CollegeHoops.net Top 50: Kansas Still #1 Despite Loss

-- As you can tell from the lack of teams moving in and out of the Top 50 in recent weeks, we've finally found some consistency on who the top teams are.. took awhile this year to really shake things out. Illinois is the lone team to drop out, replaced by Marquette, who is now tied for 5th in the Big East.

-- UCONN really blew a chance to move up in the rankings & the NCAA tournament picture, losing to Louisville. This allows the Cardinals to remain in the ranking. Notre Dame, who won twice, is back from the abyss and onto the Next in Line list for the first time in weeks.

-- Maryland moves up the most this week. I've been slow to give the Terps much respect, but having won 5 in a row and 11 of 13, I finally had to give them their due.

-- Virginia Tech, losers of 3 in a row, took the biggest tumble, down to 37th. The Hokies are only 52nd in the RPI, and have only 2 Top 50 wins all season (both were at home against non-Top 25 as well.)

-- Georgetown also falls substantially from 11th to 19th. The AP agreed with me on the Hoyas last week, placing them 11th, and it will be interesting to see how they fare in tomorrow's poll.

-- Kansas still remains #1 here despite the loss. Kansas edges out Syracuse because their 2 losses (at two Top 25 RPI teams in Tennessee & OSU) are more impressive then 2 home losses by Syracuse.

-- In my top 25, Maryland is the only new team, replacing Northern Iowa who lost to lowly Evansville.

What do you think about this week's ranking?

I really don't understand the argument for Kansas #1 because their loses on the road are better than losing at home.. Doesn't being undefeated on the road outweigh loses at home?? I mean, in the tournament, you don't play at home.

Also, Syracuse has more wins over tournament teams than Kansas. I also don't think anything shows Kansas to be so superior that they don't deserve to be treated any different than any other team that loses (and actually move down in the rankings).

What exactly does Syracuse have to do to earn some respect and get the #1 ranking?? They just completely dominated Villanova and Kansas lost while looking like they had no heart whatsoever.

I am getting very tired of these so called college experts not repecting the Syracuse Orange... What other team in the NCAA has a more balanced starting five, followed with a solid 6th,7th and I'll even say 8th man. Thats right i said 8TH man coming off the bench!!! The Big East conference is the best conference in the NCAA. The Orange deserve a number one ranking. The team of 09-10 will go down as one of Jimmy's best. Kansas's lost to Oklahoma State was pathetic, Louisville along with Pitt, who Cuse lost to would kill Oklahoma any day of the week. I respect you journalists, making money doing your passion... But don't hate on the Cuse, show a little love and respect the class Jimmy brings to these young men.

-- It's certainly extremely close. Extremely. Here are their 2 resumes:

Syracuse resume: 27-2, 5-1 vs top 25, 3-1 vs top 50, #1 RPI, #12 SOS, 11-1 in last 12

Kansas resume: 27-2, 6-2 vs top 25, 2-0 vs top 50, #3 RPI, #20 SOS, 11-1 in last 12

We're talking about a virtual dead heat here. Out of the 4
combined losses, a home loss to Louisville (41st in RPI and at home)
stands out as certainly the worst loss of the bunch. 

The argument for Syracuse is perhaps that their best wins are
better then Kansas, but Syracuse has 2 top 10 wins, while Kansas has 1,
so that's not a huge edge (and Kansas will probably make that 2 to 2
when they play K-State next). I think the public is overrating how bad
it is to lose at OK St. The Cowboys knocked off Baylor,
K-State, and Texas A&M (3 Top 20 teams).

Again, these 2 are virtually a dead lock.

Re: Butler and MSU over Temple, but I can't complain about 13th.

I'm sorry but there is no way you can put Kansas over SU at this point. First off, Syracuse is undefeated on the road, and the only team in the country that can say that. Secondly, look at the comparison you put up. Syracuse has a better record against the top 25, better SOS, better RPI. They both have the same overall record and same in last 12. The only thing Kansas is better at is vs top 50, and that's not a blowout. Sorry, but if you're comparing 6 criteria, team A is better in 3, team B is only better in 1, and the other 2 are tied, team A clearly should be ranked ahead of them.

If as you say it's a virtual dead heat by the analysis you did then why wouldn't you look at common opponents as a tie breaker?

SU and Kansas have had four common opponents, Cal, Memphis, Cornell and Oakland. How did they do? Both teams clobbered Oakland Kansas by 30, SU by 32. Kansas beat Memphis by 2, SU beat Memphis by 17. Kansas beat Cal by 15, SU beat Cal by 22. Kansas beat Cornell by 5 (and Kansas was losing with under a minute to go) and SU beat Cornell by 15. So the three "better" common opponents they had (Cal, Memphis, Cornell) Kansas beat by a total of 22 and SU beat those same teams by a total of 54 that's a pretty big difference so if your analysis leaves the team as a virtual tie then it makes sense to use common opponents as a tie breaker as long as the home/road/neutral issue is the same which it was in this case.

What do you have to say about that?

Quoting Sean Keeley...

Before you see the new rankings tomorrow, I wanted to make a few bold predictions for you, including:

1. Syracuse will be the new AP and Coaches No. 1, but not by as much as you expected them to be.
2. You will read the phrase, "I have Syracuse No. 1, but I still think Kansas has a better resume" at least fourteen times.
3. You will read articles by learned people rationalizing why Kansas being undefeated at home is better than Syracuse being undefeated on the road. (Which of those two things is more important once the tournament starts, by the way?)
4. You will NOT hear any of the people who vote for Kansas No. 1 over Syracuse mention that the Big East is twice as tough of a conference than the Big 12. Which it is. Undeniably.
5. You will still read about Syracuse and their lack of "true road games." In March. Seriously. I know, I know...

Before tonight, if you had asked me "Which two voters are most likely to not put Syracuse atop their Top 25 this week despite everything that's happened?" Jeff Goodman would have been a no-brainer. He hasn't liked SU all season. Not in a mean way. He just doesn't respect them. Perhaps its even a subconscious thing but he's always had them lower than most. As for the 2nd one, I think Gary Parrish might have been my next choice. I always feel like Gary and his Fauxhawk are picking against SU in every game preview they do, so I think he/they would have made a good pick.

And look what I found...Goodman has Kansas No. 1 and so does Parrish.

I personally enjoy both rationales. They both decided BEFORE SYRACUSE EVEN PLAYED that Kansas would retain their No. 1 ranking. Regardless of the fact that Syracuse demolished a team that has spend most of the season in the top five the same weekend Kansas lost to an unranked team, the No. 4 Orange had no chance of consideration. Syracuse could have won by fifty and eaten Villanova's starting five with knives and forks and they still would have been so unimpressive as to not garner No. 1 status. That seems...fair?

I wouldn't want to rank Syracuse as #1 either if I had that big, glaring #67 looming over there in the preseason column. Embarrassing.

pardon my alliteration, however, the loss to Le Moyne is really going to hold back Cuse when the seeding comes out. The difference between St. Louis regional and one of the ones farther west will be huge for Cuse supporters and could possibly be the difference between our usual tourney disappointments and a potential magical run to the Final Four.

Lemoyne was preseason.