Top 25 talk

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Is the top 25 about who are the best teams at the end of the season or who are the best teams right now?  Otherwise what is even the point of doing a poll if results aren't going to matter.

I think voters have different perspectives on that question, honestly.  Pat doesn't dictate what the Top 25 should signify.  I do think it's got to be more than results, though, because the computers are far better at calculating that sort of thing than any group of humans could.

I do think results matter, but I still try to evaluate programs based on more than one game.  I watched the entire Tufts-Babson game.  It was Tufts first real action of the season and they were awful in the first half.  The came back in the second and made it close.  Yes, they lost it, but if they played 10 times, I'd pick Tufts to win more than 5 of them.

I approach my ballot much more focused on the future.  If two teams played tomorrow on a neutral court, who do I think would win?  The results inform that decision, but they don't dictate it.

[KnightSlappy]

Is the top 25 about who are the best teams at the end of the season or who are the best teams right now?  Otherwise what is even the point of doing a poll if results aren't going to matter.

Didn't every voter react to results? Tufts moved down a bunch in the poll. I use results when forming my opinion of teams and constructing my ballot, but I'm specifically trying NOT to take my Top 25 ballot and turn it into a resume contest, at least no this early in the season. I'm still trying to decide who I think would win if teams played next week. We're early in the season and I still lean on my preseason expectations a fair bit. Tufts' play so far has eroded that expectation, but I still think they are good and will be good.

[Pat Coleman]

Regarding Tufts vs. Babson:

• At Babson
• Tufts' first game; Babson's third
• NESCAC schools are not allowed to have outside scrimmages

A voter might react in any of a number of ways to that result.

[stlawus]

A lot of excuses it seems. 

[Pat Coleman]

A lot of excuses it seems. 

It's all data that some of our 25 voters might deem worthy of consideration.

Looks like you may be looking for us to sort teams by wins and losses -- if so, you might want to look at a standings page.

[stlawus]

Like I said, a lot of excuses. This isn't exclusive to d3 hoops (SEC gets the same treatment in CFB).  Just have to do the simple blind test, remove the name Tufts/NESCAC and we all know it's not a ranked team.