MY UPDATED AP TOP 25 POLL (PENDING DUKE WINS)
Here’s my updated AP Top 25 Poll (as long as Duke beats Miami tonight):
1. Duke (13-0) *1 – The Blue Devils have won all five games with Kyrie Irving on the sideline – the latest wins against UNC Greensboro and Miami on Sunday night.
2. Ohio State (14-0) *2 – William Buford had 24, Jared Sullinger finished with 19 points and nine boards and Jon Diebler made all five of his 3-point shots in an easy win over Indiana.
3. Kansas (13-0) *3 – Thomas Robinson started in place of Marcus Morris in the rout over UT Arlington and responded with 20 points and 10 boards. The Jayhawks also took care of Miami (Ohio) on Sunday night.
4. San Diego State (15-0) *4 – The Aztecs beat Occidental. Seriously, Occidental. However, Steve Fisher’s team has a road win against Gonzaga and victories at home over Saint Mary’s and Wichita State on its resume.
5. Syracuse (15-0) *5 – Jim Boeheim’s team beat Providence and Notre Dame at the Carrier Dome to start Big East play. The Orange still haven’t played a game outside of New York or New Jersey.
6. Pittsburgh (13-1) *7 – The Panthers were off this past week. Jamie Dixon’s team is led by Ashton Gibbs, who is averaging 16.8 points per game and shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc.
7. UConn (11-1) *8 – The Huskies were pushed to overtime at home against South Florida, but avoided the upset as Kemba Walker had 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
8. Missouri (13-1) *9 – Marcus Denmon scored 22 points and knocked down five 3-pointers as Mizzou cruised past a tough Old Dominion team.
9. Villanova (12-1) *10 – The Wildcats held off Temple at home and then avoided a scare against Rutgers with a second-half surge.
10. Georgetown (12-2) *6 – The Hoyas came up short in South Bend against Notre Dame before the guard trio of Austin Freeman, Jason Clark and Chris Wright combined for 59 points in a win against DePaul.
11. Texas (11-2) *12 – The Longhorns got 24 points and seven rebounds from Jordan Hamilton in an east win over Coppin State.
12. Kentucky (11-2) *13 – The Wildcats routed Coppin State and then cruised past rival Louisville with big man Josh Harrellson having a career-game with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
13. Notre Dame (12-2) *14 – The Irish took care of business in South Bend with a win against Georgetown, but lost to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
14. Central Florida (13-0) *15 – The Knights get two more wins to remain one of seven unbeatens left in the country. Marcus Jordan, whose been battling an ankle injury, had 26 in a win over Princeton. Donnie Jones’ team also knocked off Furman.
15. Texas A&M (12-1) *16 – The Aggies have quietly won nine straight with a 66-57 victory over McNeese State.
16. BYU (14-1) *17 – JImmer Fredette scored 28 of his 34 the second half of a 90-82 win at Buffalo. The Cougars also beat Fresno Pacific this past week.
17. Purdue (13-1) *18 – E’Twaun Moore had 31 points and canned seven trifectas in a win against Northwestern and also had 21 in a road victory at Michigan.
18. Illinois (12-3) *20 – The Illini won by 10 at Iowa and then beat Wisconsin at home on Sunday.
19. Michigan State (9-4) *21 – Durrell Summers had 19 points as the Spartans knocked off Minnesota, 71-62, in East Lansing.
20. Kansas State (11-3) *19 – With Jake Pullen and Curtis Kelly still suspended, it was Jamar Samuels (26 points) and Wally Judge (22 points) who stepped up in a rout against North Florida.
21. Temple (9-3) *22 – The Owls got 22 points and nine boards from Lavoy Allen, but it wasn’t enough as Fran Dunphy’s team lost, 78-74, at Villanova.
22. Minnesota (11-3) *11 – The Gophers drew a brutal schedule to begin Big Ten play and came away empty this past week in road games against Wisconsin and Michigan State.
23. Washington (10-3) *NR – The Huskies get back into the Top 25 after a sweep in Los Angeles over USC and UCLA. Matthew Bryan-Amaning had two big games.
24. Wisconsin (11-3) *25 – The Badgers started the week with a home win against Minnesota and then lost in Champaign against Illinois.
25. UNLV (11-2) *NR – The Running Rebels return to the poll after a win over Central Michigan. Lon Kruger’s team has wins over Kansas State and Wisconsin this season.
Dropped Out: No. 23 Wichita State (11-2); No. 24 Tennessee (9-4)
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Since your last poll, Wichita State won two conference games (one on the road) in convincing fashion. Albeit the Shocker's opponents weren't great; but UNLV played just once (and won) against even worse competition - at home. Why the change?
