More about the ESPN Prestige Rankings

Andy Katz and Doug Gottlieb actually talked at length about NU's 290 ranking. i can't disagree too strongly with anything they said. it is natural for people who don't follow this program regularly to be a little too patient with Carmody. (and yes, of course i know that the first final four was not in Welsh-Ryan, but let's give Doug credit for even knowing it was on our campus)

watch their conversation here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3501739


7/28 update: the video is no longer included on the story page but you can still find it on the main college basketball page: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index

T-290

thanks to a reader for pointing this out. espn.com has ranked every college basketball program, and we are pretty damn close to being dead-last on the list...

T-290. Morgan State, MEAC
T-290. Northwestern, Big Ten
292. Prairie View A&M, SWAC
293. Duquesne, Atlantic 10
T-294. Columbia, Ivy
T-294. Virginia Military Institute, Big South
296. Chicago State, Independent
297. New Hampshire, America East
T-298. Army, Patriot
T-298. Bethune-Cookman, MEAC
T-298. Maryland-Eastern Shore, MEAC


here is the criteria used to "scientifically" determine the rankings. i don't have a problem with their method, but it will be interesting to see how the top 10 turns out. surprisingly, Murray State is #30.

• National title … 25
• Title game loss … 20
• National semifinal loss … 15
• Elite Eight loss … 10
• Best W-L record in conference's regular season … 5
• 30+ wins in a season … 5
• Sweet 16 loss … 5
• Conference tournament title … 3
• AP first team All-American … 3
• Losing in NCAA second round … 3
• Player in top 10 of NBA draft … 2
• NCAA first-round win as a 12-16 seed … 2
• NIT title … 2
• AP second team All-American … 2
• 20-29 wins in a season … 1
• NCAA tournament berth … 1
• Postseason NIT berth … 1
• AP third team All-American … 1
• NCAA first-round loss to a 12-16 seed … -2
• Losing season … -3
• Ban from NCAA tournament … -3


here are a few different ways to look at it...
• teams ranked 161 and below finished with a negative total score
• last in the Big Ten - next best was Penn State at 185 and then Minnesota at 68
• seven of the eight Ivy schools scored better than us
• last in the Big Six conferences - next best was Baylor at 266 then Oregon State at 241


i have neither the time nor the inclination to determine exactly what NU's score is, but just after a quick glance, i figure we get 2 points for Eschmeyer's second team All-America, 2 points for NIT berths in '99 and '94, and that might be it. all the rest would be negative points, and those minus-3's for losing seasons will add up quickly.

Transfer news. and a FBC milestone.

seldom-used Nikola Baran and almost-never-used Jean-Marc Melchior are getting out. of course, this slightly disrupts Carmody's pipeline to Croatia, but one of Baran's reasons for leaving is Serbia's Luka Mirkovic, so internationally speaking, i'd say it's a wash. i wish Jean-Marc well, but i'm sure i'm not alone when i hope he is the first and last hoops player we ever get from Luxembourg.

today's entry marks the 100th post in the history of FBC. i'm shocked that i have been able to carry on for two and a half years, although obviously there has been no shortage of NU failure on the court to help keep me going. i also never expected anyone to visit the site. i estimate there must be at least a half-dozen regular readers out there. so, thanks for that.