Indiana, then Louisville on CBS ought to be worth...

[phoenix]

at least 10-15 places in the poles. IN win over SIU won't hurt either.

Then we have to start putting together a winning streak.

[Blue Heaven]

We could very well go on a nice one with the games we have coming up. I'm tryin' not to look ahead though.

[Caveman Catfan]

We need to forget about the polls and just think about winning and taking care of business. Neither IU nor the UL win will excite too many voters who watched the game. Only continued wins will make a difference.

[KennesawCat]

phoenix wrote: at least 10-15 places in the poles. IN win over SIU won't hurt either.

Then we have to start putting together a winning streak.

It likely has. but we have a long way to come from, as we were probably thought of as around #45-50. Now we are likely around #35.

[bret1555]

Caveman Catfan wrote: We need to forget about the polls and just think about winning and taking care of business. Neither IU nor the UL win will excite too many voters who watched the game. Only continued wins will make a difference.
One of the simplest and most poignant posts I have seen in a while. If the Cats forget about the polls & focus, I believe we will be a force to be reckoned with by February. We will probably not be top ten, but I think top 15. If we keep improving, I think we are an Elite Eight team.

[UKfaninCO]

bret1555 wrote: Caveman Catfan wrote: We need to forget about the polls and just think about winning and taking care of business. Neither IU nor the UL win will excite too many voters who watched the game. Only continued wins will make a difference.
One of the simplest and most poignant posts I have seen in a while. If the Cats forget about the polls & focus, I believe we will be a force to be reckoned with by February. We will probably not be top ten, but I think top 15. If we keep improving, I think we are an Elite Eight team.
Agreed. I like the potential of this team. Their focus should be on winning and getting better. They have a chance to run off a nice string of victories and get some confidence. They need some good learning games where they can make some progress on both ends of the floor. Polls at this time of the year don't mean anything. Only wins.

[wildcat74]

I don't see how beating two of the worse shooting teams we've played deserves a jump 10-15 places. Beat Memphis and UNC, sure, but IU and UL? Come on.

Regardless, what is the difference between 50 and 35? I would hope tubby and the players are't putting any value in the polls at this point.

[Will Lavender]

wildcat74 wrote: I don't see how beating two of the worse shooting teams we've played deserves a jump 10-15 places. Beat Memphis and UNC, sure, but IU and UL? Come on.

IU's a pretty good team. Damn good defensively. I think they'll be in the tournament.

And we beat a rival on their floor. A great win? No. A decent road win? I think so. How many teams have road wins against top 100 RPI teams at this point in the season? Ten or twelve tops.

This team obviously has a lot to prove after the Memphis debacle and the UNC horrorshow. But when you beat two BCS teams, teams that happen to be heated rivals of the Cats (one of whom, IU, got a win last night over a top ten RPI team), then that counts for something.

I suspect that we will be in the top 25 if we go 2-0 this week. Not that it matters, but there it is.

[KennesawCat]

Polls, although are entirely human judgement, tells you where your programs stack against other teams. You can always debate about who is ranked ahead of whom, but you should always look carefully at the measure of your team.

Whether it's polls, or the conference standings once SEC play starts, it is VERY important to the players, coach, and even the recreation for the fans, to have a sense of where you are, and where your competition is.

For instance, those who follow the polls and rankings likely see SantaClara as a team that is equal to or even better than Massachusetts. If you aren't paying attention to polls, the RPI, and even the computer rankings, you might tend to overlook a SantaClara due to lack of name recongnition.

[VIIBanners]

The Cats won't even sniff the top 25 until we start rolling in the SEC.

[wildcat74]

Will Lavender wrote: wildcat74 wrote: I don't see how beating two of the worse shooting teams we've played deserves a jump 10-15 places. Beat Memphis and UNC, sure, but IU and UL? Come on.

IU's a pretty good team. Damn good defensively. I think they'll be in the tournament.

And we beat a rival on their floor. A great win? No. A decent road win? I think so. How many teams have road wins against top 100 RPI teams at this point in the season? Ten or twelve tops.

This team obviously has a lot to prove after the Memphis debacle and the UNC horrorshow. But when you beat two BCS teams, teams that happen to be heated rivals of the Cats (one of whom, IU, got a win last night over a top ten RPI team), then that counts for something.

I suspect that we will be in the top 25 if we go 2-0 this week. Not that it matters, but there it is.


Will, there will be a lot of average teams that make the tourney.

IU and Ul are average (to bad) teams that we are supposed to beat. In my mind, its laughable to jump 15 pounts in a poll becuase you beat two average teamsyou are supposed to. JMO.

[Will Lavender]

VIIBanners wrote: The Cats won't even sniff the top 25 until we start rolling in the SEC.

I disagree.

The Cats could be 9-3 at the end of this week, with all three losses coming against top 20 teams. Two of our losses will be against the #1 and #2 team in the nation, one of those games on a neutral court and the other on the road.

I say there's a good chance we crack the top 25 the day after Christmas if we win these two.

Think about this: Louisville got 6 top 25 votes after their Arizona performance last week.

Southern Illinois got 20, and they were pretty well hammered by Indiana last night. We beat IU.

If we don't get in next week, our next shot will be January 7, when we should be -- if we take care of business -- 12-3.

Again, it doesn't necessarily matter. I'm more concerned with the way this team is playing rather than where they are in the polls. (Though Kennesaw makes a good pointa bout the perception of the program in regards to where you are in polls.) And right now, the Cats aren't playing like a top 25 team. But they're much closer than they were three weeks ago.

[Will Lavender]

wildcat74 wrote: Will Lavender wrote: wildcat74 wrote: I don't see how beating two of the worse shooting teams we've played deserves a jump 10-15 places. Beat Memphis and UNC, sure, but IU and UL? Come on.

