College Hoops Top 25: Rooch, Party of 1...

It's Election Day, kids! And before you loyal voters from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts head out to vote, and while the rest of the country eagerly awaits the wide reaching result, I implore you to take a look at an election of a different kind. An election held by, and voted on, by just one man. Yours truly...

Due to a few, shall we say, "scheduling malfunctions", the latest incarnation of the Rooch Nation College Hoops Top 25 doesn't have it's usual bells and whistles, but true to form it's still packed with all the insight and knowledge you've come to expect from a college hoops savant such as myself...

And before I just let you have at it, just one more thing. Now I know I say this all the time, but in response to the barrage of questions I received this week about my Top 25, I figured it was yet again worth mentioning. My College Basketball Rankings, aside from being unique because I come up with them myself and I'm a unique character, are unique because of the incredibly simple formula in which they adhere to...

My poll (try not to let your mind wander into an immature place) is a snapshot of how I feel the NCAA Tournament would shake down if it started today. 1-25, I rank the teams on which I feel have the best shot to navigate the field of 64 at the given moment. The National Rankings? Well I'm not sure what they claim to be judging by their inconsistent swings and unexplainable missteps, but if I had to guess I'd say their polls represent not who's necessarily best, but which team is likely to win the most home games, in their own gym, against every other team in the Nation...

Why they do it that way? I'm not completely sure. You would think their poll would be based on who has the best chance to win 6 straight games on neutral courts, right? That a team narrowly beating another team at home wouldn't necessarily be moved ahead of them in the rankings, because a narrow home win often implies that same team would probably beat them on a neutral court. Well, you would think that's they way the pollsters would think, but that's obviously not the case...

If I had to guess as to why the rankings were always so convoluted, I'd say it's because the rankings and the tournament aren't necessarily trying to accomplish the same goal. Matter of fact, they are completely juxtaposed. Essentially, the weekly poll is trying to determine who the best team is here and now, with little to no regard as to how that team might fair come tourney time. I don't get why the poll wouldn't just reflect who the voters think would win it all if the tournament started today, but it's probably because that method employs too much common sense...

That's why I I choose to do my poll the way I do. Because it makes sense to me. Because it's the easiest way for me to track the true contenders. And because, well, because in a world where too many things that should make sense don't, I'm here to due my part for the average college basketball fan, and make things that much easier. I'm like Joe Lunardi with his Bracketology, expect nobody pays me, I don't have nearly the time or the resources to do what he does and I look a lot better in a hoodie. What he does actually makes sense. As unecissary as his predictions might seem in January and February, his weekly bracket diagnosis actually makes much more sense, and is much more useful than any Top 25 Poll you're going to find. Present company obviously not included...

So on this historic Election Day, remember that your reason for voting should be just as important as who you are voting for, and your reasoning for both should be abundantly clear. If that's not the case, then I hate to tell you, but like so many pollsters, you're probably making the wrong decision...

Now, it's on to the poll. And watch your head, because if you're not careful, you could get smacked in the head by a group of plummeting Huskies. Look out belooooooowwwww! Fools are dropping faster than Jim Calhoun's gullet...

Enjoy...

Rooch Nation College Hoops Top 25

1. Kentucky (18-0) 1

2. Syracuse (18-1) 6

3. Texas (17-1) 3

4. Villanova (16-1) 4

5. Michigan St. (15-3) 8

6. Kansas (16-1) 5

7. Duke (15-2) 7

8. Pittsburgh (15-2) 13

9. Kansas St. (16-2) 19

10. Tennessee (14-2) 14

11. West Virginia (13-3) 9

12. Purdue (14-3) 2

13. Gonzaga (14-3) 15

14. BYU (18-1) 18

15. Butler (14-4) 16

16. Ohio St. (13-5) NR

17. Georgetown (13-3) 12

18. Temple (15-3) NR

19. Clemson (15-3) NR

20. Northern Iowa (16-1) 21

21. Cornell (15-3) 24

22. North Carolina (12-6) 10

23. Wisconsin (14-4) 17

24. Arizona St. (14-5) NR

25. New Mexico (16-3) NR


just missed: Xavier; Florida St.; UCONN; Baylor; Louisville; Georgia Tech; Illinois; Virginia

dropped: (11) UCONN; (20) Louisville; (22) Florida St.; (23) Oklahoma St.; (25) Ole Miss

Really a great group of games headed our way this week, with Tuesday and Saturday serving as the Big Days, and the Ohio St. West Virginia game on Saturday serving as a true inter-conference litmus test that could really help in focusing the polls. At least for me, that is, I think I already established that a game like that won't do much to the actual voters. Oh well, it is what it is, right?

Enjoy...

This Week's Slate

1/19
Tennessee @ Alabama (ESPN 7 pm)
Clemson @ Georgia Tech (ESPN2 7 pm)
Purdue @ Illinois (ESPN 9 pm)
Northern Iowa @ Wichita St.
Northwestern @ Ohio St.
Oklahoma @ Texas A&M

1/20
Wake Forest @ North Carolina (ESPN 7 pm)
Baylor @ Kansas (ESPN2 9 pm)
Georgetown @ Pittsburgh
West Virginia @ Marshall
Xavier @ Temple
Michigan @ Wisconsin
St. John's @ UCONN
Iowa St. @ Texas Tech
Colorado @ Oklahoma St.

1/21
Louisville @ Seton Hall (ESPN 7 pm)
Utah St. @ Fresno St.
Florida @ Arkansas

1/22
Wofford @ Charleston (ESPN2 7 pm)

1/23
Villanova @ St. John's (ESPN 12 pm)
Ohio St. @ West Virginia (CBS 2 pm)
Kansas @ Iowa St. (ESPN 2 pm)
Texas @ UCONN (CBS 4 pm)
South Carolina @ Florida (ESPN 6 pm)
North Carolina St. @ Maryland (ESPN2 6 pm)
Houston @ Memphis (ESPN2 8 pm)
Duke @ Clemson (ESPN 9 pm)
Marquette @ Syracuse
Oklahoma St. @ Kansas St.
BYU @ San Diego St.
Boston College @ Virginia Tech

1/24
Georgia Tech @ Florida St.
Cincinnati @ Louisville

1/25
Georgetown @ Syracuse (ESPN 7 pm)
Missouri @ Kansas (ESPN 9 pm)

Make sure to check back on Friday for my thoughts on the bizarre turn the NFL Playoffs have taken, my picks for the weekend, and I'm sure at least a few other one-liners regarding everything from the results of the Senate race, to the state of my beard...

Until then, be good...

Teddy Williams...

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