We're #1...But Who Cares?

You've heard it a thousand times: "We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!" When you think about it, this cheer is utterly pointless and even outright wrong most of the time unless your team is actually ranked #1.  But does being highly-ranked or even being ranked #1 really matter in College Basketball?  Absolutely not.

Every week, the Associated Press Top 25 College Basketball Poll is compiled from votes by 64 sportswriters from across the country.  The list of voters (and their latest poll) can be found here.  The ranked teams are then allocated a certain amount of "points" based on where they fall on each individual poll.  The #1 team in each poll is given the most points all the way down to team #25 which is given the least amount of points.  The points from all the 64 voter polls are added up and the team with the most points is the AP #1 team for that week.  As a BYU fan, I find it interesting that 2 voters (John Feinstein & Mark Berman) gave #7-ranked BYU a #1 ranking last week even before BYU beat down #6 SDSU on Saturday.

When the new poll comes out tomorrow, you should expect that BYU will pass SDSU in the overall poll.  BYU may also pass Texas, Pitt, and Duke (who all lost this weekend) on their way to a potential #3 ranking!  Incredible.  But what if the AP sportswriters still rank Texas, Pitt, or Duke ahead of BYU even if they lost this weekend and may all have more losses than BYU?  Who cares?  It doesn't matter.  A team's ranking this week or next week will have zero impact on their upcoming seed in the tournament when the brackets are announced on March 13. Why?  Because the NCAA committee members that determine the championship brackets and each team's "seed" are not among the 64 AP sportswriters that rank the teams from week to week throughout the season!

Duke was #1 in 2010 after beating
Butler in the Championship game

Take 2010 for example, Butler was ranked #11 in the AP poll just before the tournament, but when the brackets came out Butler was given a #5 seed in the West bracket, which means that the NCAA committee felt that there were at least 16 teams better than Butler (4 brackets x 4 seeds = 16 teams).  BYU was ranked #17 in the same AP poll when Butler was ranked #11, so BYU should get a #5 seed, right?  Nope - BYU was given a #7 seed.  The committee felt that there were at least 24 teams better than BYU.  Were the lower seeds a sign of disrespect to Butler and BYU?  Doesn't matter if it was or wasn't.  The tournament for the NCAA Championship is a playoff and not a Championship awarded by rankings (such as College Football).  Each team has the opportunity to win each game and advance in the tournament - just as Butler did all the way to the National Championship game last year.  By the way, do you remember who was the #1 team last year going into the tournament?  Kansas.  Where did that #1 ranking get Kansas?  Only to the second round when they lost to Northern Iowa.

So, whether BYU is ranked #3, #10, or even #1 in this week's AP poll, just tell yourself:  "It doesn't matter...when do the brackets come out?"