bad that the Pac hasn't won a title since '97, and that only one Pac team has been to the FF in the past 10 years (granted, three times, but still).

And there really is no control for all that due to the dynamic nature of the tournament. Pac 12 has to deal with negative bias. If we only get 3 teams in, but the Big East gets nine, who has the better odds to have a team get to a final four? You have teams out west that get shipped out to different time zones and far away from home, how is Oregon going to get fans to a tournament game against UNC in North Carolina? And that west coast to east coast time shift is tougher than vice versa, plus most of the states east of Texas are all bunched together. And the Pac 12 probably gets under seeded more than most, if not all of the conferences. That hurts the odds as well. There are exceptions who overcome these odds in other conferences, but lets not pretend the playing field is 100 percent even, or that the Pac 12 isnt crap in the tournament because the numbers tell a different story.

This is something that I've been thinking about the past several years. Not only do we get fewer teams in (which has been somewhat valid the past few years as the Pac has been a bit on the weak side due to the constant drain of quality players to the NBA), but we also get lower seedings at distant locations.

Lower seedings because of the east coast bias in polls (I know I know the committee says they don't consider these), but notice how the past few weeks the prognosticators have been lowering the number of PAC teams (arguably a strong conference this year) getting into the tourney-used to be as many as 9, now most are predicting 7 as we keep beating each other up.

Distant locations because few tourney games are played in the Pac territory. How often does AZ get to play a tournament game within, say a 2 or 3 or even a 5 hour drive (likewise most the other Pac schools)? Unfortunately, this is mostly due to population distribution and geography of which nothing can be done...

[rgdeuce]

At the end of the day, the Pac 12 has only itself to blame. Eventually you need to defy all odds and overcome. We can sit here as intelligent fans and tell ourselves we ran into some really crummy luck the last two years with teams who would beat a fair share of the national champions in the 21st century in a best of 3 series. The team that lost Brandon Ashley to injury had a really good chance to be an all-time great team in NCAA history. But to an outsider, those close calls are only viewed as not getting the job done. And when you are being mediocre in the tournament, a team cant get the job done, and there negative bias, you have no one to blame but yourselves because two of those things are controlled by the team.

This conference seems to be turning things around based on how things are looking this year, and moving forward, there are some very nice recruiting classes for multiple teams that show the conference is back on the upswing. Plenty of good coaches. It's sad that the list of 9 tournament teams is now trimmed to 6 for many. Certainly a product of several teams who should have done a little better in out of conference, maybe not the big wins, but consistency. That just means the 6 teams that get in all have to show up. Arizona, USC, Utah, Cal, and Oregon are sweet 16 level quality teams in my opinion. Obviously there are other factors that will influence that, but three of them need to be standing when the round of 16 comes. I think us, Cal, Utah and Oregon are all very capable of being in the elite 8. Getting two teams in is a possibility. The conference just cant afford to shit the bed right now with the teams it is getting in. Im not thinking final four or bust for our conference, but we need a good showing to keep this momentum up, especially fresh off the heels of what Pac 12 football has been doing.

[Main Event]

16th in the coaches poll
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/ba ... 151d28def3" target="_blank

[Merkin]

16th in the coaches poll
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/ba ... 151d28def3" target="_blank

I wonder who gave Duke the #3 rating? Same with Kentucky as a #1, and Iowa St as a #2.

Why are those people allowed to vote? They are obviously not coaches, probably just athletic department homer interns.

[Alieberman]

16th in the coaches poll
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/ba ... 151d28def3" target="_blank

I wonder who gave Duke the #3 rating? Same with Kentucky as a #1, and Iowa St as a #2.

Why are those people allowed to vote? They are obviously not coaches, probably just athletic department homer interns.

Those hi/lo rankings in that graphic can't be right. Explain these 2 examples:

Oregon is ranked 10th with a hi of 12 and a low of NR
Maryland is 12th with a high of 2 and a low of 9.

[Main Event]

18th in AP
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll" target="_blank

[Spaceman Spiff]

Honestly, I thought we'd drop further, into the 20's.

[Chicat]

16th in the coaches poll
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/ba ... 151d28def3" target="_blank

I wonder who gave Duke the #3 rating? Same with Kentucky as a #1, and Iowa St as a #2.

Why are those people allowed to vote? They are obviously not coaches, probably just athletic department homer interns.

Those hi/lo rankings in that graphic can't be right. Explain these 2 examples:

Oregon is ranked 10th with a hi of 12 and a low of NR
Maryland is 12th with a high of 2 and a low of 9.

Those are the highest and lowest rankings each team has had during all weeks prior to this one.

[Beachcat97]

AZ is probably not as bad as some here are making it seem, nor as good as a 3 seed, as some here were anticipating we were about to lock up last week. We'll be seeded between a 4 and 7, and I actually love our chances to reach the S-16, regardless of match up. CSM has only once lost to a lower seed and gotten to the E-8 three times in six seasons at AZ.

[Bear Down Vegas]

Cats are 3-5 seed quality. And if they play well, they can beat anybody. Struggle & they could lose to a hell of a lot of teams too.


That's a description that could apply to at least two dozen teams this year. Both tournaments are going to be a lot of fun.

[rgdeuce]

I'm guessing we salvaged a top 20 ranking with our second half against Utah. Utah looked great and impressed a hell of a lot of people Saturday. For us to close that margin so quickly and play so well in the second half, on the road against that team, says a lot of this team to the people who were watching. 9 spots is still a significant dip for two nail biting losses on the road to a team like Utah and Colorado, who is still a tournament team. There are two ways to look at us, a 21-7 team who loses to every tough team they play. Or a 21-7 team, who has five heartbreaking close losses to the tough teams they have played on the road, a heartbreaking loss to Providence on a neutral site after losing maybe our most important player and whose star went nuts in the closing minutes, and a home loss to a great Oregon team.

Bottom line, a loss is a loss for most people. But if you take a step back and realize that six of our losses have pretty much come down to one play, one stop, one better bounce, maybe one horrible call, does that make us significantly worse? Think about it. We could have 2010 New Orleans Saints luck and be 27-1 and the #1 team in the country right now. We are the polar opposites. We have only one win you can say that about and that was the Santa Clara game, every other win has been a blowout or comfortable. I know tough luck is the case for many losses for many teams, but most teams also get the good luck/fortune in just as many wins too.

[Beachcat97]

I know tough luck is the case for many losses for many teams, but most teams also get the good luck/fortune in just as many wins too.

Maybe that luck is coming back to us in Vegas and the Dance One can hope.

[Main Event]

15th in the AP. Lot of opportunity in the Pac 12 tourney with our bracket setup
http://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll/2016/18" target="_blank

[azcat49]

Finally at the end of the year we get 4 teams in the top 25 and 3 in the top 12.