USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25

[SFP]

I'm still a skeptic on MSU...sorry


To be honest I'm still a skeptic on BU. RIGHT NOW yes I think we are a top 2 team in the valley but I don't think it'll play out that way.

I still think CU rights the ship, I think UNI won't be in the top 2 but definitely in the top 4.

I think WSU is playing pretty well also.

CU will be playing the 4-5 game this year. They are way to small and I do not see them righting that ship of theirs. UNI on the other hand started off slow last year and look what they did with the same team.

[cpacmel]

1. BU
2. MSU


3. ISU

Illinoy getting votes is just some sympathy big 11 votes and ISU getting votes is from a few guys not paying attention.

Looks like a couple more guys aren't paying attention. AP POLL from today:

Rank TeamRecordVotesPrevious
1 Kansas (63)5-016231
2 Texas (1)5-015083
3 Villanova6-014424
4 Purdue5-013896
5 Kentucky6-013335
6 Duke6-013167
7 West Virginia5-012388
8 Syracuse (1)6-0118310
9 Michigan State5-111092
10 North Carolina6-196111
11 Tennessee5-19369
12 Washington5-089314
13 Florida6-077734
14 Connecticut4-174213
15 Ohio State5-170217
16 Georgetown4-058818
17 Gonzaga5-149126
18 Clemson6-142619
19 Texas A&M5-128441
20 Louisville4-125216
21 Florida State6-121927
22 Cincinnati4-1205
23 Butler4-220012
24 UNLV5-019146
25 Portland5-1120

Others Receiving Votes: Oklahoma State 112, Georgia Tech 97, Marquette 82, Mississippi 79, Miami (FL) 77, Brigham Young 76, Memphis 66, Vanderbilt 64, Notre Dame 52, Kansas State 41, Michigan 40, California 39, Minnesota 35, Wisconsin 28, St. John's 26, Northwestern 15, Dayton 8, Missouri State 7, New Mexico 6, Pittsburgh 6, Richmond 6, North Carolina State 5, Arizona State 5, Illinois 5, Illinois State 4, Washington State 4, South Carolina 3, Maryland 3, Missouri 2, Texas Tech 2, Virginia Commonwealth 1, Cal State Fullerton

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/bas...#ixzz0YNTbj1pe

[Bradleyguy10]

CU WILL right the ship. They'll be top 3 in our conference, book it. UNI I agree could easily still win the entire valley if they get hot again like last season. MSU I already stated.

I don't think NIU is a trap game. We need to win because we are better. If we lose to them we are no where near where we should be....ESPECIALLY after beating the Illini. They should not compete with us.

Intensity will bring the W.

[SFP]

CU WILL right the ship. They'll be top 3 in our conference, book it. UNI I agree could easily still win the entire valley if they get hot again like last season. MSU I already stated.

I don't think NIU is a trap game. We need to win because we are better. If we lose to them we are no where near where we should be....ESPECIALLY after beating the Illini. They should not compete with us.

Intensity will bring the W.

CU does not have the horses this year to contend night in and night out IMHO. With 2 games a week you need a bit of depth in this league and CU is already hurting. MSU could be the surprise team and JL said as much during one of his pre-season interviews. UNI will be a force come conference time. I do believe we have a chance to win if we play with the intensity we showed on Saturday, throughout the rest of the season. WSU to me is still questionable. I do not think they have the offensive fire power to finish top 2.

[TheAsianSensation]

This brings up a good question: Who exactly IS the Valley favorite right now? Is there one?

[bugregshu]

This brings up a good question: Who exactly IS the Valley favorite right now? Is there one?

I was thinking about this earlier today in class. I had Drake and Evansville in the bottom 2 spots, but other than that, I could see any of the remaining 8 teams finish anywhere in the valley.

[SFP]

This brings up a good question: Who exactly IS the Valley favorite right now? Is there one?

Not right now IMHO! We'll know right around the end of January who the top 4-5 teams will be. This could come down to the last week.

