Michigan Basketball drops out of AP Top 25
After winning its first 2 games. Oh well, I guess at this point it doesn't really matter.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
So if we keep this streak going, can we become the first national champion to be ranked last in college basketball by the AP?
November 30th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Keep winning + keep dropping in rankings = national champion + last in rankings
November 30th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
4 B1G teams in top 10. 6 in top 25. I’m sure u of m will get back into the top 25 but if our conference really is this good... wooo boy it’s gonna be a meat grinder again this year. Might hurt everybody seeding wise.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:09 PM ^
Well ... Michigan, Minnesota, and Penn State were all Top25 to start the football season.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
They don't deserve to be ranked. Plus, I like it when our basketball team goes under the radar until the important parts of the season. Just keep working hard at improving and figuring out these player rotations. Do more, say less.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
But teams that have lost do?
November 30th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
They don't deserve the top 25 rankings after a OT win over a bad Oakland team at this point. It's fair to drop them out of top 25 until they can prove it on the court. Win more games, they'll be back in it.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:50 PM ^
Soooo, if we had started out ranked say 12th and played the exact same games we wouldn't have dropped out? So why is that.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
I mean, we're only two games in, I think it's actually pretty reasonable that pre-season expectations still factor into where teams get ranked.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
... Have you watched both games? They don't really look like a Top 25 team at this point. They struggled heavily in the last game versus a bad opponent (might be an understatement). How is that so difficult to understand?
November 30th, 2020 at 3:03 PM ^
...have you watched the games played by some teams that are still ranked? You know, where they actually lost to teams approximately as bad as Oakland?
November 30th, 2020 at 3:07 PM ^
It's basketball... weird games happen. Even with how frustrating it was at times during the OU game, it was also clear that Michigan had a massive talent edge.
They ran into a team that played a 2-3 effectively and likely were not expecting a ton of 2-3 and had not worked on it a ton. They are a team with new players in new roles. Hunter Dickenson will be starting at some point this year.
They are figuring a lot out and they still won, even with OU getting 21 points from the line.
I'm not saying ignore the game, but what I am saying is that it's college basketball and any one game means very little.
November 30th, 2020 at 5:01 PM ^
Well stated. Oakland did not look terrible last night. They might not be all that good but they put together a nice game/gameplan. College kids are always gonna college kid. Yet we still won and I think that says a little about something, at the very least.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
I know it doesn’t matter at all, but I’ve just gotta laugh at OSU *gaining* votes after they beat a crappy low major by the same margin Michigan did. No overtime, but an extremely similar “wow, this should not be remotely close” type game.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:48 PM ^
And somehow Illinois is top 5 after barely scraping by Ohio
November 30th, 2020 at 3:44 PM ^
This. The sports media has been jocking Illinois so hard. I was pulling for Ohio to pull that out and they very nearly did.
November 30th, 2020 at 9:24 PM ^
Illinois is loaded.
M’s goal should be to hold Ohio State to 73 this season...
December 1st, 2020 at 8:23 AM ^
Ohio is a better team than Oakland and has a strong chance to win the MAC
November 30th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
We're at #26 now which given our performance against Oakland is probably generous. But if we keep winning and improving then the rankings will work themselves out
November 30th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
People in this thread can GTFO with this "they don't deserve to be ranked" garbage, given the teams that remain in the top 25 after suffering humiliating losses.
November 30th, 2020 at 3:03 PM ^
So you get an opinion and they don’t?
November 30th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
Oh, they can express their opinion, but it's a bad, feelingsball opinion rather than a logical one.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Not a good look going to OT against a team as bad as Oakland. So this is deserved.
Fortunately, it's easier to shake off a bad performance in basketball and not let it destroy your mojo. Hopefully things improve.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
I don't think Oakland has a bad team. They got decimated by Covid.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
Everyone talks about that loss to Xavier but they had like 3 practices before facing a pretty experienced team. They shot 23% from the field where Xavier shot 60% But it was really the first half of the game 53 - 12 more so than the whole game. They are the kind of team that will give tall not very athletic teams like Michigan trouble. That said, it is always good to get a game in against a zone team and win it - they won't face anything similar maybe until the NCAA tournament
November 30th, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
Not to mention that Oakland also improved every game this season and played 3 games versus our 1
November 30th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
It's sort of irrelevant who is in the top 25 but it is funny that teams like OSU and Illinois seem to not get dinged for bad performances against overmatched competition as well. But at this point, not a big deal. Win the next couple of games and re-evaluate.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:00 PM ^
Not worried. 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone has befuddled many good teams - it's like seeing Army's option once a season. Teams will try to go to it the rest of this year but as Hunter just McGary'd the last 15 minutes of the game, they now know how to handle it and will grow from it. A 16-point swing in those 15 minutes. Adjustments on the fly from a HC that hasn't seen that much zone in 25 years. I'm bettin' ol' man Martelli influenced the shift to running the O through Hunter.
