No. 1 .... Getting Crowded .... Poll

[Zagger]

Week 12’s rankings (coming up) ought to be interesting ... between the Zags & Baylor. Baylor has 2 unranked teams to play in Iowa State (Wed at home) and Oklahoma State (away). The Zags have spunky Santa Clara & BYU, both at home in McCarthey. BYU is ranked highest of the four foes for Baylor & the Zags. To complicate things Duke plays Louisville at home on Saturday (Clemson away tonight).
Who’ll be #1 when Week #12 polls come out? Any of the top 3 (Zags, Baylor or Duke) lose and they certainly slip a bit - or a lot. If all 3 win out this week and Baylor’s only loss is Washington (who our guys beat) .... how does that shake out? Our only loss is Michigan #19. Washington’s out of the top 25. Duke has that pesky loss at home to Stephen F Austin. Kinda/Sorta boils down to just how impressively any of these 3 teams play this week.
Oh yeah, there’s also Auburn, Butler & SDSU who make up the rest of the current top 6 .......
Methinks if the Zags win Thursday against SC (close game or not) and clobber BYU Saturday, Zags stay #1 ..... barely.

The pundits are itching for a change ......

Good luck finding any team in the country that notches a better pair of road wins in the same week than Baylor, which followed up a victory at Texas Tech by invading Allen Fieldhouse and thumping Kansas on its home floor.
As a result? The Bears leapfrogged the Jayhawks and Duke into the second spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll on Monday. They finished with 1,567 points in voting by 65 media members who regularly cover the game, just seven back of top-ranked Gonzaga — even though Baylor had 31 first-place votes and the Bulldogs had 30.

More at the link ......
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...s-no-1-ap-poll

[TacomaZAG]

Just win baby.................Al Davis, Oakland Raiders Owner

Winning takes care of everything, including the polls.

BTW, Dook's loss to SFA is WAY more than "pesky", it is season changing, and not in a good way. No way Dook should be in the top 5 (or top 10 IMHO) with that home loss hanging around their neck.

Go ZAGS

[Zagger]

Just win baby.................Al Davis, Oakland Raiders Owner

Winning takes care of everything, including the polls.

BTW, Dook's loss to SFA is WAY more than "pesky", it is season changing, and not in a good way. No way Dook should be in the top 5 (or top 10 IMHO) with that home loss hanging around their neck.

Go ZAGS

They're behind Clemson 40-33 at the half right now. Clemson is playing well - Dook not-so-pretty.

[gonstu]

Just win baby.................Al Davis, Oakland Raiders Owner

Winning takes care of everything, including the polls.

BTW, Dook's loss to SFA is WAY more than "pesky", it is season changing, and not in a good way. No way Dook should be in the top 5 (or top 10 IMHO) with that home loss hanging around their neck.

Go ZAGS

It's early, but a loss to Clemson tonight would hurt them too! Duke down 7 at the half AT Clemson.

[Zagger]

Clemson out played Duke. One less #1 contender. Baylor plays tomorrow. We’ll see how they fare.

I voted Zags for Week 12 #1. I’m sold on so many Zags averaging 10+/game. With the Zags having a few guys who can bring it they’re particularly hard to plan for and defend. Only the best D teams will have a chance against them (IMO). Killian’s yet to really catch fire too - and we know he’s going to.

[kitzbuel]

Duke gets taken down a notch by middle of the pack Clemson.

[Zaga]

Go Zags!

#runthetable

[Reborn]

Certainly not as crowded now that Duke loses. That's the way it always seems to go. Duke's loss at Clemson shows how difficult it is to win on the Road in conference. I believe that it's going to be in tougher this year because of the overall parity in college basketball this year. AND that's why I have been so impressed by the fact that Gonzaga won a couple of tough games on the Road in OOC play at UW and at ARIZONA. Those are tough places to play, and the night the Zags played at both places, they were packed and rowdy. There will not be any tougher place to play the rest of the year. Someone may ask why i'm so positive about the Zags this year. It's because of those two victories at UW and at Arizona. And their victory over Oregon on a neutral court is also another solid reason why I am.

