SubGod22 wrote:No ranking system means anything at this point as there isn't enough data to really paint a picture. With that said, the ASU win is fine, but if they're supposed to finish as poorly as predicted in the PAC, then it's just an OK win that UNI should have. Oklahoma on the other hand should be a pretty good team and that will be a good victory. They aren't near as good as they were last year when they had Buddy, but they're still probably a top 40 type of team. Definitely a good win. Isn't Xavier currently in the Top 25? I know that doesn't mean everything, but it does say that beating them will be another good win.
When it comes to the computer numbers, no matter how bad ASU is, they will be propped up because of the PAC. That's beneficial to UNI.
This. I believe KenPom at this point still includes some of last year (or is that Sagarin?). Either way, there is way too little data to really determine anything this early in the season for this season. Voter polls are especially focused on pre-season expectations and not in-season results.
Wins over teams from any of the $$$ conferences are good simply because they help the "opponents-opponents" component of the RPI later in the season. Just playing them is good, but wins are especially good. The key game for UNI was the ASU one, that got them on the right side of the bracket, providing two more quality games (and avoiding a potentially atrocious Tulane team).
Now UNI has two shots at what is supposed to be a quality Xavier team (currently ranked #11 by the early season prognosticators). If we can get one of these, we then have 4 winnable games before finishing with Iowa and North Carolina for the non-conference. Wish some other teams in the conference west of Kansas City would be trying to put these kinds of schedules together, or at least winning the games they do schedule.