I just received my ESPN the magazine preseason basketball edition where they ranked all of the 320 division 1 schools.
We were ranked 229th, just to shed some light on this ranking:
96: East Carolina
113: South Carolina Upstate
202: Hofstra
203: Loyola Chicago
217: Gardner-Webb
225: IPFW
227: Texas State
Luckily we finished one spot above Coastal Carolina who sits at 230!
We are ranked lower than the projected 9th place team in the Sun Belt, the 8th place WAC team, and the 8th team in the Big West.
Now I know all of these conferences are perennial powerhouses in college basketball, but I thought I would bring it to you guys’ attention. Would love to hear you guys comments/spin about how ESPN knows nothing.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
No role playing. That is the current state of our basketball program. I don’t think we deserve a rank of 229, but given where we are I can’t fault someone for thinking it because we haven’t given anyone a reason to think we are better than that. A lot depends on this year IMO. Major is probably safe this season, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is the year we either start the climb back up or it may be a sign that we are stuck here for awhile longer. I am just ready to win.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
He’s not wrong, he’s just depressing. :'([/quote]
Very depressing.
On the plus side - we are leaving a conference where we haven’t done well. We have more depth than we have had in years. We have 3 solid starters with on being an all conference performer. There is more excitement around our AD than we have had in years. We have a solid young core of fresh and soph players who by all accounts love the coaching staff and each other. The coach is going into his 3rd year as a HC and I think has a much better idea how to manage a game and his team.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
No role playing. That is the current state of our basketball program. I don’t think we deserve a rank of 229, but given where we are I can’t fault someone for thinking it because we haven’t given anyone a reason to think we are better than that. A lot depends on this year IMO. Major is probably safe this season, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is the year we either start the climb back up or it may be a sign that we are stuck here for awhile longer. I am just ready to win.[/quote]
Hard to disagree with this in general, but isn’t the whole reason for the “experts” to do these rankings to dig a little deeper than “what a team has done in recent years”? I mean they are supposed to study what we have coming back, what is new, etc…not just recent results. You don’t have to be an “expert” to rank the order of teams based upon the recent results.
Hard to take seriously any prediction ranking over 300 teams. You think ESPN or anybody else has
the manpower to research all that? It would hardly be a large surprise if they had us ranked about 70 spots too low, which would still mean we will be mediocre.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
No role playing. That is the current state of our basketball program. I don’t think we deserve a rank of 229, but given where we are I can’t fault someone for thinking it because we haven’t given anyone a reason to think we are better than that. A lot depends on this year IMO. Major is probably safe this season, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is the year we either start the climb back up or it may be a sign that we are stuck here for awhile longer. I am just ready to win.[/quote]
Hard to disagree with this in general, but isn’t the whole reason for the “experts” to do these rankings to dig a little deeper than “what a team has done in recent years”? I mean they are supposed to study what we have coming back, what is new, etc…not just recent results. You don’t have to be an “expert” to rank the order of teams based upon the recent results.[/quote]
We might should be a little higher than that based on “potential”, but I wouldn’t rank us any higher than that given what we’ve done the last two seasons with similar personnel. We are more experienced and have more depth this season, but haven’t proven anything yet. It’s weird to see us ranked that low out of 345 teams, but we need to prove we should be ranked higher than that by winning games before our gripes can really be given any merit.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
No role playing. [/quote]
Lol. If that’s a response from Major’s family I’d hate to see the opposition.
I said the same thing last year when we were picked near the bottom of the A-10. Can’t expect the “experts” to pick us high when we haven’t done anything to deserve it.
[quote=“X-49er, post:11, topic:27072”]We might should be a little higher than that based on “potential”, but I wouldn’t rank us any higher than that given what we’ve done the last two seasons with similar personnel. We are more experienced and have more depth this season, but haven’t proven anything yet. It’s weird to see us ranked that low out of 345 teams, but we need to prove we should be ranked higher than that by winning games before our gripes can really be given any merit.[/quote] I don’t think it’s much of a compliment to where the program is, but we’ve finished higher than that the last two seasons in most of the ratings that I saw. Rpi was 167 last year, and 225 the year before. I think other ratings were fairly similar, not all that much better than 229, but still lower I think overall.
