College Hoops Pre-Season Polls
CBS Sportsline recently released it's pre-season Top 25 for men's college basketball. Their #1 is Oklahoma St. It's an interesting poll to compare to ESPN's, Dookie V's, and the Coaches' Poll.
Some notable differences:
Oklahoma St.: CBS Sportsline #1, ESPN #8, Dookie V. #13, Coaches' #8.
Maryland: CBS Sportsline #21, ESPN #10, Dookie V. #10, Coaches' #16.
UNC: CBS Sportsline #11, ESPN #4, Dookie V. #1, Coaches' #3.
Duke: CBS Sportsline #23, ESPN #14, Dookie V. #9, Coaches' #12.
Pittsburgh: CBS Sportsline #10, ESPN #21, Dookie V. #15, Coaches' #17.
Wisconsin: CBS Sportsline #12, ESPN #24, Dookie V. #18, Coaches' #20.
Obviously Dookie V. has an intense bias toward the ACC, and UNC and Duke in particular (hence his nickname). You wouldn't expect any else from Vitale than UNC or Duke at #1 and Duke in the Top 10 regardless of how depleted their roster is. Dookie V.'s bias makes his poll about as credible as speech by Al Gore on the merits of the Bush administration.
I think it's interesting how ESPN once again is buying into the usual pre-season ACC hype. I, of course agree with them, and believe ESPN to be the more credible poll. Yes, I'm biased too, but I don't get paid for my views (though it would be nice...please see buy something from Amazon.com from this website!). But the CBS Sportsline poll is fun to read because for once, someone's experts are giving a lot of respect to lesser conferences and teams.
CBS Sportsline is obviously the outlier of the four polls. The Coaches' appears most solid. Unfortunately, they rank Duke ahead of Maryland, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. Coach K is a great recruiter, but we'll see how he coaches a team of lesser talents this season. No longer a line-up of the top four or five McDonald's All-Americans. Wonder if he'll come down with a mysterious back problem like he did the last time he had a bad recruiting class. He was able to use that as an excuse to take a break while his team finished under .500 for the first time in many years. Let's see if he can coach these kids up in 2004-2005.
With the early season tournaments right around the corner, the men will soon be separated from the boys.
Some notable differences:
Oklahoma St.: CBS Sportsline #1, ESPN #8, Dookie V. #13, Coaches' #8.
Maryland: CBS Sportsline #21, ESPN #10, Dookie V. #10, Coaches' #16.
UNC: CBS Sportsline #11, ESPN #4, Dookie V. #1, Coaches' #3.
Duke: CBS Sportsline #23, ESPN #14, Dookie V. #9, Coaches' #12.
Pittsburgh: CBS Sportsline #10, ESPN #21, Dookie V. #15, Coaches' #17.
Wisconsin: CBS Sportsline #12, ESPN #24, Dookie V. #18, Coaches' #20.
Obviously Dookie V. has an intense bias toward the ACC, and UNC and Duke in particular (hence his nickname). You wouldn't expect any else from Vitale than UNC or Duke at #1 and Duke in the Top 10 regardless of how depleted their roster is. Dookie V.'s bias makes his poll about as credible as speech by Al Gore on the merits of the Bush administration.
I think it's interesting how ESPN once again is buying into the usual pre-season ACC hype. I, of course agree with them, and believe ESPN to be the more credible poll. Yes, I'm biased too, but I don't get paid for my views (though it would be nice...please see buy something from Amazon.com from this website!). But the CBS Sportsline poll is fun to read because for once, someone's experts are giving a lot of respect to lesser conferences and teams.
CBS Sportsline is obviously the outlier of the four polls. The Coaches' appears most solid. Unfortunately, they rank Duke ahead of Maryland, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. Coach K is a great recruiter, but we'll see how he coaches a team of lesser talents this season. No longer a line-up of the top four or five McDonald's All-Americans. Wonder if he'll come down with a mysterious back problem like he did the last time he had a bad recruiting class. He was able to use that as an excuse to take a break while his team finished under .500 for the first time in many years. Let's see if he can coach these kids up in 2004-2005.
With the early season tournaments right around the corner, the men will soon be separated from the boys.
posted by Mike C | 10:53 AM
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