Interesting. I thought I had an undefeated team ranked behind a bunch of teams with multiple losses. I thought I had Kansas ranked ahead of every 5 loss team, almost every 4 loss team, and even ahead of several 3 loss teams.

You don't want to hold Kansas accountable for their losses, and I think you're wrong. 5 times this season, Kansas has lined up against an opponent and lost. The outcomes of games have consequences. Not all wins/losses are created equal, but Kansas shouldn't get a pass for losing 5 times.

It has nothing to do with being a "better team." We're talking about records here. They'd obviously have a much better record if they didn't play the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation and played in a major conference with quality teams throughout their schedule (unlike, say, the SEC, ACC, or P12 this year).

I think the AP is about right.

Florida has beat 1 top 25 team this season... they played Syracuse and OSU close though. They were #12 and jumped 4 spots for beating South Carolina and Vanderbilt since other teams lost, so I think jumping KU would have been a bit much.

Murray State's resume is a joke... they might be a dangerous tourney team, but they clearly don't have a top 10 resume.

Duke would be ahead of KU had they not lost at home to Miami... don't think they should have fallen that far though.


This week... Florida plays Kentucky, Syracuse plays Georgetown, Ohio State plays Michigan State, Baylor plays KU and MU, and Duke plays UNC.... how sweet is that? Oh, and Murray State plays Tennessee State and Austin Peay.

It's hard to take what you say seriously when you call Kansas nothing better than solid after they lost to your (#5 ranked) team on the road by 3 points.

You're still thinking almost entirely in terms of losses, though. That's the problem.

No, I just think KU is plainly better than several of the teams you had ranked in front of them. The fact that they lost a few games in tough environments against good-to-great teams matters very little to me, and it certainly doesn't make them inferior to lesser teams (like Murray State) that never had to play such games.

You're looking at 1 game, a loss, and expecting praise for it.

Kansas squeeked by Texas, trailed at halftime to aTm in AFH when aTm was missing their 2 best players, lost to Iowa State, played one mediocre half and one great half against OU at AFH, and lost to Mizzou. That's your last 5 games.

So now we're penalizing KU for having lazy first halfs before beating teams down now? LMAO

Why would you say I expect praise? I don't. I just think it's hilarious that you think MU is this really good team while Kansas is nothing more than solid considering what transpired on Saturday. It's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but don't expect to be taken seriously. That's all.

I gain confidence in a CBB team based on who they beat, not necessarily who they lose to... and that mostly speaks to the fact that we're talking about college kids and to the fact that a UConn team that finished .500 in the BE last year and VCU can make the FF.

KU lost to Davidson, Duke lost to Miami, Mizzou lost to Oklahoma State, Michigan State lost to Northwestern... yeah, shit happens, just don't let it happen very often. Who can you play with? Who can you beat?

I'm not saying it's how the polls should work or whatever, it's just that some here are clearly focusing on the 5 losses while others are focusing on significant victories... of course, both have to be taken into account, but KU has shown throughout the season they can play with anyone in the country, and you can't say that about many teams.

Well if you give style points for a good loss, why don't you lose them for a bad win?

I'm inclined to give credit for a tough loss. But if you're going to be consistent, you have to be willing to knock them for an ugly win.

Either you're merely a product of your W/L record (in which case Kansas shouldn't be top 10) or your a product of the quality and strength of each respective W/L (in which case the fact that they came out flat against some pretty mediocre squads counts).

Which one is it?

And Mizzou lost @OSU, struggled to put away Texas Tech at home, and squeaked out a win @Texas... neither MU or KU had been playing well since beating Baylor.

I would if they were actually bad wins. But if you suck in the first half and then demolish your opponents in the 2nd on the way to an easy win, I wouldn't exactly call it one of those.

One of these things is not like the other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueZ6tvqhk8U

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TTPqPZzH-LA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Early game tonight, looks like 6 pm on ESPNU. Will still be a work, will have to jump in and watch what I can on my laptop.

Mizzou is 4-1 with a home win against a top 10 team and a road win against a top 5 team in our last 5 games.