Gonzaga has already proved one thing. They've been unable to hold on to the #1 ranking for what, 4 weeks now? Not many analysts believed we could do it because no one had been able to hold onto to it for more than a week or two. It was like becoming #1 was jinx. Gonzaga has disproved that idea. I think Baylor is a very good team. So is Duke. So are many others. But I think that as long as Gonzaga can keep winning that they will hold on to the #1 ranking in the AP and Coaches polls. If analysts want to continue to argue that Gonzaga is not the best team in America, they do have other polls that they can use to back up their arguments, but I doubt if the AP and Coaches polls will change as long as Gonzaga keeps winning.

Go Zags!!!

[ProVeeZag]

If the Zags score wins over Santa Clara and BYU, they should hold onto #1 ranking. These are not cupcake opponents, even in K2. Obviously Duke will drop in next Monday's AP poll after their loss to Clemson last night. SDSU did not look impressive to me last night in their win on the road against Fresno State. Baylor welcomes in the Iowa State Cyclones tonight, then goes on the road to Okie State Saturday and comfortable wins by the Bears in those contests could garner them the #1 spot, but only if our Zags struggle in 1 or both of their games this week. Voting for Zags to hold serve for another week at the top spot. Go Zags!

[GeorgiaZagFan]

this year is so unpredictable....any one of about a dozen teams could win it all....there is no clear cut best team....of course the fun of March Madness is that many times that "best team" doesn't win it all!!

[GeorgiaZagFan]

some were touting Auburn over the Zags, 15-0 from a major conference....but they are currently losing to the Alabama team which looked to be the 7th best team (out of 8) at the Battle 4 Atlantis....

[HenneZag]

Control what we can. Just be the best in the west.

[Zagger]

some were touting Auburn over the Zags, 15-0 from a major conference....but they are currently losing to the Alabama team which looked to be the 7th best team (out of 8) at the Battle 4 Atlantis....

Yep, Alabama won. A few upsets today. The week’s got a ways to go too. Looks like a lot of reshuffling in the top 25 come Monday. Could be Zags #1 & Baylor #2 with everyone else changing ranking.....

[Reborn]

This thread was started yesterday, hahahah hahah and in two short days it's no longer crowded. Duke Lost yesterday. Butler lost today. Auburn lost today and Kentucky lost today. That's how it goes in NCAA basketball. Gonzaga just needs to keep on winning one game at a time.

Go Zags!!!

[TexasZagFan]

This thread was started yesterday, hahahah hahah and in two short days it's no longer crowded. Duke Lost yesterday. Butler lost today. Auburn lost today and Kentucky lost today. That's how it goes in NCAA basketball. Gonzaga just needs to keep on winning one game at a time.

Go Zags!!!

We may see Power Conferences take a second look at expanding their conference schedules. It may not be worth the money to add one more win, and one more loss, to their record when it comes down to NCAA tournament seeding.

From Jerry Palm:

It is too early to say exactly how that trend could affect this season's tournament selections because they are not based on how teams do in their league and what happens in other conferences matters as well. However, expanding the conference schedule is generally a negative when it comes to selections. For major conferences, it takes away two wins from most of the teams and replaces all those games with a 1-1 record for teams in the league. There's no way that is a positive in the rankings collectively or individually, but it may not just be a rankings problem.

It is always hard to win on the road, but Big Ten teams are finding it to be especially difficult. So far in conference play, Big Ten teams are 6-33 on the road.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...et-projection/

I remember the glory days of the Western Athletic Conference (at least to me), where the formula for winning the conference was simple: win your home games, and split on the road.

It puts Gonzaga's streaks in a far different light. It's a credit to our team and coaching staff as to how consistently they play from game to game. However, if Clemson could beat UNC on the road for the first time in 60 tries, there's something lurking around the corner waiting for the Zags.

My attitude is to keep chopping wood, that's all you can do.

[Zagger]

This thread was started yesterday, hahahah hahah and in two short days it's no longer crowded. Duke Lost yesterday. Butler lost today. Auburn lost today and Kentucky lost today. That's how it goes in NCAA basketball. Gonzaga just needs to keep on winning one game at a time.

Go Zags!!!

Yeah, like teargas hit the top tier ... tiergas
More games to come. With the students back K2 will be hopping. Santa Clara’s 3 point D is a good recipe for Zag Tacos.

Baylor looks to win at home against Oklahoma State on Saturday ..... but, who knows, the tiergas could hit them too.

