MSU moves up one spot to #10 in both the AP and coaches’ polls. IU is #7/8. Wisconsin is now right behind MSU at #11. With Ohio State’s two losses this week, once again no other Big Ten team even received an honorable mention vote in either poll.
[irrational musings] In an alternate universe where we beat Iowa by 15, it seems reasonable to think we’d now be ranked #3 or 4. [/irrational musings]
On a brighter note, we’ve moved up in all the statistical rankings following this week’s two quality wins:
Sagarin ratings: #11 (up from #18)
Kenpom ratings: #16 (up from #19)
BB State ratings ($): #12 (up from #15)
RPI at StatSheet: #5 (up from #10)
Joe Lunardi bumps the Spartans up to a #3 seed in his weekly NCAA tournament projections. IU is also a #3 seed but is placed in the coveted Midwest region (Ford Field). He now has Purdue in as a fifth Big Ten team, although Ohio State shows up in the “Last four in” category.
I used to think Lunardi’s stuff was really cool but now I realize it’s not worth much time or emotional investment. So what if we’re currently a 3 seed, we haven’t played most of our tough games (nor has Wisky or IU) if one of the three wins most of its tough games, they’ll be a much higher seed, also if one of the big three loses three or four games to the other big two, they won’t be a top seed. Projecting seeds on half a season (and the half with fewer tough games) may be interesting but too many people make too big a deal out of it (i.e. 2000 when we didn’t earn a #1 seed until the final week)
Yeah, the Lunardi projections due seem to fall under the category of “overkill” until the last 2-3 weeks of the season. I look at them more as another form of national rankings at this point.