Basketball

The Poll Attacks by Gary Parrish

Notre Dame unranked?

Xavier ahead of Arizona State?

This is the stuff that makes the Poll Attacks work.

AP poll: Miami got a lot of early hype by starting 12-0 after being picked last in the ACC, but the Hurricanes' loss to Winthrop seemed to suggest they were not worthy of a Top 25 ranking considering there were no marquee wins to offset that defeat. Then came Monday, and Miami appeared back in the AP poll, which isn't crazy, to be clear. But it's difficult not to look at unranked Notre Dame and wonder why anybody thinks Miami has better credentials.

Let's compare: Miami is 13-1 with wins over VCU, Providence and Mississippi State (on the road) while Notre Dame is 12-2 with wins over Kansas State, West Virginia and UConn. Both schools have one bad loss (Miami to Winthrop; Notre Dame to Georgia Tech). But because Notre Dame's three best wins are (in my opinion) all more impressive than any of Miami's best three wins, I find it baffling that the Irish are unranked while Miami moved back into the poll after an inconsequential victory over Penn, particularly when Notre Dame has won 10 consecutive games and is coming off wins over a West Virginia team that beat Marquette and a UConn team that played Memphis tight.

If you're wondering, I have Notre Dame 23rd in the Top 25 (and one).

I do not have Miami ranked.

Coaches poll: I like Xavier. And if you wanted to argue the Musketeers belong in the Top 25, you'd get no argument here, not with the way they've been dismantling folks. But it still seems odd that Sean Miller's team landed at 25th in the coaches poll while Herb Sendek's Arizona State Sun Devils only finished sixth in Others Receiving Votes considering what happened a few weeks ago.

In case you forgot ...

ASU 77, Xavier 55.

And though head-to-head matchups shouldn't normally determine rankings (I mean, nobody has Wright State over Butler, do they?), I do believe such a decisive victory can be used as a tiebreaker of sorts if the two schools being considered have similar resumes. Such is the case for Xavier and ASU, by the way. The Sun Devils are 12-2 with two good wins (over Xavier and Oregon) and one bad loss (to Illinois). The Musketeers are 12-3 with three good wins (over Indiana, Kansas State and Virginia) and one bad loss (to Miami-Ohio). So shouldn't ASU be ahead of Xavier given the similar bodies of work and the fact that ASU beat Xavier by 22 points?

I think so.

That's why I have the Sun Devils at No. 26.

And if I did a No. 27, yes, it would be Xavier.

Gary Parish Today

Notable game from Monday: There's no shame in losing to Kansas at home, even if the margin was 25 points. But Boston College isn't supposed to be dropping ACC tuneups to Robert Morris, though that's precisely what the Eagles did. The final score was 57-51. Tyrese Rice was held to just 10 points while missing 4-of-5 3-point attempts, and is the ACC down this season or what?

Notable performance from Monday: Michael Beasley scored 25 points in Kansas State's 85-25 victory against Savannah State, meaning the KSU freshman tied the Tigers' entire team in terms of offensive output. Beasley also got 10 rebounds and two blocks, and he did it all while the fans at Bramlage Coliseum ridiculed Savannah State for tallying just one field goal in the second half. "That was crazy," Beasley told reporters afterward. "That just was not good."

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Florida opens SEC play at Alabama, where the Gators will try to earn their first road victory. Billy Donovan's team is 13-2 overall yet 0-1 in true road games after losing at Ohio State. Meantime, Alabama is 11-4 with no great wins to go with losses to Belmont, Texas A&M, Georgetown and Clemson. Tipoff is at 9 p.m. ET.

DeCourcy Previews the Week

Game to watch this week: How long can Ole Miss keep alive its unbeaten record now that it's beginning SEC play? How long does it take to travel from Oxford to Knoxville? The undefeated Rebels get the honor of opening their conference schedule at Tennessee Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, which is undefeated outside of games played against the Texas Longhorns. That's a lot to ask, but the Rebels have confounded experts' predictions since the season began. They already have played a team that likes to pressure -- Clemson -- and survived a close one, though the atmosphere in the San Juan Shootout was nothing like what they will face here. The real shame of this matchup is that while ESPN is showing another game Duke ought to win (vs. Temple) and ESPN2 is burning off Big East contractual obligations (a South Florida home game against Pitt), UT-Ole Miss will be available nationally only on the FullCourt package.

