The Last Time We Were in a Conference With a Ranked Team

[EvanJ]

Charleston is third in others receving votes in the AP Poll. I checked for the last time we were in a conference with a ranked team, and it was La Salle in 1974-1975. The AP does not make a poll after the NCAA Tournament, so Final Four teams George Mason and VCU were not ranked. I wonder how many teams were most recently in a conference with a ranked team longer ago than that excluding teams that have never been in a conference with a ranked team.

[triplec2195]

Kudos to Charleston but can't wait to beat them this year. Bad taste in our mouths lingering from last year!

[Wags]

Charleston is third in others receving votes in the AP Poll. I checked for the last time we were in a conference with a ranked team, and it was La Salle in 1974-1975. The AP does not make a poll after the NCAA Tournament, so Final Four teams George Mason and VCU were not ranked. I wonder how many teams were most recently in a conference with a ranked team longer ago than that excluding teams that have never been in a conference with a ranked team.

George Mason was unranked in the AP poll but they were ranked No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll when they lost at The Mack in the regular season in 2006. That was considered a win over a ranked team for Hofstra at the time and I think it's still counted that way.

[EvanJ]

I know that, which is why I specified AP Poll. There is a Coaches Poll after the NCAA Tournament, so if you use the Coaches Poll we were in the CAA with a ranked team three times, George Mason before we beat them, George Mason at the end, and VCU at the end of 2010-2011. Also in 2006, UNCW got a 9 seed and lost in overtime to George Washington, an 8 seed who would have been a 4 seed if the AP Poll seeded teams.

In 1974-1975 when we were in a conference with a ranked team, Division I had 238 teams, and there are now over 50 percent more with 363. 84 teams, which was over one-third, were Independents in 1974-1975. 23 of the 32 current conferences have at least one team that was an Independent in 1974-1975.

[EvanJ]

Charleston entered the AP Poll at Number 23. We are in a conference with an AP ranked team for the first time since La Salle on December 29, 1975. I previously said 1974-1975, but it was actually 1975-1976.

[Wags]

Charleston entered the AP Poll at Number 23. We are in a conference with an AP ranked team for the first time since La Salle on December 29, 1975. I previously said 1974-1975, but it was actually 1975-1976.

First time in 20 years that Charleston is ranked in the AP Top 25. The Coaches poll still has Charleston on the outside looking in (at 31).

[stuball888]

Just checked the RPIs we actually have an RPI of #51. This due to our solid OOC schedule

[Wags]

Something has to give on Wednesday night while Hofstra is simultaneously hosting Monmouth.

Charleston, which has the nation's longest active winning streak in men's hoops at 15 straight, will be at UNCW, which is tied with Florida Atlantic for the nation's second-longest active winning streak in men's hoops at 13 straight.

UNCW has won the last five between these two schools.

Charleston is the first CAA team to be ranked in the AP poll since David Robinson's Navy team in January 1987. Charleston was in the Southern Conference when it was last ranked in the AP poll 20 seasons ago. As mentioned above, George Mason was ranked in 2006, but not in the AP poll. Mason and VCU were both ranked in in 2011, but neither in the AP poll that year.

[EvanJ]

Charleston moved up 1 spot to Number 22.

I wonder if it is the first time that a conference had a team with a winning streak of at least 15 all that season, a team with a winning streak of at least 13 all that season, and a team with 0 or 1 win. Monmouth has 1 win, which was against Manhattan. In the Sagarin, Charleston is 19.81 points better than Monmouth. The only teams with a greater margin over another team in their conference are the top two in the Sagarin, Houston and Tennessee. That is even with Charleston being 84th. I wonder when the last time (if ever) a mid-major ranked 84th or worse in the Sagarin was ranked in the AP Poll.

[Wags]

Charleston moved up 1 spot to Number 22.

Wasn't sure I'd ever see a CAA team ranked ahead of Duke in an AP poll in January but here we are.

[EvanJ]

I hate Duke, so I am happy. Unfortunately, Joe Lunardi gives Duke a 5 and Charleston an 11, so Duke is more likely to win an NCAA Tournament game even if Charleston is better. Florida Atlantic is 14th in the NET, meaning they should be a 4 seed according to the NET, and they have 1 loss. However, they are unranked, and Joe Lunardi gives them a 12 seed.