They shot under 30% from 3 and had a flurry of TOs until they solved the zone.
All is well. (queue Kevin Bacon)
November 30th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
I've been thinking about this very subject since last night (zone defense). The one worry I have now is how many teams try and go zone against us now that it's on film, exactly how poorly we played against it. I feel like we've seen that in hoops a few times over the years, that team's find our weakness and set up for just that.
Long and short, I'd bet any teams that can and draw up some zone defense, they will against us. You can pretty much book that. Hopefully the results are better next time!
November 30th, 2020 at 2:14 PM ^
And - a better result than a win would be? A win?
November 30th, 2020 at 3:42 PM ^
Imma pile onto my option example - unless you run zone often / a lot, it's not that easy to be great at, thus teams do it as a change-up mid-game but typically for a handful of possessions (unless it's REALLY stumping the O).
The key to beating a zone is having a passing savant that can play in the middle of it, a la McGary and Hunter. M would get rattled in the last few years because Teske and Davis aren't that type of player.
Syracuse plays it nearly 100% with huge players that take away skip passes and passing lanes, but got a McGary clinic (and the best charge call of all time). Hunter showed in 15 minutes that every team better think twice about running zone. He's already proven he's got above-level vision and passing touch, and very few teams have 'cuse's length. And with enough shooters, M isn't shooting below 30% from 3 many more games this year, if any. Not to mention the fearless slashing ability of Brown, Livers, Smith, and Wagner to cut through the D and take quick passes for layups. If Hunter isn't on the floor every time a team moves to zone, this would be my 5 on the floor immediately after. Maybe swap in Brooks if any of the non-Livers are cold.
November 30th, 2020 at 4:30 PM ^
Loved the way they just kept feeding it to HD and OU had nothing. Sign of big things to come, I believe. This team has some scrap in it with Smith and CB coming in. Love to see Zeb get some run to develop our bench more.
November 30th, 2020 at 5:12 PM ^
How about Terrance Williams?! Incredible hustle, seemingly always in good rebounding position. I like what I've seen from him early too. He's ahead of my expectations.
I'm looking forward to when the 'next level' light bulb goes on for Zeb. I think he's definitely feeling out the step up in competition.
November 30th, 2020 at 6:39 PM ^
God I hope you are right and teams keep preparing to play zone against Michigan....or maybe you missed the part where Michigan adjusted and started destroying the zone on the inside?
November 30th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
This is such an accurate take especially the adjustments on the fly. This is why I have no doubt JH will be extremely successful in this league--Just hope he stays around long enough.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
Fire Howard obviously
/s obviously
November 30th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
Is this typical? I didn't think close wins (Kenpom losses?) mattered like they do in football.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
Yes - It's better to be in it at the end of the season. I guess the Richmond Spiders knocked us out.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:23 PM ^
Makes sense. They really never dominated either opponent as a top 25 should.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:25 PM ^
As opposed to the current top 25 teams who "not-dominated" so hard they lost to their inferior opponents? What a bad argument.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:23 PM ^
Rankings the second game of the season don't really matter in a normal year, and especially not now.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
So why bother doing the rankings when they are irrelavant?
November 30th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
Because it's the way Americans are wired.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:46 PM ^
Who cares?
College basketball rankings are useless as a knitted condom.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
Personal experience???
November 30th, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^
That’ll be the last time I shop for condoms at a Jo Anne’s Fabrics.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
Really, but Virginia and Kentucky are still ranked????
November 30th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
If the season gets to be played Michigan will have great opportunity to define themselves in this regard. They may well be a top ten team by the end of the season-that's why they play the game.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
Same crap every year. UK, for example, can lose their entire roster to the NBA and then be ranked top 10 the following year on "potential". Just like this year, they will look at what Michigan loses and rank them down there despite bringing in the top class. I'm not overly concerned with polls it just goes to show where the favoritism comes in at and Michigan is annually overlooked by the polls. Hopefully they use it as some momentum.