Kansas is 3-2 with no wins against teams that are even getting votes for the top 25 in their last 5 games.

Yes but they lost to so many great teams!

That doesn't change anything I said... KU beat Baylor, then struggled until the 2nd half of OU, which includes one loss. Mizzou beat Baylor, then struggled until they played Saturday, including one loss. Baylor lost both games, and haven't looked good since then, either.

I'm saying they aren't as comparable as you'd like to make them out to be. You have 2 losses and no good wins in your last 5 games. Mizzou has 2 losses all year plus a head to head win against Kansas and a road win against Baylor.

Hell, KU has lost as many games in the last 3 as Mizzou does total. You should totally be ranked top 5, though. You deserve it because your team has a giant reeruned bird on their home court.

Saul just curious, if Mizzou played KU's schedule this year, what's their record right now?

I'm not advocating that KU is a top 5 team, hell I don't really think they are top 10. I think they can be a top 10 team at times, and at times don't look like they should be ranked.

I'm just curious tho.

If ignoring KU's win vs the same team MU beat because it falls one short of the magical 'last 5' makes you feel better, whatever.

And I never said they deserve to in the top 5, but my uplink to the KU fan opinion mothership has been malfunctioning lately. You guys are so good at telling us what our opinions are and how arrogant we are and stuff, not sure why you even bother with the conversation at all.

Oh noes, KU has lost a couple of games lately and stuff.... panic, much needed humbleness, and something arrogant.

Again I'm not coming here to bang on MU or anything, me and a classmate today were just talking about tournament time and thinking who would be tough match ups for who.


I think teams like MU will give KU fits because they tend to have really good guard play. I think with playing that 4th guard, MU becomes actually harder to guard.

Thats something I don't think KU really tried to take advantage of Saturday. With him guarding Withey they didn't really try to force feed him anything. Of course he got in ft a little bit and the few times they did try to get it in there, MU doubled and he had to kick it out. I thought he did a pretty good job doing that as KU got some good looks early. I'm not sure why they went away from it so soon tho, but it probably had to do with MU doing a good job adjusting.

I think big banging teams will give MU fits. Robinson really had his way in the second half in the paint. Although I think MU's guard play can offset alot of the bigs with turning over the other teams guards, I think a big physical team could give MU some trouble.

Ahem. Mizzou @ OU on ESPNU in 20 minutes.

Saw MU was 5 point favs. I dont' expect it to be that close.

I think MU with a 10 point win, although OU has been playing better of late, beating KSU.

Robinson will give every team in the country fits.

The big man for most teams is closer to Whithey than Robinson, and MU didn't exactly have a problem with Jeff.

Yeah, anytime you have a slightly smaller, slightly more skilled version of Dwight Howard on your team, you're going to be a tough matchup. I don't exactly see our inability to contain that freak as being demonstrative of a complete inability to deal with interior size.

Talk to me after the 2nd Baylor game and I might change my mind, and if we lose to KSU again but are actually hitting our jumpshots, I'll also reconsider, but dealing with size through drawing charges and daring the big men to put the ball on the floor has worked out well for us thus far. We haven't lost a game this year because of a size disadvantage; OSU was white-hot from the floor and MU couldn't find the bucket if they had a map against KSU.

Very true.

I was just saying when MU hits a team deep in the tourney, which I expect them to go deep, like a Syracuse or NC they could struggle.

And I know those are two of the top teams in the nation, but IMO that's what MU should be gauged against as I do consider them to be one of the better teams int he country right now. IMO if someone could ever really take advantage of English having to guard a big guy and make them go with Rat and Moore together, they could have success against MU.

Robinson is a monster, thats true. I think if him and Taylor continue to play this well (minus a few free throw attempts), KU has a good chance to beat some teams in March. Of course that also leads to the fact that if one has an off night we are in trouble.

I don't know that I would call Robinson slightly more skilled than Howard. Howard is a better rebounder (as hard as that is to believe, considering TRob is the best rebounder in the NCAA by far), a far better defender, and a more efficient scorer too (though that's mostly due to his size, not his offensive ability).