[Wags]

I hate Duke, so I am happy. Unfortunately, Joe Lunardi gives Duke a 5 and Charleston an 11, so Duke is more likely to win an NCAA Tournament game even if Charleston is better. Florida Atlantic is 14th in the NET, meaning they should be a 4 seed according to the NET, and they have 1 loss. However, they are unranked, and Joe Lunardi gives them a 12 seed.

I'm happy about it too, I just never thought I'd see it.

Shows how little the polls, NET, RPI, etc. really mean. The committee does what it wants, regardless. And as you showed above, if the polls and NET really meant something, shouldn't FAU be a Top 25 team right now? Or shouldn't FAU and Charleston be in line for a seed like Duke's? We spend so much time on polls and rating numbers, but what do they really mean?

[EvanJ]

Being ranked gets a team in the Top 25 scoreboard, which is what ESPN and probably other sites show by default because they do not want to show every game by default. For example, tonight has 63 games of which 9 have one or both teams ranked. It gets the team listed in the NCAA Record Book table of polls for each season. It probably helps with recruiting.

Charleston had three teammates who all reached the NBA, which must be very rare for a mid-major, and now they are better than when they had Joe Chealey, Jarrell Brantley, and Grant Riller.

[Wags]

Being ranked gets a team in the Top 25 scoreboard, which is what ESPN and probably other sites show by default because they do not want to show every game by default. For example, tonight has 63 games of which 9 have one or both teams ranked. It gets the team listed in the NCAA Record Book table of polls for each season. It probably helps with recruiting.

Charleston had three teammates who all reached the NBA, which must be very rare for a mid-major, and now they are better than when they had Joe Chealey, Jarrell Brantley, and Grant Riller.

Check out the line to get in for tonight's big game at UNCW:
https://twitter.com/SEisbergWCIV/status ... 8050564096

[triplec2195]

Wow that's sick but imagine their attendance is good but not that good! Great for them but now they need to win. Home attendance is 3,753. Not too shabby.

[cactus]

Wow that's sick but imagine their attendance is good but not that good! Great for them but now they need to win. Home attendance is 3,753. Not too shabby.

they saw a great game
hofstra not in their class right now

[triplec2195]

Wow that's sick but imagine their attendance is good but not that good! Great for them but now they need to win. Home attendance is 3,753. Not too shabby.

they saw a great game
hofstra not in their class right now

We're going to find out soon enough.

[Wags]

Wow that's sick but imagine their attendance is good but not that good! Great for them but now they need to win. Home attendance is 3,753. Not too shabby.

they saw a great game
hofstra not in their class right now

We're going to find out soon enough.

We'll find out a lot over the next six games:

vs. Delaware (as Speedy said last night, despite the easy win at their place, very tough to beat the same team twice in a short span of time)
at Towson (two CAA contenders, noon start on Monday, so a quick turnaround after this Saturday, with a trip mixed in, even though not a long bus ride)
vs. UNCW (again, two CAA contenders, and like last year, at home against UNCW, on CBSSports Network)
at Elon (the only TCB game during the six-game stretch, but an important one to not let their guard down before & after these other big games)
at Charleston (the ultimate test in CAA play right now)
vs. Towson (same as with Delaware, a second game against a CAA contender within a short time frame)

After this, the final seven before the CAA tourney are (seemingly) much easier, but this upcoming six-game stretch, one way or another, may reveal a lot.

[Wags]

Charleston moves up four spots today, to 18, in the AP poll.

Newcomers to the poll this week also include a local team (Rutgers, at 23) and another mid-major, at 24 (Florida Atlantic, which has the nation's second-longest active winning streak -- behind Charleston -- no longer tied with UNCW for the second-longest streak after UNCW lost to Charleston last week).

The pool does not include Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, or North Carolina for only the second time since the poll was released on February 20, 1960. The only other time that happened was for a few weeks in 2021, when teams' schedules were drastically and widely reduced due to Covid.

[EvanJ]

The pool does not include Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, or North Carolina for only the second time since the poll was released on February 20, 1960. The only other time that happened was for a few weeks in 2021, when teams' schedules were drastically and widely reduced due to Covid.

I love knowing things like that.

Florida Atlantic is ranked for the first time.