USA TODAY/ESPN men's basketball coaches' poll

[Saluki762]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/usatpoll.htm

SIU in at #20.

[DawgieStyle]

i still say screw the polls whether SIU is in or not.

Its a nice media and publicity thing, but the polls are still a pile of crap.

But good pub for the dawgs I guess.

Best thing SIU can do, keep winning and screw the polls.

[siudog]

That big bullseye is on our back now... :fear: So the teams are going to come out and be going after us.....:doh:


How do we handle this ...:Jumpy:


so what are we going to do:helpsmilie:


:salukis:

[Maggie]

Good. Your team earned it. Well done.

[BMull10]

i still say screw the polls whether SIU is in or not.

Its a nice media and publicity thing, but the polls are still a pile of crap.

But good pub for the dawgs I guess.

Best thing SIU can do, keep winning and screw the polls.
They are crap as far as actual results but it is good free pr so that can never hurt.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Creighton's not getting any love :no:

Even Dana isn't voting for us...:doh:

Congrats to SIU though - you deserve it.

[iSASO]

It's about stinkin' time. Whether you pay attention or not is up to you. A lot of people do. A lot of people judge your entire worth on your presence in these polls. Unfortunately, some people need a crutch like the polls to help them figure out who is good.

If you're not there, to some, you do not exist.

Congrats!! The conference needs someone there from here on out.

[Majik45]

That big bullseye is on our back now... :fear: So the teams are going to come out and be going after us.....:doh:
How do we handle this ...:Jumpy:
so what are we going to do:helpsmilie:
:salukis:

As far as the Valley goes, you've had the target on your back now a couple of weeks because you're sitting on top of the conference standings.

Congrats to SIU, it is well deserved. Hopefully Bradley can knock you right back out of the polls on Wednesday. :naughty:

[Bradleyfan]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/usatpoll.htm

SIU in at #20.

Good for SIU! But curiously, not one vote for Creighton! What's up with that? Not enough votes to spare for other Valley teams? Puhleeze! :no:

[Aceman96]

Who thinks there is a possibility that these coaches and media members are anticipating the SIU/Butler game, and that is a factor in SIU jumping to #20. Even with the losses by UNLV, and Indiana, I figured SIU would be 24 or 25... but #20?? Interesting... that's all.

[DawgieStyle]

Who thinks there is a possibility that these coaches and media members are anticipating the SIU/Butler game, and that is a factor in SIU jumping to #20. Even with the losses by UNLV, and Indiana, I figured SIU would be 24 or 25... but #20?? Interesting... that's all.

if SIU beats both bradley and CU this week, and that's a HUGE IF and Butler continues to win, It will not surprise me that the pollsters make that a match up of 2 top 15 teams, maybe even 2 top 12 teams.

[Aceman96]

if SIU beats both bradley and CU this week, and that's a HUGE IF and Butler continues to win, It will not surprise me that the pollsters make that a match up of 2 top 15 teams, maybe even 2 top 12 teams.

My point exactly... but, huge if... correct. Bradley scares me more than CU right now...cuz, I hope they don't get hot.

[blueness]

SIU at #21 in the AP.

Creighton is around #40

[DawgieStyle]

SIU at #21 in the AP.

Creighton is around #40

CU is obviously still paying for their OOC performance. I know they are playing good right now, but its my opinion the pollsters aren't as forgetful about the OOC as the fans are.

[Bradleyfan]

CU is obviously still paying for their OOC performance. I know they are playing good right now, but its my opinion the pollsters aren't as forgetful about the OOC as the fans are.

At least they got some votes on the AP poll. But you're probably right. A weak OOC schedule combined with a decent but certainly not great 6-4 OOC record will do that to you.

:braves: :valley:

[bcrawf]

I would much rather have two or three Valley teams make the sweet sixteen then have two ranked anyday...

[underdawg2]

This may be crazy but the ESPN2 announcers really gave SIU (and the Valley) a lot of love during the WSUvs SIU contest, saying that it was insane that a conference that had such a high rpi had no one in the top 25--they keeped repeating that theme throughout the broadcast--I just wonder if that any affect on voters?:valley:

[Cr8nGrad]

At least they got some votes on the AP poll. But you're probably right. A weak OOC schedule combined with a decent but certainly not great 6-4 OOC record will do that to you.