1. UNI is UNI and until proven otherwise they will contend
2. BU is played well on Saturday but still need to play consistently
3. MSU is starting off hot but so did ISU(trees) last year
4. CU is starting off horrendously but they have a great coach
5. WSU seems to be playing well but we'll see
6. ISU (red) has not played anyone to really gage where they are at but they do have some players
7. ISU(trees) have had some nice games this year so far but I need to see more
8. SIU seems to be ready to play during the conference but they might have a bit of too much conflict this year
9. Evansville and Drake will fight it out at the bottom.

This is not how I will vote for the power teams this wee or how I see it ending. I'll probably vote 1st place to the Bears this week. We still have not shown the ability to put a few game together to show that we have the capability of being number 1.

[BU_EMT128]

Looks like a couple more guys aren't paying attention. AP POLL from today:

I am ok with ISU being ranked when we go to Bloomington. And lord knows we need SOMEONE in the valley to get some national attention...

[cpacmel]

I am ok with ISU being ranked when we go to Bloomington.

You guys play at Illinois Wesleyan this year?

[BU_EMT128]

You guys play at Illinois Wesleyan this year?

Err Normal, hahaha

[FanOfTheGame]

Not right now IMHO! We'll know right around the end of January who the top 4-5 teams will be. This could come down to the last week.

1. UNI is UNI and until proven otherwise they will contend
2. BU is played well on Saturday but still need to play consistently
3. MSU is starting off hot but so did ISU(trees) last year
4. CU is starting off horrendously but they have a great coach
5. WSU seems to be playing well but we'll see
6. ISU (red) has not played anyone to really gage where they are at but they do have some players
7. ISU(trees) have had some nice games this year so far but I need to see more
8. SIU seems to be ready to play during the conference but they might have a bit of too much conflict this year
9. Evansville and Drake will fight it out at the bottom.

This is not how I will vote for the power teams this wee or how I see it ending. I'll probably vote 1st place to the Bears this week. We still have not shown the ability to put a few game together to show that we have the capability of being number 1.

Are those your rankings thus far? What do you mean about SIU having a bit too much conflict? I disagree that Creighton's start is horrendous. While not ideal the only loss that they should not have had is Elon. Michigan, Xavier, and Dayton are all very good teams. To say their start is horrendous is just as presumptuous as saying ILSUred's start is great. BU played great and knocked off an Illinois team who lost to Utah the day before and has yet to play anyone else to put that victory in perspective. The loss to BYU is no disgrace and the narrow home victory against wofford suggests a good and solid start but probably not one that exceeds any preseason expectations.

[Bravesfan]

I ask, how does Illinois get a vote over us! I'm not saying we deserve one but if Illinois gets one????

Bradley not getting any votes I can live with for now. But ISU getting four votes is what really boggles the mind considering all they have played is the "Little Sisters of the Poor" this year. And with no disrespect to the real Little Sisters of the Poor, but maybe ISU has something here. It seems that voters only look at the record and only occasionally the quality of competition (as they did this week with UNLV and Portland ranked in one or both polls). So I guess ISU does as the big boys do and schedule soft, amass many wins and come into conference play with a "gaudy" looking record.

Of course when it comes to tournament selection time, this will do ISU no good unless they win 16 or more games in the Valley. But maybe that is the key to their chances this year though I don't see them winning more than 12 games in the Valley.

[SFP]

Are those your rankings thus far? What do you mean about SIU having a bit too much conflict?

I'll answer this by saying read my last sentence and yes SIU has had a bit of some off court issues. The rest is debatable but not worth the time right now because this is only the start of the season and a lot of ball to play.

[tornado]

You guys play at Illinois Wesleyan this year?

no, and we avoided scheduling ICC since it's well known that their starters can beat ours...

Portland is cashing in on the sympathy vote...
they beat an extremely overrated and underperforming UCLA, then barely edged a Minnesota team that's likely no better than the Illinois team we beat.
Out side of those two wins, Portlands other 3 wins are not too impressive.
I have little doubt that the Oklahoma State team we lost to would have also easily beaten Portland, just as West Virginia did.

[tornado]

as advertised...Portland plays their first game since a few wins against surprisingly soft teams
has caused some poll voters to severely overrate them....and guess what??

they lost last night to lowly (1-4) Portland State.
So where are those who said Portlond has quickly risen to the point of being one of the power teams in the WCC?