preseason poll out

[stever20]

Butler is a team that might not be great for them to be a team that finishes in 6th or 7th. Their OOC schedule is murder. road game at Maryland. PK80 tourney with Texas, then Duke if they win that, then one of Florida/Stanford/Gonzaga/Ohio St. Then after that SLU, Utah, and neutral vs Purdue. They could easily get 4 losses there. Combine that with the 9 or 10 losses finishing in 6th/7th- and you're looking at 13-14 losses. While their SOS will be out of this world, at some point your record matters.

Marquette's OOC Schedule also pretty tough. got Purdue, then in Maui with VCU 1st, then Wichita/Cal, then one of Notre Dame/Michigan/LSU/Chaminade. Then get Georgia and Wisconsin. Think 3 might be the max # of losses, which gives them a bit more of a cushion should they finish 9-9.

St John's is the one that has the easier OOC schedule. They're in Advocare with Oregon St, then Missouri/Long Beach St, then one of UCF/Nebraska/WVU/Marist. then Arizona St and St Joe's.

[Irishdawg]

I personally like the fact that Butler has been picked 8th. I'd rather them be picked there than up near the top of the league.

Polls are completely meaningless other than getting an AP reporter at your games and getting on the front line of the bottom line ticker. Granted, it's nice in recruiting when you can point to it, but the only number next to the team that means a lot is the seed line on Selection Sunday.

[hoyahooligan]

Anybody following Butler for any length of time knows they always surprise. There's always a guy who comes out of the woodwork for them and kicks ass.
So many BE Stars this year. Gonna be fun.
Kinda glad Tre didn't get BE POY. Should be another motivating factor. I can see this guy going off for 35-40 if X needs him to.

2013-14: 9--->9
2014-15: 7--->2
2015-16: 3--->5
2016-17: 6--->2

So 2 surprises one underachievement, and once when they were nailed perfectly. But basically only surprise 50% of the time.

But hey the one time they were picked to be in the top 4 they underachieved, so maybe it's better for them to be picked low.

[BEXU]

Did I make a reference to their Big East only record? Nope. How did they do in 2010 and '11?

[milksteak]

Maybe the BE coaches know more than the rest?

History says otherwise since we are picked bottom-half like every year.

So right now Butler is the 28th best team in the country? You honestly think thats more accurate than 8th in the BE?

They’re closer to 28th in the country than 8th in the Big East. 8th in the Big East is equivalent to like a .500 record. Barring a major injury, I just don’t see that happening when you have Kelan and Kamar.

[stever20]

They’re closer to 28th in the country than 8th in the Big East. 8th in the Big East is equivalent to like a .500 record. Barring a major injury, I just don’t see that happening when you have Kelan and Kamar.

only thing is their OOC scheule is so tough they could lose 5 games there pretty easily. Say they lose 5. They'd be 8-5. They go 8-10 in BE play. They're sitting at 16-15. They could have Princeton, Maryland, Texas, Duke, (Florida/Stanford/Gonzaga/Ohio St), SLU, Utah, Purdue in their first 11 games. Those are 8 pretty tough games- with 5 of the 8 away from home. With a new coach.

Butler is one of the bigger X factors in the BE this year in terms of OOC play. They could be good- but things could go south for them fast. Definitely not the schedule you would necessarily draw up for a new coach. I would think we're going to hear that they have 1 of the toughest OOC schedules in the country this year.

[hoopseinstein23]

Im surprised that Georgetown is not dead last. They are a mediocre division 2 team at best. Even Patrick Ewing in his prime could not help this program. maybe they can hire Pitino

[NJRedman]

Butler is a team that might not be great for them to be a team that finishes in 6th or 7th. Their OOC schedule is murder. road game at Maryland. PK80 tourney with Texas, then Duke if they win that, then one of Florida/Stanford/Gonzaga/Ohio St. Then after that SLU, Utah, and neutral vs Purdue. They could easily get 4 losses there. Combine that with the 9 or 10 losses finishing in 6th/7th- and you're looking at 13-14 losses. While their SOS will be out of this world, at some point your record matters.

Marquette's OOC Schedule also pretty tough. got Purdue, then in Maui with VCU 1st, then Wichita/Cal, then one of Notre Dame/Michigan/LSU/Chaminade. Then get Georgia and Wisconsin. Think 3 might be the max # of losses, which gives them a bit more of a cushion should they finish 9-9.

St John's is the one that has the easier OOC schedule. They're in Advocare with Oregon St, then Missouri/Long Beach St, then one of UCF/Nebraska/WVU/Marist. then Arizona St and St Joe's.

We play Duke as well.

[NJRedman]

History says otherwise since we are picked bottom-half like every year.

So right now Butler is the 28th best team in the country? You honestly think thats more accurate than 8th in the BE?

They’re closer to 28th in the country than 8th in the Big East. 8th in the Big East is equivalent to like a .500 record. Barring a major injury, I just don’t see that happening when you have Kelan and Kamar.

No they aren't closer to 28th in the country. You think they legitimately are in the top half of the conference? If they were selected 7th would you think they should be higher? If they were 6th would you still say they should be higher? 5th? 4th? Anything less than 1st you'd still be complaining because you think Butler is much better than it actually is.

List the BE teams Butler has a better back court than. Also list the teams Butler has a better front court than. List the teams Butler has a better coach than. List the teams Butler has a better bench than. I want to see just how good you think your bulldogs are.

[Irishdawg]

No they aren't closer to 28th in the country. You think they legitimately are in the top half of the conference? If they were selected 7th would you think they should be higher? If they were 6th would you still say they should be higher? 5th? 4th? Anything less than 1st you'd still be complaining because you think Butler is much better than it actually is.

List the BE teams Butler has a better back court than. Also list the teams Butler has a better front court than. List the teams Butler has a better coach than. List the teams Butler has a better bench than. I want to see just how good you think your bulldogs are.

Clearly if someone thinks 8th is too low, it must mean they think they're the best team in the conference. That's what I love about internet debates (actually pretty much any debate nowadays). No middle ground whatsoever.

I'll let milksteak speak their own piece about where they think Butler belongs. Right now there's a ton of unknowns about Butler, so I can't say with any confidence anyone that Butler's better than or worse than anyone else at any aspect in this league.