:braves: :valley:

Not exactly sure I'd call a nonconference SOS that is 87th out of 336 "weak"...it's better than 3/4 of the other D-I teams out there...however perception and reality are not always the same thing...

[bcrawf]

I thought that Wischusen (sp?) and McCormick were a million times better than Revsine and Gottlieb in terms of both calling the game and giving the Valley credit.

They did a great job with the UNI/WSU game on Tuesday night as well...

[salukibob]

This may be crazy but the ESPN2 announcers really gave SIU (and the Valley) a lot of love during the WSUvs SIU contest, saying that it was insane that a conference that had such a high rpi had no one in the top 25--they keeped repeating that theme throughout the broadcast--I just wonder if that any affect on voters?:valley:

Everyone knows we already have the MVC officials in our back pockets; is it possible that those two announcers are graduates of our School of Communications???!!! :innocent: :grin:

[DawgieStyle]

Everyone knows we already have the MVC officials in our back pockets; is it possible that those two announcers are graduates of our School of Communications???!!! :innocent: :grin:

its a widely covered up secret, but it is known in certain circles that Commisioner Doug Elgin is actually an alumni of SIU .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ............................





:lol:

[shockball]

Glad to see this. With so many teams losing last week SIU is pretty well entrenched. You should be able to stay in the rest of the year.

[saluki42]

one loss this week and we are out though.

[MissouriState]

Congrats Dawgs. Keep that ranking high coming into Hammons.:bears:

[WSUbballer]

if SIU beats both bradley and CU this week, and that's a HUGE IF and Butler continues to win, It will not surprise me that the pollsters make that a match up of 2 top 15 teams, maybe even 2 top 12 teams.

Weren't you the one complaining about WSU's Top 10 rankings? And now you automatically think SIU deserves to be Top 12? I'm glad to see SIU enter the poll. It's long overdue. But as you said when WSU was Top 10, let's not get carried away..

Geez, Dawgie. It's amazing how differently you see things when your team enters the picture. Now, you know how WSU fans felt..

[DawgieStyle]

Weren't you the one complaining about WSU's Top 10 rankings? And now you automatically think SIU deserves to be Top 12? I'm glad to see SIU enter the poll. It's long overdue. But as you said when WSU was Top 10, let's not get carried away..

Geez, Dawgie. It's amazing how differently you see things when your team enters the picture. Now, you know how WSU fans felt..

whoa whoa whoa.....I don't think SIU deserves a top 12 ranking, not even close. My point was that the media and the pollsters will put them that high in order to inflate hype and buzz about the game between Butler. They do it all the time.

I think its great pub and media attention for SIU, but I still think the polls are a bag of crap, and they don't mean a dang thing. The only seed that matters to me is the one for NCAA tourney. That's the only ranking that truly matters.

[WSUbballer]

whoa whoa whoa.....I don't think SIU deserves a top 12 ranking, not even close. My point was that the media and the pollsters will put them that high in order to inflate hype and buzz about the game between Butler. They do it all the time.

I think its great pub and media attention for SIU, but I still think the polls are a bag of crap, and they don't mean a dang thing. The only seed that matters to me is the one for NCAA tourney. That's the only ranking that truly matters.

Ok, I see your point. :clap:

[E-Ville]

Finally! SIU deserved this ranking. Way to go Salukis! Keep it up! If SIU and Butler continue to win that should be a huge game on national TV. Should get high ratings.

:salukis:

[shocker3]

Congrats to the Dogs!

It is about time! I also find it very surprising that no other Valley teams are even getting votes in the AP poll.

Both CU and the Bears ought to be getting votes.

Being 2nd and 3rd in a top 5 conference will usually get you in the top 25, we can't even get votes for our teams.

At least, they finally ranked SIU!:valley:

[RoyalShock]

Congrats, Salukis! Enjoy it!

[dean_siu]

I can't believe they are leaving us out of the top ten! Damn pollsters!

:grin: :salukis: :grin: :salukis: :grin: :salukis: