My thoughts on these polls can be summed up pretty quickly: we're one step closer to basketball season.
Obviously, the polls aren't really that important, and I think Maryland landed in a pretty good spot at right outside the top 25. They're literally one vote away from Minnesota in the AP poll, and just eleven off Syracuse in the coaches poll. That means that they likelihood of an inflated ego early in the season isn't very high, but if they catch fire and are better than expected, we won't have to wait forever to get recognition.
It's also good to see the voters giving Maryland the respect they deserve. I didn't expect at top 25 placing, nor did I particularly think Maryland was deserving of one, but 26 sounds about right, and is higher than where most of the mainstream polls were placing the Terps.
The rankings are below, along with some more general thoughts:
- Homertuck already mentioned this, but what's with UNC's high ranking? Ed Davis is supposed to be good but hasn't shown it yet, and though they get Marcus Ginyard back, he'll be rusty. Tyler Zeller was unimpressive to me last year. Really, outside of Deon Thompson, no one has proven they can play. They have a lot of talent, but it's all young, inexperienced, and unproven.
- Likewise, Clemson's high ranking is still surprising to me. Since when does losing the top scorer and top shooter (also known as the starting backcourt) equate to a top 25 team?
- I have a strange feeling the 'Nova game in the BB&T Classic could be this year's version of the Michigan State win. Let's hope so.
- Top 10 Duke seems a bit ridiculous, but shouldn't have expected anything less.
- I've said this before, but why is Cal ranked so high? I know the sample size is small, but they weren't that impressive. Was their recruiting class really that good?
- Props for Butler's high ranking. They don't have that much talent, but they'll have a #10 team's resume.
- Watch out for Washington. I remember when I was a little kid, I thought Washington meant Washington DC, not Washington state, so I always used to pull for the Huskies (second to Maryland, of course). Good to see them making noise, and they're one of the few backcourts better than Maryland's.