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Hmmm... Syracuse beats nationally-ranked Notre Dame, who you have #13. And you have San Diego State, who's only victory of note this season is one over an overrated Gonzaga team, above them? You're a fraud, and the fact that you have a vote on the poll is a joke.
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Also, did I mention the Orange beat your #19 team, Michigan State, by 14? How do you come up with this stuff?
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Jeff stopped molesting collies long enough to post this crap?
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Jeff, you're a moron. Seriously. SD State over SU. Let's see how that one pans out for you. Is this how you get press? Just being flat out wrong about ****?
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San Diego State ahead of Syracuse?
Damn.
That pretty much makes your column a waste of webspace.
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Can't wait for Goodman's next epic utterance in February:
"SU still hasn't left the Northeast! It's all home games!"
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Now, no one's arguing the fact that Syracuse lacked a true road game on its non-conference schedule. But why is Syracuse always held to a standard that's rarely applied to other schools? Syracuse did have non-conference neutral court games against Michigan, Georgia Tech and Michigan State at Madison Square Garden.
Meanwhile, Florida played just one non-conference game outside the state of Florida. That was against always-tough American in Washington D.C.
Purdue played just one game outside of Indiana or the city of Chicago. That was against Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which meant Purdue officials didn't schedule it on their own volition.
What about Duke? Yes, mighty Duke. The Blue Devils played just three non-conference games outside the state of North Carolina. They played Butler in East Rutherford, N.J., and they played Marquette and Kansas State in Kansas City. Don't say the K-State was a road game. When Syracuse played Kansas in Kansas City in the 2008-09 season, that game was counted as neutral court. Duke's only true road game outside the ACC? At UNC-Greensboro.
And then there's Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh played only two games outside the Steel City in its non-conference schedule. The Panthers played Maryland and Texas in Madison Square Garden.
Oh, and one last thing. Syracuse is ranked No. 2 in the latest RPI with a Strength of Schedule that's rated 43rd in the country.
Kansas' Strength of Schedule is 56th; Pittsburgh is at 61, Purdue is at 71, Villanova is at 117 and Duke (yes, Duke) is 138th.
San Diego State? The Aztecs have an RPI of 14 and a Strength of Schedule at 156.
-mike waters, post standard
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jeff is a loser-man
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all i can say is haters will be haters..
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jeff is a loser-man, get a clue homo
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I agree, the cuse is treated differently. They have beat some good teams with a young roster, watch out for this team, CBS has them number two after Gtown who lost to the Jonnines last night.
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So the "Syracuse hasn't left New York" has expanded to include New Jersey? too funny. What a tool
Guess you gotta get people to read this somehow, what better way than make an asinine comment. -
The Orange will get credit when they leave the Northern Hemisphere to play a game.
Jeff,
good work. excellent analysis. superb applied logic. You are a critical thinking master.
btw - my 6 yr old daughter read this blog entry and when finished stated that you are stealing from your employer.
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This is the funniest ranking I have ever seen. Congrats to San Diego State beating Accidental college... What is their mascot? The lawn gnome? I hope you have NO say in the actual AP poll, because your vote is pointless. I think SU has had the harder schedule, regardless of location... Put SU and San Diego on any neutral court, Northeast, Southeast, Antarctica... Same result: SU wins by 40.
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Syracuse has beaten 2 ranked teams, both by double digits! So because San Diego State beat unranked Gonzaga on the road that makes them better than Syracuse? Makes sense
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DO THE MATH, ER, MAPQUEST!!
Last time I looked, Jeff, games in NYC aren't home games for Syracuse. There are at least 7 Big East schools alone that are closer to Madison Square Garden than Syracuse Off the top of my head:
St. Johns
Villanova
Providence
Connecticut
Rutgers
Seton Hall
Georgetown
All those schools are closer to NYC than Syracuse. And do you want to guess how many more D1 schools are also closer to NYC than the 'Cuse?
Again, off the top of my head, Maryland, Rhode Island, Temple, Boston College, Boston U, Penn State, Drexel, St. Joes, La Salle, UMass, Fordham, George Washington, Northeastern -- throw in most of the Ivy League too -- all closer to NYC than Syracuse.
I see a couple of ACC schools in there, A Big 10, several A10's -- get a clue, Jeff -- or at the very least, stop spreading your uniformed and misleading bad memes to a public with little in the way of critical analysis. It just makes you look petulant and ignorant. -
After reading your inane column again this week, I would like to congratulate MSN for finally giving someone with Downs Syndrome a place to work. I always wondered what ever happened to you Corky!!! It’s obvious that you must have a Big East Bias, or absolutely no knowledge of College Basketball. Anyone who can honestly sit in front of a laptop and place San Diego State in front of a perennial Top 10 School with 2 wins over ranked opponents really must be in a deficient mental capacity. Corky – do you really watch College Basketball?? Again – Thank your employers for rehiring you – it’s been a long time since you starred in “Life Goes On”.
