Tuesday, November 1, 2011

USA Today/ESPN pre-season poll is out

Here's a much more realistic top 25 pre-season list that that of the AP:

1. Baylor
2. Notre Dame
3. Tennessee
4. Connecticut
5. Stanford
6. Texas A&M
7. Miami
8. Duke
9. Louisville
10. Maryland
11. Georgetown
12. Georgia
13. Florida State
14. Penn State
15. Kentucky
16. Oklahoma
17. Rutgers
18. DePaul
19. North Carolina
20. Texas
21. Purdue
22. LSU
23. University of Southern California
24. Wisconsin-Green Bay
25. Michigan State

Others receiving votes: Gonzaga (31-5) 70; Ohio State (24-10) 61; UCLA (28-5) 59; St. John's (22-11) 57; Marist (31-3) 46; Xavier (29-3) 41; Iowa (22-9) 35; California (18-16) 20; Iowa State (22-11) 20; Vanderbilt (20-12) 19; Georgia Tech (24-11) 18; Dayton (21-12) 16; Middle Tennessee (23-8) 10; Temple (24-9) 10; TCU (22-11) 8; South Dakota State (19-14) 7; Texas Tech (22-11) 7; Marquette (24-9) 3; Syracuse (25-10) 2; Houston (26-6) 1; Memphis (21-13) 1; West Virginia (24-10) 1.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe because I am more into the west coast schools but I think Cal should get more recognition. There is a lot of talent on the Golden Bears and if Coach Gottlieb can keep them focused they will be right up there in the PAC-12. However, almost every poll I have seen hasn't given them a lot of votes. On paper, they have more talent than the current UCLA team(the players that will play this year). Yet UCLA keeps getting more votes?

IM in OC

Sue Favor said...

The reporters that are polled have an annoying tendency to go on only what they know of a team from last season, without bothering to find out who has been lost, injured, etc. UCLA has taken too many hits this year to be a contender.

Cal has not lived up to its potential for the last three years, so I can understand why the media would be skeptical/cautious. Gottlieb will have to "show them the money," even though you and I both know how much talent they have on the roster. A lot of pressure is on Gottlieb. I don't envy her.