1/10 Polls - Illinois #25 in AP Poll

#78      
The nice thing about polls in that the Illini are in total and complete control of the only poll that matters... the one at the end of the season.

No politics, no favoritism, no outside factors influencing this poll. All stays within the Illini family and they will set the number themselves.

I mean, who won't vote for them being Number One once youā€™ve knocked off Baylor to win the National Championship?
 
#79      
What are SOR and WAB?
SOR = Strength of Record, posted alongside BPI on ESPN's site here: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/dir/asc/view/overview/sort/sorrank
It's effectively a measure of how impressive your resume is compared to the rest of college basketball.

WAB = Wins above bubble, posted within Torvik's rankings here: https://barttorvik.com/trank.php?so...limit=All&year=2022&top=0&hteam=&quad=5&rpi=#
Each game is assigned a value "above bubble" so that each win counts positive, but lesser wins count for less and wins against better teams or in tougher environments count for more (and vice versa for losses). The bubble line is effectively "zero", so anyone with a positive WAB is above the bubble line and anyone with a negative WAB is below the bubble line.
 
#80      
Polling is meaningless in terms of the teams' relative ability (in fact it's governed mostly be inertia, which is how USC keeps rising despite having played almost nobody good and not having played at all in 3 weeks).

The significance of polling is huge though in terms of national exposure and media coverage. If you're in the top 25, all your game scores and box scores end up on every sports site across the country, and you get stories about everything that goes on in your program. Outside the top 25, you get an occasional mention when something huge happens, or when you're playing a top 25 team. The difference in exposure between #25 and #26 is stark, which is why rising that one spot is a huge deal this week.
 
#82      

sacraig

The desert
The nice thing about polls in that the Illini are in total and complete control of the only poll that matters... the one at the end of the season.

No politics, no favoritism, no outside factors influencing this poll. All stays within the Illini family and they will set the number themselves.

I mean, who won't vote for them being Number One once youā€™ve knocked off Baylor to win the National Championship?
If we simply win out the rest of the way, it doesn't matter what the voters think, am I right!?
 
#85      

madillini4

Ozamataz Buckshank
Millywaukee
Ballots

So Richey has us up to 18. Klee to 16. 20 voters don't have us ranked.

Some genius has Alabama as the 9th best team in his poll.

Other fun nuggets. Rabjohns the only guy to not put OSU on his ballot. Some guy named Newell has us at 10 and also has IU and Iowa on his ballot.
Some beat writer for Kansas has Iowa and Indiana ranked, but not Illinois or Wisconsin. Should legitimately have his credentials taken away.
 
#86      
Some beat writer for Kansas has Iowa and Indiana ranked, but not Illinois or Wisconsin. Should legitimately have his credentials taken away.
I never have the patience to wade through the votersā€™ individual polls, but I love when people share hilarious nuggets like this. Lol, there are truly some AWFUL voters.
 
#88      

sacraig

The desert
 
#90      
I'm just amazed at how Alabama is still ranked. Even though they made the game closer than expected, Mizzou controlled that game from start to finish. Wins against Gonzaga and Houston don't overshadow losses to Iona, Memphis, Davidson, and Mizzou at this point in the season.
Stunned is my word. Do some of these voters even watch games
 
#93      
This week there are a lot of ranked teams playing against one another. Writers like creating the narrative for upcoming games. Rankings will sort themselves out
 
#94      

sacraig

The desert
This week there are a lot of ranked teams playing against one another. Writers like creating the narrative for upcoming games. Rankings will sort themselves out
There are lots of ranked teams that play each other every week every season. That doesn't change with a team being 3 or 4 spots higher or lower. I'd be willing to bet that writers voting based on narrative like that is exceedingly rare.
 
#95      

purcy51

Nappanee, IN
The years have been unkind to me. Complete damp squib. I had it all wrong. You've got it right. It's:

"Looking good, Billy Ray"

"Feeling good, Lewis."

Props to skyldub for invoking the GIF. Evergreen and multipurpose. It's goin' in the ol' library.

What's sad is....I JUST watched it last week! Lol
 
#96      

JSpence

Evansville, IN
Even Providence at #23 is wild. Theyā€™re #50 in KenPom and just lost to unranked #51 in KenPom, Marquette, by 30.
After Colorado State, placement of Providence should be a good barometer for who is paying attention.
 
#97      
There are lots of ranked teams that play each other every week every season. That doesn't change with a team being 3 or 4 spots higher or lower. I'd be willing to bet that writers voting based on narrative like that is exceedingly rare.
1 vs 19
9 vs 15
14 vs 17
13 vs 16
18 vs 22
15 vs 21

Thatā€™s about half of the top 25 playing each other. Last week only 4 games had ranked teams playing against each other. The ranking will be shaken up after this week
 
#100      

JSpence

Evansville, IN
Where is the right side of that expression coming from? What IS that ā€œ1ā€ business?
The Sylvester Criterion

Letā€™s see: UI +25> Missouri +6> Alabama +9> Gonzaga

So +40 better than Gonzaga should be better than #25!
That's... three degrees? In four degrees, Gonzaga +14 > TTech +5 > Tennessee +4 > Arizona +4 > Illinois :unsure:
 
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