The Revolving No. 1 Door

Well, U Conn gets beat this weekend in a hard fought and entertaining game at Pitt.  This is the second time Pitt has beaten UConn this season, both times when UConn was ranked No. 1 in the polls. 

North Carolina was the pre-season No. 1.  Then UNC went on to hold that position for the next seven weeks.  In the last nine weeks, there have been six changes in the No. 1 ranking. 

After UNC lost, Pitt held it for two weeks, then Wake Forest for a week, Duke for a week, UConn for three weeks, Pitt again for a week, and finally UConn for this past week.  With UConn’s loss Saturday, another new No. 1 is coming up this week.

Kind of a kiss of death, this number one ranking this year.  I am not sure I would want to get the No. 1 ranking if I was one the coaches of one of the contenders.  What does this all mean, this continuing revolving door?  And how does it compare to recent past years?

In the 2007-08 season, there were two changes by this point of the season (week 16).  UNC was No. 1, replaced by Memphis, and then Tennessee.

In the 2006-07 season there were four changes involving four teams, Florida twice, UNC, UCLA, and Ohio State. 

In the 2005-06 season, there were two changes involving only two teams, Duke twice, and UConn. 

In the 2004-05 season, there was one change, with Illinois replacing Wake Forest. 

During the 2003-04 season there were seven changes at the top, involving seven teams.  UConn (twice), Kansas, Florida, Kentucky (sharing with UConn), Duke, Stanford, and St. Joseph’s all were No.  at some point.

So what does it mean?  Probably not much, but I keep hearing from the pundits that it means there are a lot of great teams out there.

I don’t agree.  I think it is similar to when one is looking at a team’s roster.  If a coach or GM is having trouble figuring out who are going to be the starters, it is my experience that that team is on its way to mediocrity.

You just don’t see teams with that much quality depth, where there is confusion between who is a starter or sixth man, and who will not be in the rotation.  Great teams come into seasons with solid rotations.  There is no confusion about who should play.  Good cream tends to rise to the top.

Same thing for the colleges.  There is just not that much talent out there to have a bunch of great teams.  But I don’t think that’s bad.  In fact, I think it’s great for it should lead to a wide open March Madness.

Because there is such parity, like in the NFL’s theory, there will be more competitiveness, which should lead to more excitement.  When was the last time that a team won the championship without ever being ranked No. 1 during the season?  That would be last season when Kansas won even though never being ranked first.

Surprisingly, over the last five seasons, only one eventual champion was ever ranked No. 1 during that season.  That was Florida during the 2006-07 season.  So much for having been the top dog in the polls. 

Also, you have to question who’s doing the rankings and how they do it.

With UNC’s fine win over Duke….another good game by the way…it looks like Carolina will get that kiss of death. That will complete UNC’s circle, back to No. 1 where they started the season.