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Hilarious....LMAO!
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Jeff,
Any credibility you may have gained by knowing that SDSU had a team was immediately erased as soon as you started talking about Syracuse. It is beyond obvious that you have not actually watched a Syracuse game in at least 20 years. You should watch them sometimes. They are the guys in orange. Also, a related side note: buy a map of the United States. Your knowledge (or lack thereof) of geography is almost as bad as your knowledge (or lack thereof) of basketball. The AC and the 315 are two very different places. Same goes for NYC.
Sincerely,
JEFFG00DMAN -
My dear Jeff,
I concede that Duke, OSU, and Kansas deserve their places on your oh so "prestigious" ranking. But then I get to spot number 4. San Diego? Really. Hm, that's interesting. Sure, San Diego may have a team that surpasses many people's expectations...but I think it's time you ACTUALLY WATCHED a college basketball game.
I don't want to discriminate, obviously you still have a black and white tv, because if you had a color tv, you would clearly see this lovely ORANGE team DOMINATING the court. Time to upgrade my friend.
And if I'm not mistaken, it takes me approximately 4.5 hours to get from my home, NYC, to Syracuse. Hm. To me, that doesn't seem so close. Maybe I'm missing the swarms of people in Orange clothes in the streets of Manhattan, but I'm PRETTY SURE NYC is not exactly a home game. CONN is actually closer to NYC than Syracuse. Oh...and Rutgers. And Villanova. Oh wait...and isn't AC in another state? hm. yea def feels like a home advantage to me.
I guess as we beat more ranked teams, according to your rankings, we'll just keep going down your list.
But oh yea I forgot...SYRACUSE IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE GOOD BECAUSE YOU SAY SO. My bad.
Enjoy your San Diego team. See you in March -
These rankings are a complete joke. You have lost all credibility as a journalist. How can Syracuse be punished for not leaving New York AND New Jersey. First, NYC is 250 miles from Syracuse. Not even close to a home game. Second, Atlantic City is 315 miles from Syracuse. Did you not pass geography class? You really need to start doing your homework before you write these ridiculous statements. I used to respect your opinion, but now I see you're a complete fraud. Try watching a Syracuse game before your ramble on about home and road games. Get your act together before you write your next piece and maybe you won't embarrass yourself.
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No wonder this Jeff character works for Fox, what with their low journalistic standards and all.
How does New Jersey have anything to do with Syracuse? Does this guy need a map? He flunk geography in the 7th grade? It is very weak and stupid attempt to dismiss Syracuse's two neutral court wins in Atlantic City, NJ over Big 10 and ACC teams.
What Jeff? Now states that border your state don't count as away games or neutral site games? What if 'Cuse had also played in Ohio or friggin' Canada. Would Jeff be writing that the 'Cuse still hasn't played a game outside New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Canada?
Mike Waters, who covers SU for the Syracuse Post Standard, does a very good job pointing out the various schedules of other high majors and how they are very similar to Syracuse's ( in fact some are not as good) at syracuse.com
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To see how silly this dude is w/ SDSU at 4, just ask yourself, if SDSU was in the Big East would they finish in the top 3? Top 4? Top 5?
My guess is they would struggle to finish in the top 5. -
Your crazy if your going to start bringing up Syracuse not playing any true road games outside of NY. Niether has UNC, Duke or Kansas, these teams haven't played on any other courts that warrant praise! Syracuse played in Madison Square Garden. So did Duke and Kansas. Syracuse has a SOS 43rd in the country. Duke is 113 points below our SOS. All these teams you love to praise are below our SOS. San Diego St couldn't hack it in the Big East. They couldn't play with the big boys! So why is Syracuse always held to a standard that's rarely applied to other schools? If your going to harp on the Cuse then you better start harping on UNC, Duke, Florida, Purdue, etc.......I will give Mich St credit however, they always play the best of the best......Oh yeah, they got manhandled by Syracuse at the Garden. Oops!
Don't forget we play in the Big East which means we play nationally ranked teams all the time. Duke has no nationally ranked team on their schedule coming up....at all! That's how pathetic the ACC is. And if Syracuse lands a #1 seed again we should get the overall #1 seed this year based on how tough our conference is. It's the toughest! -
Jeff is an example of what happens when cousins ****!
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Wow, Jeff. Really? They give you a vote on this kind of thing, and you're incompetent enough to rank San Diego above Syracuse? Do you understand anything about RPI, Strength of Schedule, or... let's see - even Geography? What a silly little man. Did Jim not give you comp tickets to a game or something?
