Illinois unranked in AP Poll

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#1      

Dan

Dan
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Dan
Welcome to the 12/9 Polls thread.
 
#2      
phats22
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#4      
Vinegarben
Forget about the polls. That is just some writers opinions. The poll that really matters is the final game of the NCAA tourney! If you are not in the championship game does it really matter?
 
#7      
IMPE Legend
Looking at the teams below us in the rankings I would say we would be lucky to stay in as #25. Not that they beat hardly anyone of note, but they all won and voters have shown they aren't deep thinkers.
 
#10      
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiTown said:
We probably on the outside looking in.
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This is what I am bracing myself for ... kind of hoping we cling on to a late 20s spot so that our two marquee matchups this week can be among two top 25 opponents, though. :( While losing in OT on the road might not be enough to drop us 7+ spots on most voters' ballots, I think our bigger issue is that multiple teams just outside of the top 25 did more than enough work to take our spot.
 
#14      
NarrowJ
BackThatPassUp said:
:oops:I mean that was like a 17 position drop for an in-conference road loss? UConn had to drop 3 at a neutral to go down 23. I hope we beat the daylights out of Wisconsin because they've been over-inflated by that Arizona win when at the time everyone thought Arizona was a top 10 team.
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Wisconsin is better than NW. League is deep this season, everybody is good, nobody is great (yet). Penn State just creamed Purdue last week, its a standalone example, but an example nonetheless, I suppose.

One particular scary/notable thing about Wisconsin is they shoot 86% from the FT line as a team. And, they get there often (23 att/game).
 
#15      
Battle89
:oops:I mean that was like a 17 position drop for an in-conference road loss? UConn had to drop 3 at a neutral to go down 23. I hope we beat the daylights out of Wisconsin because they've been over-inflated by that Arizona win when at the time everyone thought Arizona was a top 10 team.

Arkansas victory goodwill remaining to voters

Flying Episode 1 GIF by The Simpsons
 
#17      
Illini2010-11
No big deal at all to me, and honestly, this was expected. Where the AP ranks Illinois does not bother me much at all. Everything balances out come March. Great home opportunities this week to improve the resume.

Let's pick up two high-quality ranked victories (albeit unlikely) this week and continue the early season ranking volatility.
 
#18      
EyeoftheIllini
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Not even close to ranked. But man, Memphis being #28 with 123 votes... I just don't get it.
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Memphis is 4-1 against P4 teams and the Illini are 1-2. Yes, Memphis lost to Ark St at home, but Ark St is 7-3 and played Alabama closer than Illini did and its game was at AL while Illini game was on a neutral court. Seems about right to me. If you want Memphis lower than I would argue Illini should be lower too.
 
#19      
TheodoreRex
We have to walk out of this week with at least 1 win out of the 2 games. If we walk away 0-2, we lose a chance at some fantastic Quad 1 wins, protect home court, and gain back some momentum. Losing out this week crushes our team's momentum.
 
#20      
the national
i dunno, Some of these rankings by the voters are guesses and not about the body of work. They really, really want to rank UCONN higher, lol.
 
#21      
Fighter of the Nightman
BackThatPassUp said:
:oops:I mean that was like a 17 position drop for an in-conference road loss? UConn had to drop 3 at a neutral to go down 23. I hope we beat the daylights out of Wisconsin because they've been over-inflated by that Arizona win when at the time everyone thought Arizona was a top 10 team.
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This is nothing but my crackpot, untested theory at this point ... but I feel like the voters almost react like they've been "betrayed" by a team full of unknowns this early in the season, haha. If we were ranked #19 and dropped a road game in OT in mid-February, I think we would only drop a couple of spots. However, I bet some voters feel like they took some sort of chance on us after beating Arkansas, and then they have a knee-jerk "Fool me once!!" reaction to us losing and shift their support to some other unknown team instead (e.g., Michigan).

Either way, if we want a shiny ranking ... the opportunities are right there in front of us. I think if we simply win one this week, we will be ranked again, depending on what other ranked teams lose this week. If we win two, though ... we will skyrocket up the polls. LET'S GO DO IT!

EDIT: I will say this, though ... even understanding how the AP Poll works, it is still pretty wild to have Arkansas that far ahead us at this point, haha. Like, we had an OT road loss. Arkansas has done nothing in that timeframe to counteract us manhandling them on a neutral floor.
 
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#22      
FloridaMan
This is why every game matters. I get the thinking that "we are a team of new players, young, etc." And I agree, it was one game on the road in conference. But voters are looking for any excuse to drop us like a rock while artificially inflating others. If we truly have 2-3 first rounders, we have to find a way to win games like the one we just lost. The more weeks ranked in the top 25 translates to higher perception, which means higher tournament seeds, which translates into increased odds to win a championship. Thus, every game matters, whether it is December or March. I don't buy the argument that rankings don't matter.
 
#24      
Fighter of the Nightman
Obviously the polls change a lot, but using current rankings ... look at this stretch we have later this year, lol:

AFTER a 2-game roadtrip to Rutgers and Minnesota, we have...

2/11 vs. #24 UCLA
2/15 vs. #21 Michigan State
2/18 at #20 Wisconsin
2/22 vs. #4 Duke (New York, NY)
2/25 vs. Iowa
3/2 at #14 Michigan
3/7 vs. #11 Purdue
3/13 - Begin BTT (Indianapolis, IN)

Hopefully we have done our growing up by then!! That is almost SEVEN STRAIGHT games vs. currently-ranked teams, with the only break being a rivalry game vs. an Iowa team that almost just knocked off Michigan in Ann Arbor. As another poster said earlier, this is why it is essential to stack every win possible right now. Early road tests vs. struggling teams like Washington (1/5 in Seattle), Indiana (1/14 in Bloomington) and Nebraska (1/30 in Lincoln) before we start that stretch might be essential opportunities to stack road wins.
 
#25      
BretMyBeachHouse
Well I'm sure they aren't watching 50 games a week.

Let's not sound like Alabama football fans. Take care of business. Stop with excuses.
 
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