USA Today Poll March 2nd

[ArrowheadHawk]

March 2, 2009

Rank School Record Points Previous
1. Connecticut (27) 27-2 769 2
2. North Carolina 25-3 711 5
3. Memphis (4) 26-3 698 4
4. Pittsburgh 26-3 667 1
5. Oklahoma 26-3 653 3
6. Louisville 23-5 630 6
7. Duke 24-5 597 7
8. Michigan State 23-5 557 9
9. Kansas 24-5 509 15
10. Wake Forest 22-5 480 14
11. LSU 25-4 420 18
12. Missouri 24-5 377 8
13. Washington 22-7 346 21
14. Gonzaga 23-5 339 17
15. Marquette 23-6 327 10
16. Villanova 23-6 324 12
17. UCLA 22-7 295 19
18. Xavier 23-5 260 22
19. Clemson 22-6 219 13
20. Purdue 22-7 211 16
21. Arizona State 21-7 189 11
22. Butler 25-4 168 23
23. Illinois 23-7 107 20
24. Florida State 22-7 67 25
25. Syracuse 21-8 37 NR

[bobbything]

KU > MU. It's like this every single season. In the end, KU will have a better regular season record, finish higher in the B12, and go farther in the tourney. What's newsworthy about this?

The MU fanbase is as bitter as they should be. They've never really won anything of worth so they live and die off of KU's successes and failures while clinging on to their win at home like a crusty turd on an ass hair. As they should. The better KU does, the better their win looks.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by petegz28

The fact you say KU let up and allowed MU to come back. That is an excuse. I know, in your mind it isn't somehow but that is the fact.

Eh... Kansas has done it all year. The reason Missouri didn't chip away at the lead yesterday was that Kansas didn't fall asleep like they normally do. It's not an excuse, it's "what Kansas does". Just like the game in Columbia... I know some said Kansas was just awful with all the turnovers, but in my mind 15 of them came from Kansas' average, and the extra 11 were from "what Mizzou does".

Correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't watch every Missouri game, but it seems to me like the biggest issue for Missouri is that they have to force turnovers, because they take some stupid shots on offense and they don't rebound. So, they can easily get into trouble if they aren't forcing turnovers, and they're SOL if they aren't forcing turnovers and the easy shots aren't falling (yesterday).

OTOH, Kansas can turn the ball over 15-17 times a game (20+ in the win @Lincoln) and still win the game, because they lead the league in defensive FG%, and they have an inside/outside threat on offense. They have a true inside threat, and they have a guard who can take over a game. One of their biggest faults is focus, along with turnovers.

Please add stuff as you see fit, but from this perspective, I can objectively see why someone would think Kansas is the better team (and the "scoreboard" argument only goes so far). That's not to say Kansas is better than everyone else in the nation or that they'll make the FF while Missouri loses in the first round. I just think Kansas has more things working for them. Missouri's thing is forcing turnovers, and from what I've seen they have to do that to be successful... Kansas has a better 3pt%, better FT%, better rebounding/inside presence, and they only have 1 conference loss despite leading the Big 12 in turnovers/game.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by petegz28

And you're half a pillowbiter.

Eh, nope. I am happily married with 3 children. That is really a weak attempt at smack.

Hey Pete, I found a pic of you.

[Lzen]

Hey Zach,
when were you going to post a video of the MU fans at a bar at the end of the KU/MU football game?

[Silock]

Yes, the rankings are fair. Mizzou is right about where they should be, and KU is where they should be.

That being said, KU is still a better team than Mizzou.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Hey Zach,
when were you going to post a video of the MU fans at a bar at the end of the KU/MU football game?

El oh el.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Eh, nope. I am happily married with 3 children. That is really a weak attempt at smack.

Hey Pete, I found a pic of you.

That is why I said you were half a bundle of sticks......

and it wasn't an attempt at smack..just stating the facts, Sir. Just stating the facts.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by petegz28

That is why I said you were half a pillowbiter......

and it wasn't an attempt at smack..just stating the facts, Sir. Just stating the facts.

ur retarted

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Metrolike

ur retarted

And ur a ****head

[Garcia Bronco]

Go Hokies and Go Heels

[FishingRod]

When MU won the first meeting I congratulated them on not giving up when they were way behind. I said no excuses MU won KU lost. This time it outcome was quite different. Obviously yesterday KU was the better team. Not much else needs to be said.

