Preseason AP Poll

[iowajerms]

NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls - ESPN

1 Kentucky (52) 1,604
2 Arizona (5) 1,518
3 Wisconsin (8) 1,483
4 Duke 1,415
5 Kansas 1,346
6 North Carolina 1,274
7 Florida 1,153
8 Louisville 1,114
9 Virginia 1,090
10 Texas 1,061
11 Wichita St 1,027
12 Villanova 885
13 Gonzaga 840
14 Iowa State 781
15 VCU 574
16 San Diego St 560
17 Connecticut 552
18 Michigan St 521
19 Oklahoma 426
20 Ohio State 340
21 Nebraska 309
22 SMU 285
23 Syracuse 178
24 Michigan 167
25 Harvard 98
25 Utah 98

Others receiving votes: Stanford 71, Iowa 58, Colorado 57, UCLA 35, Minnesota 34, Kansas St 27, Arkansas 21, Pittsburgh 20, Memphis 15, NC State 14, Louisiana Tech 9, Cincinnati 8, LSU 8, George Washington 7, Notre Dame 6, Oklahoma St 6, Dayton 6, Georgetown 5, Florida St 5, Maryland 3, Illinois 3, UNLV 2, BYU 2, West Virginia 1, Baylor 1, Stephen F. Austin 1, UTEP 1

 

[iowajerms]

The season starts on Thursday 11/14. Does anybody know what day the 2nd AP rankings come out?

 

[tducey]

Probably on the 21st of November, good to see my Tar Heels at #6.

 

[podsox]

luckily the polls in college bball are completely meaningless. im guessing the 24th. don't they usually come out on Mondays?

 

[StoningtonQB]

luckily the polls in college bball are completely meaningless. im guessing the 24th. don't they usually come out on Mondays?

I still can't get over last season's polls! The top 2 teams in the final poll (UConn, UK) were nowhere near the top 10 and all of a sudden they were #1 and #2.

I tend to trust the coach's poll a little more than the AP since the AP clearly have no idea wtf they're talking about. Not that either poll has any meaning! More of a popularity contest.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

I still can't get over last season's polls! The top 2 teams in the final poll (UConn, UK) were nowhere near the top 10 and all of a sudden they were #1 and #2.

I tend to trust the coach's poll a little more than the AP since the AP clearly have no idea wtf they're talking about. Not that either poll has any meaning! More of a popularity contest.

Eh, I don't know about that last part. I think the AP writers generally make an effort to watch the games, and the movement from week to week generally reflects that, but watching those games is part of their jobs. Coaches on the other hand are generally a little preoccupied during basketball season... you know... coaching basketball. Almost all the games during the season fall on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. And most teams will be playing on 2 out of those 3 days, which means most coaches will be too busy screaming at refs 2 out of 3 days to see any games. So even if a coach makes an effort to watch games on his off days, he still will likely miss a majority of them. I doubt many of them bother to even look at highlights. Granted some coaches let their assistants fill out their ballot, but they have the same problem.

 

[CatsTopPac]

The good news about CBB rankings is that there are almost three dozen games to see where teams are ranked. The bad news is that a team could be hot during a stretch, but they will only move up according to who loses ahead of them. If not, that team ranked higher could barely win against scrubs, but as long as they are winning they will keep there spot to move up.

I put polls into a collection of sources, and my watching of a team, to make my own determinations about the value of any team. CBB has so much parity that you have to take it all with a grain of salt.