Monday saw only 3 top-25 games. Let's look at how we did, and then we'll take you through the new Coaches' poll and see who we think (know) is over-ranked, under-ranked, and in the right place.
8. Kansas: at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers will be no match for the Jayhawks. Kansas wins. We guess that the worst part about playing in the Big-12 is that you never get to play in a place that is even close to being warm in the winter. Gametime temps in Lincoln will be in the single digits. A few snow flurries as well. Despite the cold weather, Kansas wins by 20. No surprise to us.
9. Pitt: at Villanova. Villanova is coming off a close loss at Notre Dame, and they are pretty tough at home (see: January 17 trouncing of Notre Dame and January 20 upset of Texas). We think the Wilcats will beat Pitt. We don't particularly like how high Pitt is in the rankings (more on that later), but Nova couldn't pull off this win, although they led at halftime. We missed this one, but our opinion of Pitt stands. Each team couldn't score worth crap, but the Wildcats need to learn to share the ball.
11. Butler: at home against Illinois-Chicago. While the Bulldogs lost to Ill-Chicago earlier this month, they will not lose again. Butler wins. And they need to. Butler makes Ill-Chicago pay as they win big. The Flames had a dismal 5 assists total for this game. Butler needs to work on ofensive rebounding. They are too small to go past the second round in March. Yes, they have won 20 games, but they are not all that.
Only 2 top-25 games tomorrow. Let's break them down:
19. Notre Dame: at Syracuse. The Orange will pull down more boards, but Notre Dame hands Syracuse their third loss in a row.
25. UNLV: at Colorado State. We have been waiting for the Rebels to be ranked, and they won't disappoint as they win by less than 10 away.
OK, here is today's Coaches' poll with our astute and knowledgable comments. We went to see a very good mid-major team play tonight, so we are tired. What does that mean to you? Well, we're only going to comment on 12 of the ranked teams tonight, and then we'll do the remainder tomorrow night.
1. Florida: Over-rated. They are a very good team, but they have struggled as of late over teams such as Ole Miss and Mississippi State. And, the SEC is just not a formidable conference. How long do you give so much slack to the defending national champs?
2. Wisconsin: Under-rated. This team should be #1. Bo (above pic) knows coaching, and everyone needs to start looking at them as a team-to-beat rather than an underdog. They will advance to the Final Four.
3. North Carolina: Under-rated. They should be #2. Did anyone notice the beating they gave Arizona? Lute Olson's worst loss ever at home. And the Heels did it with their hands tied behind their back with their second-leading scorer on the bench. The book on them is that they are "talented", but, in fact, the real analysis is that they are a talented "team." Ol' Roy takes this team to the Final Four this year, and could very well win it all.
4. Ohio State: Over-rated. Greg Oden is a great player, but can a freshman lead an average team to win it all. No.
5. UCLA: Over-rated. The Pac-10 is awesome, and Oregon is better than UCLA. They should be hovering around 9 or 10. They've got a lot of miles to cover before they can prove themselves. NOTE: a team should not be ranked on their W-L record alone (see: Butler).
6. Kansas: Correctly ranked. Tough conference and eight-deep. Final Four? We'll see.
7. Pitt: Over-ranked. Does anyone other than us know that Pitt has not beaten a top-ranked team all season? The Big East is not strong enough to propel Pitt to #7. They are maybe a #20 team.
8. Texas A&M: Correctly ranked (so far). We are waiting to place judgement on this team until they are deep into their Big 12 schedule. Fundamentaly they are sound, and seem to do all of the right things (rebounding, sharing, FT and FG shooting), and if they continue in this manner they will go at least to the Great Eight.
9. Oregon: Under-rated. They play at UCLA Thursday night, and will prove then that they are the better team. They need to sit around 5 or 6 in the rankings. However, like all Pac-10 teams, they need to get through a tough conference schedule before we can fully evaluate them. They rebound great and are 12-deep, so we could see them advance to the Final Four. Again, time will tell.
10. Duke: Over-ranked. Well thank goodness someone sees what we see and does not advance the Blue Devils this week. They are not #10 in the country, and a tough ACC schedule will be their downfall. We think they will lose at least 5 more regular-season games this year, putting them in the middle of the ACC.
11. Butler: Over-ranked. We have always liked this team. They have won some big games. But, one of their downfalls is that they play a weak conference schedule (see: Cleveland State). Our other concern is that they are small. Their tallest starter is only 6-7. This will not get them far in the NCAA Tourney. If they do belong in the rankings then they should be #25.
12. Memphis: Over-ranked. OK, they have beaten 1 top-ranked team this year, and Conference-USA is not good. IF they can get through the remainder of their schedule without a loss (BTW: my childrens' elementary school team could beat East Carolina) then they may make it to the second round. They are big, though. But, would they be 17-3 if they played in the ACC or the Pac-10? We'll see.
Word.
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