Graham Couch's AP Mens B-ball Rankings

Worth a discussion. He's picked up some flack for not ranking Duke but in the process he's raised a debate about the top tier teams avoiding scheduling a true road game.

I've seen a lot of people call him a moron I actually think he has a valid point. Thoughts?

Duke knows how to work the system - obviously. Couch got the attention he was looking for.

And they just beat wake forest on the road by 20. So kinda late of a thread. They will probably beat us by 20 in the final four on a neutral floor, despite what couch ranks them.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:Duke knows how to work the system - obviously. Couch got the attention he was looking for.

And they just beat wake forest on the road by 20. So kinda late of a thread. They will probably beat us by 20 in the final four on a neutral floor, despite what couch ranks them.

This is my call out. Duke is the outlier, his argument certainly held up with other teams. Maybe it took taking his message to Duke to get it national attention but the other teams engaging in this practice shouldn't be let off the hook.

Also, as we saw last night Edwards scored 10pts. Playing on the road matters.

Couch is a moron. Yeah, Duke didn't play any true road games until last night, but to leave them off your top 25 poll is just silly. How many true road games did State have in the non-con schedule? Two. Whatever. You can make the same statement with putting them at something like #10.

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:Couch is a moron. Yeah, Duke didn't play any true road games until last night, but to leave them off your top 25 poll is just silly. How many true road games did State have in the non-con schedule? Two. Whatever. You can make the same statement with putting them at something like #10.

It wasn't just Duke it was also Kansas, Tennessee...

"To avoid playing on another team’s campus altogether is a sin of cowardice and ego that eventually can’t be ignored — like when we’re more than a month into the college basketball season. So this week I removed Duke, Kansas, Tennessee, Auburn, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Villanova and Texas from my Associated Press top 25 ballot. That’s No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Tennessee, as other voters deemed them this week, so clearly I had an impact. I didn’t even put them through the paces of an evaluation. Because, while in some cases they have impressive neutral-site wins, they aren’t playing the same game as the rest of college basketball. They haven’t yet been tested in a true road game."

I also think it cheapens the sport and the value of season ticket holders tickets. What are the odds we are going to get a good team into the Breslin for an exciting non conference game? If you are a season ticket holder this should be a concern.

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:Couch is a moron. Yeah, Duke didn't play any true road games until last night, but to leave them off your top 25 poll is just silly. How many true road games did State have in the non-con schedule? Two. Whatever. You can make the same statement with putting them at something like #10.

I trust Pylon on this issue. He's an expert on morons.

A moron with a point...is still a moron.

NigelUno wrote:A moron with a point...is still a moron.

Let us know the next time you have a point?

Robert J Sakimano wrote:regardless of what you may think of Duke, this is absolutely ridiculous.. it's a ranking of the top 25 teams in America, not a ranking of how you feel about how a team schedules games.

seems like an attention-seeking, faux-moral stance by Couch (who I generally like).

Yeah, but a lot of the teams listed were overrated because they avoided playing a true road game so a lot of the rankings are artificially inflated.

yeah, I mean, o.k., they don't or didn't play on the road. And Couch said that will be his criteria, so I imagine it's tough to put out a first or second week of rankings because I'm assuming there will be a lot of top teams who don't play on the road right away. But whatever.

That said, Duke is Duke. You see their talent, you know they can just out and out play. So, they aren't anywhere in your top 25? It's a farce. They're the top two or three team in the nation regardless of where they played. Michigan, however, is an interesting pick for number one. I'd maybe vote them ahead of Duke right now.

DWags wrote:y Michigan, however, is an interesting pick for number one. I'd maybe vote them ahead of Duke right now.

Don't be a blue.

DWags wrote:yeah, I mean, o.k., they don't or didn't play on the road. And Couch said that will be his criteria, so I imagine it's tough to put out a first or second week of rankings because I'm assuming there will be a lot of top teams who don't play on the road right away. But whatever.

