One week of being nice to all these teams was enough. It’s time to get back to business. The ACC lovefest is getting increasingly out of hand as mediocre teams continue to beat ok to good teams, and only a couple of teams are actually any sort of a threat in the tournament.
Jon Rothstein continues to lead the way down this “ACC is the best and deepest conference of all time” goat path, and other writers are choosing to follow him down this path, oblivious to the fact that the kool-aid at the end is actually poisoned with terrible takes – like this one.
Georgia Tech may have the worst power-five roster I've ever seen. Yellow Jackets won't win a game in ACC play this season. Book it.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 14, 2016
Georgia Tech is 7-7 in the ACC, Pitt and Clemson are both “bubble teams” by some publications at 4-10 in conference play, and a team that lost to UConn, Georgetown and St. John’s is 8-7 in conference play (Syracuse). Rob Dauster, of NBC’s CollegeBasketballTalk went on record saying that Clemson (who he predicted to be the 9th place team in the ACC – currently T-12) could be second best team in the Big 12. Currently, only Louisville (7) and North Carolina (8) are ranked above the Big 12’s second best team (Baylor – 9), and both conferences have three teams in the top twelve. Only seven teams off there big guy.
#1 Gonzaga Bulldogs [59] (LW: 1) – Gonzaga is losing votes by remaining undefeated. They have the 2nd best Kenpom rating of any team ever since its inception. Get real AP voters.
#2 Villanova Wildcats [5] (LW: 2) – Villanova has dealt with some injuries and is flat out resting players because the rest of the Big East is so injured and some teams are just flat out bad. We’re not going to know much more until the Big Dance for the Wildcats. Should be a lock for the 1-seed in the East.
#3 Kansas Jayhawks [1] (LW: 3) – What else can you say about the Jayhawks? 13 straight conference titles? Damn. Should also be a lock for the 1-seed in the Midwest.
#4 Arizona Wildcats (LW: 5) – Arizona has won 19 of 20 games. Think about that. 19 of 20 and their one loss was by 27!!! Maybe it’s because 12 of those 19 came against teams ranked 100 or worse. Yikes. The Pac 12 is DREADFUL outside of Oregon, UCLA and Arizona.
#5 UCLA Bruins (LW: 6) – See above. If those three teams aren’t playing each other, you don’t need to watch.
#6 Oregon Ducks (LW: 7) – Sigh.
#7 Louisville Cardinals (LW: 8) – After beating Pitt, NC State and Boston College by a combined 103 points, the Cardinals have lost to Virginia (by 16) and beaten Miami, Virginia Tech and Syracuse by a combined 13 points. I guess wins are wins, but they haven’t really been impressive in their last four.
#8 North Carolina Tar Heels (LW: 10) – I was so happy to see UNC completely expose Virginia on Saturday. The Tar Heels are on a roll as of late, but are just 4-3 on the road in the ACC. The Tournament isn’t played at the Dean Dome, and UNC hasn’t shot the ball well away from home.
#9 Baylor Bears (LW: 4) – Speaking of unimpressive teams in recent weeks, Baylor has lost four of six including home losses to Kansas and Kansas State. They have to go to Ames and get West Virginia at home, but the Bears could lose a couple more as the season winds down yet.
#10 Duke Blue Devils (LW: 12) – The Blue Devils have won seven in a row since that inexplicable home loss to NC State. However, beating Pitt, Clemson and Wake Forest by a combined 15 points at home doesn’t really instill a boat load of confidence in the young Blue Devils.
#11 Kentucky Wildcats (LW: 13) – Don’t look now, but Kentucky is not the highest rated team from the SEC on Kenpom. That would be the Florida Gators.
#12 West Virginia Mountaineers (LW: 9) – The Mountaineers would probably be a lot higher if they didn’t lose to the Oklahoma schools at home and stopped pissing away games like they did at Allen Fieldhouse.
#13 Florida Gators (LW: 15) – Winners of eight in a row including a win over Kentucky. I’d easily switch Florida and Kentucky in the rankings. Like, last week probably.
#14 Purdue Boilermakers (LW: 16) – My favorite part of the rankings. Where do you rank the B1G teams that probably aren’t shit, but only play shit teams? 14th? Sure. Way to not lose to Michigan State and Rutgers at home.
#15 Cincinnati Bearcats (LW: 18) – Cincinnati didn’t even play a top-100 team in the last week. How on earth are you going to move them up three spots?
#16 Wisconsin Badgers (LW: 11) – Wisconsin lost at Michigan without Bronson Koenig. That’s not necessarily all that bad, especially because they followed it with a trouncing of Maryland. BUT, Wisconsin still doesn’t have a win against a Kenpom top-25 team the entire season.
I REPEAT. WISCONSIN DOESN’T HAVE A WIN AGAINST A KENPOM TOP-25 TEAM THE ENTIRE SEASON.
#17 SMU Mustangs (LW: 19) – SMU keep rising by playing little sisters of the poor in the AAC. Unlike Wisconsin, SMU actually has a top-25 win although it’s only one. Whatever happened to actually having to play and beat good teams to be considered for a ranking?
#18 Virginia Cavaliers (LW: 14) – [extremely Finding Nemo voice] Just keep losing, just keep losing, just keep losing…
#19 Florida State Seminoles (LW: 17) – Thank you for losing to Pitt and furthering this narrative that the ACC is sooooo balanced because you guys can’t take care of your shit.
#20 St. Mary’s Gaels (LW: 22) – The Gaels picked up a good win against BYU. Good for them. That’s about the best they can do outside of beating Gonzaga. I look forward to the Gaels promptly following and being underseeded in the Tournament.
#21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (LW: 25) – Wow. Winning at Boston College and NC State (both sub-100 teams) is enough to move up four spots? Oh who am I kidding, the ACC is the best conference ever of all time right? What a joke.
#22 Butler Bulldogs (LW: 24) – Butler beat St. John’s and DePaul at home last week. What is this, the ACC?
#23 Creighton Blue Jays (LW: 20) – Losing to Seton Hall and beating Georgetown is exactly the recipe for a three-spot fall. I was an advocate for not dropping Creighton before they lost without Mo Watson, but they’re now just 4-4 without him and the Selection Committee will have their hands full trying to figure out where to put the Blue Jays. They’re not top-25 worthy at this point in time.
#24 Maryland Terrapins (LW: 23) – LOL. The Terrapins have one single top-25 win on the season (Oklahoma State). They have three sub-50 losses including two at home (Pitt, Nebraska). What could possibly be the justification for keeping them here. I’ve joked about a B1G 3-team ranking conspiracy theory. This just proves it.
Purdue, Wisconsin and Maryland have a combined two, top-25 Kenpom wins between them on the season. Maryland over Oklahoma State and Purdue over Wisconsin. What a joke.
#25 Wichita State Shockers (LW: UR) – Welcome to the show. The shockers have won 16 out of 17, ALL BY DOUBLE DIGITS! Even their loss to Illinois State was by double digits. House or get housed, thems the rules.
I feel better getting all of that off my chest.
One response to “POLLitically Incorrect – 2/21/17”
Damn straight