Coaches Poll: #14 (Update: AP Poll: #14 as well)

[Angelo Roncalli]

March 2, 2009
Rank School Record Points Previous
1. Connecticut (27) 27-2 769 2
2. North Carolina 25-3 711 5
3. Memphis (4) 26-3 698 4
4. Pittsburgh 26-3 667 1
5. Oklahoma 26-3 653 3
6. Louisville 23-5 630 6
7. Duke 24-5 597 7
8. Michigan State 23-5 557 9
9. Kansas 24-5 509 15
10. Wake Forest 22-5 480 14
11. LSU 25-4 420 18
12. Missouri 24-5 377 8
13. Washington 22-7 346 21
14. Gonzaga 23-5 339 17
15. Marquette 23-6 327 10
16. Villanova 23-6 324 12
17. UCLA 22-7 295 19
18. Xavier 23-5 260 22
19. Clemson 22-6 219 13
20. Purdue 22-7 211 16
21. Arizona State 21-7 189 11
22. Butler 25-4 168 23
23. Illinois 23-7 107 20
24. Florida State 22-7 67 25
25. Syracuse 21-8 37 NR

Dropped out: No. 24 Texas.

Others receiving votes: Saint Mary's (24-5) 26; Utah State (26-4) 17; Texas (19-9) 15; Creighton (25-6) 13; Brigham Young (22-6) 12; Utah (20-8) 10; Dayton (24-5) 9; California (21-8) 6; Boston College (20-9) 4; Providence (18-11) 4; West Virginia (20-9) 2.

[UberZagFan]

Pretty big jump but not as big as UW's.

[CaliforniaZaggin']

Nice to see that SMC is nearly ranked again. It'd be awfully sweet if to have a WCC Final that included two ranked teams.

[malmer7]

ok, two questions and excuse my ignorance if they seem obvious...
1 - if we win out we will likely end up around 10 or 11 i'm guessing, can the committee really seed a top 10 team as a #6 or higher??
2 - let's say SMC wins out and they are ranked somewhere in the low 20's, has the committee ever left out a ranked team?? i'd think that's a crime IMO...

[Just A Zag]

I'm pretty sure a couple years ago butler might have been top 15 and got a 7 seed. I could be wrong though

[Angelo Roncalli]

ok, two questions and excuse my ignorance if they seem obvious...
1 - if we win out we will likely end up around 10 or 11 i'm guessing, can the committee really seed a top 10 team as a #6 or higher??
2 - let's say SMC wins out and they are ranked somewhere in the low 20's, has the committee ever left out a ranked team?? i'd think that's a crime IMO...

The committee pays very, very little attention to the polls.

[CaliforniaZaggin']

If SMC wins out, they'll have an automatic bid. Also, Butler got shafted last year with a #7 seed when they were ranked #10 in in the polls.

[UberZagFan]

can the committee really seed a top 10 team as a #6 or higher??

Can you say 2002?

[Angelo Roncalli]

New AP Poll: #14 as well

1. Connecticut (67) 27-2 1,792
2. North Carolina (3) 25-3 1,678
3. Pittsburgh (1) 26-3 1,612
4. Oklahoma 26-3 1,576
5. Memphis (1) 26-3 1,543
6. Louisville 23-5 1,462
7. Duke 24-5 1,340
8. Michigan State 23-5 1,302
9. Kansas 24-5 1,190
10. Wake Forest 22-5 1,158
11. Villanova 23-6 913
12. LSU 25-4 894
13. Marquette 23-6 860
14. Gonzaga 23-5 837
15. Missouri 24-5 795
16. Washington 22-7 704
17. Xavier 23-5 629
18. Clemson 22-6 564
19. Purdue 22-7 545
20. UCLA 22-7 497
21. Arizona State 21-7 347
22. Butler 25-4 302
23. Illinois 23-7 287
24. Florida State 22-7 272
25. Syracuse 21-8 99
Others Receiving Votes
Creighton 52, Brigham Young 41, Utah 22, Saint Mary's 13, Dayton 11, West Virginia 10, Davidson 9, Texas 9, California 8, South Carolina 7, Providence 7, Washington State 4, Arizona 3, Oklahoma State 2, Boston College 1, Rhode Island 1, American University 1, Utah State 1.

[zagsfanforlife]

Wasn't GU ranked like # 6 in 2002 and received a 6 seed??? That just proves right there that seeds matter little to the Selection Committee.

[bullzag23]

Wasn't GU ranked like # 6 in 2002 and received a 6 seed??? That just proves right there that seeds matter little to the Selection Committee.

I would assume you meant to say 'polls matter little to the selection committee? Seeds are the committee's job, they better care about them

[lothar98zag]

ok, two questions and excuse my ignorance if they seem obvious...
1 - if we win out we will likely end up around 10 or 11 i'm guessing, can the committee really seed a top 10 team as a #6 or higher??
2 - let's say SMC wins out and they are ranked somewhere in the low 20's, has the committee ever left out a ranked team?? i'd think that's a crime IMO...

IIRC, a few years years ago Utah St became the only ranked team to not get an NCAA invite.

[theirishzag03]

lmao

Nice to see St. Mary's getting some attention again, BUT WSU getting votes at 16-13??? If there are not 30 teams better than the Cougs, I must be watching the wrong sport! I guess 3 wins in a row vs. UCLA, ARI, ASU move you way up!!!

[zagsfanforlife]

I would assume you meant to say 'polls matter little to the selection committee? Seeds are the committee's job, they better care about them

haha of course. POLLS

[Hextall7388]

The Polls do not always dictate a team's seed, but for the most part, it's rare to see a Top 15 team with a seed higher than a 5.

Looking at the ESPN Top 15 teams prior to the 06/07 Dance and the 07/08 Dance, only 2 teams received a seed higher than a 5.

The breakdown of the Top 15:
07/08 4-#1 seeds, 4-#2 seeds, 4-#3 seeds, 2-#5 seeds, 1-#7 seed(Butler ranked 10th)
06/07 4-#1 seeds, 4-#2 seeds, 4-#3 seeds, 2-#4 seeds, 1-#7 seed(Nevada ranked 15th)

Perhaps I'm biased, but I have a hard time believing the committee would try to Butler the Zags this year if the Zags win out. Butler had a good season last year, and they had a good RPI of 17, but they had no signature wins. They played 1 ranked team during the season (Drake #14), and that was the only game they played against a Tournament team (they lost to Drake by the way). They played a competitive schedule, but no way can one compare their schedule last year with the Zags' this year. The Zags have played 5 games against ranked teams, and based on the lastest Bracketology, the Zags have played 7 games against Tournament teams, and that does not include their games against bubble teams Maryland and St. Marys.

Based on the numbers, I can understand why Butler received a 7 seed last year. If the Zags can crack the top 10, I'd be shocked if they received anything higher than a 5. If they beat SMC with Patty Mills, that should solidify a 5.