[Zagger]

We may see Power Conferences take a second look at expanding their conference schedules. It may not be worth the money to add one more win, and one more loss, to their record when it comes down to NCAA tournament seeding.

From Jerry Palm:





https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...et-projection/

I remember the glory days of the Western Athletic Conference (at least to me), where the formula for winning the conference was simple: win your home games, and split on the road.

It puts Gonzaga's streaks in a far different light. It's a credit to our team and coaching staff as to how consistently they play from game to game. However, if Clemson could beat UNC on the road for the first time in 60 tries, there's something lurking around the corner waiting for the Zags.

My attitude is to keep chopping wood, that's all you can do.

Good food for thought! Chopping wood is spot on. What’s cool with the Zags is having so many axemen. The starters are doing well and rather than just riding pine Gilder & Timme are splitting it too. Tonight & Saturday should give the pundits plenty to chat about regarding Zags vs Baylor as #1.

[White lightning]

Hopefully they chopped a little kindling during practice to get the fire started early. Everyone needs to pack a little wood to keep the fire going all game long.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[ProVeeZag]

Hopefully they chopped a little kindling during practice to get the fire started early. Everyone needs to pack a little wood to keep the fire going all game long.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Man I'm jacked up for this week's games at The Kennel!

Hey you woodchucks! Stop chuckin' my wood. (Hats off to Geico for resurrecting all those old ads!)

[Zagger]

I’m beginning to think the pundits want someone other than GU as #1 primarily due to the factor that GU lost Rui, Clark, Norvel & Perkins. They can’t wrap their netheads around the Zags being as good as they are with guys who didn’t start last year and do not fully appreciate what the Texans have brought to GU (w/ Few’s wizardry at coalescing the guys into a scoring machine). It may not be long before the Zags pts/gym average goes over 90.

Baylor closed out their game well yesterday but it sure looked like Oklahoma State had command of the majority of that game. If not for an Oklahoma turnover late in the game there might be no doubt who’d still be #1 on Monday. I think this thread’s poll results have it right and may mirror the vote distribution percentage in the rankings come Monday. If not, and Baylor edges GU .... could put quite a chip on GU’s shoulder - which could be a good thing. Last thing any Zag competitor wants is the Zag determination to be off the charts.

[jazzdelmar]

I’m beginning to think the pundits want someone other than GU as #1 primarily due to the factor that GU lost Rui, Clark, Norvel & Perkins. They can’t wrap their netheads around the Zags being as good as they are with guys who didn’t start last year and do not fully appreciate what the Texans have brought to GU (w/ Few’s wizardry at coalescing the guys into a scoring machine). It may not be long before the Zags pts/gym average goes over 90.

Baylor closed out their game well yesterday but it sure looked like Oklahoma State had command of the majority of that game. If not for an Oklahoma turnover late in the game there might be no doubt who’d still be #1 on Monday. I think this thread’s poll results have it right and may mirror the vote distribution percentage in the rankings come Monday. If not, and Baylor edges GU .... could put quite a chip on GU’s shoulder - which could be a good thing. Last thing any Zag competitor wants is the Zag determination to be off the charts.

Better to stay (rightfully) at #1. If the blue blood water carrier media get GU out now, we will never get back. There will always be a "deserving" blue blood of the week to pump. It matters, a lot, as Chuckles Lunardi says. No way the #1 in the poll doesn't get a 1 seed. Should GU slip -- get bumped to 3-4 -- the chances for a #1 seed go way down, imo.

[Zagger]

Better to stay (rightfully) at #1. If the blue blood water carrier media get GU out now, we will never get back. There will always be a "deserving" blue blood of the week to pump. It matters, a lot, as Chuckles Lunardi says. No way the #1 in the poll doesn't get a 1 seed. Should GU slip -- get bumped to 3-4 -- the chances for a #1 seed go way down, imo.

I agree. The Zags will have to really shine, considering the “deserving” attitudes, in the rest of their league games - especially in Moraga & Provo.
For what it’s worth: https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...-loss-at-iowa/
Doesn’t help us that Michigan is slumping (and Wazzu beat O). It does help us that Arizona beat Colorado. Interesting season. Zags are a bit of an outlier in that they keep winning.