Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
The main topic of conversation on much of the internet message boards this week has been about the upcoming listing of the Top 10 College Programs since 1985, according to the ESPN “Prestige” Rankings. The Rankings, which begin when the tournament went to 64 teams (thus screwing over early 80s powerhouses like Louisville and Georgetown), have caused much debate and scorn as the top programs try to figure out where they will project. I give ESPN credit for attempting to come up with empirical criteria (and not just opinion) and while I do have some disagreement with part of the criteria (giving the same amount of credit for an NIT appearance and an NCAA First Round loss), it is better than nothing.
So with that said, how will the rankings turn out? Well no matter what else happens it is very likely that Duke will be number one. Even though we all hate Duke (and the pic above is beyond dorky), you cant really argue with the choice. In the time period chosen, Duke went to about 72 Final Fours in a row, won three national championships and dominated over ten regular seasons. They had the best run. The next tier will likely be Kansas, UNC and Kentucky, probably in that order. These three to me are almost interchangeable. All three won two titles….Kansas made more Final Fours….as did UNC….but UK had more regular season success. Probation hurt UK, Doherty hurt UNC and Kansas had a relatively easy conference for much of those decades to dominate. Kansas likely thus comes in at #2 and UNC’s Final Four tally probably puts them over the top of the Cats. Still Kentucky’s regular season runs and conference titles make the race close. My guess is that UCONN comes in next at #5, but that will be determined tomorrow.
I give ESPN credit for attempting to do this in something resembling a scientific manner. People will still yell about bias, and anytime Duke is #1 such claims will be made. But it is a good diversion for the summer and gives us something that we can certainly make fun of our friends in red about for years to come…..and isnt that what this is all about?
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July 24th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
you could have written that piece anonymously and we’d still know who wrote it.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
This is more like it keep me entertained every hour on the hour, thanks Matt!
July 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I understand Kansas should be in the top 5, but how many times in recent memory have they won
like 35 games (due to a weak schedule) and then lost early in the tournament - see Bucknell &
Bradley. The only thing that will keep UK from getting #2 is the probation.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I think your ranking is pretty spot on. Duke, Kansas, UNC, UK, Uconn would be my guess.
The truth is, you could pretty much pick any 20 year period since NCAA tourney started and UK would be top 5. That’s quite a feat.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I guess ESPN wanted a way to help puke out with recruiting…ha
July 24th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Kaz staying with Warriors.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Good post
1.Duke
2.UK
3.Kansas
4.UNC
5.UConn
6.Arizona
7.Cuse
8.UCLA?
…..
How many years were we banned from the Tournament? That will hurt us but good point Matt because Doherty hurt UNC pretty bad
July 24th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
duke, unc, and uk will be the top 3. kansas loses big points to uk based on elite eight and sweet 16 appearances
July 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
duck fuke
July 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Joe B. Hall’s fault
July 24th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Joe B.’s fault?????? He left in 85. Suttons fault I could see someone saying but Joe B.? Come on. I am not a huge fan of Joe B. but you can not cast blame on him with this criteria.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Yes, making fun of our friends in red is what it’s ALL about.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
7) the other two teams are UNLV and Georgetown by the way
July 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I wonder if ESPN will revisit this in a few years, after Duke falls off the face of the earth? Probably not. This is another attempt at stirring discussion over some junk sport, see X Games, paintball, poker, WNBA, anything soccer, or some show that features “sports” writers trying to out yell, out scream, out shout one another while drowning in their own self-importance, etc, as they strive to fill 24 hours with more and more tripe. I expect to see them announce a deal showing the ACC Tetherball Game of the Week any day now. The TV remote was created with ESPN in mind.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
14) Brilliant.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
11-I was being sarcastic…of how a certain segment of the fan base blamed Joe Hall and Tubby
for everything…despite their successes
July 24th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Props to all the KY schools in the top 50..Western, Murray, L’ville and our CATS! I doubt any of you need ay prompting, but ESPN has the vote goin on between UK/UCLA re: best overall team comprised on national championship players. Let’s show em the power of the online cat crazies.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
the picture makes me think of the movie the OUTSIDERS…It looks like the Duke team are the Socias (spelling)
July 24th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
sorry guys..that’s cbs sportsline w/ g. parrish for the voting….
July 24th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Now that everyone has seen the dUKe picture. Can we please, take it down?
July 24th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
That was nice of Matt to take the poster off his wall so he could use it on his website.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Is Greg Paulus(spelling I dont care) like in his 7th year as a dookie. Can he be like every duke point guard and buy a motorcycle already.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
That picture is pretty much what I think of when I think dUKe.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
A bunch of &*^%in nerds, OH.
(Andrew Dice Clay voice)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
When I first saw it I went to bigbluehistory.com and found all the stats to tally the points. Now I’m no statictitian but my count put us at 327. 11th is at 230, almost 100 points behind us. We are deffinitely top five. I agree that duke will have a higher total but I don’t see how Kansas could be ahead of us. UNC might be ahead of us, but they only won once, while we won twice.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
^Never mind I forgot they won in 1993 also.^
July 25th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Some of you guys need to look at what other teams have done besides us. Do you’ll even have a clue who had more victories in the 90s than any other school? Kansas has 7 final 4s to our 4 that’s 45 points right there. I’m not sure how many how many sweet 16s or elite 8s they have but I imagine they’re close to us or ahead. And yes they’ve had bucknell and Bradley just like we had Marquette and uab. Anyone who thinks UK is higher than 4th is crazy.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
It is 12:18pm here in the Raleigh-Durham area and Duke still sucks!