[kstater]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Dude, are you reeruned? Siena is ranked #29 in the RPI. Yeah, Oklahoma was without Griffin. Still a very, very tough team. Especially at their place. Tennesse is another very good team.

And let's not for get that MU had 50% more of their wins against teams that were over 200 RPI.

Yeah, that's similar.

This is why I think the RPI is overused and overrated. Yeah Siena has a good RPI. But if you actually look at that team, they didn't actually beat any of those tough teams. Siena's best win is Buffalo. They had a very brutal non-con schedule, but didn't actuall win any of those games.

[joesomebody]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

It looks different to me... You can rationalize away Kansas wins and talk about the one loss to the 100+, but the numbers say Kansas has played 5 more games against the top 50 than Missouri, and they've won 4 of them. Kansas is 13-4 against the top 75 and Missouri is 8-5.

We can argue all day about who would win a 7 game series on a neutral court in Switzerland, but the resumes aren't the same. "Yeah, but..." isn't going to push Kansas down or Missouri up to the same line in the tournament (and FWIW, in this week's Bracketology, Kansas is on the 2 line and Missouri is on the 4 line.... the resumes aren't the same).



RPI 1-25 26-50 51-75 76-100 101-200 201+
4-3 4-1 5-0 0-0 5-1 6-0



RPI 1-25 26-50 51-75 76-100 101-200 201+
1-3 3-0 4-2 0-0 6-0 9-0

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't see any MU fans complaining about the rankings, and if they are it is foolish. I think it is an accurate depiction of where the two teams are right now. I'm hoping Mizzou can put on a good show against OU, and maybe even pull out the win. I doubt it, but that would be a nice cap on the regular season to get that nasty loss in beakerville out of our minds.

Kansas's win over Mizzou at AFH was impressive. MU is not ready to play on that stage, luckily we have some important games left to get some of the experience we will need to play in the NCAA tourney.

As a Mizzou fan, I'm just happy to see Mizzou anywhere near the top 25. A 4 seed in the tourney is far more than even the most optimistic Mizzou fan could have dreamed of coming into this season.

Kansas is young and inexperienced, but they are performing very well down the strecth in some hostile environments to boot. You guys are going to be a force to be reckoned with next year, and no slouch this year either.

May KU crash and burn in an epic fashion in the tourney though

[joesomebody]

Originally Posted by bobbything

KU > MU. It's like this every single season. In the end, KU will have a better regular season record, finish higher in the B12, and go farther in the tourney. What's newsworthy about this?

The MU fanbase is as bitter as they should be. They've never really won anything of worth so they live and die off of KU's successes and failures while clinging on to their win at home like a crusty turd on an ass hair. As they should. The better KU does, the better their win looks.

You sound like a Donkey fan talking about the Chiefs. **** Kansas and their mother they rode in on.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by joesomebody

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't see any MU fans complaining about the rankings, and if they are it is foolish. I think it is an accurate depiction of where the two teams are right now. I'm hoping Mizzou can put on a good show against OU, and maybe even pull out the win. I doubt it, but that would be a nice cap on the regular season to get that nasty loss in beakerville out of our minds.

Kansas's win over Mizzou at AFH was impressive. MU is not ready to play on that stage, luckily we have some important games left to get some of the experience we will need to play in the NCAA tourney.

As a Mizzou fan, I'm just happy to see Mizzou anywhere near the top 25. A 4 seed in the tourney is far more than even the most optimistic Mizzou fan could have dreamed of coming into this season.

Kansas is young and inexperienced, but they are performing very well down the strecth in some hostile environments to boot. You guys are going to be a force to be reckoned with next year, and no slouch this year either.

May KU crash and burn in an epic fashion in the tourney though

The argument was that Kansas is quite a bit better than Missouri, and the counter was basically "Mizzou split the series" and "scoreboard.

I was hoping to get some decent responses from the Mizzou crowd, but unfortunately logic and reason are anchors in the sea of pointless smack talk.



And I don't know about an epic crash and burn... at the beginning of the season the vast majority of Jayhawks fans were expecting to finish 3rd or 4th in the conference and get a seed around 5+... and 5 might have been high. I'm still in denial about the whole thing, so while I obviously want them to get into the second weekend, and earlier exit isn't going to be a huge disappointment or surprise.