I suppose you could argue TRob has a higher offensive ceiling and more diverse offensive game, but he still has quite a bit to improve in that area to be a good offensive player at the NBA level. The size advantage that he has in the NCAA will go away next year, so he's going to have to develop his face-up game considerably.

I didn't get to watch you guys play Baylor but are you pretty confident you will beat them in Columbia? I didn't get to see any matchups or anything so I have no idea, just wondering.

I think Baylors guards are suspect and I expect MU to be able to control the game that way and I suspect that's what happened in Waco.

Just curious.

I was referring to his offensive skill. Howard has no appreciable offensive game - he's just a damn horse.

Robinson plays a similar style, except that he can put the ball on the floor and actually move with it.

Robinson won't be the player Howard is, Howards size advantage trumps at the NBA level, but he's a very intriguing player in his own right. If he keeps working and fills out a little more through his trunk, he could be a Karl Malone type defender/rebounder with more of a 12-15 PPG scoring potential (as opposed to Karls 25-30).

I'm sure there's a good comparable out there, but I can't think of one at the moment.

Nope, not confident.

We can win and gun to my head I'd say we will, but if I had to lay more than 3 points, or more accurately if the money line didn't pay at least 120 for 100, I wouldn't take the bet.

I've talked about this with others and suggested a bigger and better version of Kris Humphries. I may be underselling Robinson's offensive potential a bit with that comparison, though.

Robinson reminds me of Howard a lot; although I'm no professional judge of NBA/NCAA talent.

Baylor just scares me to death becasue they are so athletic.

I think KU matches up better than MU in that they can bang in the middle but MU has the guard play to just keep coming in waves.

Lots of empty seats in Norman tonight.

Denmon still on fire.

Denmon picking up where he left off from Saturday.

OU shooting hot out of the gate. Tied at 8.

_efense?

OU hitting EVERYTHING.

Looking flat tonight and OU has not missed a shot yet I don't think

OU can't miss and only down by 1. Not bad.

Jesus they rely on the 3 pt way too much. Start feeding Ratliffe ffs.

Damn, OU is red hot shooting right now.

I think they have 2 misses...well maybe 3 now but still shooting red ****ing hot

OU shooting 8-11 so far. Mizzou 6-10. Mizzou starting to get some turnovers and some rebounds.

I'm sure this has been asked before, but, is there anywhere I can watch this online?

It is on ESPNU. Some cable providers provide that online.

All tied up.

Need to get our 2nd wind after Saturday

JFC, OU is just draining everything

They can't keep it up forever.

Oddly they haven't made 1 FT yet

Not on there. Thanks anyway!

They just lost in Norman Saturday night too.. might be a little hungry.

Come on guys, WTF up

Our last 4 trips have had a turnover, a 3 sec call and a 5 sec call.....guys need to get the **** going

OU is shooting lights out, Mizzou not so much. Need to settle down guys, get some buckets.

We don't look good at all....too much standing around, ball movement isn't very good, taking too many 3's

And another missed 3

They need to quit settling for the outside shot, need to start taking the ball inside.

TOO MANY EFFING 3's< OMFG STUPID TEAM.

Dixon draws the foul going to the hoop. We are taking OU's best punch right now, Mizzou just needs to settle down, ride it out, and play their game.

We need to get a stop

Nice pass, easy bucket for Ratliff.

Little mo'

That's it guys, come on....

There's a reason they left you that wide open Matt.

What's the score?

BULLSHIT CHARGE!!

Taking a charge.

Just another day at the office for us.

Another phantom call

36-33 mizzou

Chicken littles the lot of you.

36-33 MU

Would have liked to have had that last one but I'll take up by 3 at the half considering how OU came out of the gate draining any and everything. Good thing they are 0-7 at the line or it could have been trouble early

We'd be up more if it weren't for the home cooking.

ROFL

Mizzou had a mediocre half, OU shot lights out, and Mizzou leads by three. Hopefully Mizzou comes out strong in the second half.

Winner.

:clap: