Creighton preseason #15? Ha!

[Silverbacked1]

Just a hater hating. It's the internet I don't have to follow the rules. Dudes.

[49r]

McDermott named to AP preseason squad; Bluejay teams picked to win MVC

Indiana sophomore center Cody Zeller and Creighton junior forward Doug McDermott are the leading vote-getters on the Associated Press' preseason All-America team.

Also on the team announced Monday are Ohio State junior forward Deshaun Thomas and three guards — seniors Isaiah Canaan of Murray State and C.J. McCollum of Lehigh and sophomore Trey Burke of Michigan. McCollum and Burke tied for the fifth spot with 16 votes each.

(read more here)

Three first team preseason All Americans in the B1G.

[royalfan]

no not tough, just correct. I would quit while you are behind as you are making it worse by being wrong again.

It was certainly his insinuation.

Why the internet tough guy routine? Are you that guy for this board?

[Tony]

McDermott named to AP preseason squad; Bluejay teams picked to win MVC

Three first team preseason All Americans in the B1G.

Wow, and three from "mid-majors." Does anyone know if this is a first for that?

[bball23]

Where did he say that?

You know darn well why they are ranked. However, I'm felling helpful, so let me give you a brief list: CU only loses one player from last year's team; CU returns a first team all american (the only first team returning all american by the way), CU has a starting center that is big enough and strong enough to start for almost any team in america not named Indiana; the majority of the team is battle-tested experienced upperclassmen; the team went to the NCAA tournament last year as an 8 seed and won its game.

Perhaps the better question would be, "why shouldn't they be ranked 15?"

I think the Jays have a nice team. Here is my concern with them if I were a Jays fan. Yes they only lose 1 starter, but he was a good one. Second thing...they won a lot of close games this past year to their credit. But, say they lose a few of those close games and WSU isn't upset in the Valley, do they even dance? I mean they had 29 wins (not many quality though) and were still an 8 seed. Give them props, they won the games they had too. The other thing, they never had an injury really that hurt them last year. Will you get that lucky again this year? What is McDermott, Gibbs or Echinique go down? You just never know in sports. They should have a nice team, no doubt about that. But I still think they have a lot of question marks.

[Creighton Fan]

I think the Jays have a nice team. Here is my concern with them if I were a Jays fan. Yes they only lose 1 starter, but he was a good one. Second thing...they won a lot of close games this past year to their credit. But, say they lose a few of those close games and WSU isn't upset in the Valley, do they even dance? I mean they had 29 wins (not many quality though) and were still an 8 seed. Give them props, they won the games they had too. The other thing, they never had an injury really that hurt them last year. Will you get that lucky again this year? What is McDermott, Gibbs or Echinique go down? You just never know in sports. They should have a nice team, no doubt about that. But I still think they have a lot of question marks.

Let me answer your questions:

(1) Creighton would have received an at large even if they didn't win the MVC last year. An 8 seed is not where someone who just snuck in gets ranked - that usually goes to 12 seeds or so.

(2) As to losing McDermott, Gibbs and Echenique to injury, I'd say that if any team lost their three best players to injury, they would probably be in a lot of trouble. That is not a situation that would be unique to Creighton. Further, even losing one's best player would hurt most every team. If Indiana loses Zeller, Michigan loses Burke, or North Carolina loses McAdoo, they are in trouble as well, just like Kansas would have been last year without Thomas Robinson. Not everyone has the depth of a Kentucky.

I would say that Gibbs battled injuries all of last year and Wragge battled foot problems for the first part of the year, so it wasn't like Creighton was 100% healthy.

Sure there are questions, but those questions can be asked about pretty much every team.

[Tony]

I think the Jays have a nice team. Here is my concern with them if I were a Jays fan. Yes they only lose 1 starter, but he was a good one. Second thing...they won a lot of close games this past year to their credit. But, say they lose a few of those close games and WSU isn't upset in the Valley, do they even dance? I mean they had 29 wins (not many quality though) and were still an 8 seed. Give them props, they won the games they had too. The other thing, they never had an injury really that hurt them last year. Will you get that lucky again this year? What is McDermott, Gibbs or Echinique go down? You just never know in sports. They should have a nice team, no doubt about that. But I still think they have a lot of question marks.

No one knows exactly what the season will bring; that's what makes it fun to watch. Winning a lot of close games often teaches you how to win. Like to admit it,or not, but wins in the Valley are quality wins, especially winning the tournament. You are right, there are question marks, but not nearly as many as most teams in the nation will have. I am just happy that college basketball is now starting. There have actually been some basketball stories on the local news this week.

Husker fans, enjoy your season. Some of my best memories as a Jays fan has been watching players and teams develop from "What the ____?", to "WOW!" When Bob Harstad was a freshman, I could not believe that they gave this guy a scholarship. Four years later he was CU's all time leading scorer and had been to two NCAA tournaments. I was there when CU drew 3,000 fans but still enjoyed it. What better way can you think of to get out of the house during the winter than watching college basketball.

[royalfan]

The true tale of who is rated where is how Vegas thinks they should be rated. A poll? Why in the hell would I give a rats ass what a bunch of guys that don't know as much think? Jay fans are kidding themselves if they think they are really that good. Vegas would certainly disagree, as would most anyone with a clue.

[Tony]

The true tale of who is rated where is how Vegas thinks they should be rated. A poll? Why in the hell would I give a rats ass what a bunch of guys that don't know as much think? Jay fans are kidding themselves if they think they are really that good. Vegas would certainly disagree, as would most anyone with a clue.

I'll have to agree with you on the polls. They are just for fun, but I don't think they should do rankings in ANY sport until at least half way through the season. I don't give a hoot about Vegas either. I just want college basketball to start. However, there must be a lot of people without a clue out there to start this season. To be honest with you, there is more discussion about Creighton being ranked on this site than on any of the Bluejay forums. (?) Who started his thread??

[49r]

I happen to agree with the uselessness of preseason polls as well. Look at Arkansas' football team this year as a prime example of just how ridiculous it is.

Or Kansas State. IIRC, they weren't even *in* the preseason top 25 were they?

[royalfan]

I agree with the polls not being all that important. The lines are the tell tale sign on what is what. And obviously Creighton wil be favored over us, even at our place, so not trying to claim we are better or any nonsense like that. Just a much better gauge of what is what than the polls if you want to evalutate different teams.