That said, Duke is Duke. You see their talent, you know they can just out and out play. So, they aren't anywhere in your top 25? It's a farce. They're the top two or three team in the nation regardless of where they played. Michigan, however, is an interesting pick for number one. I'd maybe vote them ahead of Duke right now.

Yeah, I think you and Bob are onto the correct path. You knock down a team a few spots for not scheduling a true road game.

I also think it speaks to the wussification of college sports for both bball and football. Look at this ridiculous UCF conundrum. No one has the balls to schedule a game against them because everyone wants their non confernece schedule to be tissue paper soft. In turn UCF goes undefeated and then declares their selves National Champs. Now a days the name of the game is to put your team in the best possible position to run the table even if that means making a soft schedule and not playing on the road. I think it's kind of lame.

LooseGoose wrote:

NigelUno wrote:A moron with a point...is still a moron.

Let us know the next time you have a point?

Poor Goose. Doesn't seem to have a thought/point on the thread topic, and instead has to try and start fights while hiding in his safe space.

The downward spiral continues.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:regardless of what you may think of Duke, this is absolutely ridiculous.. it's a ranking of the top 25 teams in America, not a ranking of how you feel about how a team schedules games.

seems like an attention-seeking, faux-moral stance by Couch (who I generally like).

Nice post, Bob. I agree.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

steveschneider wrote:

Yeah, but a lot of the teams listed were overrated because they avoided playing a true road game so a lot of the rankings are artificially inflated.

well, maybe - but it sounds like the kind of moral stance that someone might take for the sake of clicks, message board attention, Twitter arguments and sports radio slots.

if you want to put Duke 2rd, 3rd, 4th.. whatever - do it. If you want to whine about their schedule and say that they don't belong in the top 25 because of it, you just look like an idiot.

Great point Bob.

And no...you're not a moron.

NigelUno wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:
well, maybe - but it sounds like the kind of moral stance that someone might take for the sake of clicks, message board attention, Twitter arguments and sports radio slots.

if you want to put Duke 2rd, 3rd, 4th.. whatever - do it. If you want to whine about their schedule and say that they don't belong in the top 25 because of it, you just look like an idiot.

Great point Bob.

And no...you're not a moron.

I agree, Bob won the thread with that post.

BTW Couch just started his live sports chat.

steveschneider wrote:BTW Couch just started his live sports chat.

Wouldn’t miss it for the world!

steveschneider wrote:BTW Couch just started his live sports chat.

Steve has friends!

8 minutes ago
Is being a reporter as fun and empowering as being a mod on a message board?

Martin Spartan


8 minutes ago
I can only imagine what that's like. That's really my dream.

Graham Couch

NigelUno wrote:8 minutes ago
Is being a reporter as fun and empowering as being a mod on a message board?

Martin Spartan


8 minutes ago
I can only imagine what that's like. That's really my dream.

Graham Couch

Hahaha!

I got a response and looks like Bob's suggestion is a good one -

"an hour ago
I have a friend that said this about your AP Poll Vote "regardless of what you may think of Duke, this is absolutely ridiculous.. it's a ranking of the top 25 teams in America, not a ranking of how you feel about how a team schedules games.

seems like an attention-seeking, faux-moral stance by Couch (who I generally like)." Would just knocking a team like Duke down a few spots in the poll for not playing a true road game be better than completely leaving them off?
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Steveschneider
an hour ago
It might be. I didn't start this this year. I didn't do it because of Duke. If anything, it was Duke's early road games last year (along with Nevada and others) that made me start doing it. This year, Duke just happened to be the team.

I hope I'm done as a voter by next year. This is Year 4 of what's supposed to be a two-year term. But if I'm voting again, maybe I'll change it up and overly elevate teams with great road schedules or something. Point is, what Duke's doing is at least as ridiculous. And we've seen what the road does to teams. How do you evaluate a team when they aren't doing what everyone else is doing?

It's a matter of fairness. And legitimacy. "