Men's College Basketball Rankings

[Steat]

This week's polls are out.

UNC wins both games and drops in one poll.

2024-25 Men's College Basketball Rankings - ESPN

Find the 2024-25 NCAAM rankings on ESPN, including the Coaches and AP poll for the top 25 NCAAM teams.

www.espn.com

 

[ChiShankCity]

Rankings don't really matter, but I think Baylor and USC had power 5 wins, so reasonable that they jump. USC is starting to get hyped because Isaiah Collier looks like the real deal right away.

 

[Geth]

UNC wins both games and drops in one poll.

Good. Humility is an absolute must with this generation and age of kid that are in our ranks. We haven't played anyone of note I'd say the drop does us a favor and I'm all for it.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I'm all for us dropping if others played better comp and WON. I have a problem with puke and MSU being near us after losing! puke will be #1 if they lose tonight!

 

[ChiShankCity]

I'm all for us dropping if others played better comp and WON. I have a problem with puke and MSU being near us after losing! puke will be #1 if they lose tonight!

Hmmm, I can see why Syracuse and Duke (before Arizona) never play anyone. Why not just beat Radford, Radford Tech, and Radford A&M to protect your rankings?

It will actually be funny if Duke climbed to #1 if they lose tonight... You know, after dropping in the polls for losing already.

Weird theories indeed.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

So much for being nice. I didn't realize I had to only state the obvious in order to be understood. BUT the actual point was peeps that lost should be behind those who haven't. AZ should have jumped us but it shouldn't have moved us since puke and MSU should be lower IMO. Stop, think, then post and you might notice the difference between a "theory" and and exaggeration designed to illustrate a point! But I understand how frustrated JCDers are right now so it might have been too soon!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Is anyone here concerned that our unimpressive wins, so far, resemble last year's unimpressive early wins?

To me there's a difference. Last year we looked fat and entitled early on. And before we fixed that we got repeatedly slammed, and never recovered.

This year, by contrast, we look pretty darn good - to my non-guru eye. But our wins haven't been particularly impressive. I'm not worried, but should I be?

 

[TPFKAPFS]

On the contrary, they look completely different to me! They way we are winning; the team learning curve; the depth we are playing; the increasing speed of play; better D; and the obvious joy these guys have playing ball with each other paint a vastly different picture to me! Please tell me when the opponent went on a run last year, especially if it got to 1 possession, that you weren't scared to death BUT this year I was calm the entire time because I was sure they would figure it out! I can't wait to see them play someone a little better but it is awesome they can learn so quickly thus far.

 

[DSouthr]

Polls mean absolutely NOTHING right now, no one has proven anything as to how good they will be, 1 game does not a season make. BY around mid season you can begin to separate the cream from the milk cause the cream will rise.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Is anyone here concerned that our unimpressive wins, so far, resemble last year's unimpressive early wins?

To me there's a difference. Last year we looked fat and entitled early on. And before we fixed that we got repeatedly slammed, and never recovered.

This year, by contrast, we look pretty darn good - to my non-guru eye. But our wins haven't been particularly impressive. I'm not worried, but should I be?

Who cares? I think it's hard to judge right now anyway since Cadeau isn't starting. To me, this is the time for playing a bunch of guys. Getting a bunch of time on task for everyone. And hopefully we stay healthy through it and win the majority of our games against good teams.

But we'll find out where we stand as a team in November in a few weeks. But will that really matter in March? I don't think it really does.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

So much for being nice. I didn't realize I had to only state the obvious in order to be understood. BUT the actual point was peeps that lost should be behind those who haven't. AZ should have jumped us but it shouldn't have moved us since puke and MSU should be lower IMO. Stop, think, then post and you might notice the difference between a "theory" and and exaggeration designed to illustrate a point! But I understand how frustrated JCDers are right now so it might have been too soon!

Put them on ignore my friend. I did it and it made posting on here 50% better.
I wish it had a block feature but it is what it is.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Put them on ignore my friend. I did it and it made posting on here 50% better.
I wish it had a block feature but it is what it is.

Posting here has been 50% better for me since you ignored me. Appreciate you!

 

[notashelbyfan]

Put them on ignore my friend. I did it and it made posting on here 50% better.
I wish it had a block feature but it is what it is.

Awesome silence anyone who might have an opposing opinion from yours, in a place where banter and discussion are the ENTIRE point of the message board theory.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

But we'll find out where we stand as a team in November in a few weeks.

I don't understand comments like this. We'll also find out in March. But does that mean we should wait until March to discuss things?

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Awesome silence anyone who might have an opposing opinion from yours, in a place where banter and discussion are the ENTIRE point of the message board theory.

I think this is an extreme oversimplification of his intent!

While I can't speak for him I can speak to this point since I probably have more peeps on ignore than almost anyone else. I only put peeps on ignore when they are unfairly critical of the team and players AND they seldom have anything either positive or informative to say! There is never a reason to bash Family even if one calls is being "objective". It is perfectly OK to critique and debate, however! I come here to debate with peeps who actually like the Tar Heels! If I want to read about how Hubs, Leaky, our Team, our academics, etc are trash, I will visit the rat hole!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Awesome silence anyone who might have an opposing opinion from yours, in a place where banter and discussion are the ENTIRE point of the message board theory.

The ignore list can be useful. There's a button to show all ignored posts, so you don't have to miss the comments. But the ignored posters show up with a notation that you are ignoring them.

With one exception, the only people I have on ignore on this board are those who identified themselves as racists back when everybody got worked up over Silent Sam.

That doesn't keep me from having good basketball conversations with them, but it reminds me that they have values I disagree with.

YMMV

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I hope we find out in April!

