Stanford no longer perfect

[wah]

What a great game. This is pretty much textbook upset basketball. UCLA kept stupid mistakes to a minimum and shot great from 3-point land. They made their free-throws down the strech and didn't panic when Stanford erased an earlier 10-point lead early in the 2nd half.

http://www.ssportss.net/article.pl?sid=01/02/03/2256249

[Marc]

I agree. Just finished watching and I have to give credit where credit is due to UCLA. It must be a huge burden off Steve Laven's back - yet the rumors still fly. Congratulations to the UCLA kids on an outstanding performance.

Now, the question comes of who should be #1? There isn't one really dominant team this year. You have Duke, Stanford, and North Carolina. I think Stanford or UNC should be #1, what about you?

[wah]

I think it should still be Stanford, but it'll be really close. They still have the least number of losses. Personally i don't think ratings matter as much in basketball, they are rational about it and have a tournament at the end of the year.

[Spike]

Actually, I think it should be Duke. Duke lost to North Carolina at home in Durham. And Stanford lost on their home floor as well at Maples Pavilion to U.C.L.A. North Carolina won at U.C.L.A. earlier this season so Stanford's lost to a team that's worse than the team Duke lost to.

So I would go with Duke #1, Stanford #2. Having said that, the great thing about college basketball is we got a Tournament (hint, hint, pay attention Division I College Football)so all these rankings are just for show.

[NickHammy]

wouldn't that make UNC #1???????

[Spike]

Yeah, and the Coaches Poll agrees with you. :)

Actually, I'm a North Carolina Tar Heel fan and I don't care either way. The only thing I might care about is North Carolina being one of the Top 4 teams in the Nation right before the N.C.A.A. Tournament because that would probably denote the Tar Heels as a #1 seed in one of the regions in the Tournament bracket.

[mattzeme]

Especially after surviving Wake, UNC is and should be #1. But just to address the last post by Spike: you shouldn't just care that UNC gets a 1 seed, you should care that the 1 seed is in the East Region. Last year's surprising loss to Florida in the East Regional Semis marked Coach K's first loss in 27 East Region games. Don't expect Duke to lose again if the Blue Devils are at home in the East this year. If UNC and Duke both get 1 seeds, it will make a significant difference who stays and who leaves.

[Spike]

Originally posted by mattzeme:

Especially after surviving Wake, UNC is and should be #1. But just to address the last post by Spike: you shouldn't just care that UNC gets a 1 seed, you should care that the 1 seed is in the East Region. Last year's surprising loss to Florida in the East Regional Semis marked Coach K's first loss in 27 East Region games. Don't expect Duke to lose again if the Blue Devils are at home in the East this year. If UNC and Duke both get 1 seeds, it will make a significant difference who stays and who leaves.

But doesn't that have to do more with who's in your "region" (whether it be the West, East, South, or Midwest), how good is the competition in your region itself than it's location?

[mattzeme]

Well, there's something to be said for a comfort zone and limited travel and location distractions. Duke almost always seemed to play in the East Regionals at the Meadowlands. Coach K won 5 of his 8 regional championships at the Meadowlands--in 1986 vs. Navy, '88 vs. Temple, '89 vs. Georgetown, '90 vs. UConn, and '99 vs. Temple. In 3 of those 5 matchups, Duke was the lower-seeded team.

And let's spin this toward North Carolina as well. The first and second round site in the East Region--one of them, anyway--is the Greensboro Coliseum. Rewind to 1998. A UNC powerhouse got shipped to Hartford for first and second-round games and struggled, almost losing to UNC-Charlotte in round two. However, once the Heels got to Greensboro for the regionals, their level of play improved significantly. Having Greensboro to ensure a smooth ride to the Sweet 16 will be just the ticket for a team that has the biggest bullseye in the land. Greensboro makes the East Region a real prize for Duke and UNC. With the loss to Virginia, Duke must beat UNC at the Dean Dome AND win the ACC Tournament to wrest the East 1 seed away from the Heels.