The Holy Land of Hoops

AP Poll -

Villanova moves up to #6
Creighton breaks in at #20

As of right now the Coaches Poll still hasn't been posted.

Nice to see the Big East with 2 solid Top 20 teams, Wildcats are putting themselves in prime position for a 1-2 seed, and if the 'Cats and Jays keep on rolling this week, should set up a potential Top 15 clash in Philly next Monday night.

Also to note that Xavier received 3 votes... Puts them at #35 in the AP poll currently (which is too low in my opinion but with plenty of opportunity to move on up).

That's great! Creighton was ranked 23 in the coaches' poll last week so I have to imagine you guys will break into the top 20 there as well.

BluejaysForThree wrote:Also to note that Xavier received 3 votes... Puts them at #35 in the AP poll currently (which is too low in my opinion but with plenty of opportunity to move on up).

They will move up pretty quick if they keep playing the way they have been. A couple more weeks of success (with a few other teams miss-stepping) and they could be in there as well.

BluejaysForThree wrote:Also to note that Xavier received 3 votes... Puts them at #35 in the AP poll currently (which is too low in my opinion but with plenty of opportunity to move on up).

3 votes is 1 voter(Seth Davis). Going to take a while for them I think with their schedule upcoming(kind of a soft spot here next 2-3 weeks).

Coaches Poll out...

Villanova at 6th (same as AP)
Creighton moves up to 19th (Top 20 in both polls)

Xavier gets 2 votes to come in at #40 (last team receiving votes).

Having two Top 20 teams should help get more attention nationally for the Big East going forward. Hopefully both Nova and CU can keep it up, as well as X!

BluejaysForThree wrote:Coaches Poll out...

Villanova at 6th (same as AP)
Creighton moves up to 19th (Top 20 in both polls)

Xavier gets 2 votes to come in at #40 (last team receiving votes).

Having two Top 20 teams should help get more attention nationally for the Big East going forward. Hopefully both Nova and CU can keep it up, as well as X!

It will- but if Georgetown falls apart and none of the other 6 come up- we could get pigeon-holed as a conference with a big 2 and everyone else pretty easily.

I think the biggest thing today though was the bracketology on CBS. Jerry Palm does his projections a lot more than the others just based on what has happened this year and not what he necessarily projects to happen. Last week for instance he had Louisville as a 10 seed I believe.. Well, He had Providence as 2nd team on the first 4 out. I think a few things playing into that. For one- the LaSalle win is getting better by the day. They got 2 wins last week- including a win over GW. They've won 4 of 5 now. Got 2 good chances for wins this week with RI and Temple(I know RI is also a PC opponent). I think the Hoya's win of course(well duh), but also, the Hoya's beating Butler made that look even better right now...

I think just looking at PC freshly- one major key for them is for Maryland to not fall apart. Right now, their other losses- none are bad except for Seton Hall-and I think there's only so bad that they can get. It's still an uphill climb for them long term. They're one that could be like the Nova of last year if they could steal a few ranked wins.

stever20 wrote:

BluejaysForThree wrote:Also to note that Xavier received 3 votes... Puts them at #35 in the AP poll currently (which is too low in my opinion but with plenty of opportunity to move on up).

3 votes is 1 voter(Seth Davis). Going to take a while for them I think with their schedule upcoming(kind of a soft spot here next 2-3 weeks).

Yup, I said it before: This team has a better chance of getting a 5 seed (top 20) than getting ranked in the top 25. Too many writers I'm sure just saw them collapse in the Bahamas and failed to look at them after that, especially since they weren't beating ranked teams (save Cincinnati, who is only now ranked). There are probably only a couple writers who look at the overall body of work; luckily the Committee doesn't follow the same bad habits as most writers.

Get to the Dance and Advance. Rest is window dressing.

BEX wrote:Get to the Dance and Advance. Rest is window dressing.

Exactly. I look at this season as gravy for the conference. Not only is it our first season but we weren't even supposed to be formed yet. We were supposed to be in suspended animation like RU, UofL, Maryland, ECU, Tulane, etc. Thank God that didn't happen. On an individual team basis it's a different story but as a conference whatever damage we can do this season is a plus.