My hoops poll
Here is my ballot for this week's Associated Press men's basketball poll:
1. Pittsburgh
2. Duke
3. Wake Forest
4. Connecticut
5. UCLA
6. Michigan State
7. Oklahoma
8. Notre Dame
9. North Carolina
10. Syracuse
11. Texas
12. Memphis
13. Xavier
14. Clemson
15. Georgetown
16. California
17. Marquette
18. Louisville
19. Minnesota
20. Butler
21. Michigan
22. Arizona State
23. Gonzaga
24. Purdue
25. Davidson
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About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
Good poll. I figured we belonged between 5-8 in the rankings at this point. I have complete confidence we'll win out at home this year, but we still have a few tough road games left in the Pac10.
GO BRUINS!
Brian, did you cheat off my poll submission? I have the top 10 the same, except switch UCLA and MSU. I have MSU 5 and UCLA 6.
I agree VB, it will be hard to beat UCLA at Pauley this year in conference. But at ASU, at UW, at Cal and at Stanford could be where the let down comes. But we should only lose 1 or 2 of those at most, so 16-2 or 17-1 in the P10 will win the regular season conference and put us #1 seed in the P10 tourney. I can't see us losing more than 2 conference games, UNLESS we get hit by the injury bug!
Here's the deal...because of size deficienices, I don't see UCLA hanging with some of those top 10 teams. I think Oklahoma and UNC would blow UCLA out of the water with their inside bigs. The good test will come when Notre Dame comes to town...can UCLA stop Harangody without leaving McElarney open for a bevy of 3s?
I just can't imagine us as #5 right now. I think we have the potential to be there, but our inside presence needs work (thankfully Aboya and Gordon are awesome) and out perimeter can be streaky. If we didn't have DC we'd be in a world of hurt. Hope Holiday can pick up his aggression as the season goes on. If DC and Holidy both leave then Lee and Anderson are going to get some serious minutes next year!
I loved that win last night. Thank you for staying DC!
But I dont see us as the 5th best team in the country...yet.
But I guess that is not how polls work. When the Teams ahead of you lose, you move up.
But, if we continue to improve, I see us as a solid top 10 team by year end.
If we are #5, then this is really a down year for college basketball. Yes, we are capable of beating Duke, UNC, Pitt, Wake Forest, and UConn, but they don't have the gaping weaknesses that we have...no post presence, rely too much on three's, and a surprisingly substandard defense.
Imagine James Keefe, Nikola Dragovich, and Alfred Aboya trying to check Hansborough, DeJuan Blair, or the multitude of bigs on Pitt or Wake. Love Aboya's heart, but he's too small, Keefe lacks both ability and confidence, and Nikola just isn't a post (nice game last night tho!).
I truly believe we need to play Drew Gordon more, as he is the only post player on our roster that combines the toughness, ability, and athleticism needed to match up with these elite teams. Drew is still making mistakes, but that is exactly why you play him NOW.
I'm sure Ben Howland will be taking my advice to heart, lol.
The Bruins defense has progressively gotten worse each year of Howland's tenure. Not sure why. On the flip side, the teams offense has however gotten progressively better.
No way Duke is #2.
And in closing, if I had a real brick for all the real bricks Dragovich launches up... I'd be living in a mansion.
That's the way I roll... Laters...