So this prediction not only isn’t trying to raise us on potential, it’s actually predicting a downgrade, an even worse season than the last two. I assume this is justified due to the loss of scoring from Barnett and Briscoe, and a bunch of new guys coming in no one really knows much about. They might be right, but they are predicting a real drop for the team. I don’t think that will happen, but we’ll see, if players keep getting injured like they have been so far, it could certainly happen even if the team is talented.
That is waaaay too low. I think Kenpoms rating is more accurate. We are 144-145 there, and that feels right given the other teams we around. However that still puts us about 50 spots lower than ECU who is ranked 96 here also.
Not sure why everyone is so high on ECU. All try are going to do is play Div-II schools and underperform in a weak conference again. Not sure how that combo makes you a top 100.
The difference between finishing around 145 or around 230 is nil. Being the 145th best team or the 229 best team means you suck regardless. Funding success in being 145 versus 229 is akin to being excited about getting the skinniest kid award at fat camp.
So again, I ask…if all prognostications are based off “last year or the last 2 years” why even put them out? I mean all people should do is look at the previous season’s results. Not just talking about us here, but in general. Seems like these experts just take the easy way out so very little research needs to be done outside of the top 75-100.
BTW, (as for us) even last years team with a record of 13-17 is deserving of a better ranking than 229 considering our league.
Nothing to spin. We have sucked the past 2 years. We haven’t been to a post season tourny in years (i dont count our own conf tourny), we haven’t seen the NCAAs in almost a decade, our coach has proven nothing on the court - only that he is a decent recruiter, we have had basically an out right mutiny on our team of past players, we have seen a fairly long list of players leave the program, our attendance is in decline, our season ticket base in in decline, our giving is in decline - need I go on? ESPN sees us exactly for what we are.
I wish we could spin it another way, but these are the dark days on Niner basketball not seen since Hal Wissel. Let’s hope that 2012 is the light at the end of the tunnel.[/quote]
Hehe, you Major’s family? On a serious note, I cant tell if you are rolllplaying or serious?[/quote]
No role playing. That is the current state of our basketball program. I don’t think we deserve a rank of 229, but given where we are I can’t fault someone for thinking it because we haven’t given anyone a reason to think we are better than that. A lot depends on this year IMO. Major is probably safe this season, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is the year we either start the climb back up or it may be a sign that we are stuck here for awhile longer. I am just ready to win.[/quote]
Oop! New poster error. I meant the role play question for the Dowless fellow. He seems fake
[quote=“Honest Niner, post:15, topic:27072”]That is waaaay too low. I think Kenpoms rating is more accurate. We are 144-145 there, and that feels right given the other teams we around. However that still puts us about 50 spots lower than ECU who is ranked 96 here also.
Not sure why everyone is so high on ECU. All try are going to do is play Div-II schools and underperform in a weak conference again. Not sure how that combo makes you a top 100.[/quote]
Not an ECU apologist, but I do think some of our fans underestimate them. They have 4 solid combo guards. Guards win college basketball games. They look like a Bobby Lutz team. Gonna be very hit or miss. Will beat lots of teams they shouldn’t, will lose to a lot of teams they shouldn’t lose to. Shouldn’t be looked over though. They are clearly going in the right direction relative to what their program used to be.
Why is this suddenly an issue? We discussed it already a week ago. This ranking is based on one nerd’s math formula. He’s a wannabe KenPom who made up his own formula, and he deducted two of our leading scorers from last year’s team and added none. It’s hardly surprising if you look into the #'s.
There is no way we finish #229 in the country. And if we did, the Fire Major crowd would have their victory.