IU's a pretty good team. Damn good defensively. I think they'll be in the tournament.

And we beat a rival on their floor. A great win? No. A decent road win? I think so. How many teams have road wins against top 100 RPI teams at this point in the season? Ten or twelve tops.

This team obviously has a lot to prove after the Memphis debacle and the UNC horrorshow. But when you beat two BCS teams, teams that happen to be heated rivals of the Cats (one of whom, IU, got a win last night over a top ten RPI team), then that counts for something.

I suspect that we will be in the top 25 if we go 2-0 this week. Not that it matters, but there it is.


Will, there will be a lot of average teams that make the tourney.

IU and Ul are average (to bad) teams that we are supposed to beat. In my mind, its laughable to jump 15 pounts in a poll becuase you beat two average teamsyou are supposed to. JMO.
IU's better than average. Or at least they will be by February. Watch. That team is going to compete in the Big 10.

And I have never bought in to the "supposed to beat 'em" thing. You throw that out in rivalry games, especially when they're on the road. If you get into the "we're supposed to beat 'em!" mindset, the wins are meaningless and the losses enrage you. That's not my style.

And I don't necessarily think it's the wins that we have that is going to make a voter notice. It's the losses. When two of your losses are against the #1 and the #2 team in the country, then that carries a little bit of weight -- especially because we had a real chance to beat the Bruins.

[Josh]

I don't even care about the polls. I'm still stoked about the Louisville victory. Beating Indiana and Louisville is just what the doctor ordered to get our guys confident for the rest of the season.

[RCS]

Say what you will about IU but they killed us last year. We get down on our Cats, but look around college basketball and there a whole lot of teams that people think are pretty good that have 3 loses. Considering we almost beat UCLA and our other loses were away from home to top 20 teams and it is easy to see how we could get into the top 25. Makes zero difference right now, but I do think we will get in the top 25 before we get to SEC play. Santa Clara and UMass are pretty solid teams. They are not top 25 but they are respectable wins. Win both and we might slip into the top 25.

[Will Lavender]

RCS wrote: Say what you will about IU but they killed us last year. We get down on our Cats, but look around college basketball and there a whole lot of teams that people think are pretty good that have 3 loses. Considering we almost beat UCLA and our other loses were away from home to top 20 teams and it is easy to see how we could get into the top 25. Makes zero difference right now, but I do think we will get in the top 25 before we get to SEC play. Santa Clara and UMass are pretty solid teams. They are not top 25 but they are respectable wins. Win both and we might slip into the top 25.
Absolutely.

We dog the Cats, and obviously some of that is deserved. We definitely stink on offense right now.

But sometimes I think we sort of see flaws in our own team and forgive those same flaws in other teams.

You're not going to find many teams in the top 25 who play the kind of defense we've been playing. You're not going to find many with a Randolph Morris-caliber player.

So things aren't all bad.

I've seen nearly everyone in the top 25 play with the exception of Wichita State. UK could beat every one of them on a given night except Ohio State and North Carolina, in my opinion.

Everybody has holes. Everybody plays cruddy at times. What you're looking for is improvement, and I think we're beginning to see it in our defense and toughness.

If the offense comes along, we'll be tough in March.



..

[Chunks06]

wildcat74 wrote: I don't see how beating two of the worse shooting teams we've played deserves a jump 10-15 places. Beat Memphis and UNC, sure, but IU and UL? Come on.

Regardless, what is the difference between 50 and 35? I would hope tubby and the players are't putting any value in the polls at this point.

I dont think IU is all that bad of a shooting team. Their two best guys are both over 40% from downtown on the year. They were 8-16 last night against a good opponent.

[golflender]

Scars wrote: I don't even care about the polls. I'm still stoked about the Louisville victory. Beating Indiana and Louisville is just what the doctor ordered to get our guys confident for the rest of the season.

I like your style!!!

[Will Lavender]

Chunks06 wrote: wildcat74 wrote: I don't see how beating two of the worse shooting teams we've played deserves a jump 10-15 places. Beat Memphis and UNC, sure, but IU and UL? Come on.

Regardless, what is the difference between 50 and 35? I would hope tubby and the players are't putting any value in the polls at this point.

I dont think IU is all that bad of a shooting team. Their two best guys are both over 40% from downtown on the year. They were 8-16 last night against a good opponent.
I saw a poster on another site say that UofL and IU were the "two worst shooting teams in D1 basketball." Simply not true, obviously; not even close to the truth.

IU is shooting 36% from three.

Louisville is shooting 35%. (Take off Williams' percentage and Louisville is well over 40%.)

Kentucky is shooting 35%.

All three teams are better than average from behind the arc.

[UKSam]

Scars wrote: I don't even care about the polls. I'm still stoked about the Louisville victory. Beating Indiana and Louisville is just what the doctor ordered to get our guys confident for the rest of the season.

I agree. I am glad we got both but I think that the IU game at home may have been one of the most important games we have played in early December in a long long time.

[BamaCat86]

Our only bad loss is against Memphis (a Top 20 team)and I think that we had tired legs in that game. Most any team in the Top 25 would have lost to#1 UCLA and #2 North Carolina as we did away from home.

With the number of new and unproven players who comprise our bench, it will take a little longer than we are accustomed to develop this year's team. I do believe that we will have a good rotation by the time the SEC schedule begins.

I look at teams like UofL and Duke who have played weak HOME schedules. Schedules like this seldom benefit your team. It has exposed glaring issues with UofL while Duke has taken the opportunity to pad its record and stats.

I'll take our traditionally tough schedule every year even if it hurts us in the polls early on.