USA Today Final Poll

[mj4cy]

People have very short memories. ND has a vote yet was destroyed by ISU.

 

[TurbulentEddie]

any poll that weighs heavily on tournament results is bogus. It's freaking tournament, the best teams do not always advance. <snip>

Bingo. Thought experiment: "Shuffle" some of the tourney upset wins back in December and turn back the clock. Would the voters have rated the Cinderella teams as highly going in to the conference schedule? Unlikely. For example, there's no way Wichita State would be ranked as high as #4 after beating Pitt, Gonzaga, OSU, and La Salle in the non-con. But here they are now, after having the easiest path to the Final Four (at least over the last 11 years).

 

[MartyFine]

Glorious supreme ruler finish #1 in this poll!

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[ChiefNation22]

Why shouldn't Wichita St. be ranked 4? They were Louisville's closest game, and quite frankly should've beat them. You can't sit here and tell me they're way overrated when they played the national champion Louisville Cardinals to their closest game of the tourney.

 

[LutherBlue]

any poll that weighs heavily on tournament results is bogus. It's freaking tournament, the best teams do not always advance. The proof a a good team that deserves high rankings are ones that can win consistently over a 2 month period in conference play. This means playing teams that know you well, know your personnel, know your weakness yet you are still able to beat them. This mean winning on the road in hostile environments. Ranking teams on how they advance in a tournament is somewhat ignorant. I do understand that some teams get hot and are actually better teams at the end of the year, but a teams body of work throughout the season should have a lot of merit as well. I mean, obviously Louisville and Michigan are great teams, but not because the went to the finals, that is part of it, but because they won big games all year, they did it consistently.

I see your general point, but do you think the tourney champ should not necessarily be ranked #1 in final polls? Like it or not, that's the way the NCAA crowns the champ.