College Basketball Countdown

[Amase2]

How is it bringing down other teams to speak facts? Xavier's best player is gone…fact (Christon). PC's best player is gone…fact (Cotton…plus Fortune). Creighton's entire team essentially is gone…fact (Wragge, Gibbs, McDermott). This is indisputable.

So when people keep those teams high even after losing their best player and in some cases (CU/PC) multiple great players, it doesn't make sense. I can understand SJ being that low if Harrison or Jordan were gone. We have both. Sampson was definitely not our best player. Very talented, yes but definitely not the best player on our team. So while everyone else seems to be losing their best, we keep ours. Not saying Sampson leaving won't hurt a little, but it's definitely not the end of the world. Losing any of the players above is a much bigger deal than us losing Sampson.

So I'm not saying how great SJ is, I'm simply saying be consistent. If PC can lose 2 studs, CU can lose 3 studs, and Xavier lost a stud, then why are many people putting them ahead of SJ when we didn't even lose our best player? We lost our 3rd best. Harrison and Jordan are clearly better basketball players.

It's a bit odd to have someone act like a 1st round NBA pick leaving won't set Xavier back a bit. Don't get me wrong, Xavier will still be a solid team but I'm not sure they finish 3rd again…we shall see. PC relied on Cotton so much…did you see all their OT games? He was the only one with a crazy motor scoring 30 points for them. Without him PC just doesn't seem as intimidating especially knowing Dunn is damaged goods at best and may very well get injured again.

Now tell me where I'm "bringing teams down" again. I never said SJ was winning the conference, but I think we have a better shot than a team like PC without Cotton or Fortune.

[Amase2]

How is it bringing down other teams to speak facts? Xavier's best player is gone…fact (Christon). PC's best player is gone…fact (Cotton…plus Fortune). Creighton's entire team essentially is gone…fact (Wragge, Gibbs, McDermott). This is indisputable.

So when people keep those teams high even after losing their best player and in some cases (CU/PC) multiple great players, it doesn't make sense. I can understand SJ being that low if Harrison or Jordan were gone. We have both. Sampson was definitely not our best player. Very talented, yes but definitely not the best player on our team. So while everyone else seems to be losing their best, we keep ours. Not saying Sampson leaving won't hurt a little, but it's definitely not the end of the world. Losing any of the players above is a much bigger deal than us losing Sampson.

So I'm not saying how great SJ is, I'm simply saying be consistent. If PC can lose 2 studs, CU can lose 3 studs, and Xavier lost a stud, then why are many people putting them ahead of SJ when we didn't even lose our best player? We lost our 3rd best. Harrison and Jordan are clearly better basketball players.

It's a bit odd to have someone act like a 1st round NBA pick leaving won't set Xavier back a bit. Don't get me wrong, Xavier will still be a solid team but I'm not sure they finish 3rd again…we shall see. PC relied on Cotton so much…did you see all their OT games? He was the only one with a crazy motor scoring 30 points for them. Without him PC just doesn't seem as intimidating especially knowing Dunn is damaged goods at best and may very well get injured again.

Now tell me where I'm "bringing teams down" again. I never said SJ was winning the conference, but I think we have a better shot than a team like PC without Cotton or Fortune.

Could you imagine if a team ever had multiple guys with a crazy motor who both scored 30 points a game?

[stever20]

starting to get down to the last few teams missing the tourney:
AAC- most recent Cincinnati #52 5th- 4 teams left
B10- most recent Illinois #53 9th- 8 teams left
ACC- most recent Florida State #54 9th- 8 teams left
SEC- most recent Georgia #55 6th- 5 teams left
BE- most recent Providence #56 5th- 4 teams left
A10- most recent Rhode Island #57- 5th- 4 teams left
B12- most recent Baylor #59 7th- 6 teams left
P12- most recent Washington #65 7th- 6 teams left
MW- most recent New Mexico #67 3rd- 2 teams left
ACC- most recent NC State #70 10th- 9 teams left
WCC- most recent San Francisco #71 3rd- 2 teams left

2nd 4 teams out: 53 Illinois, 54 Florida St, 55 Georgia, 56 Providence
1st 4 teams out: 52 Cincy

[XtoDC]

To me it always seems pretty silly to argue over who lost the most last season to compare who will be good this season. Those would be very good arguments if teams like Creighton weren't allowed to replace those guys on the floor and had to play 1 on 4 or something in each game, but coaches are allowed to recruit new talent each year. In light of that news, I think it is more important to look at the people that will actually be playing when comparing teams rather than the guys who are no longer there. I would be shocked if many teams are losing more talent than Kentucky, but something tells me they will still find a way to be good this year (not saying anyone's recruiting class is as good as that, just as an example).

[stever20]

well, Butler is the next team in at #51, and #4 in the Big East.
http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9780

With all the other things- means one of Villanova, Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Xavier aren't in the top 144. Have to say that's pretty bizarre(and I've been defending this).... I'm guessing they think Seton Hall is going to take some time to adjust to the new guys???

As for Butler, I think if you told them they would be there- they would take it this year- as they were saying a building block for next year.

[Wizard of Westroads]

I thought it was a crock that Butler wasn't in the top 144, but not sure about this either. Brown's going to get them a lot more wins, and maybe they win more close ones this year. But depth is an issue. Now I think it's a crock that SH isn't in.

[stever20]

I thought it was a crock that Butler wasn't in the top 144, but not sure about this either. Brown's going to get them a lot more wins, and maybe they win more close ones this year. But depth is an issue. Now I think it's a crock that SH isn't in.

I dunno- I mean for Butler that would have been like about 4-5 more wins from last year? 19-12 would get them right about 51- just out of the tourney. To me, it seems fairly reasonable on the Butler side.

[Chalmers0]

To me it always seems pretty silly to argue over who lost the most last season to compare who will be good this season. Those would be very good arguments if teams like Creighton weren't allowed to replace those guys on the floor and had to play 1 on 4 or something in each game, but coaches are allowed to recruit new talent each year. In light of that news, I think it is more important to look at the people that will actually be playing when comparing teams rather than the guys who are no longer there. I would be shocked if many teams are losing more talent than Kentucky, but something tells me they will still find a way to be good this year (not saying anyone's recruiting class is as good as that, just as an example).

Good programs have this crazy concept called "player development" where players typically improve over the course of their career, especially in the off-season, and step in and fill voids for people that graduate, sometimes even causing you to not see any drop off. Some people/programs aren't quite as familiar with this though.

[stever20]

meanwhile on the USA Today countdown, they have Georgetown in as the #37 team- but as the 2nd highest team in the Big East. Just shows what the perception is for the Big East going into this year.

[DudeAnon]

meanwhile on the USA Today countdown, they have Georgetown in as the #37 team- but as the 2nd highest team in the Big East. Just shows what the perception is for the Big East going into this year.

-stever20: