North Carolina Unranked in Preseason AP Poll

[detroitbasketball]

www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9029436

Agree or disagree with this?

Can't say I blame them, their top seven scorers are gone. Until they prove they can live without them, they don't deserve to be in.

[sep]

Most people will agree with this, since as DB mentioned there top 7 scorers are gone. But until they get beat they are still the champs, so they should atleast be top 5, if not #1.

[detroitbasketball]

sepsportsfanatic said:

Most people will agree with this, since as DB mentioned there top 7 scorers are gone. But until they get beat they are still the champs, so they should atleast be top 5, if not #1.

OK, let's say a team wins a National Champiosnhip, but every single one of their players graduates/leaves early. Then the team brings in the worst recruiting class in the NCAA.

Do they deserve to be #1? No. This is THIS year's top teams, not last year's.

[sep]

So a teams bust its butts to win a national title, and you cant even give the #1 spot in a PRE SEASON poll, that really doesnt mean crap. Until they lose they are the champs, after the lose that first game (which will come quick with that team) then you drop them. But not til then.

[Keeper]

I would've thrown them somewhere in the Top 25

Anywho, I saw this years Vermont Catamounts for the first time yesterday. GOing to be interesting, freshman Mike Trimboli put up 21, but he's just another small white kid. We need some actual atheletes if we watn to continue competing

[detroitbasketball]

sepsportsfanatic said:

So a teams bust its butts to win a national title, and you cant even give the #1 spot in a PRE SEASON poll, that really doesnt mean crap. Until they lose they are the champs, after the lose that first game (which will come quick with that team) then you drop them. But not til then.

Hardly anyone on that team even played extensively last year. The only real person there left who busted his butt is Roy Williams.

[nafsder2007]

sepsportsfanatic said:

So a teams bust its butts to win a national title, and you cant even give the #1 spot in a PRE SEASON poll, that really doesnt mean crap. Until they lose they are the champs, after the lose that first game (which will come quick with that team) then you drop them. But not til then.

Preseason polls aren't just for fun. Not only do they being all sorts of publicity to the schools ranked, but they serve as an indicator of preseason talent and potential. They look at the current roster and future schedule, not past results. If the previous year's national champion "deserves" a number one ranking in the next season's polls, then should the runner up be number 2? Should all of the sweet sixteen teams make the top 16? What good is a preseason poll if it is just regurgitated rankings from the end of last season?

[sep]

Whats wrong with having all the sweet sixteen teams ranked 1-16 in the pre season polls...until they loose shouldnt they be considered the best 16 teams in the nation?

[nafsder2007]

sepsportsfanatic said:

Whats wrong with having all the sweet sixteen teams ranked 1-16 in the pre season polls...until they loose shouldnt they be considered the best 16 teams in the nation?

You fail to see the point of preseason polls. If the preseason polls are simply the top 25 finishers of the previous season, then they are no longer preseason polls. We already know how the teams finished last season. The polls are a prediction of how they will finish this season. And because college rosters turn over so quickly, a teams success can fluctuate greatly from season to season. Therefore, this years 2006 Tar Heels (or any team for that matter) bear no relation to the 2005 Tar Heels except by name, and because of that, they "deserve" nothing based on the success they had in 2005.

[jgotgame08]

North Carolina lost 89.7% of thier scoring fomr last year. And only have one player, Quentin Thomas, who has even started a game. A new freshman center starting Tyler Hansbrough and massive lack of depth in a tough ACC make it tough to put them in the Top-25 but it is North Carolina, they'll still make the tourney but no cash and prizes this season. Coach Williams is one recruiting class away...

[Jami]

sepsportsfanatic said:

Whats wrong with having all the sweet sixteen teams ranked 1-16 in the pre season polls...until they loose shouldnt they be considered the best 16 teams in the nation?

You honestly think Wisconsin-Milwaukee deserves to be ranked in the Top 16 of the country? Even if Bruce Pearl didn't leave for Tennessee and they were returning all of their players I wouldn't rank Milwaukee in the top 40 teams in the country, let alone the top 25.

[Keeper]

I'd kill for us to be in the top 32. But that won't happen, ever again.

[ruff edgz]

I think the pre-rankings are nice to see what people think will be ranked but to be honest, I don't look at it to much since it really doesn't tell the truth about which teams will be in the Top 25.

I won't be surprised to when most of those teams drop from their spots or drop out of the 25 and replaced with a better team not noticed in the pre-season.

|2uff

[dkgojackets]

I hope this is another year where UNC opens by losing to the likes of Hampton and Davidson.

[Centaur]

Well I got tough news for those of you non UNC fans, they have a coach named Roy Williams, he doesn't have to have all of the talent he had last year, its not his style, UNC will still be a top 10 team come year end, They will be in the top 5 in points per game, and a solid defense. They will get back to what Roy would really like to do which is run up and down the floor, last year he had to adjust, and UNC probably wasn't as good as they should have been. I don't think they win it all again this year, but figure them into the Top 10 at some time this year, I would say top 5 next year, and Title Contenders again in after that.

[mtroy]

While I don't find it strange that UNC is unranked in the polls I can't complain. A Team accomphlishments for the previous season are released in the Finall Poll of the year. So with them not being ranked I can easily see why. Roy Williams is a great coach, but he better have sent a nice thank you to former coach Matt D, for his recruiting class that one him a title. I am not taking anything away from Williams, but we seen all those great Kansas teams that got so close but didn't finish the deal. That is why I am not sold on Williams, I wouldn't have doubts if it was majority class recruits that were his winning a title. I respect his coaching, but the product wasn't his. UNC better hope Tyler Hansbrough is as good as advertised cause he will be a focal point I think for the Heels. I just can't see UNC being other than in the middle of the pack in the ACC, and really I don't like Duke but on Paper thats a 30 point blowout so I'll have to wait till they play.

[Centaur]

The thing with Williams style of play is that he doesn't need great players...hes good enough that he seems to get them, and yes he didn't close the deal at Kansas, many times when he should have.

Roy Williams has only one big flaw, he is a terrible late game coach. He is a great recruiter, great game preperations, the best at halftime, but horrible if the game gets close late.

[Terps]

I don't even think Dook should be #1, but that could be blind hatred....UNC lost all of their scorers, I don't see why this is even being argued.

[Centaur]

Duke is #1, they should be right now, they kept most of thier players, they have the best player in the nation on thier team, not to mention the best coach in the nation.

[robino2001]

just to mention it.... i love my horns, but I don't know if they're worthy of a #2 or #3 ranking (depending on the poll)..... will be relying a lot on their young guys... if aldridge is all he's cracked up to be (looked great against st. marys last week), then maybe they are worthy of it