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Does Michigan Still Have A Shot At #1?

  • Michigan basketball had its first shot at a #1 ranking in years in its game against Ohio State earlier this season. Of course, the Wolverines lost, but another shot may be shaping up in the near future. Even if things go right Saturday and Sunday, it's highly unlikely Michigan will be #1 on this coming Monday, but with some good play and some luck, they appear to have a shot on Monday the 28th. Not everybody cares about traditional rankings, but a #1 ranking is typically a pretty important topic. So what I did was take the teams ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll and listed their rankings and their upcoming schedules. Along with this, I listed each team's opponents' KenPom rankings as well:

    1. Louisville - (#7 Syracuse, @ #95 Villanova, @ #56 Georgetown)
    2. Indiana - (@ #92 Northwestern, #201 Penn State, #18 MSU)
    3. Duke - (@ #19 Miami, #53 Maryland)
    4. Kansas - (@ #86 Texas, @ #47 Kansas St, #45 Oklahoma)
    5. Michigan - (#80 Purdue, @ #63 Illinois)

    According to KenPom, Michigan probably has the easiest upcoming schedule from now to January 28th. Of these 5 teams, they are the only one that doesn't face a team currently ranked in the Top 50 of KenPom, only have two games (fewest of any of the teams), and only play on the road once. Along with this, if you remove Indiana (already lost to Wisconsin this week), every team except Michigan has a very big upcoming challenge. Louisville has to face Syracuse (which some believe is better than Louisville) and have to go on the road against Georgetown. Duke has to face a Miami team on the road that already upset MSU and an improved Maryland team at home. And Kansas has to go on the road twice, including a game against in-state rival Kansas State.

    There are obviously no guarantees in college basketball, but Michigan has a good shot at moving to 19-1 and getting some help at moving up. All of these teams will likely be favored in just about all of their games, but Michigan seems to be in good position to at least move up a spot or two by Monday and potentially more by the 28th. The #1 ranking in the middle of the season doesn't mean much, but for a program that's still on the upswing, it certainly is a good sign and would be an exciting thing to follow this year. Michigan will need to win its two upcoming games undoubtedly, but it could be interesting to see what happens.

    What does everybody think about Michigan's odds for #1 on January 28th?

    This post was edited by Thomas Beindit on 1/19/2013 at 10:44 AM

    Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbeindit

    Thomas Beindit

  • For me, I'm not so big on rankings, and more about how we're playing against solid competition when it matters most. Could we get the #1 ranking. Yes. But more importantly, does it really matter come March Madness time. While a higher ranking and luck of the draw for regions/match-ups might help, playing the best basketball at that time is what really matters. Our schedule is brutal, and I think according to KenPom has us currently sitting at #5 for SoS, with that number only going up as we play the likes of Ind, OSU, MSU, Wis, and Ill. I want our young guys to continue to grow and learn through the BIG schedule and if the #1 ranking comes along the way, then so be it. The higher the ranking, the bigger the target each game...

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    BlueSCMonkey

  • Thomas Beindit said...

    Michigan basketball had its first shot at a #1 ranking in years in its game against Ohio State earlier this season. Of course, the Wolverines lost, but another shot may be shaping up in the near future. Even if things go right Saturday and Sunday, it's highly unlikely Michigan will be #1 on this coming Monday, but with some good play and some luck, they appear to have a shot on Monday the 28th. Not everybody cares about traditional rankings, but a #1 ranking is typically a pretty important topic. So what I did was take the teams ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll and listed their rankings and their upcoming schedules. Along with this, I listed each team's opponents' KenPom rankings as well:

    1. Louisville - (#7 Syracuse, @ #95 Villanova, @ #56 Georgetown)
    2. Indiana - (@ #92 Northwestern, #201 Penn State, #18 MSU)
    3. Duke - (@ #19 Miami, #53 Maryland)
    4. Kansas - (@ #86 Texas, @ #47 Kansas St, #45 Oklahoma)
    5. Michigan - (#80 Purdue, @ #63 Illinois)

    According to KenPom, Michigan probably has the easiest upcoming schedule from now to January 28th. Of these 5 teams, they are the only one that doesn't face a team currently ranked in the Top 50 of KenPom, only have two games (fewest of any of the teams), and only play on the road once. Along with this, if you remove Indiana (already lost to Wisconsin this week), every team except Michigan has a very big upcoming challenge. Louisville has to face Syracuse (which some believe is better than Louisville) and have to go on the road against Georgetown. Duke has to face a Miami team on the road that already upset MSU and an improved Maryland team at home. And Kansas has to go on the road twice, including a game against in-state rival Kansas State.

    There are obviously no guarantees in college basketball, but Michigan has a good shot at moving to 19-1 and getting some help at moving up. All of these teams will likely be favored in just about all of their games, but Michigan seems to be in good position to at least move up a spot or two by Monday and potentially more by the 28th. The #1 ranking in the middle of the season doesn't mean much, but for a program that's still on the upswing, it certainly is a good sign and would be an exciting thing to follow this year. Michigan will need to win its two upcoming games undoubtedly, but it could be interesting to see what happens.

    What does everybody think about Michigan's odds for #1 on January 28th?

