#27
- Thread starter RhabdoWildcat
- Start date
We were a #7 in the tourney, that translates for #25 to #28 as the NCAA saw us at the end of last year. And, yet...
Wisconsin - did not lose much talent, but did not add much at all. Yet most analysts picked them above us
Ohio State - was a disaster last year. Talent on paper is not better, same as WI and were often picked above us
Indiana - was, more often than not, picked above us.
And so on... and so on... and we were supposed to be 8th or 9th in the conference.
It's all very hard to predict. We lost one player, a very good one, but so did others. Indiana lost NBA talent, so did Ohio State. So why were we not on anyone's radar? They all believed the ceiling of the players in other teams was higher than for ours'. They would all get better at a higher rate than ours.
What is reality going to be? TBD. I like what we have.
Wisconsin - did not lose much talent, but did not add much at all. Yet most analysts picked them above us
Ohio State - was a disaster last year. Talent on paper is not better, same as WI and were often picked above us
Indiana - was, more often than not, picked above us.
And so on... and so on... and we were supposed to be 8th or 9th in the conference.
It's all very hard to predict. We lost one player, a very good one, but so did others. Indiana lost NBA talent, so did Ohio State. So why were we not on anyone's radar? They all believed the ceiling of the players in other teams was higher than for ours'. They would all get better at a higher rate than ours.
What is reality going to be? TBD. I like what we have.
This site has NU #3 in the B1G:
I really like the transfer pieces we added. Preston is much more versatile than what we had last year and Landborg is a real plus
To be devil's advocate, NU placed second in the conference last year but could just as easily have been ninth had they lost (to a team that had already beaten them once) on the last day of the season. So there is the optimist's side that said "Second! Yeah!" and the pessimist's side that said "but we were almost ninth." Given that most basketball analysts and reporters use historical gut feelings, particularly at this time of year, it makes sense that NU would be below the likes of Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio State in mid-November, despite last year's FINAL results.
Now, Katz has NU as #27 compared to the national rankings (no votes received at all). Maybe every pundit has NU already 26-30, but that's unlikely, because if that were true, there would probably be a few #24 or #25 votes sprinkled in. More likely no one is really thinking of NU...yet. Katz, on the other hand, has connections to NU and I'd have to think is more in tune with what the team looks like than most national voters. He sees a team on the precipice. I'm good with that.
TLDR: If NU keeps winning, none of the early reasons for them not being ranked highly will matter. So keep on winning!
Now, Katz has NU as #27 compared to the national rankings (no votes received at all). Maybe every pundit has NU already 26-30, but that's unlikely, because if that were true, there would probably be a few #24 or #25 votes sprinkled in. More likely no one is really thinking of NU...yet. Katz, on the other hand, has connections to NU and I'd have to think is more in tune with what the team looks like than most national voters. He sees a team on the precipice. I'm good with that.
TLDR: If NU keeps winning, none of the early reasons for them not being ranked highly will matter. So keep on winning!
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That really is the swing of last year, and it will always be crazy to me.
I think I prefer being overlooked and coming up roses in time much more than being pre-season #4 and getting beat at home day 1.