Players to watch this week: When UCLA swept Washington State last season, the WSU backcourt of Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low did not reach the level of excellence they customarily deliver. Weaver averaged a solid 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4 assists in the two games, but committed four turnovers each time -- a ton given that the Cougars play such a low-possession style. Low scored 14 on the road at UCLA, but followed that by shooting 1-for-8 and scoring 2 points in WSU's loss at home. Washington State visits UCLA for a 2:30 p.m. game Saturday that will be available on FSN and will say much about the Cougars' quest for a Pac-10 championship.

DeCourcy's Top Ten

My top 10, based on achievement:

1. Memphis;

2. North Carolina;

3. Kansas;

4. Washington State;

5. Ole Miss;

6. Vanderbilt;

7. UCLA;

8. Dayton;

9. Michigan State;

10. Duke.

Gary Parrish Writes

Pitt, Marquette, and St Marys are discussed

DeCourcy Writes

Info on Oregon, Providence, Arizona St, Penn St, and Illinois.

Ken Pomeroy on Impact of Height

There are several physical traits valued in basketball, but none is more unique to the sport than height. You can’t get through a televised game these days without hearing how “long” a particular player is. Indeed, a basketball floor containing 10 Division I players is quite unlike the general population. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the average height of an adult male in America is 5’9”. Only two percent of college basketball players seeing minutes this season are 5’9” or less. Clearly height is a valuable trait in this game, and it’s valued highly by college coaches. There’s plenty of evidence for that, and none better than the fact that coaches will take a chance on a seven-footer with limited skills while never doing the same for a six-footer.

Prospectus on SEC

Tennessee's offense is better than its defense, but their most distinctive characteristic is that they're better than any team in the nation at making you turn the ball over. If you saw the game the Volunteers played in Seattle against Gonzaga you had to come away impressed. Bruce Pearl's team gets you to end your possession without a shot. They do it with steals and they do it by drawing charges, anything to

Gary Parrish Today

      Notable game from Sunday: The top game scheduled for the weekend lived up to its billing as North Carolina and Clemson went back and forth before the Tar Heels won in overtime. The 90-88 victory pushed UNC to 15-0 and Clemson fans to tears once Wayne Ellington sank a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining. It was a clutch shot in a hostile environment, the kind that makes it reasonable for Ellington to be featured in two categories here. So keep reading ...

   

      Notable performance from Sunday: Ellington's buzzer-beater was the biggest shot of the night, yet hardly unique. The sophomore guard was firing jumpers from the opening tip, finishing 11-of-19 from the field (including 5-of-8 from the 3-point line) en route to a 36-point effort that easily eclipsed his previous career high of 23 points. Ellington has reached double-figures in 14 of 15 games this season. He is the Tar Heels' second leading scorer behind Tyler Hansbrough.

   

      Notable game scheduled for Monday: There really isn't a single interesting basketball game on tap. Consequently, my advice is to just watch football. LSU is playing Ohio State for the national title, case you hadn't heard. It's a big game -- one that will either make LSU fans wish Les Miles had left for Michigan or solidify Ohio State as the fraud so many believe it to be. So have fun with that and then we'll get back to hoops on Tuesday.

These Teams are Hurtin According to ESPN

• South Carolina: The Gamecocks lost to UNC-Asheville to drop to 8-6.
• Illinois: The Illini lost at home to Ohio State and Penn State to open the Big Ten 0-2 and are now 8-7 overall. The two home losses in the Big Ten actually make it three in row after losing to Tennessee State the previous Sunday.
• USC: Do you think the Pac-10 is brutal? The Trojans got swept in the Bay Area to start the conference season and come home to play undefeated Washington State with the possibility of starting 0-3 in the league.
• Southern Illinois: The Salukis lost both road games at Drake and Illinois State to drop to 1-2 in the league, 6-8 overall.