    We're #1! We're #1!

    hoops

    goblue

    MrWoodson ●

  • BlueSCMonkey said...

    For me, I'm not so big on rankings, and more about how we're playing against solid competition when it matters most. Could we get the #1 ranking. Yes. But more importantly, does it really matter come March Madness time. While a higher ranking and luck of the draw for regions/match-ups might help, playing the best basketball at that time is what really matters. Our schedule is brutal, and I think according to KenPom has us currently sitting at #5 for SoS, with that number only going up as we play the likes of Ind, OSU, MSU, Wis, and Ill. I want our young guys to continue to grow and learn through the BIG schedule and if the #1 ranking comes along the way, then so be it. The higher the ranking, the bigger the target each game...

    Yeah, generally I agree with you. Midseason rankings don't mean very much, but hey, I would take a #1 ranking right now. Would be pretty big for the program and unless we win the NCAA Tournament, January 28th could likely be our last chance unless we can make it through some of those brutal upcoming stretches.

    Also, Louisville just went down. Kansas was able to beat Texas, but they could easily lose on the road against Kansas State and Duke still has a couple challenging games. Going to be an exciting week of college basketball.

    Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbeindit

    Thomas Beindit

  • #1 Louisville goes down.

    Does Syracuse jump us in the rankings?

    This post was edited by Rabid on 1/19/2013 at 5:20 PM

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    Rabid

  • RabidWolverine said...

    #1 Louisville goes down.

    Does Syracuse jump us in the rankings?

    It's possible, but it wasn't a blowout or anything. I grew up near Syracuse so I'm kinda split on my college basketball loyalties, but Syracuse kinda eked this one out, so I don't know that I'd bump them up too much.

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    CMXI

  • RabidWolverine said...

    #1 Louisville goes down.

    Does Syracuse jump us in the rankings?

    I was wondering the same thing. Syracuse did win on the road today so that could be the factor that bumps them just past Michigan.

    Oh and Iowa is smoking Wisky by 20 right now in the first half which means Michigan would be tied for first if Iowa holds on.

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    WillyWolverine

  • Oh but i would bump Michigan up past Kansas, as well as Indiana and Louisville. In my opinion at worst we should be #3 this week.

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    WillyWolverine

  • WillyWolverine said...

    Oh but i would bump Michigan up past Kansas, as well as Indiana and Louisville. In my opinion at worst we should be #3 this week.

    Indiana lost to an unranked Wisconsin team, they're moving down towards 7-10 range IMO. Not worried at all we'll be behind Indiana. Duke will most likely be #1, with Kansas #2 and us #3, but just maybe beating a top 10 Minnesota team on the road is enough to bump us over Kansas who has not played many good teams so far.

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    Rabid

  • Thomas Beindit said...

    Michigan basketball had its first shot at a #1 ranking in years in its game against Ohio State earlier this season. Of course, the Wolverines lost, but another shot may be shaping up in the near future. Even if things go right Saturday and Sunday, it's highly unlikely Michigan will be #1 on this coming Monday, but with some good play and some luck, they appear to have a shot on Monday the 28th. Not everybody cares about traditional rankings, but a #1 ranking is typically a pretty important topic. So what I did was take the teams ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll and listed their rankings and their upcoming schedules. Along with this, I listed each team's opponents' KenPom rankings as well:

    1. Louisville - (#7 Syracuse, @ #95 Villanova, @ #56 Georgetown) 2. Indiana - (@ #92 Northwestern, #201 Penn State, #18 MSU) 3. Duke - (@ #19 Miami, #53 Maryland) 4. Kansas - (@ #86 Texas, @ #47 Kansas St, #45 Oklahoma) 5. Michigan - (#80 Purdue, @ #63 Illinois)

    According to KenPom, Michigan probably has the easiest upcoming schedule from now to January 28th. Of these 5 teams, they are the only one that doesn't face a team currently ranked in the Top 50 of KenPom, only have two games (fewest of any of the teams), and only play on the road once. Along with this, if you remove Indiana (already lost to Wisconsin this week), every team except Michigan has a very big upcoming challenge. Louisville has to face Syracuse (which some believe is better than Louisville) and have to go on the road against Georgetown. Duke has to face a Miami team on the road that already upset MSU and an improved Maryland team at home. And Kansas has to go on the road twice, including a game against in-state rival Kansas State.

    There are obviously no guarantees in college basketball, but Michigan has a good shot at moving to 19-1 and getting some help at moving up. All of these teams will likely be favored in just about all of their games, but Michigan seems to be in good position to at least move up a spot or two by Monday and potentially more by the 28th. The #1 ranking in the middle of the season doesn't mean much, but for a program that's still on the upswing, it certainly is a good sign and would be an exciting thing to follow this year. Michigan will need to win its two upcoming games undoubtedly, but it could be interesting to see what happens.

    What does everybody think about Michigan's odds for #1 on January 28th?

    I don't want them to be number 1, because that seems to be the kiss of death.

    redman9143

  • Steve Lorenz ●

  • Yeah...now I am worried about the Purdue game lol

    www.neoavatara.com/blog

    neoavatara ●

  • Steve Lorenz said...

    Bump

    Quality bump clap

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    Ducksworth

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