Local Polling in a Basketball Wasteland
After the George-related madness of last season, I figured now was the perfect time to tap into Mid-Atlantic college basketball fervor with a local basketball poll. In the final Coaches' Poll last season, you'll recall, George Mason, Georgetown and GW were all ranked in the top 20. There were 17 Associated Press polls last season, and at least two local teams were ranked in every single poll. Every single one. In week 12 of last year, GW, Maryland and Georgetown were all ranked.
The good times continued this fall; by week 4, Georgetown, Maryland and Virginia were all ranked in the AP's top 25. Our poll got cranked up right around then, and immediately the bottom fell out. As local poll voter Eric Prisbell noted this morning, not a single area team shows up in this week's AP top 25. Catastrophe. This is what we've got from the AP: Maryland 34th, Virginia 35th, Georgetown 37th. (Unlike the Local Poll, which went Virginia, Maryland, Georgetown; or the Vegas Poll, which went Georgetown, Maryland, Virginia; or the Coaches' Poll, which goes Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia.)
My feelings exactly. (By John McDonnell -- The Washington Post)
Prisbell wrote that it was the first time our area has been unranked all season, which is true, but it's also the first time we've been so shunned since the final poll of the 2004-05 season, a span of 23 consecutive AP polls. On that gloomy day, our best MD/VA/DC offering was Old Dominion, with a total of 8 points, good for 34th in the AP.
Here's the rundown since then. Btw, remember how GW was a top 10 team for a month last year? That was weird.
2005-06
Preseason: GW 21st, Maryland 24th
Week 3: GW 21st, Maryland 23rd
Week 4: GW 19th, Maryland 23rd
Week 5: GW 19th, Maryland 21st
Week 6: GW 15th, Maryland 17th
Week 7: GW 13th, Maryland 16th
Week 8 GW 12th, Maryland 16th
Week 9: Maryland 14th, GW 20th
Week 10: GW 17th, Maryland 23rd
Week 11: GW 16th, Maryland 22nd
Week 12 GW 14th, Maryland 18th, Georgetown 21st
Week 13: GW 10th, Georgetown 17th
Week 14: GW 8th, Georgetown 15th
Week 15 GW 7th, Georgetown 17th
Week 16 GW 6th, Georgetown 23rd
Week 17 GW 7th, Georgetown 20th
Week 18 GW 14th, Georgetown 23rd
2006-07
Preseason: Georgetown 8th (ARV: Virginia Tech, George Mason)
Week 2: Georgetown 8th (ARV Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, George Mason)
Week 3: Georgetown 14th, Maryland 25th (ARV Virginia, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion)
Week 4: Georgetown 18th, Maryland 23rd, Virginia 25th (ARV George Washington, ODU)
Week 5: Maryland 23rd (ARV Georgetown, Virginia, GW)
Week 6: Sense the emptiness of my heart (ARV Maryland, Virginia, Georgetown)
By Dan Steinberg |
December 12, 2006; 10:49 AM ET
| Category:
College Basketball
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Posted by: Mike | December 12, 2006 1:44 PM
The coaches' poll has a run after the tourney, not AP. That may be how Mason ranked #8 nationally at the end.
Posted by: Everett W. | December 15, 2006 11:40 AM
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I thought Mason finished last year at #8 in the polls. Wouldn't that be included in Week 18's results? Does the AP not do a poll after the tournament?