1 Duke 27-1 1791 1 2 Connecticut 25-2 1725 3 3 Memphis 26-2 1628 4 4 Villanova 22-3 1605 2 5 Gonzaga 24-3 1508 5 6 Texas 24-4 1399 7 7 George Washington 24-1 1378 6 8 Pittsburgh 21-4 1236 9 9 Ohio State 21-4 1209 13 10 Illinois 23-5 1116 8 11 Tennessee 20-5 976 10 12 Boston College 22-6 971 11 13 North Carolina 19-6 814 21 14 Washington 22-5 804 17 15 UCLA 22-6 717 19 16 West Virginia 19-8 661 14 17 Florida 22-6 628 12 18 Kansas 20-7 514 16 19 Oklahoma 19-6 502 22 20 Georgetown 19-7 480 23 21 LSU 20-7 425 24 22 North Carolina State 21-7 385 15 23 Iowa 20-8 234 20 24 Nevada 22-5 193 25 25 Michigan State 19-9 178 18
100% Agreed. It's us against the world baby!!!!!!!! #1 in the SEC, #21 in the USA... SO FREAKIN' WHAT! We're goin' to th' DANCE!!!!!!!!:thumb: :geauxtige
Absolutely. In a sport where 64 teams make the championship tournament, whether you're ranked 21st or top 15 doesn't matter one bit.
While I agree rankings mean less in basketball, are you really seriously saying that they mean nothing? I'd argue that the difference between being ranked 21 or 15 may make the difference of one or two seeding spots. That means something in the all important tourney. AND, rankings in basketball operate much in the same way as it does for football, in the subjective minds of both players, recruits and writers the ranking denotes a good program. Remember how Louisville started off the season in the top 5 or 10, and stayed there despite playing crappy basketball? If we want to build LSU back to a respectable basketball program, bring in recruits (outside of a 50 mile radius of Baton Rouge), get recognition next year in the preseason mags, AP poll, amongst the SEC coaches, and get the "talking heads" following us nationwide, I'd argue that rankings do matter. The first thing Brady bashers will say after we get this ranking is Brady "can't wait to lose" this ranking, or they'll just bash the team for not being ranked! So I'd say, yes, I don't care a whole hell of a lot about rankings going into the tournament, because then seedings, matchups and march madness will rule, but when it's all said and done, there is a positive influence to the program to be ranked... :geauxtige :bball: :champs:
Given only one 8 seed has ever won the tourney... and no 5 or 7 seed has ever won it... and only one 4 seed has won it... it's relatively important to be a three seed or better. Farthest Seeds Have Advanced in the Tournament Seed Round Teams (Year) No. 1 Champion Arkansas (1994), Connecticut (1999), Duke (1992, 2001), Georgetown (1984), Indiana (1987), Kentucky (1996), Maryland (2002), Michigan St. (2000), UNLV (1990), North Carolina (1982, 1993, 2005), UCLA (1995) No. 2 Champion Connecticut (2004), Duke (1991), Kentucky (1998), Louisville (1980), Louisville (1986), Michigan St. (1979) No. 3 Champion Indiana (1981), Michigan (1989), Syracuse (2003) No. 4 Champion Arizona (1997) No. 5 Title Game Florida (2000), Indiana (2002) No. 6 Champion Kansas (1988), No Carolina St (1983) No. 7 Final Four Virginia (1984) No. 8 Champion Villanova (1985) No. 9 Final Four Pennsylvania (1979) No. 10 Regional Finals Dayton (1984), Gonzaga (1999), LSU (1987), Providence (1997), St. John's (1979), Texas (1990), Temple (1991) No. 11 Final Four LSU (1986) No. 12 Regional Semifinals Arkansas (1996), Ball St (1990), DePaul (1986), Eastern Michigan (1991), George Washington (1993), Kentucky (1985), Missouri (2002), New Mexico St (1992), SW Missouri St (1999), Tulsa (1994), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2005), Wyoming (1987) No. 13 Regional Semifinals Oklahoma (1999), Richmond (1988), Valparaiso (1998) No. 14 Regional Semifinals Cleveland St (1986), Chattanooga (1997) No. 15 Second Round Coppin St (1997), Hampton (2001), Richmond (1991), Santa Clara (1993) No. 16 First Round A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed.
Right...because trends definately can't be broken... I'm sure they were saying the same thing about an 8 seed before the 8 seed won the whole damn thing....