 

[notashelbyfan]

The best teams in the country should dominate and end a game with Lehigh and Radford in the first 5 minutes of the game, then work on getting better.

We MIGHT be a top 25 team but we get the benefit of the doubt when rankings come out at the start of the season because of the name on the front of the jersey not because of what we are as a team.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

The best teams in the country should dominate and end a game with Lehigh and Radford in the first 5 minutes of the game, then work on getting better.

We MIGHT be a top 25 team but we get the benefit of the doubt when rankings come out at the start of the season because of the name on the front of the jersey not because of what we are as a team.

My default ranking for UNC is #14, with an Elite Eight in our sights.

Some years are obvious exceptions - for better or worse - but most of the time that's a good place to start, and is often close to how we finish

I think 14th fits this team, so far. Not grinding Radford and Lehigh into the dust suggests that may be a bit high. But my eyes and our depth tell me we could end up a good bit better.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I think we could have ground them into powder if we wanted to. Hubs could have gone with our best lineup and stayed with them. (EC, RJ, Ingram, Withers, Bacot) This would have won that game in grand fashion and lost the season! Using these type games to explore/develop depth and find out who plays well together is the better play in the long run IMO! Playing deep bench means some combos just won't work, but it also means you will have peeps ready if someone is off, injured, or in foul trouble. Both wins were comfortable and revealed way more positive then negative in my eyes! + we have multiple talented and experienced peeps on our bench and with no PT divisions will ensue!

 

[DaSheed]

I’ve had PTSD since halftime of the 2022 National Championship Game. The only rankings I pay attention to are at the end of the season.

 

[DSouthr]

The ignore list can be useful. There's a button to show all ignored posts, so you don't have to miss the comments. But the ignored posters show up with a notation that you are ignoring them.

With one exception, the only people I have on ignore on this board are those who identified themselves as racists back when everybody got worked up over Silent Sam.

That doesn't keep me from having good basketball conversations with them, but it reminds me that they have values I disagree with.

YMMV

While I do understand why many use the ignore function, I never have nor do I plan on doing so. I just don't believe you solve a problem by ignoring it, I believe you have to at very least know what someone is saying before I can form an opinion on it. I do understand that it doesn't matter to some what you express on a topic there are some that do not care what you think of their words, they just want to enjoy a disagreement as they hide behind their key board. To some the fun is the disruption, they could care less about any real discussion.

This is simply a snap shot of a much broader problem we have in our country today, witness the thousands of students that feel the need to protest now days yet have no idea what they are protesting against? They are not actually protesting against anything, they simply enjoy protesting, they enjoy the disrupting, the new version of sticking it to the man yet they struggle to know who the man is? Example one of so many, the pro-Hamas nonsense, how many of these kids actually believe it was a great thing that those terrorists murdered over 250 young people at a concert, would they be just as OK if someone murdered 250 attendees of a Taylor Swift concert, especially if they were there? Who there would have wanted anything but the murders to be taken out with extreme prejudice? Politics has crossed over to the world of sports, it has entered your home folks and ignoring it is what has allowed it to fester and grow to where it is today and to further ignore it is to allow fuel to grow.

 

[ChiShankCity]

I don't understand comments like this. We'll also find out in March. But does that mean we should wait until March to discuss things?

Feel free to discuss things. But we won’t be playing teams like Lehigh in Jan-March. Sure we’ll play bad ACC teams but there’s some familiarity within conference.

I even think games against Tennessee this early can tell you only so much. Teams change during the season. Guys get hurt. Rotations change. Etc.

In particular with UNC, I can only take away so much when Cadeau is playing 50% of the minutes. That’s clearly not going to be the case later on.

 

[2DDIMOND]

Feel free to discuss things. But we won’t be playing teams like Lehigh in Jan-March. Sure we’ll play bad ACC teams but there’s some familiarity within conference.

I even think games against Tennessee this early can tell you only so much. Teams change during the season. Guys get hurt. Rotations change. Etc.

In particular with UNC, I can only take away so much when Cadeau is playing 50% of the minutes. That’s clearly not going to be the case later on.

Sometimes you make a ton of sense............ other times (not this one), maybe not.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Using these type games to explore/develop depth and find out who plays well together is the better play in the long run IMO!

I completely agree.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

While I do understand why many use the ignore function, I never have nor do I plan on doing so. I just don't believe you solve a problem by ignoring it.

If you had read my comment that you responded to, you would know that wasn't even slightly what I said. I described a sensible way to use the ignore function to keep track of trouble-makers (or whatever you want to use it for).

You could, for example, use the ignore function to flag the best posters. Just because it's called the "ignore" function doesn't mean that the morality police will come get you if you use it for something else.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Example one of so many, the pro-Hamas nonsense, how many of these kids actually believe it was a great thing that those terrorists murdered over 250 young people at a concert, would they be just as OK if someone murdered 250 attendees of a Taylor Swift concert, especially if they were there?

This belongs on the political board, but since you raised it, do you really think we have many pro-Hamas people in America? I don't.

It's possible to take strong exception to Israel's treatment of Palestinians without being even remotely pro-Hamas.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I agree that problems seldom get better when ignored, but I m not on here to solve problems or change opinions! (I used to think that a well reasoned discussion could change opinions, but...) I am on here to discuss the Tar Heels and enjoy the camaraderie of peeps who also love the Heels! Peeps who only disrupt or who are always negative reduce the joy of this site so....I ignore them and increase my joy! BUT I do agree that I really don't care what peeps think of my beliefs/opinions even though I try to be respectful of theirs. ( I know I don't always succeed)

I will say our society often tries to simplify things to the point that they can boil it down to US vs Them! The world exists in the gray area but that is too complicated to fit most peeps' narratives!