Originally posted on Monday, December 8, 2003.
It's that time of year again, time to reveal the MRI rankings for Basketball. This first week is always fun. Some teams have played a lot, others, have only 2 or 3 games in Division 1 under their belt. As a result, you get some teams in the Top 25 that make you look around and say "Huh??". For instance, this year, you will see Vandy up there. Not just in the Top 25 as they were a few years ago on the first week of the season, but in the #2 position. Of course, this week will definitely please at least one cube in my office where one co-worker went to Georgia Tech and the other went to Vandy. But, oh, and I must stress, BUT, although you may be ranked highly this early in the season, it has been in trend in the past that about half of the teams which are listed at the top during the first week are not there when the final rankings are posted on Selection Sunday. Looking over the list, about half of the teams currently up there were there at the end of the year last year. That does not bode well for the new comers. Hopefully no one will be heart broken at the end of the year.

What have I seen this season so far? Not very much would be my answer, but I can tell you a few things. Duke is still a power. Despite a post player declaring that he will transfer, they still have amazing depth on the team. They may have lost to Purdue early on, but you could tell that they hit their stride in the game against Michigan State. For St. Joseph's, Jameer Nelson was very impressive in their win against Gonzaga to open the season. I could not believe my eyes at some of the plays that he turned in. If he can play that well all season and the supporting cast can play as well as they have so far, then the Hawks will be representing Philly deep into the tournament. Connecticut, despite the loss to Georgia Tech in the preseason NIT, is amazing. They have depth, and if they remain healthy, they can sweep through a good portion of the Big East. They proved that they can come back after a loss also by just embarrassing Utah in the consolation game of the tournament. And it isn't that Utah is a bad team. They have shown that maybe they will again lead the Mountain West into the tourney. It seems that the coaching change at North Carolina has made a difference so far with Roy Williams leading the team to an undefeated record so far. The question is can they remain healthy. This was part of their problem last year. They have a little more depth to call on this year, but still remain a thin team. It will be a challenge, but they should at least gain a bid to the dance this year and start a new streak which will continue for a while.

Well, that is all for this week. Enjoy the rankings. Things are strange this first week as I said, but they will definitely sort out as the season progresses, and we separate those who are truly the cinderellas this year from the ugly step-sisters.

And Now the Rankings

RANK
TEAM
RECORD
MRI
LAST YEAR
1
Georgia Tech
7-0
94.81
59
2
Vanderbilt
5-0
93.36
155
3
Wake Forest
5-0
91.62
13
4
Texas
4-0
90.54
9
5
Connecticut
6-1
88.72
24
6
Florida State
6-0
84.33
121
7
North Carolina
5-0
83.99
114
8
Auburn
6-0
82.84
50
9
Kentucky
4-0
80.77
1
10
Gonzaga
6-1
80.05
23
11
Pittsburgh
6-0
78.35
4
12
Texas Tech
6-2
76.09
9
13
Iowa
6-0
75.78
118
14
Duke
5-1
75.41
8
15
Oklahoma
5-0
74.93
10
16
Cincinnati
4-0
74.36
29
17
Illinois
4-1
72.14
7
18
Boston College
6-0
71.23
62
19
Stanford
4-0
70.41
32
20
Southern Illinois
5-0
69.93
45
21
Nebraska
4-0
69.78
220
22
Maryland
4-2
69.23
14
23
Memphis
4-1
67.85
27
24
Purdue
6-0
67.80
30
25
Creighton
4-0
67.57
6

Other Teams People Might Care About

RANK
TEAM
RECORD
MRI
LAST YEAR
46
Dayton
6-0
58.02
34
59
Kansas
3-1
54.43
2
87
Michigan State
3-3
44.10
31
97
Miami
3-2
42.30
158
124
UCLA
2-1
36.92
193
165
Ball State
2-1
28.49
167
185
Indiana
2-3
25.24
67
200
Pennsylvania
2-3
21.92
36
230
Drexel
1-3
15.97
106
264
Wofford
0-3
8.87
234

Last Place this week:  Western Illinois (0-7) at -32.84.

Enjoy
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